Delhi, the capital city, has rich heritage. Ancient ruins, monuments and contemporary buildings stand side by side, testament to a glorious past and tumultuous history spanning five thousand years; tracing the vibrant evolution of one of the earliest civilizations from its pre-historic roots to a modern nation state. Built on the banks of river Yamuna, Delhi basks in its strategic importance and unrivalled glory as the seat of power. It unravels layers of time and architectural imprints of eight ancient cities. It chronicles the rise and fall of several empires, of conquerors who have vied for possessing it from times immemorial. Remains of citadels of these empires built at different sites in different eras are seen today as Indraprastha, Lal Kot, Quila Rai Pithora, Siri, Jahanpanah, Tughlakabad, Ferozabad, Dinpanah, Delhi Sher Shahi or then Shahjahanabad. Delhi is an amalgam of all of these cities and New Delhi , founded by the British in 1911 as the capital of the British Empire in India. Integrating diversity, Delhi continues to be resilient. Its culture reflects that of secular India .

Delhi finds mention in Buddhist and Jain scriptures. Stone tools belonging to early stone age were discovered from the Aravalli tracts in and around Anangpur, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Campus, the northern ridge and elsewhere - evidence that the Early Man lived here. Excavations at Mandoli and Bhorgarh in east and north-west Delhi respectively have thrown up remains of chalcolithic period dating back to 2-1 century B.C. as well remains of 4-5 century A. D. have been traced here. Grey earthenware pottery, found at Tilpat, near Delhi , belongs to BC 1000 or earlier, suggesting a city more than 3000 years old.

The recorded history of Delhi begins from 900 B.C. when it finds mention in Mahabharata, the great epic tale about the warring cousins Kauravas and the Pandavas. It is said that the Kauravas gifted barren land west of Yamuna to Pandavas who transformed this to found their capital, Indraprastha, an idyllic haven. Archaeological evidence suggests that Indraprastha once stood where Purana Quila is today. The excavations of the ancient mound of Indraprastha, capital of the Pandavas, located within Purana Quila revealed evidence of continuous habitation of the site for almost 2500 years. Delhi was also witness to the glories of the Maurya Empire during 3 century B.C. The Ashokan edict engraved on a rock in East of Kailash as well as remains found in Purana Quila excavations belonging to the Mauryan period point to Delhi 's importance during this era. The Mauryas, Kushans and the Guptas held sway over the region for centuries.

Delhi - The Tale of Eight Cities

The first city of Delhi: The Tomar Rajputs came to rule Delhi in the seventh and the  eighth centuries. Surajpal Tomar, one of their foremost chieftains founded Surajkund in  Delhi, now the site of an annual arts and crafts fair. In 1020, King Anangpal, a  descendant of Surajpal Tomar built the city of Anangpur and established Lal Kot,  building a citadel in red sandstone in the vicinity of the where Qutab Minar stands  today. He also installed an iron Pillar of Vishnu in the middle of the city of Lal Kot.  Anangpal is often described as the founder of Delhi . Around this time, Turk war lord  annexed north India. In 1022 he made Lahore his provincial capital and invaded India  17 times.

The Tomars ruled for almost a century till the Chauhan Rajputs conquered Delhi. Prithviraj Chauhan massive ramparts around the area and renamed Lal Kot as Quila Rai Pithora. The Chauhans ruled till the end of the twelveth century when the legendary Prithvi Raj Chauhan was defeated and killed by Mohammed Ghor, the Turkish invader in 1192. Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu ruler of Delhi. Ghor returned to Afghanistan after installing his trusted slave Qutab ud din Aibak as General in charge of Delhi. Qutb ud din Aibak built India 's first mosque Quwwatul Islam Masjid at this site. It is said that many of the pillars are from the Hindu and Jain temples that stood within the city of Rai Pithora. The mosque was completed in 1198. One attractive feature of the mosque is the sandstone screen that forms the façade of the mosque. It is carved in a fusion of Hindu and Islamic styles. The iron pillar that stands in the courtyard is the one that Anangpal installed. The Sanskrit inscription on the pillar dates it to the Gupta period of the 4 th century AD. The pillar, in its 1700 years of existence, has neither rusted nor decomposed - a tribute to the metallurgical know-how of the times.

In 1199, Aibak began work on a victory tower, the famous Qutab Minar.It is said that the original construction was the work of Prithviraj. The tower was part of a temple, which also housed the Iron Pillar. The Minar rises 238 feet in five stories. Aibak's original structure had only three stories. The fourth was added by Iltutmish, the fifth by Firoz Tughlaq. In 1829 a Major Smith added a cupola at the top, which was removed for aesthetic reasons in 1848.

After the death of Mohammad Ghor in 1206, Qutab ud din Aibak proclaimed himself as Sultan of Delhi. He was succeeded by his son-in-law Shams ud din Iltutmish who built the the mausoleum of Saint Qutub-ud-din Bakhtiyar Kaki and also built Shamsi Talab, the site where the Sultan saw the footprints of the Holy Prophet's horse Buraq. He completed the fourth storey of Qutub Minar and work on his tomb within the Qutab Minar complex. After his death in 1236, his daughter, Razia Sultana, ruled Delhi for three and a half years. Delhi saw much strife before Ghiasuddin Balban ascended to reign for twenty two years from 1265 to 1287. The next long reign was of Alauddin Khilji who ruled Delhi for almost 20 years from 1296 to 1316.

The second city of Delhi: Lal Kot continued to be the capital till 1303 when Khilji defeated invading Rajputs at Siri and founded the second city within Delhi. He built several madrasas and water reservoirs. Amir Khusro, the poet wrote in his times. In 1311, Khilji constructed the Alai Darwaza, considered by some as the finest building in the Qutab Minar complex. It is a cube made of sandstone and marble.

The third city of Delhi: The Tughlaqs ruled Delhi from 1320 to 1412. During his five-year reign from 1320, Ghyas-ud-din Tughlak founded a new city, Tughlakabad, which took four years to build. River Yamuna receded and soon the new city was deserted due to a scarcity of water.

The fourth city of Delhi: On the death of Ghiasuddin, his son Mohammad bin Tughlaq succeeded him. He constructed Delhi's fourth city called Jahanpanah close to the Qutab Minar to protect his people living in the open plains from attack by invaders. In 1327, he moved capital to the city of Daulatabad, 700 miles south of Delhi. Forced to move, thousands of citizens died on the way. In 1332, he moved the capital back to Jahanpanah.

The fifth city of Delhi: On his death, Feroz Shah Tughlaq ascended throne of Delhi in 1351. An enlightened ruler, he built Ferozabad, close to the river Yamuna. On the top of his palace he planted a pillar of Ashoka's time bearing Buddhist inscriptions. He constructed several dispensaries, hospitals, madrasas, serais for travelers and water canals. His successors were weak and Delhi was plundered and laid to waste in 1398 by Timur. It is said that the rampage left so many dead that there was none left to bury the dead. The carnage was followed by famine and plague. From 1414 to 1451, Delhi was ruled by Sayyids. Then followed the Lodhis from 1451 to 1526 when IbrahimLodhi was killed by Babar who established the Mughal dynasty in India.

The sixth city of Delhi: Constructed in an area said to be the ancient city of Indraprastha, Purana Quila was erected by the Mughal Emperor Humayun, son of Babar. He was forced to flee from Purana Quila between 1533-34 by the invading Afghan warrior Sher Shah Suri (1530 -39). Sher Shah Suri built a beautiful hall and mosque in the fort and ruled from here till 1555 when Humayun returned to power and recaptured the fort.

The seventh city of Delhi: Shahjahanabad or old Delhi as it is now called was built by the fifth of the Mughals, Emperor Shah Jahan who ruled from 1627 to1658 and had a passionate interest in architecture. In 1640, he moved court from Agra to Delhi . Built over eleven years, the city comprises of the famous Red Fort in red sandstone, Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque and Chandni Chowk, developed by his daughter Jahanara, as a vibrant bazaar with well laid out streets. Old Delhi monuments are fine examples of Mughal architecture. The use of white marble with rich inlay of precious stones in carvings is seen also in the Red Fort at Agra and the resplendent Taj Mahal that Shahjahan built in Agra in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

New Delhi, the eighth city: Following the British decision to shift the capital of imperial India from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911, two British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker were commissioned to design a new city. New Delhi was formally inaugurated in 1931. The British thus added as their contribution to Delhi, the imperial India Gate, a war memorial of the First World War; the Vice regal Lodge which is now the Rashtrapati Bhawan, residence to the President of Republic of India; the Houses of Parliament; and the Government Secretariat buildings.

Lutyens Imperial Delhi with boulevards and tree lined wide avenues, sprawling bungalows and low rise buildings is today the capital of modern India, the largest democracy in the world.