Download - Delhi Heritage City

Medieval And Colonial Capital Cities Of DelhiDESCRIPTIONCentral India. 1 Emperor Humayun, in AD 1533, built Dinpanah, the 6th city of Delhi. The architecture of Delhiunder Humayun also underwent a transition where Persians influences were incorporated. Artisans from Persiawere brought to build monuments and gardens.Humayun very soon lost the empire to Sher Shah Suri in a battle at Kannauj in 1540 AD. Though he was banishedfrom the kingdom, over several years he gathered a stronger army and again advanced to Delhi to re‐capture hiskingdom. In 1555 AD, Humayun defeated Sher Shah Suri and re‐established the Mughal Empire and ruled it till1556 AD when he died and the Akbar became the emperor.Akbar made Agra his capital and built the Agra Fort. He further expanded the Mughal Empire by including theregion of Rajputana, Kashmir, Sind, Baluchistan and Qandahar in the northern and north–west province andregions like Ahmadnagar and Khandesh in the Deccan. The Mughal Empire developed extensively under the ruleof Akbar. Due to his tolerance towards other religions like Hinduism, art and architecture during this period alsodeveloped with a syncretism of both Persian and Indian principles. Fatehpur Sikri is an example of city planningwhere extensive use of Indian elements of design like the use of chajjas, chattris, lotus columns and motifs can beseen along with Islamic rendition of architecture like arches and domes.After the death of Akbar the Mughal empire was ruled by his son Jahangir (1605‐1627 AD) and later by Shahjahan(1627‐1658 AD). Shahjahan became one of the greatest Mughal emperors after Akbar and made severalcontributions in the architecture and city planning. The reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor, was the golden ageof Mughal art, architecture and town planning. Three Islamic empires dominated the Asian world, the OttomanEmpire in Turkey, the Safavids in Persia and Mughals in India. Of these the Mughal Empire was the largest areaand commanded the greatest resources.Shahjahan made the decision in 1638 AD to move his court from Agra, mainly due to its increasing unsuitabilityand lack of space. Shahjahan chose Delhi as the site for his imperial capital city. The walled city ofShahjahanabad, the 7th city of Delhi was built. The urban morphology evolved due to inclusive cultural policiesof Emperor Shahjahan and the grand conceptualization of urban space visualised by the Persian architectsemployed by him to design the city. Shahjahanabad was the last in a long line of premodern capital cities. TheMughal capital was the crown jewel, the climax of the premodern urban process in the subcontinent.Shahjahanabad (Delhi) became the epitome of city planning and Taj Mahal (Agra) as an example of architectureduring his rule.The Mughal Empire reached the zenith of its territorial expansion during the reign of Aurangzeb. He expandedthe Mughal Empire further south and at its peak covered an area of more than 1.25 million square miles, rulingover more than 150 million subjects, nearly 1/4th of the world's population, with a combined GDP of over $90billion. By the mid‐18th century, the Marathas had ravaged Mughal provinces from the Deccan to Bengal due tothe weakness of the Mughal Empire's administrative and economic systems. In 1739, a weakened Mughal Empirewas defeated in the Battle of Karnal by the forces of Nader Shah.During its first century of operation, the English East India Company focused on trade with the Indiansubcontinent, as it was not in a position to challenge the powerful Mughal Empire, which had granted it tradingrights in 1617. The Battle of Plassey in 1757, which saw the British, defeat the Nawab of Bengal and1 http://www.columbia.edu, Muslim Civilization in India, by S. M. Ikram, edited by Ainslie T. Embree New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1964 (presented here through the generous permission of Columbia University Press), Part Two: The MughalPeriod, 1526-1858, The Establishment of the Mughal Empire.31‐07‐2012 INTACH, Delhi Chapter 23