Old Delhi

Shahjahanabad, colloquially known as Old Delhi (Hindustani: Purāni Dillī), is a place in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a Walled City and officially named Shahjahanabad in 1648, upon Shah Jahan's decision to shift the imperial Mughal capital from Agra. The construction of the fortified city was completed in 1648, and it remained the capital of Mughal India until its fall in 1857, when the British Empire (whose Indian capital was at Calcutta) took over as paramount power in the Indian subcontinent. After the inauguration of New Delhi as the capital of India, the locality started to be colloquially known as Old Delhi in order to distinguish it from the capital city, or the rest of the NCT Region or National Capital Region.

It serves as the symbolic heart of metropolitan Delhi, and is renowned for its bustling bazaars, restaurants, 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, Shahjahanabad was administered by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation,; however, in May 2022, Shahjahanabad was placed in the ambit of the reunified Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC) is the primary state agency responsible for the rejuvenation, conservation, development, and redevelopment of Shahjahanabad.

Text adapted from “Shahjahanabad” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Old Delhi ranks #374 of 7,044 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #13 of the 161 mapped in India. Founded 1648, it is older than 26% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 522 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. See how India compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗