City guide · दिल्ली Delhi

Delhi

A capital built from seven ancient cities: Humayun's Tomb and New Delhi

Photo: Slyronit · CC BY-SA 4.0

Delhi is India's capital territory, where the bazaars and mosques of Old Delhi sit alongside the tree-lined avenues and government buildings of New Delhi. Humayun's Tomb was the first masterpiece of the Mughal garden tomb, built about eighty years before the Taj Mahal.

History

How the city came to be

The site of Delhi's Old Fort (Purana Qila) is thought to match Indraprastha in the epic Mahabharata, though excavations have found no trace of that ancient city. From the early 13th century to the mid-19th century Delhi was the capital first of the Delhi Sultanate and then of the Mughal Empire. In 1556 the Mughal emperor Humayun died after falling down the stairs of his library, and his widow Bega Begum built Humayun's Tomb for him. In 1911 British India moved its capital to Delhi, to the new city of New Delhi built to the south; after independence in 1947, New Delhi remained the capital.

Early 13th centuryBecame capital of the Delhi Sultanate
1556Humayun died
1569–1570Humayun's Tomb was built
1911New Delhi became the capital of British India
1947India became independent, with New Delhi as its capital

Stories

Stories of the city

History · Humayun's Tomb, Delhi

The emperor who fell down the library stairs

Soon after taking the throne, Humayun was defeated by Sher Shah and lost his entire empire; only after fifteen years of exile did he retake Delhi with the help of the Safavid dynasty of Persia. On 24 January 1556, descending the stairs of his library, the Sher Mandal, with an armful of books, he heard the call to prayer; as he tried to kneel he lost his footing and fell, dying a few days later. His widow Bega Begum then built this garden tomb for him.

People