Delhi First Time Capital City Of India This Day: Delhi is the pride of India. Delhi is the capital of India. But, do you know that after the Mughals, Delhi was not the capital of India. The capital of India used to be Kolkata. The British had shifted the capital of India to Delhi. King George V declared Delhi the National Capital of India on 12 December 1911, and replaced Kolkata with Delhi in the Coronation Park near Burari on the Nirankari Colony side near Kingsway Camp in North Delhi. The coronation of King George V as Emperor of India took place on December 12, 1911, and the British shifted their capital from Calcutta to Delhi. The British adopted the concept of darbar or royal spectacle from the Mughal rulers and made this place a place for holding darbar.
However, being from the Mughal period, Delhi was one of the oldest cities of the country. It was not easy to rule the country (which included India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) from the narrow streets here. Then two famous architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens (Chief Architect) and Sir Herbert Baker (Assistant Architect) were called to develop Delhi into a new city center.
When Lutyens was given the responsibility of building Delhi, he had said, ‘I will build a city that will surpass even Rome and Paris. He said that New Delhi should be completely planned and there would be no old narrow streets. He designed New Delhi in a similar manner, which we can see even today. Even today, one gets a different feeling after entering this area.
The main features of his design were as follows, which you can see even today after 113 years-
Raisina Hill (Kingsway)
- Today’s Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate area
- Lutyens built it at a height so that it could be seen from a distance, meaning it was a symbol of power.
- The two kilometer long Kingsway (now a duty road). Red sandstone buildings are built on both sides of it.
Hexagonal Plan (Hexagonal Layout)
- Lutyens divided New Delhi into a six-cornered grid.
- Wide roads, round intersections and green belts were built everywhere in this new city.
- The main roads of this city were 100-200 feet wide, which are still the widest roads in Delhi.
Bangla style + Indo-Saracenic mix
Since Lutyens did not like Indian design, but under pressure, he constructed the building by mixing Mughal arches, latticework, chhatri and pink stone of Jaipur. This building itself is Rashtrapati Bhavan. It has 340 rooms, 4 floors, 700 feet long. At that time it was the largest government residence in the world.
It was divided into two parts
- Government buildings, such as the Secretariat (North and South Block) and the Parliament House, were built in the northern part.
- At the same time, bungalows for officers were built in the southern part. In this, more than 4000 bungalows and a garden were built in each one.
what happened during construction
- Its construction continued from 1912-1931 i.e. for 19 years.
- It took 30,000 laborers to build it.
- Cost: £14 million (the most expensive capital investment at the time).
- The entire area is spread over 85 square km.
Inaugurated in 1931
New Delhi was formally inaugurated by Viceroy Lord Irwin on 20 February 1931. Lutyens said in its inauguration that this is the biggest work of his life. Even today, when you stand on the Path of Duty, the red sandstone buildings on its right and left, India Gate in front and Rashtrapati Bhavan behind, all are the contribution of Lutyens.
British Historical Park
In 1877, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in this park. In 1903, the coronation of Queen Victoria’s son Edward VII took place in the Delhi Durbar. Delhi Darbar was called on both the occasions, which was a spectacular show. In this, Nizam of Hyderabad, Begum of Bhopal, Gaekwad of Baroda and many more people had come to welcome the new rulers.
Delhi became the capital of India
On 12 December 1911, the third and last Delhi Durbar was held on the 57-acre site, which was attended by King George V himself. On the golden throne, under a golden canopy, the king announced the transfer of the seat of the Government of India from Calcutta to the old capital Delhi. It was built to the south-west of Shahjahanabad, the capital of the Mughal emperors, and eventually became the capital of the British on 12 December 1911.
