by Jerry Pinto
The city’s cosmopolitan character strengthened with many Hindu and Muslim communities working out a way of living together, managing differences and intermingling with each other. Sufism—a mystical strand of Islam that came into its own on the subcontinent—brought the two communities close. The dancing and singing of the Sufis, and their intense and personal love for god, were familiar to the Hindus.
The many markets that dotted the city acted as the backbone of this cosmopolitanism. These bazaars sold goods, commodities and services brought from different parts of the world and the subcontinent. Artisan communities, traders, slaves and courtesans provided the city with a unique dynamism. The city had numerous mosques, temples and shrines that belonged to various communities and cults. Each political upheaval saw the introduction of a new community, a new world view.
It was in 1526 that Zahiruddin Babur defeated the last Lodhi sultan and founded the Mughal Empire that controlled its large territories from Delhi, Lahore and Agra. The empire ruled the northern part of India for more than three centuries.
In the mid-sixteenth century, there was an interruption in the Mughal rule when Sher Shah Suri defeated Babur’s son Humayun, forcing him to flee to Afghanistan and Persia. Sher Shah Suri built the sixth city of Delhi, the Purana Qila and the Grand Trunk Road. After his death, Humayun recovered the throne with considerable help from allies in Persia. The third Mughal emperor, Akbar, moved the capital to Agra resulting in a temporary decline in the fortunes of Delhi.
However, Delhi regained some of its glory in the mid-seventeenth century, when the Mughal emperor Shahjahan transferred the capital back to Delhi. He built the township that still bears his name: Shahjahanabad. This became the seventh city of Delhi, commonly known as Old Delhi. It contains the Red Fort (Lal Qila) and the Jama Masjid. It was in Shahjahanabad that the king’s daughter Roshanara built the marketplace called Chandni Chowk. Much of the charm of Delhi and its ability to inspire poets, musicians and intellectuals reached its peak during this period. There was a rich interaction between courtly art practices and the enchantment of the street markets; between learned intellectuals and ordinary citizens.
All through Mughal rule, Delhi prospered as never before—even during the brief time when the empire’s capital moved to Agra. It was the main trade and transport hub connecting various textile centres from Gujarat to Bengal. It became a centre for intellectual and artistic excellence. In the seventeenth century, it was declared the richest and the most magnificent city between Istanbul in Turkey and Edo in Japan. With a population of two million inhabitants, it was larger than London or Paris of that time.
We can get a good glimpse of how the rulers and the rich people lived in the seventeenth century through the story of Dara Shikoh.
He was the eldest and favourite son of Shahjahan. He was very popular with the people of Delhi. Historians refer to him as a man of refined sensibilities and a true intellectual. He demonstrated this with his keen interest in Hindu mystical philosophy and Sufism. He sought a philosophical bridge between Islam and Hinduism and was convinced that the link was to be found in the philosophy of the Upanishads, which he called ‘the most perfect of the divine revelations’. He is said to have translated, with the help of a pandit, fifty-two Upanishads into Persian, a project that was eventually completed in 1657. These were subsequently translated into French and then introduced to the west. Dara also had the Gita and Yoga Vashishta translated into Persian. He is credited with the work Majmua ul Bahrain (the mingling of the two oceans) which is a comparative study of Hinduism and Islam. He followed the Qadri order of the Sufis. He met with a tragic death at the hands of his younger brother Aurangzeb, in a typical case of bloody brotherly rivalry that was so characteristic of the royals. Aurangzeb was crowned in Shalimar Gardens, five miles north of Delhi in 1658. He too was an astute ruler though much more orthodox than his family.
By the early eighteenth century, Delhi was home to many scholars who enriched the intellectual ambience of the city. Their ideas encouraged people to understand each other across religious and community barriers. Shah Wali Ullah was a Sufi of the Naqshbandi order who translated the Quran into Persian and wrote Quranic commentaries and works on theology and jurisprudence. He attempted to show that Sufism was in accord with Islam. During his time, he was not such a major influence but he did rise to prominence in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in India and Pakistan.
Then there was Khwaja Mir Dard who became an ascetic and was recognized as a spiritual leader of both the Naqshbandi and Chishti orders. Khwaja Mir Dard was born in Delhi and is credited with the introduction of the mushaira—an assembly of poets. He is also remembered for his Urdu poetry. Other eighteenth-century poets of Delhi included Abru, Sauda, Jan Mazhar, Mirza Mohammad Rafi Sauda and Mohammad Taqi Mir. Taqi Mir came to Delhi and established his name by introducing realism in Urdu poetry. Then there were Shah Abdul Latif who was born in Hyderabad (Sind), Bulleh Shah, one of the most admired Punjabi Sufi poets, and Waris Shah who wrote in Punjabi using the metaphors of earthly love.
The Delhi of this period is vividly alive, as it has been captured in the works of many writers. Dargah Quli Khan, for example, wrote the Muraqqa-e-Delhi, which described the city’s glamorous world of dancers and courtesans—with a specially besotted section on a courtesan called Nur Bai.
By the early nineteenth century, it was soon evident to all that the mighty Mughal Empire had to make way for a new political force. The British were now quite clearly rulers of a large chunk of the subcontinent and they had their eyes on Delhi. Backed by their army, they soon took over the city. In 1803, it was occupied by Gerard Lake who had defeated the armies of the Scindias and the Holkars. Lake was instrumental in cutting the city’s imperial pretensions down to size and was rewarded with the title Lord Gerard Lake, First Viscount of Delhi. The emperor Shah Alam and his two successors were referred to as the kings of Delhi; they lost the title of ‘emperor’. By the middle of the nineteenth century, with the rule of Bahadur Shah Zafar, it was obvious that the king of Delhi was a puppet and the British were firmly in command. Yet, the memory of Delhi was powerful and would not die. In the 1857 uprising, armies from different parts of the country marched to Delhi.
The British also understood that Delhi was an important city and a symbol. It was believed that those who control Delhi controlled the heart of India. Thus, they fought a bloody battle with the rebel soldiers and recaptured the city. They plundered the glorious Red Fort and razed it to make way for British barracks. Three thousand citizens were tried and executed. Eventually, the arrested king Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to Rangoon in a bullock cart and members of his family were killed. The inhabitants of Delhi were all turned out of the gates to starve in the countryside.
These decades of violence in the nineteenth century were reflected directly and indirectly in the poems of the city’s many poets. The most famous ones were Shaikh Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq, Momin Khan and Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib. (Bahadur Shah Zafar too wrote some fine poetry about Delhi.)
As the twentieth century dawned, the city’s fortunes changed once again. In 1911, Delhi was declared the new capital of the subcontinent and parts of the city were recreated into New Delhi. This was an enclave designed by the British architect Edwin Lutyens to house the buildings of the British government. It was laid out to the south of the old city but overlaid the site of the seven ancient townships of Delhi. Thus, it came to encompass many historic monuments, including the Jantar Mantar and Humayun’s Tomb.
At the heart of New Delhi, atop Raisina Hill is the magnificent Rashtrapati Bhavan. Rajpath, also known as King’s Way or the Royal Road, stretches from India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Secretariat, which houses various ministries of the government of India, emerges out of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sansad Bhavan or Parliament House, where the elected representatives of the people make India’s laws, is located on Sansad Marg, which runs parallel to Rajpath. Herbert Baker, who designed the building, was a British archi
tect who also designed the South African parliament house. After India gained independence in 1947, a chief commissioner appointed by the government of India ruled Delhi. In 1956, it was converted into a union territory and controlled by a Lieutenant Governor. The Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991 declared the Union Territory of Delhi to be formally known as National Capital Territory of Delhi. A system of diarchy was put into place. This meant that there was an elected government with wide powers. The Centre, however, retained control of law and order. This legislation was actually enforced only in 1993.
New Delhi became the seat of the government of India and the capital of the free republic after Independence on 15 August 1947. Along with independence came the challenges thrown up by Partition when lakhs of Hindu and Sikh refugees from west Punjab and Sindh migrated to Delhi.
This is where the city’s rich intellectual, artistic and cosmopolitan heritage came into use once again. It helped the city absorb the complexities of three different religious traditions and form a composite urban social fabric. Of course, it was not smooth sailing. The city’s political experiences were tumultuous. As the capital of a new emerging nation that followed an ambitious ideological path of socialism and secularism, it found itself facing many challenges. Local politics and the strong arm of the bureaucracy produced a culture of official interference and nepotism. Simultaneously, the city developed a strong institutional culture and various literary and artistic academies were established along with some really high quality universities.
With the Asian Games in the early 1980s, Delhi developed a strong infrastructure for sports and public events. It also became a major production house for television programming. The city kept growing over the decades and today has developed into a vibrant, commercial city, even boasting of an underground metro railway that its citizens feel very proud about.
Delhi has now stretched to areas beyond to borders, helped by real estate developers. Gurgaon and Noida, which belong to neighbouring states—with their rash of malls and high-rises—are as much part of Delhi as any of its own townships.
Entertaining elephants
William Dalrymple
That week Olivia and I visited Dr Jaffery’s family haveli in the walled city for the first time. He had been very nervous about inviting us.
‘You should not make friends with an elephant keeper,’ he had said, ‘unless you first have room to entertain an elephant.’
‘Doctor, I wish you would explain your aphorisms sometimes.’
‘My friend: I am referring to you. You are a European. You come from a rich country. I am too poor to entertain you in the style to which you are accustomed.’ Dr Jaffery frowned: ‘I am a simple man. I live in a simple house. You will be disgusted by my simple ways.’
‘Don’t be silly, doctor. Of course I won’t.’
‘So if I invited you to my house you would not be upset by the simple food I would serve?’
‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure.’
‘In that case you and your wife must come and eat some simple dervish dishes with me and my family.’
William Dalrymple has written many fine books on travel and history. This excerpt is taken from his book City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi.
It was now early March and Ramadan had just begun. With its overwhelmingly Hindu population, New Delhi was quite unchanged by the onset of the Muslim month of fasting but the Old City had been transformed since our last visit. There were now far fewer people about: many streets were deserted but for groups of tethered goats fattening for their slaughter on Id-ul-Zuha. Those Muslims who were out on the streets looked bad-tempered: they had not eaten or drunk since before dawn, and were in no mood for smiles or pleasantries. Even the endlessly patient bicycle rickshaw drivers muttered curses under their breath as they drove us uphill through the narrowing funnel of tightly-packed houses.
Dr Jaffery’s house lay a short distance from the Turkman Gate, off the narrow Ganj Mir Khan. A steep flight of steps off the street led to a first-floor courtyard dotted with pots of bougainvillaea. Here we were met by Fardine, Dr Jaffery’s nephew.
Fardine was a tall, good-looking boy, about sixteen years old; like his uncle he was dressed in white kurta pyjamas. Dr Jaffery was still giving lectures at the college, Fardine said. Would we like to come upstairs and help him fly his pigeons until Dr Jaffery arrived for iftar, the meal eaten at sunset each day during Ramadan?
He led us up four flights of dark, narrow stairs, before disappearing up a rickety ladder out on to the roof. We followed and emerged on to a flat terrace with a magnificent view over Old Delhi. To the right rose the three swelling domes of the great Jama Masjid; to the left you could see the ripple of small semi-domes and terraces which surmounted the houses of Shahjahanabad, I saw for the first time that secret Delhi which lies hidden from those who only know the city from ground level. From Dr Jaffery’s rooftop you could look out, past the anonymous walls which face on to the Old Delhi lanes, and see into the shady courtyards and the gardens which form the real heart of the Old City.
In the last hour before the breaking of the Ramadan fast, the courtyards and rooftops were filling with people. Some were lying on charpoys, snoozing away the last minutes before their first meal for thirteen hours. Others sat out on carpets beneath the shady trees enjoying the cool of the evening. Nearby, little boys were playing with brightly coloured diamond-shaped kites which they flew up into the warm evening breeze. They pulled sharply at the strings, then released the kites so that they flew in a succession of angular jerks, higher and higher into the pink evening sky.
Hyderabad
From Charminar city to Cyberabad
Think Hyderabad and the first thing that comes to mind is the Charminar (which means ‘four minarets’). This beautiful monument built by Muhammad Shah dominates the old city. With its twisting by-lanes, busy markets and colourful shops full of bangles and pearls, all garnished with the delicious drift of spices from eateries that sell dishes that once tickled the palates of its rulers, the city seems to breathe history. But today, Hyderabad also lays claim to being ‘Cyberabad’, the city of computing technology. Like so many Indian cities, Hyderabad lives in many time zones at once.
Hyderabad came into its own as a trading city nurtured by the Qutub Shahi dynasty. Its Turkish rulers reigned in present-day Andhra Pradesh, from the fourteenth century onwards. At that time, their fort enclosed a small trading township known as Muhammad Nagar. It grew rapidly into one of the leading cities of the East—well known for its diamonds and precious stones—and was rechristened Golconda.
In the sixteenth century, the city was struck by the plague and a shortage of water. Mohammed Quli, the fifth Qutub Shahi ruler, shifted the location of the city to a more suitable place not far from the older settlement. But it was not only these mundane problems that made him move. Reportedly, Mohammad Quli was enamoured by a dancer called Bhagmati, who belonged to a small village called Chichelam, near the present-day site of the famous gateway of Charminar. The king is said to have named his new town Bhagyanagar, for love of the dancer. This does not seem to have been one of those immortal loves though, for subsequently he himself changed the name of the entire settlement to Hyderabad.
The famous Charminar marked the centre of this new city. It was built in 1591 to commemorate the eradication of plague from the region. It has tall minarets, fifty-six metres high, with spiral staircases and huge arches on either side. Wide roads radiate in all four directions from it. A bustling bazaar surrounds the structure. It was, and remains, full of the cries of tradesmen, merchants, hustlers and shopkeepers selling and buying silk, metalwork, pearls, bangles, rare books and manuscripts. The city had trading links for nearly five centuries all across Asia. The trade of pearls involved exchanges between China, Sri Lanka and the Gulf regions. Even today, skilled artisans work on raw pearls to produce exquisite pieces of jewellery. Pattri Gali (pearl street) is a whole street dedicated to pearls.
The city has
a unique linguistic heritage in which Urdu—a language that emerged through exchanges between Persian and local languages—and Telugu coexist quite harmoniously. Credit for this goes to another member of the dynasty, Ibrahim Quli, who learnt to love Telugu and speak it almost as his second mother tongue. He did this as a guest of the king of the Vijayanagara Empire. When he ascended the throne, Ibrahim patronized and encouraged the learning and writing of Telugu. During his reign, poets from all over the Deccan converged at his court for animated sessions of poetic exchanges in Urdu, Persian and Telugu.
Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah invited his nobles to construct all kinds of buildings within the city’s walls and they generously obliged with exquisite mosques, schools and almshouses. The dam at Hussain Sagar too is credited to him. It is said that the dynasty lavished so much love on the city and beautified it with so many palaces and gardens that foreign travellers compared it to Isfahan in Iran, another city famed for its beauty.
The nephew and son-in-law of Mohammad Quli, Sultan Muhammad (1612–1626) ascended the throne as the sixth Qutub Shahi. He was a scholar, a devout man and a lover of books. The informative Qutub Shahi chronicles were completed during his reign. He started building the Mecca Masjid in 1617 and completed the construction of a township called Sultan Nagar.
The Turkish dynasty came under attack from the Mughals. Qutub Shahi Abul Hasan (1672–1699) had to face the worst of it. He was the last king of the dynasty. In 1687, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb besieged the fortress of Golconda for eight months. He might have been forced to raise the siege were it not for a treacherous soldier who let the Mughal army into the stronghold of Hyderabad.
And so the city of Hyderabad fell to Aurangzeb. Subsequently, Mir Qamaruddin, son of one of Aurangzeb’s able officers and a favourite, assumed the title of Nizam-ul-Mulk and established the Asif Jahi dynasty. It spanned seven generations, from 1724 to 1948. During this time, the state of Hyderabad eventually covered an extensive 246,921.696 sq km (95,337 sq miles). It was larger than England, Scotland and Wales combined. With the diversity of languages and people and because of its sheer size and culture, the state and the city gained tremendous importance in the subcontinent.
