Changes in Cities:
In the late eighteenth century; Calcutta, Bombay and Madras rose in importance as they became the Presidency cities.
These three cities became the centres of British power in different regions of India.
Around the same time, many smaller cities declined in importance.
Many towns which were important manufacturing centres declined in importance because of a drop in the demand for what they produced.
When the flow of trade moved to new centre, old trading centres and ports could not survive.
When the local rulers were defeated by the British, many earlier centres of regional power collapsed and new centres of administration emerged.
This process is usually called de-urbanization.
Machlipatnam, Surat and Seringapatam were some of the cities which were deurbanized during the nineteenth century.
By the early twentieth century, only 11 per cent of Indians were living in cities.
The Story of Many Dilli:
Delhi had been the centre of power for over thousand years; but with some gaps in between.
Right from the days of the Rajput kings up to the Mughal dynasty, Delhi used to be the centre of power.
Cities developed in different parts on the left bank of river Yamuna during the reign of different dynasties.
Remnants of all those cities can still be seen in different parts of the modern Delhi.
Shahjahanbad
Character of the City:
Shahjahanbad was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1639.
It consisted of a fort-palace complex and the city adjoining it.
The Red Fort contained the palace complex.
The Walled City is towards west of the Red Fort.
The main streets of Chandni Chowk and Faiz Bazaar were made broad enough to that the royal processions could pass through them.
A canal ran down the centre of Chandni Chowk.
Jama Masjid was built in the densely packed mohallas and various bazaars.
It was among the largest and grandest mosques in India.
At that time there was no place higher than Jama Masjid in the city.
Culture:
During Shah Jahan’s time, Delhi was an important centre of Sufi culture.
There were many dargahs, khanqahs and idgahs in Delhi.
Open squares, winding lanes, quiet cul-de-sacs and water channels were the pride of Delhi’s residents.
Social Disparities:
There were sharp divisions between rich and poor.
Havelis or mansions were interspersed with the far more numerous mud houses of the poor.
The colourful world of poetry and dance was usually enjoyed only by men.
Women had to live within the confines of their homes.
Celebrations and processions often led to serious conflicts.
The Making of New Delhi:
The British gained control of Delhi in 1803; after defeating the Marathas.
At that time, Calcutta was the capital of British India.
Hence, the Mughal emperor was allowed to live in the palace complex in the Re Fort.
The British shifted their capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911.
The modern city of Delhi developed only after that.
Demolishing a Past:
Before 1857, Delhi did not hold much importance from the British perspective.
Hence, it developed in somewhat different way than other colonial cities.
In the Presidency Cities, the living spaces of Indians and the British were sharply separated.
While the Indians lived in the “black” areas, the British lived in well-laid out “white” areas.
During the first half of the nineteenth century, the British lived along with the wealthier Indians in the Walled City.
They learned to enjoy Urdu/Persian culture and poetry and participated in local festivals.
All this changed after 1857.
The British wanted Delhi to forget its Mughal past.
During the revolt of 1857, they recognized the importance of the Mughal rule and the symbolic importance of Delhi.
The area around the Fort was completely cleared of gardens, pavilions and mosques.
The British wanted a clear ground for security reasons.
Mosques were either destroyed, or put to other uses.
No worship was allowed in the Jama Masjid for five years.
One-third of the city was demolished, and its canals were filled up.
In the 1870s, the western walls of Shahjahanabad were broken to establish the railway and to allow the city to expand beyond the walls.
The British now began living in the sprawling Civil Lines area that came up in the north, away from the Indians in the Walled City.
Planning a New Capital:
Symbolic Importance of Delhi:
Since the British had realized the symbolic importance of Delhi, they began to hold spectacular events in Delhi.
For example; Viceroy Lytton organized a Durbar in 1877 to acknowledge Queen Victoria as the Empress of India.
It was important for the British to celebrate their power with pomp and show in the city which had been the capital of the Mughal emperors.
Change of the Capital:
When King George was crowned in England, a Durbar was held in Delhi in 1911 to celebrate the occasion.
This occasion was used for announcing the decision to shift the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi.
New Delhi was constructed as a 10-square-mile city on Raisina Hill, which lay to the south of the existing city.
Two architects, Edward Lutyens and Herbert Baker, were called on to design New Delhi and its buildings.
The government complex in New Delhi consisted of a two-mile avenue, Kingsway (now Rajpath).
The Kingsway t led to the Viceroy’s Palace (now Rashtrapati Bhavan).
The Secretariat buildings were built on either sides of the avenue.
Fusion of Different Architecture:
The features of these government buildings were borrowed from different periods of India’s imperial history.
But the overall look was kept Classical Greece (fifth century BCE).
For example, the central dome of the Viceroy’s Palace was copied from the Buddhist stupa at Sanchi.
The red sandstone and carved screens or jails were borrowed from Mughal architecture.
The Viceroy’s Palace was made higher than the Jama Masjid; in order to assert British importance.
New Theme of the New City:
It took nearly 20 years to build New Delhi. A new city was to be built as a stark contrast to Shahjahandab.
Compared to the crowded mohallas and mazes of narrow bylanes of the Old Delhi, there were broad, straight streets in New Delhi.
Sprawling mansions were built in the middle of large compounds.
New Delhi had to represent a sense of law and order; in contrast to the chaos of Old Delhi.
Overcrowded spaces were seen by the British as unhygienic and unhealthy; the source of disease.
Hence, New Delhi had to have better water supply, sewage disposal and drainage facility.
It had to be green, with trees and parks to ensure fresh air and adequate supply of oxygen.
Life in the time of Partition:
The Partition of India took place in 1947.
It led to a massive transfer of populations on both sides of the new border.
The population of Delhi swelled as a result.
The kind of occupations of people changed.
The culture of the city became entirely different.
Mass Migration:
After independence and partition, fierce rioting began.
Thousands of people in Delhi were killed.
Their homes were looted and burned.
Hordes of Muslims left for Pakistan and their place was taken by equally large numbers of Sikh and Hindu refugees from Pakistan.
Refugees roamed the streets of Shahjahanbad, in search of empty homes to occupy.
They even forced the Muslims to leave or sell their properties.
Over two-thirds of the Muslims from Delhi migrated.
Almost 44Settlement of Refugees: Delhi became a city of refugees.
About 500,000 people were added to Delhi’s population which was about 800,000 at that time.
Most of the migrants came from Punjab.
They stayed in camps, schools, military barracks and gardens.
Some got the opportunity to occupy the vacant residences; others were accommodated in refugee colonies.
New colonies; like Lajpat Nagar and Tilak Nagar came up at this time.
Shops and stalls opened to cater to the demands of the migrants.
Schools and colleges were also opened.
Need to Change Skills Set:
The skills and the occupations of the refugees were altogether different from those who had been replaced.
Most of the Muslims who went to Pakistan were artisans, petty traders and labourers.
The new migrants who came to Delhi were rural landlords, lawyers, teachers, traders and small shopkeepers.
But partition changed their lives and their occupations.
However, many of them prospered in their new occupations.
The large-scale migration from Punjab changed the social fabric of Delhi.
Earlier, it was an urban culture which was largely based on Urdu.
The earlier culture was overshadowed by new tastes and sensibilities; in food, dress and arts.
Overshadowed by new tastes and sensibilities; in food, dress and arts.
Inside the Old City:
In the past, the famed canals had brought not only fresh drinking water to homes, but also water for other domestic uses.
This was an excellent system of water supply and drainage.
But it was neglected in the nineteenth century.
The system of wells (or baolis) broke down.
The channels to remove household waste were damaged.
This was also the time when the population of the city was growing continuously.
The broken-down system of canals could not serve the needs of the rapidly growing population.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Shahjahani drains were closed down.
A new system of open surface drains was introduced.
But very soon, this system became overburdened.
Many of the wealthier inhabitants complained about But the Delhi Municipal Committee was not willing to spend money on a good drainage system.
On the other hand, millions of rupees were being spent on drainage system in the New Delhi area.
The Decline of Havelis:
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Mughal aristocracy lived in grand mansions; called havelis.
A haveli housed many families.
The beautiful gateway to the haveli led to an open courtyard.
The courtyard was surrounded by public rooms which were meant for visitors and business.
The public rooms were exclusively used by males.
The inner courtyard too had pavilions and rooms.
They were used by the women of the household.
Rooms in the haveli were used for multiple purposes.
They had little by way of furniture.
Under the conditions of the British rule, many of the Mughal amirs were not in a position to maintain these large establishments.
Hence, havelis began to be subdivided and sold.
The street front of the havelis often turned into shops or warehouses.
While some havelis were taken over by the upcoming mercantile class, most fell into decay and disuses.
The colonial bungalow was quite different from the haveli.
It was meant for one nuclear family.
It was a large single-storeyed structure, with a pitched roof.
The bungalow was usually set in one or two acres of open ground.
Living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms were separate.
The bungalow usually had a wide verandah in the front; and sometimes on three sides.
A separate space from the main house was utilised to build kitchens, stables and servants’ quarters.
Services of dozens of servants were taken to run the house.
The women of the household usually sat on the verandah to supervise tailors or other tradesmen.
New Plan of the Municipality:
The census of 1931 revealed horrible situation in the walled city.
It was overcrowded with as many as 90 persons per acre.
On the other hand, New Delhi had only about 3 persons per acre.
But in spite of the poor conditions, the walled city continued to expand.
An extension scheme; called the Lahore gate Improvement Scheme was planned by Robert Clarke for the Walled City residents; in 1888.
The plan was to draw the residents away from the Old City.
A new type of market square was planned in the new extension.
Streets in this redevelopment strictly followed the grid pattern.
Land was divided into regular areas for the construction of neighborhoods.
Was divided into regular areas for the construction of neighborhoods.
But the development remained incomplete and could not help to decongest the Old City.
Even in 192, water supply and drainage in these new localities was very poor.
The Delhi Improvement Trust was set up in 1936.
It built areas like Daryaganj South for wealthy Indians.
Houses were grouped around parks. Within the houses, space was divided according to new rules of privacy.
Instead of spaces being shared by many families or groups, now different members of the same family had their own private spaces within the home.
