#40 The Juma (Jami) Musjid, Delhi – 1875.
The Jami Masjid was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (ruled 1628-58) in Shahjahanabad, the seventh city of Delhi founded by him in 1639. It was the city’s principal congregational mosque for Friday prayers. Situated on an outcrop of rock, the prayer hall or sanctuary stands in a vast arcaded courtyard set on a plinth and reached by flights of steps. At the time of construction it was the largest mosque in India. The sanctuary has a imposing façade consisting of five arches on either side of a massive central arched entrance, three bulbous domes and two marble minarets set at each end of the building. Built in red sandstone, it has white and black marble decoration including vertical white stripes inlaid on the minarets and vertical black stripes inlaid on the white domes. This view of the mosque shows the entrance gate.
#39 This picket was put up on the estate of Thomas.
This “picket” was put up in the estate of Thomas Metcalfe, a British agent in the Mughal court, to deter rebels during the mutiny. However, in May 1857, the 1000-acre estate was attacked and burned by local villagers who regarded the property as theirs and appropriated by Metcalfe.
#38 The Delhi Bank
It had many local men of business as shareholders, was set up in 1847 in a stately building. In May 1857, the manager of the bank, a Mr Beresford, defended himself and his family, but was killed by the rebels. British forces took back the bank in September.
#37 Photograph of Naqqar Khana in Delhi
From ‘Murray Collection: Views in Delhi, Cawnpore, Allahabad and Benares’ taken by Dr. John Murray in 1858 after the Uprising of 1857. Naqqar or Naubhat Khana, is located within the Red Fort or Lal Qila complex, and was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1627-1658). This music gallery was approached via the Lahore Gate and the Chhatta Chauk (vaulted arcades) on the west side of the fort. Passing beyond the Naqqar Khana would lead to the other key palace buildings including the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience), the Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience), Moti Masjid, and the Khas Mahal (private chambers of the emperor).
#36 First Meeting of the Indian Governors – New Delhi, May 1949
From Left:
Hormasji Peroshaw Mody (UP)
The Maharaja of Bhavnagar (Madras)
Madhav Shrihari Aney (Bihar)
M.M. Pakvasa (CP)
Chandulal trivedi (East Punjab)
Jawaharlal Nehru (Prime Minister)
C. Rajagopalachari (Governor General)
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Deputy Prime Minister)
Kailash Nath Katju (West Bengal)
Raja Maharaj Singh (Bombay)
Asaf Ali (Orissa)
Sri Prakasa (Assam)
#35 Inauguration of Delhi.
“At the opening of India’s new capital — the Maharaja of Bharatpur and the Maharaja of Dholpur dressed in their flowing gowns of gold cloth at the formal opening of New Delhi as the capital by Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India” (a news bureau photo, 1927).
#34 Delhi Durbar of 1911
Held in December to commemorate the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary as Emperor and Empress of India. Practically every ruling prince, nobleman, landed gentry and other persons of note in India attended to pay obeisance to their sovereigns. The Sovereigns appeared in their Coronation robes, the King-Emperor wearing the Imperial Crown of India with eight arches, containing six thousand one hundred and seventy exquisitely cut diamonds, and covered with sapphires, emeralds and rubies, with a velvet and miniver cap all weighing 34.05 ounces (965 g). They then appeared at a darshan (a sight) at the jharoka (balcony window) of Red Fort, to receive half a million or more of the common people who had come to greet the King George V and Queen Mary.
#33 Chandni Chowk (the Moonlit Market)
This one of the oldest markets of Delhi. One account from 1859 talks about the market’s “gay appearance”, but in Beato’s picture it is a sombre place. The house in the centre is typical of the happy eclecticism seen in most Indian houses then and later.