page_title: Paharganj
section_title: British era
hierarchical_section_title: Paharganj / History / British era
caption_attribution_description: The busy, chaotic streets of the Paharganj area of Delhi.
context_page_description: Paharganj is a neighbourhood of Central Delhi, located just west of the New Delhi Railway Station. Known as Shahganj or King's ganj or market place during Mughal era, it is one of the three administrative subdivisions, of the Central Delhi district, of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, with the other two being, Darya Ganj and Karol Bagh.
  The area is popular with low-budget travellers for the cheap lodgings, however, Paharganj has a poor record regarding safety for women, both domestic and international tourists, with Indian authorities encouraging tourists to refrain from the area, since it is an epicenter of the city's drug crime, sexual assaults and sex trade. Instead, the more modern South Delhi, particularly the neighbourhood of Hauz Khas within South Delhi, is now becoming the main center for backpackers. The proliferation of illegal bars and illegal activities like drug peddling, Paharganj has also become a hotspot for crime, and a criminal hideout. Many hotels and lodging in Paharganj are engaged in sex trade, gambling and other illicit activity, resulting in death of tourists.
context_section_description: When the Lutyens' Delhi was being built in the 1920s, the area also saw major development, and the old 'Imperial theatre', built-in 1930, stands as a legacy to that era. Though its neighboring area of Jaisinghpura, where Gurudwara Bangla Sahib stands today, along with Madhoganj and Raja ka Bazaar were demolished to make way for the Connaught Place, shopping district. Indeed, the "Delhi Town Planning Committee on the planning of new Imperial capital" with George Swinton as chairman and John A. Brodie and Lutyens as members, submitted its report on 13 June 1912, it proposed a plan to include Paharganj and Sadar Bazaar into the developing new imperial city, as they were only areas of Old Delhi, spilling into the planned New Delhi area. However, it was rejected by the Viceroy, when the cost of compensation while acquiring the properties, was found to be too high. The central axis of New Delhi, which today faces east at India Gate, was previously meant to be a North-South axis, linking Viceroy's House with Paharganj, as the end of the axis.
  Gradually, Chai-Tuti-Chowk or Six Tuti Chowk, named after six water taps originally place here for the public, developed as an important market square, and a shopping area of Paharganj, within shops of cloth merchants coming up around it. Prior to the inauguration of New Delhi in 1931, the New Delhi Railway Station was opened with a single platform near Ajmeri Gate in 1926, till then the Old Delhi Railway Station served the entire city. This changed Paharganj landscape indelibly, with an influx of travelers, small eateries started coming up in the area, and also temporary residential facilities.
  The famous Shri Nand Lal Sharma dhaba was set up here in 1928, over time, his son built a three-storey hotel on spot, and now his grandson manages the Metropolis, known for its rooftop restaurant, which still has many Russian dishes on its menu. "Shiela Cinema" at Paharganj was Delhi's first 70mm screen, second being "Odeon" in Connaught Place. "Imperial" and "Khanna" were other talkies in the area. Gradually, the entire area was catering to the tourism industry, though the grain bazaars of Mughal era were long gone, in early 20th century, Paharganj still had principal markets in Delhi for building materials, cement, timber and steel, but by 1947 they had mostly shifted to other locations in the city, while Paharganj had become primarily a densely populated residential and commercial area, replete with cheap hotels and restaurants for domestic and foreign tourists.
  Paharganj witnessed upheavals during the prolonged Indian independence struggle, like during the Quit India Movement of August 1942, the British barracks near Paharganj were attacked and the soldiers' were thrown out, who then sought refuge in an Indian's bungalow, later the Paharganj Post office and five terminal tax posts were also raided by the mob and burnt down.
caption: Cheh Tuti Chowk or Six Tuti Chowk, Main Bazar, Paharganj, with historic Qazi Wali Masjid in the background.
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