Delhi

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Map of Delhi (Source: India-WRIS)

The History of this territory is too old. There is reference in our epic Mahabharata regarding the city. At that time the name of the city was Indraprastha. There are several thoughts behind the name Delhi. Some Historian believed that the name derived from the king Raja Dilu or Dhillu, whose period is not definitely known. Some of them believed that it was named by Tomara ruler. Delhi went on passing from one kingdom to another, beginning with the Mauryas, Pallavas, Guptas, of Central India. Delhi changed hands at the end of 12th century and passed into hands of Muslim conquerors. The famous Qutub Minar's construction started by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak in about 1200 A.D. and it was completed by his son-in-law Illtutmish in 1220 A.D. Thereafter several dynasties like Khilji, Tughlaq, Lodhi ruled over this region. In 1526 Zahir ud-din Mohammed Babar founded the Mughal dynasty over Delhi. Mughal empire ruled the entire India from Delhi till 1857. The historic Red Fort and Jama Masjid were the gifts of Mughal ruler Shahjahan. The city Delhi passed into the hands of British in 1803 and in 1911 British Empire was shifted their capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi. After 1947, it became the capital of India and was made a Union Territory in 1956. Delhi was renamed as National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi on February 1, 1992.

Delhi is lying in the northern part of India and is situated between the Himalayan and the Aravalis range. It is bounded by Haryana in all sides except Uttar Pradesh in the east. The river Yamuna cuts the total area into two major parts. The territory lies on the western side of the Yamuna contains more area than the eastern part. The altitude of the area ranges between 213 and 305 meters. Physically the total area divided into three parts - the Yamuna Flood Plain (Khadar), the Ridge and the Plain. Among them Ridge contains the largest area under it. The climate of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, is influenced by its island position with the desert of Rajasthan in the west and the Gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh. Summer are extremely hot and winter are cold. It gets rains in the month of July and August.

• Agriculture
• Industry

Very few people depends on this occupation. The degree of urbanisation in this territory is very high as a result the total cultivable area decreased rapidly. Major food crops are wheat, bajra, jowar and maize. However, emphasis has now shifted from food crops to vegetables, fruits, diary, poultry farming etc. as these are more remunerative than food crops in the territory.

Delhi has a rich heritage of skilled craftsman in the area of jewellery, embroidery, silver vases and bowls, silk related items, hand-loom, textiles, copper and brass metals. It is the largest commercial center and largest center of small and cottage industries of northern India. The present industrial growth can be traced to the later half of the 19th century. Since 1974 a large number of industrial concerns have been established. There are a wide variety of industrial products produced by the several industrial units like television, tape records, light engineering machines, automobile parts, razor blades, sports goods, bicycles, PVC goods, footwear, textiles, fertilisers, medicines, hosiery, leather goods, software, hardware etc. Besides these there are casting, galvanising, electroplating printing and warehousing units. Delhi's new millennium industrial policy, emphasizes setting up of high-tech and sophisticated industries in electronics, telecommunications, software industries and IT enabling services. Delhi governments also encouraging non-polluting high-value added industries which largely depend on skilled manpower.

• Irrigation
• Power
• Transport
• Health
• Education
• Telecommunication

About 75 per cent of the total cultivated area having the facility of irrigation. Tanks and tubewells plays the most important role in irrigation system. Special attention is paid to provide irrigation facilities to the schedule castes.

Delhi is well connected by roads with all parts of India.This city's road traffic is highest in the country. It has three inter-state bus terminus - ISBT at Kashmere Gate, Sarai Kale Khan and Anand Vihar and number of fly-overs to decongest the traffic.

Delhi was opened to railway traffic on 1st January, 1867 and Delhi-Ambala-Kalka railway was opened on March 1, 1891. Now this city has railway connection with all parts of India. There are three important railway stations in the city, Delhi Junction, New Delhi Railway Station and Nizamuddin Railway station.

As a capital of the country, the city is well connected by Air service to different parts of the country and the world. The city has three airports, Indira Gandhi International Airport (for international flights), Palam Airport (to handle the domestic flights) and Safdarjung Airport (for training purpose). Large number of international air companies and Indian Airlines use the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The control of these airports lies with International Airport Authority.

Delhi, our national capital is one of the most ancient and historical city. This place has a lots of religious, archaeological and historical important places like Lal Quila (Red Fort), Jama Masjid, Qutab Minar, India Gate, Laxmi Narayan Mandir, Humayun's Tomb, Lotus Temple, Lodhi Tomb, Hauz Khas, Tuglakabad, Jantar Mantar, Gurudwara Sisganj, Kalkaji Temple, Digamber Jain Temple, Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhawan etc. Besides these there are National Shrines (Samadhi Sthal of National Heroes) on the bank of Yamuna like Raj Shat (Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation), Shanti Van (Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru), Vijay Ghat (Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri), Shakti Sathal (Smt. Indira Gandhi), Samta Sathal (Sri Jagjeevan Ram), Kishan Ghat (Shri Charan Singh), Veer Bhumi (Shri Rajeev Gandhi), Ekta Sathal (Shri Gyani Zail Singh). Delhi State Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation conducts city sight-seeing and excursion tours. The Corporation has also conducted adventure tourism activities such as para-sailing, rock climbing, boating etc.