Delhi is the third largest city of India, exceeded in size by Calcutta and Mumbai. The ‘Modern Delhi’ is the capital of Indian Union and lies to the south of Old Delhi. Delhi is situated in north central India and stands on the west bank of Yamuna river. It is bounded on the east by the state of Uttar Pardesh and on the north, west and south of Haryana.

Delhi has been the capital city of a succession of mighty empires and powerful kingdoms. According to the history, city rose and fell seven times at different sites. Different sites were: The earliest reference of Delhi is found in the famous epic ‘Mahabharata’ which mentions city called Indraprastha, built about 1400 BC somewhere between Purana Qila (Old Fort) and Humayun’s Tomb. The historian reference to ‘Delhi’ was actually made in 1^st century BC when Raja Dhilu built a city near Qutab Minar and named it after him. Delhi got different names – Delhi, Dehli, Dilli and Dhilli.

During the 12^th century it became the capital of Prithviraj Chauhan. After the defeat of Prithviraj by Mohammed Gauri the city went into the Muslim hands. In the beginning of 13^th century Qutab-ud-din Aibak made the famous tower, Qutab Minar, and chose Delhi as his capital.

Ala-ud-din Kilji (1296-1316) built the second city of Delhi at Siri, three miles northwest of the present Delhi. The third city of Delhi was built by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq (1320-25) at Tughlaqabad but was abandoned in favour of the old site near Qutab Minar because of the scarcity of water. Mohammad bin Tuqhlaq (1325-51) made the forth city of Delhi as Firozabad which was situated in the area which is now know as Feroz Shah Kotla.

After the invasion of Tamerlane, Delhi experienced temporary diminishing because he made Agra as his capital. But again in 1526 Babar Chose Delhi as his capital. His son Humayun built a new city, Din Panah between Feroz Shah Kotla and the Purana Qila. Shershah drove Humayun out from the country in 1540 and built his new capital, the Shershahi (Purana Qila) as the sixth city of Delhi.

Delhi again lost its importance when Akbar (1556-1605) and Jehangir (1605-27) moved to Fatehpur Sikri at Agra. The city again restored its glory when Akbar’s grandson Shah Jehan (1629-58) laid the foundations of the seventh city of Delhi. He made Shahjehanbad, as his capital, which is presently known as old Delhi. He made several gates such as Kashmiri Gate, Delhi Gate, Turkman Gate and Ajmeri Gate.

After the fall of Mughal Empire during mid – 18^th century, Delhi again faced many unpredictable changes. Since 1803 it flourished under British Empire. In 1912 Britisher moved their capital from Calcutta to the modern city of Delhi.