Delhi : Rome of Hindustan

Ranganathan SVN Kondala

A buzz in the capital raises suspicions. A proposal to remodel and reconstruct New Delhi's centre might change the city forever. Many perceive this as an assault on Lutyens' Delhi and everything it's ‘supposed’ to represent. A tale for another time...

The British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens designed India's capital, which is known as "Lutyens' Delhi." Names like Sobha Singh, Baisakha Singh, Narain Singh, Dharam Singh, and Seth Haroun are unlikely to be remembered.

However, guys like them, members of a wide network of Indian contractors, were as important as Lutyens in building this new metropolis. Despite leading this massive project, Lutyens only created four bungalows in New Delhi, all of which are currently in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Calcutta, the East India Company's headquarters, became a political flashpoint for the British in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, necessitating a new colonial capital. The Partition of Bengal in 1905 had generated significant political and religious upheaval, and the British wanted to separate the Empire from Bengal's revolution.

Delhi was a good choice since it would offer the British greater control than Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. Additionally, the British had long been fascinated by the metropolis. Imperial city. As the headquarters of the mediaeval Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals dominated extensive regions from here. Even though the city seemed barren when the last Mughal Emperor died, the British valued it.

Controlling Delhi would establish British dominance over India.

To begin the process, land for the new capital was bought under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and King George V and Queen Mary announced the move in the Delhi Durbar on December 12, 1911. The Durbar, a big gathering designed to show off the British Empire, was perfect for the announcement.

New Delhi was created from scratch 10 miles from Shahjahanabad, the Mughal capital. To build the imperial metropolis, Raisina Hill and nearby villages had to be relocated. Levelling and evening the terrain allowed roads and necessary amenities like piped water and electricity to be installed. Planners had to choose which trees to install in the new metropolis!

Starting in 1911, work would take four years. The rebuilt city was launched in 1931 after delays caused by World War I, redesigns, and cost overruns.

A large project like this required capable individuals, and there were many. Civil contractors from Punjab and North-West India developed the new city from scratch. They were generously rewarded for supporting the British in the 1857 Revolt.

In New Delhi: Making of a Capital (2009), Malvika Singh and Rudransghu Mukherjee describe how the city was built and name five contractors: Sobha Singh, Baisakha Singh, Narain Singh, Dharam Singh, and Seth Haroun.

Capitalization of New Delhi

Most material about New Delhi's construction centres on Lutyens, his colleague, architect Sir Herbert Baker, and Viceroy Lord Hardinge, with the Indians as a footnote. The city is as much their legacy as the British, yet most of what these contractors did is unreported.

The father-son combo of Sujan Singh and Sobha Singh, from Sargodha in Punjab (now Pakistan), were the most successful and renowned. Their descendants include author Khushwant Singh and actress Amrita Singh. The late Khushwant Singh said in ‘Not a Nice Man to Know’ that his ancestors were accomplished merchants with property in Shahpur, Punjab (now Pakistan). He says they developed railway lines in Punjab, notably the Kalka-Shimla line, and conducted a lucrative camel transportation company in western Punjab.

Before the capital's relocation, Sir Sobha Singh levelled the area for the Delhi Durbar. He was known as Adhi Dilli Ka Malik (‘owner of half the city’) because he owned so much land!

False Start

New Delhi's development was marred by false beginnings, relocations, redesigns, and overspending. The layout moved the capital to southern Delhi from the north. In Triumphs and Tragedies of Ninth Delhi, Jagmohan, former Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi, recounts how the foundation stone for the city was set in North Delhi, beyond the ridge, at King George V's Delhi Durbar. A teenage Sobha Singh drove a bullock cart to Raisina Hill at night when the new capital's location shifted!

Stone was transported from Badarpur to Kingsway Camp, 2 km from Raisina Hill, on the empty Delhi Imperial Railway. Donkeys and bullock carts carried the material from Kingsway Camp to the site. Dharam Singh, a Punjabi, supplied the stone from Dholpur.

Dharam Singh was one of Delhi's richest builders and held a stone and marble monopoly, according to Khushwant Singh. His lavish Jantar Mantar Road mansion became the All India Congress Committee headquarters. Dharam Singh bequeathed most of his income to the Guru Nanak Vidya Bhandar Trust, which runs schools and hospitals.

South Block, India Gate, Rathapati Bhavan's courtyard, Connaught Place, Baroda House, Scindia House and the Regal Building were erected by Sujan and Sir Sobha Singh. Amritsar-born Baisakha Singh built North Block and several government homes.

Sindh-based contractor Seth Haroun Al-Rashid was appointed to Rashtrapati Bhavan. One of the few contractors who returned to his birthplace after his Delhi commission.

Sindh-born Lachhman Das constructed Parliament House and the Legislative Chambers. Khushwant Singh says he was honest, used good materials, paid his workers on time, and didn't cheat on taxes. Since honesty was his downfall, Lacchman Das retreated to Haridwar and died as a sadhu.

Khan Bahadur Akbar Ali of Jhelum and Nawab Ali of Rohtak, Punjabi Muslims, established the National Archives and Mughal Gardens.

Narain Singh, who helped organise the Delhi Durbar, built most of the new city's roadways. He founded Parliament House and was named ‘Rai Bahadur’ by the government. He also acquired property and erected the Imperial Hotel, where Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah, and Mountbatten met to finalise Partition. The hotel is owned by Narain Singh's relatives and has great furnishings, photos, pictures, and paintings from its early days.

Only one Indian engineer, Teja Singh Malik, was knighted for his work building the new imperial capital.

Let's not overlook that India's labour and material resources allowed such a massive exercise. Khushwant Singh states that the sung tarashs, or stone masons, were from Delhi and Agra and descendants of Mughal Fort builders. Most of Rajasthan's 30,000 labourers built New Delhi. Bagris lived in tents and temporary housing on-site and nearby.

For a day's job, Khushwant Singh says males get half a rupee or 8 annas and women 6 annas. These labourers worked throughout the year, including the hot North Indian summer and the harsh Delhi winter. They diligently cut and placed every stone regardless of the weather.

Historian Nayanjot Lahiri observes in a study on New Delhi's construction that Christopher Hussey, who wrote Edward Lutyens' official biography, did not identify any Indians. Ironically, Lutyens loathed India and everything Indian, thus his lack of recognition may have been biassed. However, these people shaped his ideas.

Beginning of Lutyens Bungalow Zone

In the beginning, contractor families resided on Jantar Mantar Street, named after Raja Jai Singh II of Amer's 1720s observatory. This is New Delhi's core now, but it was the capital's perimeter then. According to old accounts, jackals often howled nearby!

Sir Sobha Singh erected ‘Baikunth’ for his family at the end of Janpath in the early 1900s. The Walter George-designed mansion exemplifies New Delhi architecture. According to Malvika Singh, it included five apartments for Sobha Singh's family and a vast wood-panelled library. Clouds and angels decorated the centre, domed hallway's high ceilings.

The Kochi princely state monarch acquired the property in the 1920s and made it the Kerala State Palace. The Kerala government bought the property in the 1950s and renamed it Kerala property.

Connaught Place|Wikimedia

Other contractors acquired nearby property and created private, commercial, and residential spaces. They were bought cheaply but now house some of New Delhi's most iconic buildings, including the Connaught Place Market, Sujan Singh Park, the first apartment complex, the Imperial Hotel, and residences on Aurangzeb Road and Curzon Road.

Interestingly, the spacious plots and their magnificent bungalows in this section of Delhi were a consequence of cost-cutting measures — the number of bungalows being constructed had to be limited owing to budget limits, therefore plot sizes had to rise.

Nobody missed the irony that the new imperial capital was finished as the empire set. The empire's centrepiece served as one for 16 years before changing radically. After independence in 1947, New Delhi symbolised India and its builders. Remember this today.