The dispatch-news. [volume] (Lexington, S.C.) 1919-2001, 1922-07-19
''cITY OF KINGS"
Ancient Delhi Well Worthy of
Pompous AppeIIation.
New Capital of India Has Long His
tory Filled With Effort, Tragedy,
and Wild Romance.

It as been said as Agra is the
poets city, so is Delhi the city of
kings. And certainly there is u sense
of pomp and glory that still fingers
,about the place, an atmosphere Of van
ished splendors that strikes even the
winter tourist who wanders. guide5ooll
in hand, around it's mass of ruins and
down it's stately streets. Even so, as
YOU should see Agra first in the soft,
blurred twilight OF the day. you should
approach Delhi in the broad, brave
light of early morning. Entering the
town from the Meerut side, when the
sun is mounting serenely in pale.
clear sky, making the broad Jumna
sparkle freshly, throwing into clear re-
lief the brown, vigorous dhobis who
bang their white washing joyously up
on the stones, rousing the red, glowing
walls Of the great fort to cheerful vel
c.ulc, this is to see Delhi in it's most
vital aspect, city of life and busy.
world: activity. always at the center
of tic history of every age. For, what
ever may !m said for or against the
expensive ;i,'l troublesome removal Of
the scat az government from Calcutta.
it is at least historically fitting that
this ancient town-always at the core
of India'S history, whether as Delhi,
IndrapraStla or Shahjehanabad-
should now again become its capital.
The seven Delhis around-scattered
in ruin now-represent- of them
"A chapter of history packed with ef-
fort tragedy and romance. Never was
a city more teeming with the sense Of
the press of life, OF history inevitably
made in the shadow of it's red walls.
. Like Rome, Delhi has two distinct
pasts lying side by side. In Rome it is
the ancient Roman civilization and the
past of the Renaissance, in Delhi the
:: old days of invading Mohammedan
hordes and the period of undiluted
splendor inaugurated by the early
Mughals. But unlike Rome, Delhi has
ialways background of grimness to
:shoW to each bright picture, making
the sensuous glory Of it the more hec-
itic!y bright. Therefore, after cheer
lfui, sunny morning spent among the
gold embroideries, the worries and
silks and jewels Of the broad and
lovely Chandni Chauk-the finest
street. some say, in the wOrld-or
amidst The imperial, forgotten pomp
of the red-walled fort, the quiet of
the. evening is the time above all
others for wandering amidst the frag-
tn1ents of the ancient Delhis. The
whole of the neighborhood is strewn
with these remains, Cor although ''the
seven Delhis" is a picturesque enough
term, in sober fact the cities that lie
crumbled around the present capital
of India number twelve or thirteen,
True, Of the original city of Indrap-
rastha. built by the Pandava brothers.
and said to have been on the site of
the present village of Indarrnt. no
vestige remains. Drive out a few
miles and you will find TUghIakabad,
built by the first sultan of the house
Of Tughak. :. Long and ponderous
and grim. it lies, once so full OF the
life and hustle of medieval court,
now deserted by all save the wild pea
cocks. gorgeous as any cOurtier of old
who step daintily among it's ruins.
Wingfield Stratford In
"Inlia and the English"