Delhi is a city that has seen both glory and destruction in its long . It has been plundered, ruined time and again only to spring from its ashes to become the capital of powerful dynasties. Fortunately, the resilient and enduring culture and heritage has withstood the test of time and the city continues to live. No city reflects the endless drama of change better..The heart of Delhi can be found in Old Delhi, 350 yrs old, yet strong and beating. Its many-branched arteries are narrow with age, its veins jostle for space, and its lifeblood is bound to get clotted at some places at any time

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ShahjahanabadThe key constituents of shahjahanabad are:

A centrally located Friday mosque.

A bazaar around it with very distinct socio-economic differentiations from centre to the periphery.

A fortified city wall.

An imposing citadel

Intraurban almost labyrinthesque divisions of living quarters

Blind alleys.

The meeting of Shahjahanabad, or Old Delhi(north) and New Delhi (South). The two are separated by the walls of the Mughal city, and a band of open space- the Ramlila ground, acting as a cordon sanitaireThis part of New Delhi, around Turkman Marg, was designed as a residential district for low rank government workers.The street pattern is radically different from that of the Islamic city.3

Key Constituents of an Islamic City``

The city originated, when •The fort at Agra faced the agonizing heat, coupled with insufficient accommodation and space for Shahjahan’s lavish lifestyle and his grand ceremonial processions.

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•The Fort and its buildings cost nearly 6 million. On the auspicious day of 8th April 1648, Shahjahan finally entered Shahjahanabad.• From 1803 to 1857 the East India Company virtually controlled Delhi. The city was taken over by the British after the defeat of the Marathas at the battle of Patparganj in 1803.

The Red Fort and Jama Masjid were the straight point for two straight thoroughfares that framed the city. From Lahore Gate ran a broad avenue with a covered arcade-designed and paid for by Jahan Ara-that housed over 1500 shops. Today known as Chatta Bazaar.

The remainder of Shahjahanabad took shape within the city walls with its havelis, mansions, mosques, temples, sikh shrines and the gardens of the nobility. The walled and guarded establishments of these grandees included private living quarters for the nobles and their harem.

Shahjahanabad``

CHANDNI CHOWK

RED FORT

JAMA MASJID

4 Division of city sectors :

At the neighbourhood level the city of Shahjahanabad was defined by the following elements:

Thanas/wards/Mahallahs

Streets/bazaars and chowks

  Individual havellis

A. Thanas and Mahallas:

The city was divided into 12 thanas (wards) each under the control of a thanadar.

Each thana was again subdivided into several Mahallas (neighbourhoods).

The spatial system of the city was based on an extensive hierarchical organization which allowed a heterogeneous population to live together.

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The local representatives of the different social and ethnic groups aligned their buildings and the adjoining streets in a functional manner.

The Mahallahs were sealed, homogeneous units within the city. They could only be reached by means of several gates. The alleys in the Mahallah were therefore semi-private space, while the courtyard houses were private space separated once again from the outside world by a gate.

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Shahjahanabad SPATIAL ORDER •Creation of the architectonic expression of what has often been called the ‘patrimonial system’ in its climax.

•The shurafas originated from the qasbahs, garrison posts and administrative settlements in which Islamic scholars also met their clients and where an integrative or even syncretist culture prevailed – usually established around a tomb or a waqf.

•The shurafa usually were situated to the west of the palace, along one of the two boulevards-at the Chandni Chowk-, and, originating from the emperor’s palace, thus furnishing the city with an unequivocal structure.

•Those professional groups delivering fresh agrarian products to the city must have settled along the southern and south-south-western rim of the city walls (Delhi Gate and Turkman Gate) : this is where institutions, such as, Masjid Gadariyon (shepherd’s mosque), Masjid Kasai (butchers’ mosque) were located. . They all represent ‘low ranking trades’.

Shahjahanabad SPATIAL ORDER

•The closer to the core of the city the more socially recognized are the professions settled there: weavers, producers of wool, traders of saddle-horses, oil-extractors and manufacturers of straw goods, each of them represented by their respective mosques.

• Further, in the direction of Chandni Chowk, mostly representatives of the trading professions, eg.: traders of fabrics, fish, meats and luxury goods, but also some of the professional groups processing goods, eg: producers of water pipes can be found. All of them are characterized by the spatial proximity to the imperial house.

Streets, Bazaars, chowks:The city was separated from the surrounding land by a wall and a moat. Passing through the city’s gates marked the passage from one dominion to another. The main thoroughfares, the secondary roads and the bazaars were public space.

Interior courtyard of a havelli in the Walled City. Notice the spill out of day to day activities in the courtyard- thus the typology was not only suited climatically but also enhanced the living experience. Havellis:

The members of the imperial household who lived outside the fort/palace built large mansions (havellis) on the model of the imperial design of the Red Fort.3. As a rule these city palaces accommodated not only the owner and his family, but also their numerous followers, servants and craftsmen with their workshops (karkhanas). The internal organization of the space within the havellis was therefore also based on the strict distinction between the public, semi-private and private space

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Interior courtyard of a havelli in the Walled City. Notice the spill out of day to day activities in the courtyard- thus the typology was not only suited climatically but also enhanced the living experience.

Havellis:The members of the imperial household who lived outside the fort/palace built large mansions (havellis) on the model of the imperial design of the Red Fort . As a rule these city palaces accommodated not only the owner and his family, but also their numerous followers, servants and craftsmen with their workshops (karkhanas). The internal organization of the space within the havellis was therefore also based on the strict distinction between the public, semi-private and private space

Shahjahanabad``

Shahjahanabad``

Streetscapes:There emerges a hierarchy of streets in the layout of the city. •The primary streets were the main axes of the city – the Chandni Chowk and Faiz bazaar.

•The secondary streets were the ones which entered the south of the city from Chandni Chowk. (Thus they were perpendicular for some distance and then assumed an organic form once deep in the city).

•The secondary street structure also includes the streets that are parallel to the city walls – forming a concentric ring so to say, in the southern part of the city. They then intermingle at chowks with the third layering of streets, which derive their character from the fact that they are perpendicular to the main mosque, Jama Masjid.

The urban infrastructure was laid out in a geometric pattern .Shows traces of both Persian and Hindu traditions of town planning and architecture with the Persian influence largely accounting for the formalism and symmetry of the palaces, gardens and boulevards.

The designed infrastructure of Shahjahanabad comprised •The fort•The Friday mosque •The other major mosques, including the corresponding waqf properties•The two main boulevards •The bazaars around the Friday mosque•The elaborate system of water channels•The major gardens and the surrounding city wall. •The arrangement of these planned elements was influenced by certain site features, which precluded absolute geometry.

The City Form – MORPHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS

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The city was planned according to Hindu planning principles of Shilpashastra from Vaastushastra. The site was placed on a high land as in the Shastras and was Karmukha or bow shaped, for this ensured its prosperity.

The arm of the archer was Chandni Chowk

The string was Yamuna.

The junction of the two main axes is the most auspicious point in the whole region and was therefore the Red Fort.

PLANNING OF SHAHJAHANABAD

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MORPHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS AT THE CITY LEVEL

At the city level:

1.The Red Fort2.Water Systems and Canals3.Mosques 4.GardensAnd at the street level:1.Thanas/wards/Mahallahs2.Streets/bazaars/chowks3.Havellis (private mansions based on courtyard typology)

The elements that helped define the city were:

The RED FORT / PALACE :-

The Fort just as Shahjahanabad was divided into imperial (fort/palace) and ordinary space (city) .Its axes were precisely aligned with the cardinal points of the compass. The Fort throughout is based on an extensive grid of squares.

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