60 Fun Facts About Delhi

Which river does Delhi straddle, though the city spreads mainly west of it?

It is the only major river flowing through the city and is sacred in Hinduism.

What is Delhi's official designation, adopted in 1995?

It became a union territory on 1 November 1956 and covers 1,484 square kilometres.

Delhi's urban agglomeration ranks where among the world's largest metropolitan areas?

With Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Noida and Faridabad it tops 28 million people, India's largest.

Which three Delhi monuments are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

All three date from the Sultanate and Mughal centuries when Delhi was an imperial capital.

Which legendary city of the Mahabharata is traditionally placed on the site of Delhi?

Its description matches the site of Purana Qila, though digs have found no ancient fortifications.

How many cities are traditionally said to have stood on the site of Delhi?

Shahjahanabad, today's Old Delhi, is counted as the seventh.

Which Tomara Rajput king built Lal Kot in 1052, the first of Delhi's cities?

The Chauhans later took it and renamed it Qila Rai Pithora.

Who founded the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 and began its great victory tower?

He was Ghori's deputy and took over his Indian possessions when Ghori died without an heir.

How tall is the Qutb Minar?

It is the world's tallest brick minaret and has 399 steps.

What struck the Qutb Minar in 1369, prompting Firuz Shah Tughlaq to rebuild its top?

He shrank the fourth storey and split it into two.

Which Gupta emperor made the famously rust-resistant iron pillar now in the Qutb complex?

It stands 7.21 m tall and weighs over six tonnes; it may have been moved from Udayagiri.

Who was the first woman to rule Delhi, succeeding her father Iltutmish?

Iltutmish had consolidated the conquest of northern India and finished the Qutb Minar.

Which sultan moved his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, then had to move it back?

The sultanate reached its greatest extent under him before the south broke away.

Which conqueror sacked Delhi in 1398 and massacred 100,000 captives?

The sultanate never fully recovered under the Sayyids who followed.

Who founded the Mughal Empire after beating the last Lodi sultan at Panipat in 1526?

He was a descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur from the Fergana Valley.

Which Hindu king was crowned in Purana Qila in 1556 after beating Akbar's forces?

A month later the Mughals crushed Hemu at the Second Battle of Panipat.

Who commissioned Humayun's Tomb, the first garden-tomb on the subcontinent?

She chose the Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and paid the 1.5 million rupees herself.

In which year did Shahjahanabad, now Old Delhi, become the Mughal capital?

Shah Jahan built it as the seventh city of Delhi.

Which architect, also credited with the Taj Mahal, designed the Red Fort?

Shah Jahan commissioned the fort on 12 May 1639 after moving his capital from Agra.

Above which entrance of the Red Fort did Nehru raise the flag on 15 August 1947?

Every prime minister since has hoisted the tricolour there on Independence Day.

Which mosque, built by Shah Jahan by 1656, is described as India's largest?

It served as the imperial mosque until the empire's end in 1857.

What does the name of the Old Delhi market Chandni Chowk mean?

Canals down its middle were engineered to reflect the moon; the British filled them in.

Which daughter of Shah Jahan designed Chandni Chowk in 1650?

The bazaar originally had 1,560 shops along a 1,520-yard street.

Which Persian invader looted Delhi in 1739 and carried off the Peacock Throne?

He also took the Koh-i-Noor and Daria-i-Noor after winning the Battle of Karnal in under three hours.

Which Maratha leader sacked Delhi in 1737 after the First Battle of Delhi?

A 1752 treaty later made the Marathas protectors of the Mughal throne.

In which year did the British East India Company take Delhi from the Marathas?

It fell to Lord Lake's forces during the Second Anglo-Maratha War.

From which city was the capital of British India transferred to Delhi in 1911?

The move was announced at the Delhi Durbar of 12 December 1911.

Which king-emperor was proclaimed in person at the 1911 Durbar?

He wore the Imperial Crown of India, set with 6,100 diamonds and weighing 34 ounces.

Which two British architects designed Rashtrapati Bhavan and much of New Delhi?

Built from 1912 to 1929, it has 340 rooms and 2.5 kilometres of corridors.

Where does the President of India's residence stand, at the head of the central vista?

It housed the Viceroy from 1931 and the Governor-General until 1950.

In what year was New Delhi formally inaugurated as the capital?

The name New Delhi had been given four years earlier; the transfer was announced in 1911.

Roughly how many Indian Army dead of 1914-21 does India Gate commemorate?

Some 13,300 names are inscribed on Lutyens's Roman-style arch.

What was Rajpath renamed in September 2022?

It was first called Kingsway after the king-emperor; the new name means Path of Duty.

What was built beneath India Gate after the 1971 war?

A reversed rifle capped by a helmet stands on a black marble plinth with four flames.

How many marble-clad 'petals' form the Lotus Temple?

They form nine sides with nine doors; the house of worship opened in 1986.

Which religion built the Lotus Temple?

Iranian architect Fariborz Sahba designed it, and it is open to people of every religion.

What marks the spot of Mahatma Gandhi's cremation at Raj Ghat?

He was cremated there on 31 January 1948; other leaders' memorials were added later.

Which sultan founded Tughlaqabad in 1321 as the third city of Delhi?

The fort was abandoned by 1327.

Which Rajput ruler built Delhi's Jantar Mantar observatory, completed in 1724?

It is one of five he built; its instruments include the Samrat and Jai Prakash Yantras.

Which sultan hauled a 3rd-century BC Ashokan pillar to his new city of Firozabad?

It came from Topra, north of the city, and still rises above Feroz Shah Kotla.

Whose tomb, with the Bara Gumbad and Shisha Gumbad, sits in the 90-acre park in New Delhi?

The 90-acre park holds monuments of the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties.

When did the first section of the Delhi Metro, on the Red Line, open?

It ran from Shahdara to Tis Hazari; the network now has 10 lines and over 270 stations.

What fuel did the Supreme Court order all Delhi public transport to use in 1998?

The DTC now runs the world's largest fleet of CNG buses.

Which UN agency ranked Delhi the planet's most polluted city in 2014?

Stubble burning, Diwali fireworks and cold weather send the winter air quality to hazardous.

What was Delhi's main air hub called before it was renamed for Indira Gandhi in 1986?

It began as RAF Palam in the Second World War and is India's busiest airport.

What is Delhi's main cricket ground, the Arun Jaitley Stadium, commonly known as?

It is one of India's oldest grounds and hosts international matches.

Which mountain range's northern extension forms the Delhi Ridge, the city's 'green lungs'?

It shields Delhi from Rajasthan's hot winds and reaches 318 metres.

Which two Urdu poets are named as Delhi's major literary figures?

Delhi's Khariboli dialect fed the growth of both Urdu and Modern Standard Hindi.

What is the famous Chandni Chowk lane of fried-bread eateries called?

Its stalls have been feeding Delhi since the 1870s.

Which two Sufi figures are most associated with medieval Delhi's mysticism and music?

Delhi was an early centre of Sufism and Qawwali music.

Roughly what share of Delhi's Muslim residents left during Partition in 1947?

About 300,000 left for Pakistan while some 500,000 Hindu and Sikh refugees arrived from West Punjab.

Delhi is bordered on three sides by which Indian state?

Uttar Pradesh lies to the east across the river that historically marked the boundary between the two states.

In which year did Delhi host the first-ever Asian Games?

489 athletes from 11 national Olympic committees competed at National Stadium; the city hosted the Games again in 1982.

Which venue, built for the 1982 Asian Games, hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony?

The 60,000-seat venue staged a ceremony of over 8,000 performers that cost an estimated ₹3.5 billion.

Which IPL franchise plays its home games at the Arun Jaitley Stadium?

The ground has produced internationals such as Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Bishan Singh Bedi.

Which airport, opened in 1929, was Delhi's only airfield and the second in all of India?

The Delhi Flying Club flew two de Havilland Moths named Delhi and Roshanara from it; flights ended in 2002 over post-9/11 security fears.

How many colour-coded lines made up the Delhi Metro network as of 2023?

Its 255 stations spanned 348 km, making it the world's tenth-largest metro system by line length at the time.

Roughly how many Hindu and Sikh refugees moved to Delhi during Partition, mostly from West Punjab?

In the other direction, around 300,000 Muslim residents of the city left for Pakistan.

Which constitutional amendment, passed in 1991, made Delhi the National Capital Territory?

The same act gave Delhi a legislative assembly with limited powers; it had been a Union Territory since 1956.

Besides Hindi, which two languages are additional official languages of Delhi?

A 2014 report found Hindi spoken by about 81% of residents, with Punjabi at 7% and Urdu at 6%.