A walk through history, revisiting a grand old city

Today Chandni Chowk is a bustle of hawkers and shops in Old Delhi, well off the city’s mainstream and visited only by tourists. But that wasn’t always the case. Swapna Liddle takes us through the fascinating history of the city of Shahjehanabad, where Chandni Chowk was located, from its beginnings to the present day in her latest book Chandni Chowk: The Mughal City of Old Delhi.

Shah Jehan was inspired to build the city in the 17th century and his daughter Jehanara set up the actual square of Chandni Chowk with her money — she was a wealthy woman. Shahjehanabad was where the cultural and political life of Delhi was centred with the Red Fort at one side. There were processions like the Phool Walon-ki-Sair that would venture out of the Walled City into areas like Mehrauli that today are part of the urban sprawl known as Delhi.

There is also an interesting cast of characters like the half Indian James Skinner who set up Skinner’s Horse and Begum Sumroo whose husband defended the Emperor from the marauding Marathas for quite a while. Not to mention quotations from various poets — some of whom were forced to leave Delhi for patronage in Lucknow thanks to the vacillations of power in the city.

Ultimately 1857 brought an end to the change and several bankers and notables of Delhi covertly supported the British simply because at the time there was no sense of nationalism — as Liddle points out.

Ordinary readers will get a sense of the turmoil that plagues the city and note that even then, Hindus and Jains protested against cow slaughter and demanded a Government ban which was ultimately overturned by the British when they took command of Shahjehanabad — though they did decree that Muslims should confine Id sacrifices to their own homes. Communalism of a sort also crept in — the custom of Hindus and Muslims playing Holi together faltered and almost came to a standstill.  

Liddle’s love for the Old City comes through clearly in this book heightened by a wealth of research from different sources. She also points out the fascinating shops that have come up in Chandni Chowk ever since the residents moved out and the business people moved in. Accompanied by illustrations of the time, Chandni Chowk is full of interesting nuggets for those who love cities and their histories.

Anjana Basu is the author of Rhythms of Darkness