Delhi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi Delhi Coordinates: 28°36′36″N 77°13′48″E From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Delhi (/ˈdɛli/, Hindustani pronunciation: [d̪ ɪlliː] Dilli ), officially the National Capital Territory of [3] Delhi Delhi , is the capital territory of India. It has a population of about 11 million and a दल ِدّ metropolitan population of about 16.3 million, making it the second most populous city and ਿਦਲੀ second most populous urban agglomeration in India. [2][4] Such is the nature of urban expansion in Delhi that its growth has expanded beyond the NCT to incorporate towns in neighbouring Metropolis states and at its largest extent can count a population of about 25 million residents as of 2014. [5] National Capital Territory of Delhi The NCT and its urban region have been given the special status of National Capital Region (NCR) under the Constitution of India's 69th amendment act of 1991. The NCR includes the neighbouring cities of Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Neharpar (Greater Faridabad), Greater Noida, Sonepat, Panipat, Karnal, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Rewari, Baghpat, Meerut, Alwar, Bharatpur and other nearby towns. A union territory, the political administration of the NCT of Delhi today more closely resembles that of a state of India, with its own legislature, high court and an executive council of ministers headed by a Chief Minister. New Delhi is jointly administered by the federal government of India and the local government of Delhi, and is the capital of the NCT of Delhi. Delhi has been continuously inhabited since the 6th century BC. [6] Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and empires. It has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. Contents 1 Toponymy and idioms 2 History 3 Ecology 3.1 Climate 3.2 Air pollution 4 Civic administration From top clockwise: Lotus temple, Humayun's 5 Government and politics Tomb, Connaught Place, Akshardham temple and 6 Economy India Gate. 7 Utility services 8 Transport 8.1 Air 8.2 Road 8.3 Railway 8.4 Metro 8.5 Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) 8.6 Roads of 2006 and 2007 9 Demographics 10 Culture 10.1 Festivals 10.2 Cuisine Location of Delhi in India. Coordinates: 28°36′36″N 77°13′48″E 11 Education 12 Media Country India Region North India 13 Sports Settled 6th century B.C., 3000 B.C. 14 Hospitals (from legend) 15 World Heritage status Incorporated 1857 16 See also Capital formation 1911 Union territory 1956 17 References Established 1 Feb 1992 18 Further reading Capital New Delhi 19 External links Districts 11 Government • Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung Toponymy and idioms • Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal • Legislature Unicameral (70 seats) There are a number of legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi . One is that it is • Parliamentary 7 derived from Dhillu or Dilu , a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after constituency himself. [7][8][9] Another legend holds that the name of the city is based on the Hindi/Prakrit • High Court Delhi High Court word dhili ( loose ) and that it was used by the Tomaras to refer to the city because the Iron Pillar Area [9] of Delhi had a weak foundation and had to be moved. The coins in circulation in the region • Metropolis 1,484.0 km 2 (573.0 sq mi) 1 of 16 2/27/2015 2:13 PM Delhi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi under the Tomaras were called dehliwal .[10] According to the Bhavishya Purana, King • Water 18 km 2 (6.9 sq mi) Prithiviraja,of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modernday Purana Qila area for the • Metro 46,208 km 2 (17,841 sq mi) convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the Elevation 0–125 m (0–409 ft) fort and later named the fort dehali .[11] Some historians believe that the name is derived from Dilli , a corruption of dehleez or dehali —both terms meaning 'threshold' or 'gateway'—and Population (2011) [1] symbolic of the city as a gateway to the Gangetic Plain.[12][13] Another theory suggests that the • Metropolis 11,007,835 city's original name was Dhillika. [14] • Rank 2nd • Density 11,297.01/km 2 The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas .[15] The city is referenced in (29,259.12/sq mi) various idioms of the Northern IndoAryan languages. Examples include: • Urban 16,314,838 (2nd) • Metro [2] 21,753,486 Abhi Dilli door hai or its Persian version, Hanouz Dehli dour ast , literally meaning Delhi Demonym Delhiite, Dehlvi, Delhiwala is still far away , which is generically said about a task or journey still far from Time zone Indian Standard Time completion. [16][17] (UTC+5.30) Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large- Pincode(s) 110001 (http://pincodes.info /in/Delhi/New-Delhi hearted/daring .[18] /New-Delhi/)-110098, 1100xx Aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse , literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies Area code(s) +91 11 parched . An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it idiomatically refers Ethnicity Indian Official Languages Punjabi, Urdu/Hindi to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. [17] Website Delhi.gov.in (http://delhi.gov.in/) History The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, and there is evidence of continuous inhabitation since at least the 6th century BC. [6] The city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. [7] According to this epic this land was initially a huge mass of forests called 'Kandavaprastha' which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha. The earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period (c. 300 BC); in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (273–235 BC) was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight major cities have been discovered in Delhi. The first five cities were in the southern part of present-day Delhi. Anang Pal of the Tomara The ancient Yogmaya temple, dynasty founded the city of Lal Kot in AD 736. The Chauhans conquered Lal Kot in 1180 and renamed it Qila claimed to be one of the five Rai Pithora. temples of the Mahabharata era in The king Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated in 1192 by Muhammad Ghori, a Delhi. Tajik invader from Afghanistan, who made a concerted effort to conquer northern India. [7] By 1200, native Hindu resistance had begun to crumble, the dominance of foreign Turkic Muslim dynasties in India was to last for the next five centuries. On the death of Muhammad in 1206, the Turkic slave-general, Qutb-uddin Aibak, broke away from the Ghurid Dynasty and became the first Sultan of Delhi. He began construction of the Qutb Minar and Quwwat-al-Islam (might of Islam) mosque, the earliest extant mosque in India. Qutb-uddin faced widespread Hindu rebellions and it was his successor, Iltutmish (1211–36), who consolidated the Turkic conquest of northern India. [7][21] For the next three hundred years, Delhi was ruled by a succession of Turkic and an Afghan, Lodhi dynasty. They built a number of forts and townships that are part of the seven cities of Delhi.[23] Delhi was a major centre of Sufism during this period. [24] The Mamluk Sultanate (Delhi) was overthrown in 1290 by the Khilji dynasty (1290–1320). Under the second Khilji ruler, Ala-uddin Khilji, the Delhi sultanate extended its control south of the The iron pillar of Delhi, is said to Narmada River in the Deccan. The Delhi sultanate reached its greatest extent have been fashioned at the time of At 72.5 m (238 ft), A UNESCO during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325–1351). In an attempt to Chandragupta Vikramaditya World Heritage Site, the Qutub bring the whole of the Deccan under control, he moved his capital to (375–413) of the Gupta Empire. Minar is the world's tallest Daulatabad, Maharashtra in central India, but by moving away from Delhi he [19][20] free-standing brick minaret.[22] lost control of the north and was forced to return to Delhi to restore order. The southern provinces then broke away. In the years following the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351–1388), the Delhi sultanate rapidly began to lose its hold over its northern provinces. Delhi was captured and sacked by Timur Lenk in 1398. [25] Near Delhi, Timur massacred 100,000 captives. [26] Delhi's decline continued under the Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451), until the sultanate was reduced to Delhi and its hinterland. Under the Afghan Lodhi dynasty (1451–1526), the Delhi sultanate recovered control of the Punjab and the Gangetic plain to once again achieve domination over northern India. However, the recovery was short-lived and in 1526 the sultanate was destroyed by Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty. In 1526, Babur, a descendant of Genghis Khan and Timur, from the Fergana Valley in modernday Uzbekistan, invaded India, defeated the last Lodhi sultan in the First Battle of Panipat and founded the Mughal Empire that ruled from Delhi and Agra.[7] The Mughal dynasty ruled Delhi for more than three centuries, with a sixteenyear hiatus during the reign of Sher Shah Suri, from 1540 to 1556.