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IMPERIAL PLANNING TRADITIONS OF DELHI
CRITERIA CONSIDERED TO BE MET:
(ii)The nominated site exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time,
within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture.
(iv) Be an outstanding example of an urban landscape which illustrates significant stage in human
history.
JUSTIFICATION FOR CRITERIA
Criteria (ii) The ensemble of the Central Vista of New Delhi is a masterpiece of human creative
genius, because it effectively uses the planning principles of the City Beautiful Movement to depict
the political power of the British Empire.
There is an overwhelming sense of power within which the iconic buildings were deployed along the
central vista, capturing for eternity, the spirit of British Imperialism.
The nominated site exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time, within a
cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture.
Developments in architecture: Delhi has been in the making for over a thousand years. Several
dynasties built their capital cities within the ‘Delhi triangle’. The 12 th C AD saw the first Islamic
dynasty establishing their control over Delhi. Sufi saints followed making Delhi an important centre
for Sufism. They in turn attracted royal disciples who enriched the architectural heritage of the city,
creating over time, the ‘aura’ of Delhi as the pre-eminent and legitimate capital of India. This aura
imbued successive rulers with the legitimacy they sought to rule India. On account of its location it
was also an important trading city, which facilitated cultural exchange and the development of
cultural synthesis, which flowered into sophisticated and mature forms of architecture that in turn
exerted influences over the sub-continent. Delhi’s unique syncretic culture evolved out of the
mingling and cross fertilisation of multiple streams of cultural forces, from the Islamic, Hindu,
Buddhist and European worlds. This cultural synthesis is manifest in the hybrid architectural styles in
both Shahjahanabad and Colonial Delhi.
The medieval architecture of Shahjahanabad received a strong infusion of architectural styles and
techniques from Turkish, Timurid and Central Asian, and Persian sources, which mingled with the
local traditions. This led to the development of a distinctly syncretic architectural strategy,
characterized by an innovative mix of technologies, materials and decorative motifs. There was also
an exchange of cultural meaning across sectarian lines: builders used a style that is neither ‘Hindu’
nor ‘Muslim’. They used styles that consciously sought to incorporate meaningful elements from
different traditions. The lotus and kalash, held sacred by the Hindu tradition, became a part of the
mosques and tombs of the city and the Hindu and Jain temples of Shahjahanabad used the cusped
arches and fluted domes of the Mughal style.
Of all the Mughal rulers, Shahjahan displayed the most intense and sophisticated interest in
architecture and town planning. When he decided to found the city of Shahjahanabad in 1639, after
he had constructed his masterpieces in Agra and Lahore, his desire was to distinguish himself from
his predecessors, and stamp a lasting mark on his era. Shahjahanabad is imbued with this vision.
In a similar manner, the builders of Colonial New Delhi, mutatis mutandis, also displayed the same
egregious visions. The architecture of Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker were influenced by
high Classical Architecture and their idols were Andrea Palladio and Sir Christopher Wren. In the

detailing of the Colonial New Delhi buildings however, they eclectically picked up motifs and forms
from the Mughal past and that of India’s ancient Buddhist sites, to produce a powerful architecture
that epitomised the syncretic architecture of the Raj: it was the culmination of over a century of
British engagement with the ideals of Indo-Sarcenic architecture as the symbol of the architecture of
the Raj. This stylistic strategy was exported to other colonial cities of the empire and in its
contemporary avatar, dominates the imagination of modern Indian architects as well.
Criteria (iv) Delhi is an outstanding example of Imperial planning traditions which illustrate two
significant stages in the history of the Indian subcontinent: the peak of the Mughal Empire and
Apogee of the British Raj
Each of the two cities display unique urban morphologies that are a synthesis of strong town
planning principles, never seen before- Shahjahanabad moved beyond precedents set by the
Sultanate Capital to introduce grand vistas and dramatic planning to impress, while Colonial Delhi,
combined in one layout, two dominant town planning principles of the time, the Garden City Concept
and the City Beautiful Movement. In both cases the monumental axes is anchored by monumental
buildings.
Delhi’s Medieval and Colonial Capitals illustrate through their respective urban morphologies two
significant stages in human history:
o Peak and glory of the Mughal empire
o Apogee of the British Colonial Rule
The Medieval and Colonial Capital Cities of Delhi, represent at a single site, two distinct planning
principles that were outstanding examples in ideologies of town planning of their respective times.
o Shahjahanabad is the largest planned Mughal city. It is an exemplar of the sovereign city
model of pre-modern cities, conceived as axis mundi. It was contemporaneous to several
other capital cities of Asian empires, like Istanbul, Isfahan, Edo (Tokyo) and Peking, but was
distinguished from them as the product of its distinct cultural milieu;
o Colonial Delhi is the only fully planned and built modern city between the two World Wars
combining in one city two dominant town planning principles of the time, the Garden City
Concept and the City Beautiful Movement.
Shahjahanabad is the only Mughal city planned ‘de nouveau’. Pre 1639 the site was a virtual ‘tabula
rasa’, with the Salimgarh Fort along the river and a few structures, like the tomb of Razia Sultan,
which were absorbed within the layout of the new city. The town plan combined the Indian Vastu
Shastra planning traditions and Islamic city planning ideals. The Manasara, one of the Hindu texts
on architecture collectively called the Vastu Shastra, prescribed a bow-shaped form for a city on a
river, and this is the plan that Shahjahanabad followed. Another example of this type of town plan is
the ancient Hindu city of Varanasi. However, its imperatives were strongly mediated by the Persian
master builders employed by Shahjahan, Ustad Ahmed and Ustad Hamid working under the
directions of Ghariat Khan, who introduced elements like the citadel and the mosque as the foci
approached by a series of streets; a city surrounded by sur (wall or rampart) with bab (gates) and
burjs (fortified tower); urban fabric with a defined system of streets and a network of city wide
thoroughfares connecting the core of the city with the main gates; concept of a mohalla where
people of the same ethnic or socio-cultural background (in Shahjahanabad these were based on
trades) have their quarters; suuqs (markets) as an integral part of the urban fabric which were
segregated based on trades. Shahjahanabad is a pre-eminent trading city that continues to be the
major trading entrepot of NCTD. It shows both Hindu and Islamic influences in its plan, reflecting the

tradition of synthesis, and the general Mughal policy of liberality and inclusion vis-a-vis Hindu
subjects.
Sir Edwin Lutyens, the town planner of Colonial New Delhi, seamlessly amalgamated the Garden City
Concept with the City Beautiful Movement ideology, both dominant town planning themes at the
beginning of the 20 th century, to plan the grandiose new capital that the political opinion of the time
wanted. The city built between 1913 and 1931, was seen by the British administration as ‘an
opportunity which had till then never occurred, and which would probably never recur’. It is perhaps
one of the finest cities in the world to symbolise the hubristic intents of colonial rule and remains the
only imperially planned and built city between the two World Wars anywhere in the world. The
monumental Central Vista, linked the Capitol Complex with the Viceroy’s House located prominently
on Raisina Hill, sits at one end like an acropolis, with the India Gate at the other, with the mansions
of Indian princes around it to create a unique and unparalleled example of imperial town planning.
Nevertheless, the genius of its design lies in the integration of vista (views) and verdure (greenery),
thus responding to the local contexts of climate and history. The imperial moment created Colonial
New Delhi, but surprisingly it is serving the republican nation as well.
In New Delhi, the formal clear view central axis blends with the more informal yet geometrically
precise residential neighbourhoods. The synthesis resulted in a verdant, picturesque quality that
formed the setting for the set piece central groupings, with visual interconnection between the two
adding value to both. The two town planning concepts showed the same synthesis even in the all
encompassing geometrical discipline based on the fusion of quadrilateral and triangular/hexagonal
grids: the additive squares and rectangle s for the axial centre, overlaid As much attention was
devoted to the detail of tree planting as it was to the planning and architecture, resulting in a mellow
arcadia where buildings were incidental.by interlocking equilateral triangles, building into lozenges,
hexagons and sixpointed hexagram stars.
INTEGRITY
The whole city as designed for Shahjahan and the entire city as planned by Lutyens is included in the
area proposed for nomination. In terms of scale, Shahjahanabad is the largest Mughal city and
therefore is of adequate size to be a fair representation of a Mughal city typology. In the case of
Colonial Delhi, the city is the largest of the planned garden cities.
AUTHENTICITY
In terms of the urban morphology the form and design of Shahjahanabad and New Delhi have
remained intact to a very high degree. The nodal features in both cities still retain their authenticity.
In certain areas of Shahjahanabad, commercial land use has replaced the original residential land use
within the same urban fabric. Monumental buildings of the Mughal period continue to dominate and
define the authenticity of the medieval capital, but as a living city, having experienced historic
traumas in the past, the residential structures have been rebuilt over the years on the original
footprint. Shahjahanabad no longer remains an Imperial capital, but today the Prime Minister of
India addresses the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, on the anniversary of India’s
independence, retaining the symbolic significance of what was once an imperial city. Colonial Delhi
still functions as a capital, albeit of an independent sovereign Republic. Initially, the absence of
suitable building controls led to the construction of a few high-rise buildings in the middle of New
Delhi’s low rise vistas and axial compositions, however, regulations as described in the management
section of this document are in place to address these issues.