Delhi – A Tapestry of time ; From Myth to Metropolis
The celebrated poet Mirza Galib has described Delhi -” If the world is the body, Delhi is its soul”…
These words attribute quintessential narration of the city.
Delhi, is not just a single city, but has nurtured innumerable cultures and kingdom, within its lap.
The area was once a cradle of civilization. It’s tapestry is embellished with the annals of glorious cities and kingdoms that have risen and fallen here. It is a city of triumph and tragedy.
For centuries, the river Yamuna has witnessed the construction and destruction of several Delhis.
But, that’s not all. Infact, it’s bank has been abode of pre-historic man.
The archaeological excavation at Anangpur, near Surajkund reveal that about 1,00,000 years ago, the region had been a nursery of human civilization. In June 1991, the pre-historic branch of the Archaeological Survey of India, made a incredible discovery and that marked the antiquity of the Delhi Metropolitan area to be dated back to One Lakh years!!! It implies that the Proto- historic man, might have wandered on the same land, where the current New Delhi stands
The legend of Mahabharata, narrates the construction of Indraprastha, the capital of Pandavas. The archaeological exploration confirms its location as the Purana Quilla.
When any reference about Indraprastha is quoted, the portrayal of the mysterious and regal palace of Pandavas, emerge.
Even In Buddhist literature in Pali, the allusion of Purana Quilla, on the bank of river Yamuna, in the city of “Indapatta” or “Indapattana” is cited. The mention of Indraprastha, can be found even in Greek-Roman literature. In Ptolemy’s Geography has quoted about the city of “Indabara”, dating back to 2nd century BC, has been derived from the Prakrit form “Indabatta” and it’s location has been marked very close to current New Delhi.
In February 2014, a team of Archeological Survey of India (ASI), began excavation of a mound near Sher Mandal monument.
Some of the extremely striking findings from this digging were a seal, some terracotta beads, glass earstuds, semi precious stones, charred grains, burnt brick and wooden blocks for block printing, bangles were located that dated back to Gupta (4th to 5 th century) and Kushan period (1st Century) as well as Eighteen cm long Lord Vishnu idol from Rajput period.
Renowned Archeologist and former director general of ASI – Shri. BB Lal, who had carried out the excavation in 1954-55, on the site, pointed out that ” “Below the stratified deposits of northern Black polished ware, dating back to 700 BCE, we got a tray shelf of painted Grey Ware.(PGW). Similar PGWs were found in various Mahabharat sites such as Hastinapur, Mathura, Kurukshetra and North Panipat.
This establishes the link between the era, asserting Purana Quilla to be the palace of Pandavas from Mahabharata era.
Thirty generations of Kuru dynasty and of Raja Yudhishthir, ruled for 1770 years, 11 months and 10 days.
BB Lal has elaborated on this findings narrating it’s basis.
As per his, assumptions, there was a huge flood in river Ganga and the capital city of Kurus – Hastinapur was washed away. (Around 875 BCE). This happened during the reign of King Nicaksu (the great great grandson of King Janmejaya).
Thus, king Nicaksu, the last Kuru king and the first king of Vatsa dynasty (Vatsa branch of Kuru clan) shifted the Kuru capital from Hastinapur to Kaushambi.
It is believed that his descendant King Udayan was contemporary to Lord Buddha. He had invited Buddha to Kaushambi and Buddha had visited before his death around 500 BCE.
Taking in account, all these fact findings, there is a possibility that Pandavas ruled Indraprastha around 1200 BCE. Some historians, also claim that Mahabharata era dates back to 3200 BCE.
There are certain datas that supports this claim.
The Kurus declined after being defeated by the non-vedic Salvi tribe, also known as Salva.
King Kshemak, was the last and thirtieth generation of kings, of Kuru dynasty. He was assassinated by his Prime Minister Vishwa and he took over the reins in his hands. Fourteen generations of Vishwa, ruled Indraprastha for 500 years, 3 months and 17 days.
In the post Vedic period, when Aryavarta consisted of several Mahajanapadas, the Kuru Dynasty was split between Kurus and Vatsas. The Kurus controlled the Haryana/ Delhi/ Upper Doab, while the Vatsas controlled the Lower Doab. Later, The Vatsas were further divided into two branches—One at Mathura, and the other at Kaushambi.
The Puranas state that after the washing away of Hastinapura by the Ganges, the Bhārata king Nicakṣu, the great-great grandson of Janamejaya, abandoned the city and settled in Kauśāmbī. This is supported by the Svapnavāsavadattā and the Pratijñā-Yaugandharāyaṇa attributed to Bhāsa. Both of them have described the king Udayana as a scion of the Bhāratas family (Bhārata-kula). The Puranas provide a list of Nicakṣu’s successors which ends with king Kṣemaka.
The Panchakala kingdom, in current Uttar Pradesh, became the epicenter of Vedic culture. The king of Panchakala kingdom, king Kesin Dalbhya, was the nephew of the late Kuru king.
Veersalan, the fourteenth generation king of Vishwa’s lineage, was killed by his own Prime Minister Veermaha. Their Sixteen generations ruled for 445 years, 5 months and 3 days.
Raja Dhandhar of Prayagraj assassinated Adityaketu of Magadh. Nine generations of Magadh ruled over Indraprastha for 374 years, 11 months and 26 days.
King Rajpal was the last king of Dhandhar’s dynasty. His thirty six years rule ended when he was killed by Samant Mahanpal. Mahanpal ruled for fourteen years. Later, Mahanpal was defeated and killed by Samrat Vikramaditya of Avantika ( Ujjain), who ruled for 93 years.
Later, he was killed by Samudrapal Yogi of Paithan at the age of 117 in 15 CE.
Sixteen generations of king Samudrapal ruled over Indraprastha, for 372 years, 4 months and 27 days.
The Sixteenth generation king Raja Vikrampal attacked Mulakhchand Bohra but was killed in the battle by him. The 191 years, 1 month and 16 days, rule ended when Rani Padmavati, wife of king Govindchandra could not bear and child any the dynasty was left heir less. Her advisor appointed Hariprem Vairagi to the throne. Four generations of Harimprem ruled for over fifty years.
The fourth generation of king Hariprem renounced the world. On hearing the news of his embracing asceticism, king Adhisen of Bengal invaded and captured the kingdom of Indraprastha. His descendants ruled for 151 years, 11 months and 2 days.
Raja Adhisen’s twelve descendants ruled Indraprastha for 107 years, 6 months and 22 days. Twelfth king in his lineage – Damodarsen ill treated his umrao Deepsingh and he, along with Damodarsen’s army revolted and killed him.
Six generations of Deepsingh ruled Indraprastha for 107 years, 4 months and 82 days.
Chandragupta || was son of Samudragupta and was also known as the ‘Vikramaditya’. He was one of the greatest emperor of Gupta dynasty and his era (375 CE to 415 CE) has been marked as Bharat’s golden age.
In around 800 BCE, a scion of the Jat Dhillon clan, Raja Dhilu is considered to have established the earliest township of Delhi, which is situated in the South -West of modern Delhi.
(About 10 km away from where the Purana Quilla (Indraprastha ) is situated.
It is believed that the Dhillon kings reign till 3rd century BCE, continued from here.
The Dhillon ancestral tree has been marked as the grandson of Karna.
There are two theories about the Dhillon dynasty. Swami Dayanand Saraswati in Satyarth Prakash, places Raja Dhilu’s reign towards the 8th century BCE, where as the modern historians views him as the Maurya descendant of the 1st century BCE.
Inspite of the conflicting theories, Delhi’s timeline unanimously accredit King Dhilu as Delhi’s founder.
Under the Dhillons; the township sprung up to be the capital city of Dhillika, which prevailed, until its fall and eventual decline around 3 century BCE.
With the rise of Magadha, Nanda, Maurya dynasties, the capital city as well as dominant centre in the Gangetic plains, shifted towards East to Patliputra and hence, most part of Dhillika was deserted lay in ruins.
Later, during the Gupta Empire, the site was again perceived as a potential settlement that could have strategic stronghold.
