Mere Mentor at 12:08, 15 March 2026

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{{Short description|Planning and building of India's capital}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
{{see also|Lutyens' Delhi}}
The '''construction of New Delhi''' refers to the development of [[Delhi]] into the capital of the [[British Raj]], and creation of [[New Delhi]] in a mass-scale real estate development project before the [[Independence of India]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book
|last=Singh |first=Khushwant
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gf3gpwWXje4C&q=Truth+Love+and+a+Little+Malice
|title=Truth, Love and a Little Malice: An Autobiography
|year=2003
|publisher=Penguin Books India
|isbn=978-0-14-302957-1
|language=en
|page=
}}</ref><ref name=":3" >{{Cite book
|last=Dayal |first=Mala
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVJwAjsOBz0C&q=delhi+lectures+khushwant
|title=Celebrating Delhi
|year=2010
|publisher=Penguin Books India
|isbn=978-0-670-08482-1
|language=en
}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book
|last=Singh |first=Khushwant
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Td8JkhtCNMC&q=delhi+lectures+khushwant
|title=Delhi
|year=1990
|publisher=Penguin Books India
|isbn=978-0-14-012619-8
|language=en
}}</ref> Before the project, Delhi was known of as a large slum due to the unplanned settlements of [[Old Delhi]] or Shahjahanabad.<ref name=":2" /> The British proposed the project after the [[Delhi Durbar|Delhi Durbar in 1911]], although due to [[World War I]], it was delayed by around ten years till the 1920s. The New Delhi Project continued till the 1940s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cybriwsky |first=Roman Adrian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3kzEEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22sobha+singh%22+%22delhi+durbar%22&pg=PA209 |title=Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture |date=2013-05-23 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-61069-248-9 |language=en}}</ref>

Originally [[George V|King George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] announced the project, although it did receive major opposition from the European business community of [[Calcutta]], along with [[Lord Curzon]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]].<ref name=":4" /> The project was fulfilled by architects [[Edwin Lutyens|Sir Edwin Lutyens]] and [[Sir Herbert Baker]].<ref>{{Cite web
|date=2022-04-03
|title=Team of 5, and some more, who built New Delhi
|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/team-of-5-and-some-more-who-built-new-delhi-sobha-singh-7849906/
|access-date=2024-03-05
|website=The Indian Express
|language=en
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news
|title=Give the builders of New Delhi their due
|newspaper=Hindustan Times
|author=Khushwant Singh
|date=26 September 2011
|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/give-the-builders-of-new-delhi-their-due/story-kdB9UKXKBw2JYRskrLDt3J.html
}}</ref>

[[File:Present_masterplan.jpg|1024px|center|thumb|2019 master plan of the Central Vista of New Delhi, illustrating road and building layout<ref name="hcp.co.in">HCP{{Cite web|title= central-vista masterplan|date=4 August 2021 |url=https://hcp.co.in/urbanism/29|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016225809/https://hcp.co.in/urbanism/central-vista-masterplan/ |archive-date=2021-10-16 }}</ref>]]
[[File:Central-Vista-plan.png|1024px|right|thumb|New Central Vista Masterplan as of August 2025{{cn|date=February 2026}}]]

== Architecture, planning and early development ==
[[Edwin Lutyens|Sir Edwin Lutyens]] and [[Herbert Baker|Sir Herbert Baker]] were selected to design the area in a traditional Indian fashion.<ref name=":3" /> The architects decided that the area where the foundation stones of Delhi were planted, [[Coronation Park, Delhi|Coronation Park]], was an unsuitable area.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Shades of Blue: Connecting the Drops in India's Cities
| date=25 September 2023 | publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited | isbn=978-93-5708-280-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYHyEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22lutyens%22+%22yamuna%22&pg=PT24
}}</ref> They decided the village Malcha on [[Raisina Hill]], as it had a ridge which could quarry stone.<ref>{{Cite book
|last1=Asher |first1=Catherine Blanshard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDluAAAAMAAJ&q=%22lutyens%22+%22yamuna%22 |title=Perceptions of South Asia's Visual Past |last2=Metcalf |first2=Thomas R. |date=1994 |publisher=American Institute of Indian Studies, New Delhi, Swadharma Swarajya Sangha, Madras, and Oxford & IBH Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-204-0883-8 |language=en}}</ref> Lutyens and Baker toured the country trying to find the key to Indian architecture. They visited [[Hindu temple]]s, [[Stupa|Buddhist stupas]], the [[Taj Mahal]], and palaces in [[Bikaner]] and [[Mandi, Himachal Pradesh|Mandi]].<ref name=":3" /> They came back disappointed and convinced that there was no "Indian style of architecture" and only mushrooming dynasties who built large buildings.<ref name=":3" /> They noted that the Indians of old knew how to build grand forts, palaces, mausoleums, tombs and durbar halls but not [[Panchayati raj|panchayat]] houses, [[legislative assembly]] buildings, or buildings for commoners.<ref>{{Cite book |last=DIVISION |first=PUBLICATIONS |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtuSDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22lutyens%22+%22yamuna%22&pg=PT53 |title=RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN |publisher=Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting |isbn=978-81-230-2998-6 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

The duo decided that they would give the buildings a façade of "Indianness", which would include the sunbreaker ([[chhajja]]), latticed window ([[jali]]) and dome ([[chhattri]]), while the rest of the architecture would be almost entirely British in nature.<ref name=":3" /> They elected to use stone used by the Mughals from the [[Vindhya Range]], marble from [[Makrana]] and [[Jaipur]] and both stone and marble from [[Dholpur]].<ref name=":4" /> The original Viceregal Lodge was meant to be made in white marble, and Lutyens had wanted the garden to be an [[English landscape garden]] rather than a Mughal garden.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4cm2adPfh6IC&dq=%22lutyens%22+%22english+garden%22+%22mughal%22&pg=PA98 |title=Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity |date=2012 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-341823-8 |language=en}}</ref>

Lutyens had made a grand plan for New Delhi, much larger than what had happened. His original plan was to dam the [[Yamuna]] behind [[Humayun's Tomb]], create a huge lake and a riverside boulevard around it and enclose the [[Purana Qila]] in a reflecting pool.<ref name=":3" /> Along with this he wished for the [[King's Way, New Delhi|Kingsway]] to be built from the [[Rashtrapati Bhavan|Viceregal Lodge]] through [[India Gate]] up to the Purana Qila and for another road to be built from the South Block up to the south entrance of the [[Jama Mosque, Delhi]].<ref name=":3" /> All these ideas had to be abandoned, the former two because of costs and the latter because the road would have gone through [[Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib|Gurdwara Rakab Ganj]] and the [[Sikhs]] under [[Sardul Singh Kavishar]] were already in opposition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oberoi |first=Harjot |date=2020-12-22 |title=Gurudwara Rakab Ganj, which PM Modi visited, sparked an anti-government agitation 100 years ago |url=https://scroll.in/article/981839/gurudwara-rakab-ganj-which-pm-modi-visited-sparked-an-anti-government-agitation-100-years-ago |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref> The Viceroy became peevish due to the costs of Lutyens' plans, to which Lutyens wrote, "the Viceroy thinks only of the next three years, I am thinking of the next three hundred years."<ref name=":5" >{{Cite book
|last=Dayal |first=Mala
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L8Pg-d_3_M4C&dq=%22the+Viceroy+thinks+only+of+the+next+three+years%22&pg=PT18
|title=Celebrating Delhi
|year=2010
|publisher=Penguin UK
|isbn=978-81-8475-273-1
|language=en
|page=5
}}</ref>

Originally Lutyens wanted to use the [[Grid plan|gridiron pattern]] of city planning as was used in other cities like New York, but the hexagonal pattern was later preferred as it could break up the dust storms that swept the landscape; for that same reason, they included many roundabouts and hedges.<ref name=":5" /> Lutyens and Baker were mainly inspired by other capitals like [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], [[Canberra]] and [[Pretoria]].<ref name=":5" /> There were three other sites which Lutyens and Baker had selected, east of the Yamuna, north of [[Shahjahanabad]] and west of [[Malcha Mahal]].<ref name=":5" /> From 1914 to 1926 a temporary capital was built and occupied north of Old Delhi, including the [[Delhi Legislative Assembly#Assembly building|Delhi Assembly Building]].<ref name=":5" /> While Baker and Lutyens were designing the larger buildings, the connection between New Delhi and Old Delhi was designed by [[Robert Tor Russell]], and named [[Connaught Place, New Delhi|Connaught Place]].<ref name=":5" />

The Viceroy, Lutyens and Baker were all in agreement on one idea, that India was going to be independent and they were making the city as the building blocks for the independent India.<ref name=":3" /> Although Lutyens and Baker did have disagreements, Lutyens wanted the Viceregal Lodge to be on a higher level than the civil servants' offices, whereas Baker thought that in an independent democratic India the ruler and servants should be on the same level.<ref name=":3" /> The King and Viceroy approved of Baker's idea.<ref name=":3" /> Another time Lutyens wanted the slope between the Viceregal Lodge and the two secretariats to be at a steeper angle, whereas Baker believed that a gentle incline would be better as it did not matter whether or not a pedestrian could see the lodge.<ref name=":3" /> Once again Lutyens was overruled.<ref name=":3" /> The duo were not on speaking terms anymore, although New Delhi continued to be built.<ref name=":3" />

During the early stages of modern Delhi's development after the Delhi Durbar, Sujan Singh and Sunder Singh Dhupia were the new capital's main real estate developers, although their work was stopped due to [[World War I]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ralhan |first1=O. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmpuAAAAMAAJ&q=%22sunder+singh+dhupia%22 |title=Documents on Punjab: Sikh politics (Guru-ka-Bagh Morcha) |last2=Sharma |first2=Suresh K. |date=1994 |publisher=Anmol Publications |isbn=978-81-7041-862-7 |language=en}}</ref> The foundation stones of Delhi were shifted from the [[Coronation Park, Delhi|Coronation Park]] to [[Raisina Hill]] by Sobha Singh, the son of Sujan Singh.<ref name=":3" />

== Construction ==

=== Labour ===
The labour included mainly the Bagaris of [[Rajputana]]. A number of them were known as Sangtarash—descendants of the people who built great Indian monuments such as the [[Red Fort]], Old Fort, [[Taj Mahal]], [[Fatehpur Sikri]] and others.<ref >{{Cite book
|last=Singh |first=Khushwant
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gf3gpwWXje4C&dq=%22bagadis%22+%22delhi%22&pg=PA26
|title=Truth, Love and a Little Malice: An Autobiography
|year=2003
|publisher=Penguin Books India
|isbn=978-0-14-302957-1
|language=en
|page=26
}}</ref> There were also the Bandhanis of [[Punjab]] who were hired for their ability to carry larger loads. In total there were 30,000 workers at the height of construction, all working under a [[Scotsman]] named Cairn.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book
|last=Dayal |first=Mala
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVJwAjsOBz0C&dq=%22bandhanis%22+%22punjab%22&pg=PA6
|title=Celebrating Delhi
|year=2010
|publisher=Penguin Books India
|isbn=978-0-670-08482-1
|language=en
|page=6
}}</ref> Men were paid eight [[Anna (monetary subunit)|annas]] a day whereas women were paid six annas a day.<ref name=":0" /> The contractors were almost all Sikhs, with the demographic makeup being 26 Sikhs, 3 Punjabi Muslims and 1 Sindhi Hindu.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-10-19 |title=Delhi of the Sikhs |url=http://www.sikhnet.com/news/delhi-sikhs |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=SikhNet |language=en}}</ref>

After [[World War I]] had been put to an end, the British once again started concentrating on the development projects in Delhi.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-12-30 |title=Amnesty Plan for Relics of the Raj (Published 2007) |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/arts/design/30kahn.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |language=en |last1=Kahn |first1=Jeremy }}</ref> The project was mainly done under five Sikhs (known locally as the Panj Pyare of Delhi) who were Sir Sobha Singh, Dharam Singh Sethi, Baisakha Singh, Narain Singh and Ram Singh Kabli. By 1929 all major buildings had been completed. Although there was opposition, many called it (specifically the Viceregal Lodge) a "British matron in a fancy dress."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Masani |first=Zareer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lm4FVb54_oUC&dq=British+matron+in+a+fancy+dress&pg=PA132 |title=Indian Tales of the Raj |date=1988 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07127-8 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Construction work ===

==== Material ====
Dharam Singh Sethi had a monopoly on the marble and stone trade in North India. He transported the materials from [[Dholpur]], [[Rajasthan]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news
|newspaper=The Indian Express
|date=3 April 2022
|title=Team of 5, and some more, who built New Delhi
|author=Subramaniam
|url=https://www.delhitelegram.com/2022/04/03/team-of-5-and-some-more-who-built-new-delhi-the-indian-express/
}}</ref> His house later became the office for the All India Congress Committee.<ref name=":1" /> Ram Singh Kabli had a monopoly over pottery and clay supplies and thus contributed some of them to almost all houses created in the project, including design and furniture.<ref name=":1" /> Sir Teja Singh Malik was the chief engineer who received a knighthood for helping in the construction of Delhi by supplying timber. He also heavily assisted Lutyens and Baker in their designs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lutyens' Legacy |url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/06/20/072a.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Panjab Digital Library - Digitization of Sir Teja Singh Malik |url=http://www.panjabdigilib.org/webuser/searches/displayPage.jsp?ID=24867&page=1&CategoryID=6&Searched= |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=www.panjabdigilib.org}}</ref>

==== Labour ====
Sir Sobha Singh had been given the role of chief contractor by the British, and had also become a subordinate architect. He was also involved in increasing commerce in Delhi, which at the time did not have any major markets. He was the driving force behind Connaught Place, his brainchild to make Delhi an economic hub. He had finalized the contracts for Janpath, Connaught Place, the Viceregal Lodge, [[Sujan Singh Park]], the Regal Building, Jaipur Column and many houses in the [[Lutyens Bungalow Zone]] including Scindia House, [[Kerala House|Kochin House]], [[Baroda House]] and others. He owned around half of Connaught Place at the time, becoming known in Delhi's folklore as "Adhi Dilli ka Malik", the God of Half of Delhi.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

Narain Singh (originally a peasant whose father was rumored to have been a [[Dacoity|dacoit]]) oversaw most of the road development for the new city and laid the foundation for the [[Old Parliament House, New Delhi|Parliament House]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Khushwant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Td8JkhtCNMC&q=truth+love+and+malice+%22oldsmobile%22 |title=Delhi |date=1990 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-012619-8 |language=en}}</ref> [[The Imperial, New Delhi|The Imperial Hotel]] was built by him; it housed many meetings between [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]], Gandhi, [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah|Jinnah]] and [[Lord Mountbatten|Mountbatten]] when they were finalizing the [[Partition of India]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Akoi |url=https://jatchiefs.com/jagir/akoi/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Jat Chiefs |language=en-US}}</ref> His son Ranjit Singh, who earned money off his sugar mills in [[Uttar Pradesh]], also helped.<ref name=":6" />

Baisakha Singh constructed various official residencies, including the [[Jinnah House]] and [[Secretariat Building, New Delhi|North Block]] of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He also supplied cement for roads and food supplies for the laborers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jain |first=Anshika |date=2019-11-15 |title=The Indians who Built New Delhi |url=https://www.peepultree.world/livehistoryindia/story/places/the-indians-who-built-new-delhi |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=PeepulTree |language=en}}</ref> Sewa Singh continued the development of Delhi but also of neighboring zones. The [[Karol Bagh]] land auction was organized by him.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-29 |title=The History Of Delhi's Iconic Sujan Singh Park — The Second Angle |url=https://thesecondangle.com/history-of-delhis-sujan-singh-park/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |language=en-US}}</ref> Manohar Singh, father of [[Patwant Singh]], was put in charge of supervising the North Block. [[Lachhman Singh Gill]], who later became the Chief Minister of Punjab, constructed large tracts in [[East Delhi]], which was originally barely inhabited in 1937 and would not be densely populated till 20 years later.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2000-12-19 |title=LACHHMAN SINGH GILL - The Sikh Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/biographical/sikh-political-figures/lachhman-singh-gill/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Lacchman Das and Seth Haroun Al-Rashid, both [[Sindhis]], constructed the [[Government House]] and the exterior of the North Block.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=2021-10-14 |title=Who was adhi dilli ka malik and was paid Rs 16 for a job well done? |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/who-was-adhi-dilli-ka-malik-and-was-paid-rs-16-for-a-job-well-done-7571754/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> Akbar Ali from [[Jhelum]] and Nawab Ali of [[Rohtak]], both [[Punjabi Muslims]], laid the foundation of the [[National Archives of India|National Archives]] and [[Mughal garden|Mughal Gardens]], respectfully.<ref name=":7" />

==== Plantation ====
As soon as Lutyens had marked the roads, his team got William Robertson Mustoe, the man in charge of [[Kew Gardens]], to set up a huge nursery.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=IP June 2011 {{!}} PDF |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/71645582/IP-June-2011 |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref> It is next to [[Humayun's Tomb|Humayun's tomb]].<ref name=":9" /> He had 500 varieties of trees, [[Australia]]n, [[East Africa]]n and indigenous, shipped to Delhi while the roads were being laid. Along Rajpath, ''jamun'' trees were planted. [[Kigelia|Sausage tree]]s, [[gum tree]]s and [[Spathodea|African tulip tree]]s from [[East Africa]] were planted in other areas.<ref name="T1, 2011 476718">{{Cite web
|title=The City From Atop A Hill
|date=24 December 2011
|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-city-from-atop-a-hill/cid/476718
|access-date=2024-03-07
|website=www.telegraphindia.com
|language=en
}}</ref> Sir Sobha Singh had once stated that those, "slow growing trees would provide shade to our great-great-great grandsons and their grandsons."<ref name="T1, 2011 476718" /> [[Queen Victoria]] had once before come and cut down all the gum trees and replaced them with cypress trees, but after Lutyens' protest the damage was undone.<ref name="TI, 20111224">{{Cite web
|title=Centenary of Lutyens' Delhi
|author=Khushwant Singh
|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111224/saturday/above.htm
}}</ref>

The [[Delhi Ridge]] had been planted with [[Dalbergia sissoo|North Indian rosewood]], [[Pithecellobium dulce|Madras thorn]], Indian [[Albizia|siris]], Australian [[eucalyptus]] and Mexican [[mesquite]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prosopis juliflora or Vilayati Kikar, a legacy of British Raj will see its uprooting soon in Delhi – Education21 |url=https://education21.in/prosopis-juliflora-or-vilayati-kikar-a-legacy-of-british-raj-will-see-its-uprooting-soon-in-delhi/ |access-date=2024-04-16 |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Aftermath ==
The construction of New Delhi was one of the first times the British Raj started giving high positions to Indians instead of Englishmen.<ref name="TI, 20111224" /> [[Teja Singh Malik|Sir Teja Singh Malik]] was made the first Indian head of the [[Central Public Works Department]] and Sir Sobha Singh was made the first Indian to head the [[New Delhi Municipal Council]].<ref >{{Cite web
|title=The Art and Culture of the Diaspora {{!}} The Man Who Laid The Foundation Stone of New Delhi ... And Then Built It!
|url=https://www.sikhchic.com/article-detail.php?id=2957
|access-date=2024-03-08
|website=www.sikhchic.com
}}</ref>

[[Uttam Singh Duggal]], an aristocratic [[Partition of India|Partition]] refugee, held a monopoly over construction work and real estate in [[Delhi]]. In the late 20th century he and his company built [[Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi|Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium]].<ref>{{Cite web
|title=I especially miss my horses and my bicycle
|work=The 1947 Partition Archive
|date=13 March 2019
|url=https://www.facebook.com/1947PartitionArchive/photos/a.184617944895257/2361511950539168/?type=3
}}</ref> Mohan Singh (known as Mohan Singh Coca-Cola) constructed the [[Embassy of the United States, New Delhi]], Friends' Colony and Mohan Singh Place.<ref name=":8" >{{Cite web
|title=Indian team for the American Embassy
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Indian-team-for-the-American-Embassy-Sardar-Mohan-Singh-seated-in-the-center-Deolalikar_fig3_353084669
}}</ref>

By the 2000s, development shifted to areas around the [[Delhi|Delhi Union Territory]] such as [[Gurgaon]], [[Haryana]] and [[Noida]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], under companies such as the Wave Group and [[DLF (company)|DLF]]. These sister cities would remove industry and jobs from Delhi to their cities instead.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:History of New Delhi]]
[[Category:Works of Edwin Lutyens in India|Delhi]]

Construction of New Delhi - Revision history

Mere Mentor at 12:08, 15 March 2026