The decade that changed Delhi - Hindustan Times
https://www.hindustantimes.com/static/partition/delhi/
The decade that changed Delhi
Delhi, the brash, bustling Indian capital of today, was,
in effect, born in 1947. In the wake of India’s hellish Partition,
thousands of Muslims fled, while Hindu and Sikh refugees poured in.
Delhi took in nearly half a million refugees from Pakistan in those
heady but brutal months before and after August, 1947. Large parts of
today’s Delhi grew out of the refugee camps that sprung up along its
limits 69 years ago.
North
1942
Timarpur
Delhi University
1956
Model Town
Kingsway Camp
Vijay Nagar
Delhi University
In 1942, little existed beyond Civil Lines, a
British-era neighborhood known for its “European-style hotels,”
including the famous Maidens Hotel. North of that was a vast tract of
empty land on “Kingsway.” This was earmarked for the Viceroy’s house
(which later became the Rashtrapati Bhavan), which was eventually built
on Raisina Hill. Kingsway itself would become home to the Kingsway Camp,
Delhi’s largest refugee camp.
By 1956, Delhi’s northern limits expanded. The Indian government had allotted 2,000 acres of land to the Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation to permanently resettle refugees, according to the 1951 Delhi Census. One of the earliest such colonies to come up was Vijay Nagar, west of Civil Lines. Model Town, further up, and to the west, was also on the map by then. Kingsway Camp, which is still on the map, would eventually become Guru Teg Bahadur or GTB Nagar.
By 1956, Delhi’s northern limits expanded. The Indian government had allotted 2,000 acres of land to the Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation to permanently resettle refugees, according to the 1951 Delhi Census. One of the earliest such colonies to come up was Vijay Nagar, west of Civil Lines. Model Town, further up, and to the west, was also on the map by then. Kingsway Camp, which is still on the map, would eventually become Guru Teg Bahadur or GTB Nagar.
Central
Humayun’s Tomb
1942
Lodi Road
Jangpura
1956
Humayun’s Tomb
Lodi Road
Nizammuddin
Jor Bagh
Jangpura
In the early 1940s, Lodhi Road could have been South
Delhi. There were hardly any roads, let alone neighborhoods, beyond it.
Even Lodhi Colony, the last residential area to be built by the British,
wasn’t on the map yet because it was only completed in the 1940s.
By the middle of the 1950s, refugees moved into empty flats in Lodhi Colony and built homes around the villages in Nizamuddin and Jangpura: all of it on what was once the deserted south side of Lodhi Road. Change was also afoot deeper in Lutyens’ Delhi. In 1951, Khan Market opened. The shops on the ground floor, and the flats above, were all owned by refugees.
By the middle of the 1950s, refugees moved into empty flats in Lodhi Colony and built homes around the villages in Nizamuddin and Jangpura: all of it on what was once the deserted south side of Lodhi Road. Change was also afoot deeper in Lutyens’ Delhi. In 1951, Khan Market opened. The shops on the ground floor, and the flats above, were all owned by refugees.
South
1942
Jangpura
1956
Jangpura
Lodi Colony
Defence Colony
Lajpat Nagar
Kidwai Nagar
The South Delhi of today was agricultural land in the
1940s, until the government started buying land there to permanently
resettle refugees. Officials from the Ministry of Relief and
Rehabilitation drove through these parts, and even rode through on horseback, inspecting land for refugee colonies.
By 1956, southern Delhi began to take shape with the appearance of Lajpat Nagar and Defence Colony. But the rest of what forms South Delhi today was not on the map yet. Barring Malviya Nagar in the far south, where land had been allocated for industries, the South Delhi of 1956 was still largely made up of villages and splendid, ghostly tombs.
By 1956, southern Delhi began to take shape with the appearance of Lajpat Nagar and Defence Colony. But the rest of what forms South Delhi today was not on the map yet. Barring Malviya Nagar in the far south, where land had been allocated for industries, the South Delhi of 1956 was still largely made up of villages and splendid, ghostly tombs.
West
1942
Shadipur
1956
Moti Nagar
West Patel Nagar
Kirti Nagar
Shadipur
Rajouri Garden
Before 1947, Karol Bagh was Delhi’s western limit.
West of that was an expanse of empty land heavily dotted with trees in
parts. That is where all of West Delhi lies today.
Land in western Delhi was allotted to refugees after 1947. These refugee colonies, U-shaped with a park in the middle, became the template for subsequent neighborhoods, partly because they were built by the same urban planners who shaped Delhi through the 50s and 60s. But this was the beginning of Rajinder Nagar, West Patel Nagar, Moti Nagar, Rajouri Gardens: overwhelmingly Punjabi neighborhoods that are today quintessentially Delhi.
Land in western Delhi was allotted to refugees after 1947. These refugee colonies, U-shaped with a park in the middle, became the template for subsequent neighborhoods, partly because they were built by the same urban planners who shaped Delhi through the 50s and 60s. But this was the beginning of Rajinder Nagar, West Patel Nagar, Moti Nagar, Rajouri Gardens: overwhelmingly Punjabi neighborhoods that are today quintessentially Delhi.
A decade from independence, Delhi was a different city.
Wilderness and agricultural fields began to give way to residential
suburbs, commercial markets and industrial zones. The population
doubled: a spurt that hasn’t been seen since, according to the Census.
But the Muslim share of the population plunged from 33 percent to less
than 6 percent.
“The city that was once a Mughal city, then a British city, had by the 1950s emphatically become a Punjabi city,” according to historian V.N. Dutta. The adjectives for Delhi also changed: what was once stately, languid and literary became boisterous, hearty and enterprising. And its map was transformed.
“The city that was once a Mughal city, then a British city, had by the 1950s emphatically become a Punjabi city,” according to historian V.N. Dutta. The adjectives for Delhi also changed: what was once stately, languid and literary became boisterous, hearty and enterprising. And its map was transformed.
Click on a year to switch the maps
Civil Lines
Karol Bagh
Connaught Place
Delhi Cantonment
Jangpura
Map Source: Delhi Archives / Survey of India.
