Delhi has been built, destroyed and rebuilt many times over. Its history goes back many centuries, its earliest roots sinking deep into a fabled past that some think is real and others construe as myth. Everyone concedes, however, that modern-day Delhi is a metropolis of many cities. And without doubt the greatest of them is Shahjahanabad, which was built as a new capital by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan, who also built the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Dating from the early 17th century, the so- called Old Delhi is also known as the Walled City, though most of that stone wall has been lost to time. Repeatedly bruised and battered by its violent past, the historic quarter is struggling to adapt itself to the chaos, conflicts, and conveniences of the modern world. Anybody fascinated by the stories of legendary cities – how they rise, fall, and evolve again – must study the ongoing alteration of Old Delhi. Today, its neighbourhoods and streets retain view of delft Old Delhi saudade* Delhi, India’s fabled capital, has been built, destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries. It is a metropolis made up of many cities, but the most captivating is Old Delhi or the Walled City. It is described in this geographical guide, which is also a dictionary of love, with words and images crafted by Mayank Austen Soofi for this View of Delft. Soofi is a well- known Indian writer and photographer. Mayank Austen Soofi view of delftHe writes a daily column for the historical Hindustan Times, with a readership of over one million. He also boasts a highly influential presence on social media (website The Delhi Walla, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). He says, ‘Repeatedly bruised and battered by its violent past, the historic quarter is struggling to adapt itself to the chaos, conflicts, and conveniences of the modern world’. almost nothing of their original character. Even so, they hide a glimpse of the early days in the names of their lanes and localities. These identities have been derived from professions and peoples, landmarks and landscapes. To know how these obscure places used to be and what they have become, might not tell us explicitly about the notable aspects of a city’s history but they do show us the shifting life patterns of its people. These place-names speak to us not only of the way we were, but also about how we may yet be tomorrow.

A unique address named after a language, the market street is lined with kebab shacks, hotels, butchers’ shops and bookstores. Originally believed to be an army market, this place was considered an ideal place in Delhi to hear conversational Urdu,the origins of which are described by Encyclopedia Britannica as the ‘natural language of the people in the neighbourhood of Delhi, who formed the bulk of those who resorted to the bazaar’. Founded in 1939, the landmark Kutub Khana Anjuman-e-Taraqqi-e-Urdu bookshop receives visitors from across the world, in search of rare books. It also sells English-language books, including titles such as Sexual Etiquette in Islam: Guidance for Husband and Wife.

Originating from the word chawhat, Sanskrit for a place where four roads meet (crossroads), Chawri was a district for courtesans. Young men from noble families learnt the arts of poetry and lovemaking from the dancing women here. At some point the women moved elsewhere in the city and Chawri Bazar was transformed into a market for copper, brass and paper products. According to shopkeepers, it is India’s biggest centre for wedding cards.

This was home to artisans who made the pipes, or naichas, for the hookahs. Centuries ago, in the Mughal era, the long naichas would reach from the roadside to the upper floors of the dancing girl establishments in Chawri Bazar. Their customers (and lovers) smoked inside, while the hookah vendor remained on the street.

The full name is Chelan Ameeran. This was the address of the Walled City’s upper crust. It is where Dawn, Pakistan’s most widely read English newspaper, was founded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. During the 1857 uprising against the East India Company that led to the end of the Mughal empire, some 1,400 unarmed Delhi citizens were killed by the British here. Today the area is a maze of dusty lanes lined with cramped apartment buildings.

This area is best known for being the address of Delhi’s greatest poet, Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869) who wrote in both Urdu and Persian. The consequent fate of his house parallels the degradation of the Walled City. Now a museum, the poet’s house had until recently been reduced to a coal store. Unfortunately, nothing of the original house has survived. However, the neighbourhood was named after the wooden poles, or balli, used to anchor boats in the nearby Yamuna River. The area was home to a business community that had converted from Hinduism to Islam in the 16th century while on the way to a holy dip in the sacred Ganga River – following a miracle performed by a Muslim saint. After the Indian Partition in 1947, many residents migrated to Karachi in Pakistan. Today, Ballimaran is famous for shops selling spectacles and leather shoes. Although locals know of poet Ghalib, very few can recite his poetry.

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