page_title: Old Delhi
section_title: Old Delhi in 1876
hierarchical_section_title: Old Delhi / Old Delhi in 1876
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture taken by Kaiser Tufail during visit to Delhi, 29-4-08
context_page_description: Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area part of the greater city of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1639, when Shah Jahan decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. The construction of the city was completed in 1648, and it remained the capital of the Mughal Empire until its fall in 1857, when the British Raj took over as paramount power in India.
  It was once filled with mansions of nobles and members of the royal court, along with elegant mosques and gardens.
  Despite having become extremely crowded and inundated today, it still serves as the symbolic heart of metropolitan Delhi and is known for its bazaars, street food, shopping locations and its Islamic architecture; Jama Masjid being the most notable example, standing tall in the midst of the old city. Only a few havelis are left and maintained.
  Upon the 2012 trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Old Delhi became administered by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.
context_section_description: In 1876, Carr Stephen described the city as follows:
  Of the two streets described by François Bernier, the longer extended from the Lahore Gate of the city to the Lahore Gate of the citadel, and the other from the Delhi Gate of the city to the Lahore Gate of the fort. Both these streets were divided into several sections, each of which was known by a different name.
  The section between the Lahore Gate of the fort and the entrance of the street called the Dariba, known as the Khuni Darwazah, was called the Urdu or the Military Bazaar; owing, very probably, to the circumstances of a portion of the local garrison having been once quartered about the place. Between the Khuni Darwazah and the present Kotwali, or the Head Police Station of the city, the street has the name of Phul ka Mandi or the flower market. The houses in front of the Kotwali were built at a short distance from the line of the rest of the houses in the street, to form a square.
  Between the Kotwali and the gate known as the Taraiah, was the Jauhari or the Jewellers' Bazaar; between the Taraiah and the neighborhood is known as Asharfi ka Katra, was, par excellence, the Chandni Chowk. There was a tank in the center of the Chowk the site of which is now occupied by the Municipal Clock Tower, and beyond this to the Fatehpuri Masjid was the Fatehpuri Bazaar. The houses around Chandni Chowk were of the same height, and were ornamented with arched doors and painted verandahs. To the north and south of the square, there were two gate-ways, the former leading to the Sarai of Jehan Ara Begum, and the latter to one of the most thickly populated quarters of the city. Round the tank, the ground was covered with vegetable, fruit, and sweetmeat stalls. Over time the whole of this long street came to be known as the Chandni Chauk.
  This grand street was laid out by Jahanara Begum, daughter of Shah Jahan. From the Lahore Gate of the fort to the end of the Chandni Chauk the street was about 40 yards wide and 1,520 yards long. Through the center of this street ran the canal of 'Ali Mardan, shaded on both sides by trees. On the eastern end of the Chandni Chauk stands the Lahore Gate of the Fort, and on the opposite end the handsome mosque of Fatehpuri Begam.
  The clock tower no longer exists, although the location is still called Ghantaghar. The Sarai of Jehan Ara Begum has been replaced by the city hall. The kotwal is now adjacent to Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib.
caption: The Lahori Gate of Red Fort from Chandni Chowk.
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