DELHI or DEFILL \ city of India. capi tal of tile n and the 111.4 rim of 1)(•11ti in thy Punjab I \lap: Itnti•i, :I). It is sitil•ted fat Ow right bank of the •Itinula. in latitude •,4° 39' and lonJillide 77 17' E. 951 miles and 4.70 miles ley rail, respeetkely, t'alcittla It is partially surrounded by strong walls with bastioi s and The 1.711ropean twirler is separated from the rest f the city by a canal. The streets in the native city are. with a few narrow, crooked and far from clean. TMe mogul'. palace, once one I the it ost sumptinnis arehitectural 111,01111111(•1114 in the Ea , of NI lila only a few buildings are left, still -loots some trace: of Oriental splen dor. The (lumina Nlitsjill, the principal mosque, is regarded as one of the note%\ orthy of it• kiwi in India. both on aecentit of its dimensions and architecture. it \vas com menced in the se‘clateenth century by Shah Achim. It has tine 1.zatemays, sn•inounted by minarets and timssi‘c doors decorated '1% it Il brass arabesques, Other are those of Roslianudatilalt, situated in the centre of the ('llandni Chattk. the principal thorough fare of Delhi, and surmounted by three gilt domes; the Fatchpuri 3.1os(pl•, dating from the seventeenth century; and the Kahan Alusji41, dating from the fourteenth century, and sidered as a typical example of the architecture of that period. The Delhi l'ollege, founded in was (dosed in 1S77, and its elltit/W went transferred to the nictre central institution of but a number 4 I* institution, remain, and numerous books in the Persian, .kraltie, and Hindu languages are pub lished at Delhi.
The city earrie, on an extensiN 4' trade in grain, and its bazaar, are well stocked it ltil costly embroidered stuffs, and jewelry. 1)(.1111 is an important railway as well a tinaueial centre. Since the dem(dition part of the walls. the City has hegmn 1i 11 aspect. and it nosy ha; good light ing, a drainage system, and a good water-supply. Population, in 1591. 192,581); in 1901, 2118,3s5. \lore than one-half of the inhabitants are Hindus and about tw(•-liftlis are Aii,hamineibin..
The city of Indrapra-tha Iancient Ihdhil. un splendor among the cities of India, was situated on the opposite bank of the river. It; original foundations are supposed to date from the fifteenth 4.-entury It.r. Its remains cover an area of about thirty miles in circum forence. Thy authentie history of Delhi begins
iu 1193, when the city Was taken by the 1lohant m•datis. It was the centre of a mighty Mo• hammcdan monarchy until it was conquered in 131IS by Timm-. In 1526 Delhi was taken by Sultan Itaber. who remoceth the capital to .kgra, but 111141(.r his son Delhi regained its former rank. In the latter part of the sixteenth century the city tell almost into titter decay, as the capi tal of the State was either at .\gra or Lahua.e. Shah .lehn? began the hilihling of the modern city in 11(•ts. and some of the first edifices of Delhi be long to that period. .1t the beginning rut the ei0, 1.4.11111 century the decline of the Mogul empire affected also the city of Delhi. In 17311 it was e•:epturrd by the Persians, and, as it re-tilt of an attack by the natives on the invading army, tunny of the inhabitants acre massacred and the city was ol•-poiled of 111 it ji111,1 treasures.
Will floe Koh' In 17S9 Delhi Wa; by the 11:11irattas, in whose possession it remained until when it Nt a.; taken by Lord Lake, and has since remained in the possession of the The uprising of and the salte,quent siege of the city. form some of the most stirring in the history of the Ilrit ish occupation of India. The im:msiun of the ''it' hY a handful of rebels the eallttlltnlellt of Niverilt on \Ita y In. 1557, was a signal for a general uprising in the city, as well as in northwestern India, an(' the rebels were soon joined by the native troops. The Euro Icans were mereilessl• cut down, and the large powder-magazine was exploded by the _British officers, \vim were unable to defend it against the attacks of the natives. Europeans and friendly native troops began to arrive at the beginning of .June, hut it was not before September that the army of relief was strong enough for an assault on the city. On September 14 Delhi was entered by the British, but it was only after six days' lighting within the walls that the city was retaken. The British losses during the siege amounted to over 1000 killed and nearly 4000 wounded. The old Bahadur Shah, who was pro claimed Emperor by the mutineers, was exiled to Rangoon. and his death in 1862 marked the end of the Alogul dynasty.
Consult: Brown, Thc Punjab and De/hi in (London, 1861) ; Chambers, The History of the Indian Reroll (Edinburgh, 1859) ; Hodson, TireIre Years of a Soldier's Life in India (Lon don, 1859).