HISTORICAL PAST

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 35, 11 February 1931, Page 9

HISTORICAL PAST

He who holds Delhi holds India) With repeated conquests through tlio ages, that has become an axiom. The rich capital of a rich country, Delhi has been the objective of invader after invader since before the days of Alexander the Great. As a consequence, this seat of the old Mogul emperors has been_ destroyed and rebuilt time after time, and to-day there are distinct traces of at least seven separate cities in the vicinity of the existing one. And now still another Imperial city—New Delhi —is to bo opened five or six miles to the west. v Work on it has been in progress for more than 10 years, and it has been built to endure. Carefully planned before a start was made, its spaciousness and-majestic scheme will be a revelation to tho whole o£ India. Situated in the centre of .the triangle formed by Bombay, Calcutta, and Peshawar —the three main'trading centres of the country, Delhi is the obvious capital of Hindustan, and when it is remembered, too^ that the people of the country, from time immemorial, have looked on Delhi in this light, and that they are by instinct and. training strongly opposed to any idea of change, it is not surprising that the British Government's experiment in making Calcutta the capital has to!some extent failed. BACK AGAIN. It was tried for a time, but public opinion was too strongly against ijt, and when, in 1910, King George V. was crowned Emperor of India, the ceremony took place at Delhi, and the title of capital was transferred back to its old holder. Delhi is probably the outstandingly interesting city in a land i|hat is overflowing with interest. Modern civilisation and the primitive life of centuries ago rub shoulders in its streets and bazaars. While ,one quarter has become a European shopping centre, with broad, clean streets, and graceful buildings, others are still the narrow, tortuous alleys they have been \ for hundreds of years, where naked children play with mangy dogs among indescribable filth. Bullocks draw heavy, ungainly native carts, almost blocking the thoroughfares, and diminutive donkeys, loadod until they are almost invisible, are urged on by small boys with sticks.) For the tourist it is a city of absorbing interest. The palace of former rulers is still standing within the walls of the fort, giving a glimpse of the pomp and splendour in which these old kings lived. In it are marble baths, beautifully inlaid floors and. staircases, and the exquisite Pearl Mosque with its vista of cunningly wrought arches, giving a remarkable impression of extending for miles. THE OLD WAIL. The,old mud wall still surrounds the greater part of the city, and its various gates bear the marks of the bombardment they suffered during the Mutiny 73 years ago. Shot holes are still visible in the Lahore Gate. In the native parts of tho town many of the shops and factories are a revelation to the visitor. The most popular is the Ivory Palace, where craftsmen may be seen at work transforming giant elephant tusks into the dainty toys and ornaments familiar to all. It is a slow business. A casket which was presented to the Prince of Wales when he visited Delhi in 1921 33 said to have taken two first-class workmen 20 years to make. The big drawback to Delhi is its climate. During the hotter months of the year the temperature frequently reaches 112 or 115 degrees for weeks on end, and sudden and violent dust storms help to render it unsuitable for1 the seat of government. Then the Viceroy and the Legislature transfer to the hill station of Simla. New Delhi, with its modern buildings and improved architecture may over4>mo) this trouble, but it is doubtful Whether anyone who enn get away will stay there during tho hot weather.-