Shahjahanabad Essay

Shahjahanabad (abode of Shahjahan), the capital city of the Mughal Empire was built by the Mughal emperor, Shahjahan. He decided to shift his capital in 1638 from Agra to Delhi. The premodern capital city is built over the fertile lands of the Delhi triangle, over an area of 1500 acres. The Delhi triangle is the watershed of both the Yamuna and Indus rivers, and is bound by the Aravalli hills on the southern and western sides, and the Yamuna river on the East. The City and the empire collapsed in AD.1750. The city was the climax of all the urban settlements in Delhi.
The author, Stephen Blake, calls the city a ‘patrimonial-bureaucratic empire’, and draws references from the day to day functioning of the city to substantiate his theory. According

Proximity to the palace was a sign of good social status. The first important element was the Fatehpuri Masjid, west of the Lahore Gate. The second element was the Jaharana Begumi Gardens, north of Chandni Chowk. The third element was the main street of Chandni Chowk, where important buildings such as the police station and retail shops were located. The Fourth element was the Jama Masjid, the main Friday mosque of the city, the fifth being Faiz Bazaar and the sixth was the Kasi Haus, the main water

The New city, with its incidental open spacing surrounding grounds, gardens, well available sunlight and rain is not a preferred alternative as compared to the old city. The old city, with its tight spaces and dark streets is more convenient to deal with the constant rising humidity, dust storms and heat. It is more economical, the open courtyards are a shared community space and take less area than the incidental open spaces in the new city. Infact, the old city conforms more to the idea of the Garden city than New