The Delhi Durbar of 1911 represents a significant moment in Indian history. In the British Parliament King George V announced his desire to commemorate the coronation in Delhi.
The British aspiration to replicate Mughal glory and Durbars is evident when the headlines in the press-photo said, "City of the Moguls."
As preparations began, 30 villages in North Delhi gave way to a new "temporary city". 40,000 tents spread across 25sq miles made up this "Durbar City". The arrangements started a year in advance. The site was in northwest Delhi, from the present-day Civil Lines to Timarpur, Jahangirpuri, Shalimar Bagh, Ashok Vihar, Model Town and Shakurpur. Sixty-four km of new roads and 80 km long water mains were constructed.
The official ceremonies of the Delhi Durbar spilled over a week-long spectacle from 07 December to 16 December 1911
The Durbar on 12 December was attended by 2,50,000 people. All the "who's who" of the country attended the Durbar.
The British monarchs sat on throne chairs which had been cast by melting 96000 silver rupees and were encrusted with gold plate. They weighed 640 kg and 540 kg for the King and the Queen's chair respectively. The Amphitheatre had 12,000 seats reserved for high-ranking officers and Indian royals.
The proclamation was read in English and Urdu. The political policy announcements were made. The announcement of shifting the capital of the Empire from Calcutta to Delhi left everyone surprised. The other announcement included a reversal of the 1905 partition of Bengal, assigning it the status of a Governor's province.
The Mercury reported that the cost of shifting the Capital would be 4,000,0000 pounds.
It was the Mughal emperor Akbar who first initiated the Jharokha-e-Darshan. He would appear on the east-facing balconied and canopied window of his fort to offer darshan to his followers. One cannot know where he got the idea from, but it was an altered form of idol worship. The King and Queen did precisely the same at the Red Fort.
On December 15, the King and Queen laid the foundation stone for a new Imperial Capital at the Coronation Park, Kingsway Camp.
Work started on the new capital. British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker were assigned the work. Construction of the buildings was given to Sobha Singh. The plan was to make it in four years, but as World War I commenced the coffers dried and it took more than twenty years to finish work on what came to be called as "Lutyens' Delhi".
By the time New Delhi was inaugurated as the capital of British India, it was 13 February 1931.
The inauguration was commemorated by a pictorial series of six stamps on 09 February 1931 called "Inauguration of New Delhi 1931"
Three annas, chocolate and carmine, Secretariat, 1931
Coin. The Coronation was followed by a new issue of a "One Rupee" silver coin, which raised an outburst.
Today, the Coronation Park is a well-guarded open space whose desolateness stands in contrast with the heavy traffic of northern Delhi's urban sprawl. The park is occasionally used for festivals and municipal conventions.
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