New Delhi

New Delhi was laid out to the south of the Old City which was constructed by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.

From 1772 to 1911, Calcutta (now called 'Kolkata') was the capital city of British India. However, Delhi had served as the political and financial centre of several empires of ancient India, most notably of the Mughal Empire. During the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British administration to shift the capital of the Indian Empire from Calcutta to Delhi. Unlike Calcutta, which was located on the eastern coast of India, Delhi was located in central India and the Government of British India felt that it would be easier to administer India from Delhi rather than from Calcutta. Owing to its historic and cultural importance, George V, the then Emperor of India, made the announcement the capital of the Raj was to be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. Peter Hall provides a succinct and entertaining description of the founding of New Delhi in "Cities of Tomorrow".