Panoramic View of New & Old Delhi & Surrounding Country, 1860 Print
An 1860 engraving with a panoramic view of new and old Delhi and surrounding country. The ruins of old Delhi lies on the left, new Delhi was the walled city of Shahjahanabad. Shahjahanabad was founded in 1648, and Shah Jahan decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra to this walled city in the same year.
Shahjahanabad remained as the Mughal capital until its fall in 1857 to the British. It was when the British Crown took control of the Indian subcontinent from East India Company. Delhi had eight ancient avatars, Shahjahanabad was the last of the seven cities, with Lalkot being the first, followed by Siri, Tughlakabad, Jahanpanah, Firozeshah Kotla, and Purana Qila.
In this 1860 engraving old Delhi lies in ruins, shown on the top left side. River Jamuna is shown in the foreground. A few distance away, another newer Delhi or Lutyens Delhi would come up built by the British (work commenced in 1911). The exact location would be, Raisina Hill, the central point of the new capital of India today.
Did you know – Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker were the two principals architects entrusted with the creation of New Delhi.
Past posts – Rural Life In India Watercolour Painting By N. Mukherjee., Glimpse Of Domestic Life During British Era India, 1885 Photo., Bombay – Calcutta Train & Tiger Hunting, 1900 Postcard.
