Delhi is officially known as the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT of Delhi). While the entire metropolitan area is often simply referred to as Delhi, it contains New Delhi, which is the specific capital city of India and one of its districts. Old Delhi remains a distinct, historic area within the larger NCT.
In fact, the name of the place was Dilli or Dehli”. In her book, Liddle writes that Hardinge decided that “though indeed Delhi was the wrong spelling and pronunciation, long usage by the British had sanctified it”. And so the Capital of India came to be called New Delhi, as we know it today.
The Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991 declared the Union Territory of Delhi to be formally known as the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
At that time the name of the city was Indraprastha. There are several thoughts behind the name Delhi. Some Historian believed that the name derived from the king Raja Dilu or Dhillu, whose period is not definitely known. Some of them believed that it was named by Tomara ruler.
India's capital city can be split into two distinct areas - New Delhi and Old Delhi, and while they continue to grow side by side, each retains its own charms. Old Delhi is the most historic part of the metropolis, with its origins dating back to the time of the Moghuls.
While no official confirmation has been issued so far, the claim has gained attention due to its strong cultural and historical symbolism. Supporters of the idea argue that renaming Delhi as Indraprastha would reconnect the capital with its ancient civilisational roots.
In Mahabharata, a renowned story acclaimed that India was conferred with the name Bharatvarsha following the king named Bharata Chakravarti. During those times, Bharata was a legendary emperor, being an ancestor of the Pandavas and Kauravas he was also the founder of the Bharata Dynasty.
From the Ancient to the medieval era, Delhi was ruled by the powerful Rajput dynasties such as the Tomaras, Chauhans, and Gautamas. The Delhi Sultanate is the name given for a series of five successive dynasties, which remained as a dominant power of Indian subcontinent with Delhi as their capital.
The British left India due to a combination of factors after World War II, primarily Britain's weakened economy, making it costly to maintain the empire, coupled with growing Indian nationalism, strong independence movements (like Gandhi's), and internal unrest (like the 1946 Royal Indian Navy strike and Hindu-Muslim violence) that made continued rule untenable and financially unviable. The Labour government under Clement Attlee, elected in 1945, was more inclined to grant independence, hastening the process.
India's Popular Four Great Cities. These megacities are among the icons of India; home to a rich heritage and culture and vast in both scale and ambition. The four cities highlighted here are Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata, and there's a good chance one of these will also be your point of entry into India.
Delhi was part of Punjab until 1911, after which it was separated and ultimately made the national capital. Except for Sirsa merging with Hissar, there were no district changes until 1911. Sirsa's administrative transitions occurred over time.
but every Indian speaker (without exception) called it Bombay! Incidentally why does the BBC dutifully use these 'new' names for Indian cities, whilst continuing to refer to Venice (not Venezia) and Florence (not Firenze) etc.
Hastinapur – The grand city in the Mahabharata and the capital of the Kauravas and Pandavas, Hastinapur was where currently Meerut in Uttar Pradesh is. Hastinapur was where Yudhisthir lost his brothers in the gamble.
Indraprastha (Sanskrit: इन्द्रप्रस्थ, lit. "Plain of Indra" or "City of Indra"), contemporarily in Delhi, is a city cited in ancient Indian literature as a constituent of the Kuru kingdom. It was designated the capital of the Pandavas, a brotherly quintet in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.
Highly recommended! I took a half-day tour of Old Delhi with Elena and I had a great time: it was really the icing on the cake of a journey to discover India.
According to a 2025 report by Financial Express, Delhi has highest percentage of upper-castes of all the union territories of India accounting for 35% to 40% of the total population, of which 13% are Brahmins, 8% Rajputs, 7% Vaish and 5% Punjabi Khatris.
During the British Raj, until 1911, Calcutta was the capital of India. By the latter half of the 19th century, Shimla had become the summer capital. King George V proclaimed the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi at the climax of the 1911 Delhi Durbar on 12 December 1911.
