The Story behind Establishment of the Delhi Sultanate
There are a million stories related to the history of the cities of Delhi , Jaipur and Agra , The most popular tourist itinerary in India . The Golden Triangle tour packages include visit to innumerable monuments built over 100s of years, There are tales of intrigue and fantasy on how these cities came into power , Below is Delhi’s story :
Shahjahanabad was the splendidly egoistic and exotic-sounding name given by its creator, Shah Jahan, to Delhi’s penultimate city, now known mundanely as Old Delhi. In 1648, the emperor triumphantly entered his new city, bringing with him the Mughal Empire’s vast administration, a treasury overflowing with gold and jewels, and his Peacock Throne which symbolized his untold wealth. Shahjahanabad fizzed into life. Princes, princesses, courtiers and their attendant servants and hangers-on paraded in the fort-palace, attended the emperor and jostled in the markets for jewels, exotic foods and attar. Merchants hurried to serve them; top craftsmen created masterpieces for them; chefs brewed up delicacies to delight them; entertainers amused them.
Today the fort-palace is deserted and lifeless; but a little of the Mughal lifestyle is played out in Old Delhi streets—women choosing gold jewellery, Muslims trading spices, and the faithful hurrying to prayer at the Jama Masjid.
A traveller visiting Delhi for Historical reasons must know that Shah Jahan (ruled 1627-58) was the fifth Mughal emperor and the greatest Mughal builder. He channeled his considerable executive ability, his unimaginable wealth, his love of magnificence and his refined aesthetic sense into architecture. Born in 1592 in Lahore and named Khurram (joyous) by his grandfather, he ascended the throne at Agra as Shah Jahan (ruler of the world) to play the lead part in an enactment of stultifying precise court etiquette that would make the Sun King’s Versailles lifestyle look liberal.
His passion for building found expression in projects to beautify the forts at Lahore and Agra and, after the death of his beloved Mumtaz, the construction of her mausoleum, the Tai Mahal. In 1638 he decided to bring the court back to the traditional capital and to lay out yet another new city, Shahjahanabad.
There were several reasons for leaving Agra: the summer heat; the overcrowded and ever-enlarging city, the physical dilapidation of the fort walls; the court’s less itinerant lifestyle demanding more space and order fort. And there were several reasons for selecting Delhi: a return to the people’s perceived capital, the traditional power-base of North India; to be near the tombs of important Sufi saints revered by the Mughal rulers; but most of all, to express to the known world Shah Jahan’s vast power and authority by association with previously powerful dynasties and by building a city to outshine theirs (and those of his Timurid ancestors).
The historian Joseph M Dye has summed up Shah Jahan as more than any other Mogul monarch… concerned, perhaps even obsessed, with the substance and external expression of imperial power. He wished to present himself … as the perfect ruler of a mighty empire which, under his wise and just rule, and with the benediction of God, had entered into a golden age of peace and prosperity’.
The site Shah Jahan chose was beside the Yamuna—the waters have since moved further eastwards, leaving muddy flats—and north of all previous Delhis except the ruins of Salimgarh fortress. With the royal astrologers’ approval, the foundation stone was laid during Muharram in 1639. A string of marble palace rooms was built overlooking the waters and enclosed by a protective fort with high, red sandstone battlements modeled on Akbar’s at Agra. The great gateways were Lahore on the west side, Agra on the south, leading to the’ two other great Mughal cities. To the west, an adjoining model city served his courtiers and soldiers and was encircled by another wall pierced by 11 gates. Chandni Chowk was its east-west thoroughfare; a magnificent mosque, the, Jama Masjid, was its southern and religious focus. According to his courtier Inayat khan, these ‘edifices resembling Paradise’ were built to the ‘promptings of his generous heart’, employed ‘multitudes of common labourers’ from all over the empire, and were completed in just ‘nine years three months and some days’.
For a tourist ,To taste the flavour of Shah Jahan’s city, start from the Jama Masjid, reaching it by going up into Old Delhi past Delhi Gate where you can see a good stretch of the city wall on the right. After the mosque, wander through the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk. But beware: it needs a good dollop of imagination to evoke Shah Jahan’s Old Delhi, a city of exotic bazars and of grand havelis (courtyard houses) found through elaborate arches, each a world in itself. As William Dalrymple wrote in his recent book on Delhi, ‘You pass through a great arch and find yourself in a rubble-filled car park’. But the arches and many more details and traditions do survive; Visit Delhi to explore the fusion of modern chaos and old traditions .
For more information on the activities , monuments , sightseeing spots in delhi – Contact , Swan Tours – one of the leading travel agents in India established since 1995.
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