DELHI The City That Would Not Die: Shahjahanabad

The story of Delhi, the capital of India, is not just the story of one city, but of at least eight (recorded and recognised) capital cities that shifted locations through the ages, finally settling down at the current location as the ninth capital of India. It has been the site of a succession of seats of empires, whose remains can still be seen in the current city of Delhi.

Shahjahanabad. Illustrated by Gowri Suresh: Visual Storyteller at ThisDay

Abu’l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, the third Mughal emperor, was Humayun’s son and successor. He was 14 years old when he ascended the throne in 1556 under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains in India. During Akbar’s reign, the Mughal empire tripled in size and wealth. Through warfare and diplomacy, he was able to extend the empire in all directions, controlling almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the river Godavari.

Akbar had taken over the reins of the Mughal empire in Delhi, but he did not retain it as his capital. Although the city was called Takht Dilli (“royal Delhi”), it became almost deserted.

Akbar was a follower of the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti, who lived in Sikri near Agra. It was in Sikri that Akbar’s son Jahangir was born. Akbar believed the place to be blessed, and so after Jahangir’s second birthday, he built his new walled capital and imperial palace there in 1571, calling it Fatehpur Sikri, or the city of victory. Akbar abandoned it in 1585 and moved to Lahore to look after the northwest areas of his empire. In 1599, Akbar moved his capital to Agra, from where he ruled till his death in 1605. He was buried in a magnificent mausoleum at Sikandra near Agra.

Mirza Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim ascended his father’s throne as Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir Badshah Ghazi in 1605 at the age of 36 years. Delhi remained neglected as Jahangir spent most of his time in Ajmer and Mandu. It was his son and successor Shahjahan who brought the focus back to Delhi.

Jahangir died in 1627, enroute to Lahore (in present-day Pakistan) from Kashmir. His mausoleum is in Shahdara Bagh near Lahore.

Mirza Shahab-ud-din Baig Muhammad Khan Khurram, the third son of Jahangir, succeeded his father as the fifth emperor of the Mughal empire in 1628 by defeating his half-brother Shahryar Mirza and all the other claimants to the throne. He crowned himself as Shah Jahan (“the king of the world”) at Agra Fort, his grandfather Akbar’s abode. The initial years of the emperor’s reign were spent in fighting wars in the Deccan. He returned to Agra in 1633.

Two years prior to that, Shah Jahan’s favourite wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal, died in Burhanpur, Deccan (present-day Madhya Pradesh) during the birth of their fourteenth child in 1631. The heartbroken emperor turned his attention to building magnificent buildings. He ordered a beautiful ivory white marble mausoleum to be built in Agra for his beloved Mumtaz and called it Taj Mahal.

Shah Jahan decided to move his capital to Delhi in 1638 and ordered the construction of a new city next to Salimgarh fort, covering a major portion of Dinpanah and Firozabad. The new fortified capital, spread across 1500 acres, was called Shahjahanabad, present-day Old Delhi.

The 8.2 metres high and 3.7 metres wide rampart walls of Shahjahanabad stretched 6091 m in perimeter, with twenty-seven towers, each 9 metres tall, spread all along the walls. Seven large gates provided the entry and exit points.

In the heart of this new Mughal capital, Qila-i-Mubarak Lal Qila or the Red Fort was built for the royal family. By 1648, the Mughal capital shifted from Agra to Shahjahanabad.

The plan of Red Fort was broadly divided into four quarters — the northern quarter, where the emperor carried out his business of governance; the eastern quarter, the residential area for the emperor’s family; the southern quarter, or zenana, exclusively for women; and the western quarter, the public area with stables, workshops, and markets.

Some of the important structures in the fort complex, the remnants of which still exist, are the Diwan-i-Aam, Diwan-i-Khas, Moti Masjid, Lahori Gate, Chatta Chowk, and Naubat Khana.

Diwan-i-Aam was at the very heart of the complex, where the emperor held court for the public. Diwan-i-Khas was where the emperor sat on the famous bejewelled Takht-e-Taus or Peacock Throne and received state guests and courtiers. Through the centre of the hall flowed a stream of water, the Nahar-i-Bihisht or the stream of paradise. The original ceiling was of silver and the walls were inlaid with precious stones. Some of the beautiful inlay work is still visible in what is now a mere shadow of the original magnificence.

The impressive looking white marble mosque, Moti Masjid, was built by Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan’s son. The Lahori Gate was the main entrance gate of the fort. Adjacent to this gate was the Chatta Chowk or the roofed market, meant for the imperial household. Naubat Khana was the waiting hall for guests, who had to dismount from their horses here and then walk the rest of the way inside.

Jama Masjid or Masjid-i-Jehan-Numa, one of the largest mosques in India, was built by Shah Jahan to serve as the royal mosque for the Mughal emperors. Chandni Chowk, with its three main bazaars or markets – Urdu Bazaar, Johri Bazaar, and Fatehpuri Bazaar — was designed and established by Jahanara Begum, Shah Jahan’s favourite daughter, in the western quarter of Shajahanabad.

Shah Jahan fell ill in 1658, leading to infighting amongst his sons. Muhi-al-din Muhammad, better known as Aurangzeb, the third son, came out victorious and crowned himself as the sixth Mughal emperor. Although his father recovered fully from his illness, Aurangzeb declared him incompetent to rule and put him under house arrest in Agra Fort. Finally, in 1666, at the age of 74 years, Shah Jahan passed away. He was laid to rest next to Mumtaz Mahal in Taj Mahal.

Under the reign of Aurangzeb, the Mughal empire spanned nearly the entire Indian subcontinent. But after his death in 1707, the empire declined rapidly as the Hindu Maratha empire rose to prominence. From then on, Delhi passed through multiple hands. In 1803, the forces of the British East India Company defeated the Marathas, taking over the control of Delhi.

Once they established themselves as rulers of India, the British made Calcutta their capital until 1911, when King George V announced the shifting of the capital back to Delhi.

New Delhi, designed by British architect Edwin Lutyens, was inaugurated in 1931. The city was officially declared the seat of the government of India after independence in 1947.

Emperors and their kingdoms came and went, yet Delhi survived the ravages of time and emerged as a powerful imperial capital of all times.

This is a very brief account of the seventh city of Delhi. You can discover much more by walking through the above mentioned areas leisurely.