Clock Tower At Chandni Chowk Delhi, 1877 Photo
An 1877 photo of the Clock Tower at Chandni Chowk in Delhi. On the left of the Clock Tower is the town hall building. This perhaps is one of the oldest photos of the clock tower of Chandni Chowk. Once named Northbrook Clock Tower, after Thomas Northbrook, the British Viceroy at that time.
The tower was believed to have been built somewhere around 1860-70. It is also popularly known as Ghantaghar in Hindi. This iconic clock tower’s upper portion crumbled in 1950 killing several people down below. Instead of rebuilding it, the tower was demolished. In later years, the street would become chaotic with trams and automobile traffic.
Chandni Chowk or Moonlit Square is part of old Delhi that was built by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan. The city was called Shahjahanabad before the British anglicized it to Delhi. Shahjahanabad became the capital of the Mughal Empire. After Shah Jahan shifted the capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad in 1639. Click on the photo for better view.
See post View of Delhi – Old Photo 1872. Read more Ghantaghar.
Did you know- that Old Delhi is called the “Walled City” because Shah Jahan built a protective wall surrounding the city with 14 gates.
From the collection- Raja Ravi Varma’s “Birth of Shakuntala” Oleograph 1894., Coonoor In Nilgiris – Old Postcard 1910., Kerala Backwaters & Cargo Boats – Old Print 1922., Vintage Book 1939 – The Handbook of India.
