Delhi and New Delhi

Delhi is the capital city of India and one of the nine union territories of India. It is located on the banks of the Yamuna and has a total area of 1,484 square kilometres. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. On the other hand, New Delhi is a district within Delhi that serves as the capital of India. In addition to being the capital city, it also serves as an administrative division of Delhi. The current president of India resides in this district. It is the third-largest city of the world 

New Delhi is one of the 11 districts in Delhi, the national capital. New Delhi, located to the southwest of Delhi, is one of the largest business and residential districts in India. Its construction was done in 1911 during British rule, and it was named New Delhi due to its contrasted architectural style when compared to the older parts of Delhi. It developed from the older Raisina Hill area and is part of the larger National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.

While this difference is simple enough to understand, poor understanding of the capital’s nomenclature has left a number of people confused.

Delhi 

Delhi is bounded by Uttar Pradesh from one side, west by Haryana, east by Uttaranchal and south by Rajasthan. Delhi has been inhabited since ancient times and the earliest available evidence is about the inhabitants who settled here by 1000 BC at Indraprastha.

Delhi is the official name of the Republic of India’s capital and New Delhi is a part of the National Capital Territory (NCT) in the northern part of India. There lies the confusion, as people think that they are one and the same but they are not. They are different in terms of their history, governance, and geography. 

The city of Delhi is much older and greater in terms of both area and population. It consists of seven cities of Delhi including Old Delhi, which is also called Shahjahanabad, at its core. The Old Town or Old Delhi was built as the capital of the Mughal Empire by Shah Jahan who transformed the small village into one of the famous cities of India. 

Delhi is the name of the larger city – a union territory, while New Delhi is the name of a central district making up a portion of that city. In fact, Delhi is one of the fastest growing major cities in the entire world, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential cities in the world, in terms of culture, commerce and politics.

New Delhi

The name Delhi is actually a misnomer and in reality, refers to Indraprastha, which was the capital of the Pandavas during the epic Mahabharata. It was built on what is now the Purana Quila in New Delhi. The new construction of this city started by the British and they named it New Delhi

New Delhi is situated within Delhi and is part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. It is one of the 9 districts of Delhi Union Territory. The other eight districts are Central, East, New Delhi, North, North East, North West, Shahdara and South. New Delhi is the capital city of India, New Delhi was created by the British in 1911 to serve as the new capital of British India; and so it was named as such to differentiate it from Old Delhi. However, despite being named as such, there is no clear evidence that suggests that anyone ever officially referred to either ‘Delhi’ or ‘New Delhi’ prior to this name change.

Some people mistakenly think that Delhi is the capital of India, when in fact New Delhi is considered to be the capital. However, it’s not quite that simple, since New Delhi and Delhi are both part of the larger city that has been called Delhi for over 800 years.

Difference Between Delhi and New Delhi

The only major difference between Delhi and New Delhi is the fact that New Delhi serves as the capital of India, and it has been built specifically to serve this purpose. New Delhi was built with a mix of both Oriental and European architecture and was designed to be more spacious and airy.

Though New Delhi is not actually a city, it is the capital of India. However, this only confuses people further, since many wonder what the difference between Delhi and New Delhi is. The truth is that New Delhi is sometimes called the Lutyens’ Delhi in memory of Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, prominent architects who designed the city. The area also houses many important government buildings.

Conclusion

It could have been an act of a political manoeuvre or due to some historical reasons; the names Delhi and New Delhi seem to be confusing for many. It is not just the foreigners but even citizens of India are not well aware of the basic differences between the two.