डिलली (Dillī)

डिलली¹ (Dillī),² the capital of भारत (Bhārat),³ has 11.035 million residents⁴ and 19.555 million including its satellite cities.⁵ The capital union territory is surrounded by हरियाणा (Hariyāna)⁶ on three sides, and Uttar Pradesh⁷ on the fourth. Monuments attesting to Moslem Mughal rule are the palatial Red Fort,⁸ the collection of tobs called Humayun's Tomb, the world's tallest brick minaret, the Qutab Minar, and the Jama Masjid mosque.⁹ Hinduism has its older Laxminarayan Temple and its new Akshardham¹⁰ temple complex. Also notable is the Baha'i religion's 20th century House of Worship in the shape of a lotus flower.¹¹ The tallest building is the Civic Center (331 feet, 2010).¹²

The city became regionally preeminent during the Ghurid conquests around the end of the 12th century and became a capital in the early 13th. It revived after its destruction by Timur and was on and off the Mughal capital. Eventually the city was conquered by the British, and after a gap became the capital of their 'Empire of India.' New Delhi became the national capital in 1949.

फरीदाबाद (Pharīdābād or Farīdābād),¹³ in हरियाणा (Hariyāna) southeast of डिलली (Dillī) Capital Union Territory, is part of greater डिलली (Dillī). It has 1.405 million residents⁴ and is the location of the tomb of the Moslem Sufi saint, Bābā Farīd. The tallest building is the Ansal Royal Heritage 1 (457 feet, 2017).¹⁴

गाजियाबाद (Gājiyābād or Ghāziābād),¹⁵ in Uttar Pradesh¹⁶ just northeast of डिलली (Dillī) Capital Union Territory, is part of greater डिलली (Dillī). It has 1.636 million residents.¹⁷ The tallest building is the Mahagun Mascot Star I (373 feet).¹⁴

Historical maps

External references

Baha'i House of Worship, Dillī, Bhārat

Footnotes

1. Proper rendering creates a composite letter out of the two ल letters, with a single vertical line on the right.
2. Delhi in English.
3. India in English.
4. 2011 figure from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_India_by_population, accessed February 26, 2018. Technically only one part of the city is the national capital.
5. Metropolitan 2012 figure from world-gazetteer.com, accessed February 6, 2013. An alternate 2011 figure of 16.350 million comes from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_million-plus_urban_agglomerations_in_India, accessed February 26, 2018 but probably does not include satellite cities beyond the union territory.
6. Haryana or Haryāna in conventional English transliteration. The last two vowels are both represented by ा, but I followed convention in only putting a macron on the middle one.
7. Pradesh means 'state'. Uttar means 'northern.'
8. Not to be confused with the Red Fort of Agra. Also called Lal Qil'ah (Qila), which is a tranliteration.
9. Also called Masjid-i-Jahan Numa.
10. Not to be confused with the Akshardham Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
11. Thus its nickname, the Lotus Temple.
12. Emporis.com. accessed March 14, 2018. (The entry covers only New Delhi, which is sometimes considered a city and sometimes akin to a borough within a city. The large mast of the Akashwani All India Medium Wave Transmitter reaches 760 feet and the Pitampura TV tower 771.
13. The letter फ is formally transliterated as 'Ph.' Conventionally it is written as 'F' in transliterating the city's name.
14. Emporis.com, accessed March 14, 2018.
15. The letter ग is formally transliterated as 'G,' the letter ज as 'J' and the letter य as 'Y'. Conventionally the first two are written 'Gh' and 'Z' and the third one omitted in transliterating the city's name.
16. Pradesh means 'state' and uttar means 'northern.'
17. 2011 figure from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_India_by_population, accessed March 14, 2018.
18. I do not know how if the Ghorids continued to call the city-fort by this name prior to 1206 or how the name was written in non-Roman script. In 1206 the name was Mehrauli (in Roman script).
19. Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987), "Tables of the World's Largest Cities." The city, by whatever name, was the largest in this area in 1200, 1300, 1500, 1800 and 1900.
20. I do not know how the name was written by Khalji rulers.
21. I do not know what the Lodi rulers called the city in 1500.
22. I do not know how the name was written in Persian script.