Question

How did the British change Delhi after the revolt of 1857?​

Answer 1

After the British ransacked Delhi, the city’s anatomy was carefully rearranged to suit its new masters. In today’s quiet, leafy Civil Lines, the British created a city within a city for themselves.

Most government buildings and educational institutions in this area have a connection to the violence of 1857. The imposing residence of the vice chancellor of Delhi University, with its ballrooms and majestic pillars, was the vice-regal lodge, which the British attacked during the siege to save their captive compatriots.

Though Civil Lines had been a British neighbourhood since the early 1800s, allowing colonialists to live close to the cantonment at the northern Ridge, it became the centre of local British residential life after 1857. Only Brits could own property, and only Brits could buy alcohol at Spencer’s or Carlton House — shops that stood in what is now Kashmere Gate market — or enjoy a soiree at Civil Lines’ Maidens Hotel, which is one of the city’s oldest hotels.

This new city became a rival for resources to the walled city of the Delhiwallas. When a new water supply system was conceived, Civil Lines got its own open drain at Salimgarh. The whole of Shahjahanabad, with thrice the population, was serviced by a single drain at Delhi Gate.

It was in Civil Lines that the British embarked on the project of memorialising their victory during the 1857 rebellion. The Victory Memorial in the northern Ridge pays homage to officers and administrators who helped win the war.

It was in Civil Lines that the British embarked on the project of memorialising their victory during the 1857 rebellion. The Victory Memorial in the northern Ridge pays homage to officers and administrators who helped win the war. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

It was also in Civil Lines that the British embarked on the project of memorialising their victory during the rebellion. Even to this day, the neighbourhood has roads named after Lothian, Hamilton and Nicholson, the British heroes of 1857. The Victory Memorial in the northern Ridge and an obelisk at the erstwhile Telegraph Office pays homage to officers and administrators who helped win the war.