Today, Delhi is synonymous with political power in India. Parliament, the President’s residence and the Union government’s headquarters are all located in the city. However, more than a century ago, the seat of British power was elsewhere.
The decision also marked the beginning of the construction of an entirely new imperial city, which would come to be known as New Delhi. The political climate in British India also played a role in the decision. The controversial partition of Bengal had triggered a wave of nationalist unrest in the region. it had already damaged the image of the Raj Although the partition was eventually annulled. The capital’s close association with Bengal had also become a political liability for the British administration. The decision to transfer the capital to Delhi did not mean that the entire British administration simply moved into the existing city. Instead, a new administrative centre was planned on Raisina Hill, on the outskirts of Delhi.
Until 1911, Calcutta was the capital of British India. That changed on December 12, when King George V announced at the Delhi Durbar that the seat of government would be transferred to Delhi. Their decision to hold imperial Durbars in Delhi in 1877, 1903 and 1911 can be seen as an attempt to connect the British Raj with the city’s tradition as a centre of imperial power. The 1911 Durbar was particularly significant, as it was there that the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi was announced. Both decisions were announced against the backdrop of wider political and administrative reforms discussed during the 1911 Delhi Durbar.
The announcement of the capital’s transfer to Delhi, along with changes to Bengal’s administrative structure, was therefore part of a broader effort to address political discontent.
The new imperial capital was designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. They laid out its grand avenues and designed many of the government buildings that would eventually form the heart of New Delhi.
