"Dehli" a New Delhi Travel Page by onuk

Delhi (Hindi: दिल्ली, Punjabi: ਦਿੱਲੀ, Urdu: دلی, IPA: [d̪ɪlːiː]) sometimes referred to as Dilli, is the second-largest metropolis in India, after Mumbai, with a population of 11.5 million, and with an extended metropolitan population of almost 22 million.[4][5] Located in northern India on the banks of the River Yamuna, Delhi has the political status of a federally-administered union territory known as the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), which in itself is part of National Capital Region. A constitutional amendment in 1991 gave Delhi a special status among the Union Territories; Delhi has its own legislative assembly with limited powers. The National Capital Territory of Delhi comprises nine districts, 27 tehsils, three statutory towns viz. Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB), 59 census towns and 165 villages.[6]

Delhi is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. Having been the capital of several empires in ancient India, Delhi was a major city in the old trade routes from northwest India to the Gangetic Plains. Many ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance have been erected in its history.[7] The Mughals built a section of the city (now known as Old City or Old Delhi) that served as the capital of Mughal Empire for a long period. During the British Raj, New Delhi was built as an administrative quarter of the city. New Delhi was declared the capital of India after India gained independence from British rule in 1947. As the seat of the Government of India, New Delhi houses important offices of the federal government, including the Parliament of India, making Delhi a powerhouse of Indian politics.

Delhi has grown up to be a cosmopolitan city owing to the immigration of people from across the country. Like many other large cities of the world, Delhi suffers from urbanisation problems such as pollution, traffic congestion, and scarcity of resources[8]. The rapid development and urbanisation of Delhi and surrounding areas coupled with the high average income of the populace has largely eclipsed socio-cultural traits that used to represent Delhi until a few years after independence.[9][10][11] Today, Delhi is a major cultural, political, and commercial center of India.

Etymology

The etymology of "Delhi" is uncertain. The most common view is that it is an eponym of Dhillu, a king who ruled the area in ancient times.[12] Some historians believe that the name is derived from Dilli, a corruption of dehleez or dehali—Hindustani for 'threshold'—and symbolic of city as a gateway to the Indo-Gangetic Plain.[13] Another theory suggests that the city's original name was Dhillika.[14] The Hindi/Prakrit word dhili ("loose") was also used for the area, and gradually transformed into the local name "Dilli". The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomara Rajputs were called dehliwal [15]

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History


Human habitation was probably present in and around Delhi during the second millennium BC and before, as evidenced by archeological relics.[17] The city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata.[12] Settlements grew from the time of the Mauryan Empire (c. 300 BC).[17] Remains of seven major cities have been discovered in Delhi. The Tomara dynasty founded the city of Lal Kot in 736 AD. The Chauhan Rajputs of Ajmer conquered Lal Kot in 1180 AD and renamed it Qila Rai Pithora. The Chauhan king Prithviraj III was defeated in 1192 by the Afghan Muhammad Ghori.[12] In 1206, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, the first ruler of the Slave Dynasty established the Delhi Sultanate. Qutb-ud-din started the construction the Qutub Minar and Quwwat-al-Islam (might of Islam), the earliest extant mosque in India.[12][18] After the fall of the Slave dynasty, a succession of Turkic and Central Asian dynasties, the Khilji dynasty, the Tughluq dynasty, the Sayyid dynasty and the Lodhi dynasty held power in the late medieval period, and built a sequence of forts and townships that are part of the seven cities of Delhi.[19] In 1398, Timur Lenk invaded India on the pretext that the Muslim sultans of Delhi were too much tolerant to their Hindu subjects. Timur entered Delhi and the city was sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins.[20] Delhi was a major center of sufism (a mystic tradition of Islam) during the Sultanate period.[21] In 1526, Zahiruddin Babur defeated the last Lodhi sultan in the First Battle of Panipat and founded the Mughal Empire that ruled from Delhi, Agra and Lahore.[12]

The Mughal Empire ruled northern India for more than three centuries, with a five-year hiatus during Sher Shah Suri's reign in the mid-16th century.[22] In the year 1556, a great Hindu Hero, named HEMU, won Agra and Delhi and had his coronation in Purana Kila on 6th Oct. 1956.He re-established the Vikramaditya Dynasty being a Hindu King.Mughal emperor Akbar shifted the capital from Agra to Delhi. Shah Jahan built the seventh city of Delhi that bears his name (Shahjahanabad), and is more commonly known as the Old City or Old Delhi. The old city served as the capital of the Mughal Empire since 1638. Nader Shah defeated the Mughal army at the huge Battle of Karnal in February, 1739. After this victory, Nader captured and sacked Delhi, carrying away many treasures, including the Peacock Throne.[23] In 1761, Delhi was raided by Ahmed Shah Abdali after the Third battle of Panipat. At the Battle of Delhi on 11 September 1803, General Lake's British forces defeated the Marathas.

Delhi came under direct British control after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.[12] Shortly after the Rebellion, Calcutta was declared the capital of British India and Delhi was made a district province of the Punjab. In 1911, Delhi was again declared as the capital of British India. Parts of the old city were pulled down to create New Delhi; a monumental new quarter of the city designed by the British architect Edwin Lutyens to house the government buildings. New Delhi, also known as Lutyens' Delhi, was officially declared as the seat of the Government of India and the capital of the republic after independence on 15 August 1947. During the partition of India thousands of Hindu and Sikh refugees from West Punjab and Sindh migrated to Delhi. Migration to Delhi from the rest of India continues, contributing more to the rise of Delhi's population than the birth rate, which is declining.[24]

In 1984, the assassination of Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister of India) led to violent backlash against the Sikh community, resulting in over two thousand seven hundred deaths.[25] The Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991 declared the Union Territory of Delhi to be formally known as National Capital Territory of Delhi.[26] The Act gave Delhi its own legislative assembly, though with limited powers.[26]

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Geography and Climate

The National Capital Territory of Delhi is spread over an area of 1,483 km² (573 sq mi), of which 783 km² (302 sq mi) is designated rural, and 700 km² (270 sq mi) urban. Delhi has a maximum length of 51.9 km (32 mi) and the maximum width of 48.48 km (30 mi). There are three local bodies (statutory towns) namely, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (area is 1,397.3 km² (540 sq mi)), New Delhi Municipal Committee (42.7 km² (16 sq mi)) and Delhi Cantonment Board (43 km² (17 sq mi)).[27]
The Great Gangetic Plains cover most of Delhi, as can be seen in this NASA image.
The Great Gangetic Plains cover most of Delhi, as can be seen in this NASA image.

Delhi is located at [show location on an interactive map] 28°61′N, 77°23′E, and lies in northern India. It borders the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh on East and Haryana on West, North and South. Delhi lies almost entirely in the Gangetic plains. Two prominent features of the geography of Delhi are the Yamuna flood plain and the Delhi ridge. The low-lying Yamuna flood plains provide fertile alluvial soil suitable for agriculture. However, these plains are prone to recurrent floods. Reaching up to a height of 318 m (1043 ft),[28] the ridge forms the most dominating feature in this region. It originates from the Aravalli Range in the south and encircles the west, northeast and northwest parts of the city. Yamuna, a sacred river in Hinduism, is the only major river flowing through Delhi. Most of the city, including New Delhi, lies west of the river. East of the river is the urban area of Shahdara. Delhi falls under seismic zone-IV, making it vulnerable to major earthquakes. [29]

Delhi has a semi-arid climate with high variation between summer and winter temperatures. Summers are long, from early April to October, with the monsoon season in between. During the summer season, the city faces extreme power and water shortages.[30] The summer heat waves kill dozens each year.[30] Winter starts in November and peaks in January and is notorious for its heavy fog, which often disrupts road, air and rail traffic.[31] Extreme temperatures range from −0.6 °C (30.9 °F) to 47 °C (117 °F).[32] The annual mean temperature is 25 °C (77 °F); monthly mean temperatures range from 14 °C to 33 °C (58 °F to 92 °F).[33] The average annual rainfall is approximately 714 mm (28.1 inches), most of which is during the monsoons in July and August.[12] The average date of the advent of monsoon winds in Delhi is 29 June.[34]