Indian History
History is an important aspect one should understand as they try to understand a group of people or a location. It gives the roots of the current situation and more importantly can be an important tool in anticipating for the future. Furthermore, studying the historical background of any given place enlightens the view held as regarding that region. With this in mind, the rewinding of New Delhi life is an important aspect in the quest of understanding the present city. This city’s history dates back thousands of years ago with it being a capital city for several empires over this period. This guarantees the fact that this city has undergone several historical transitions it its lifetime. Estimates give a figure of approximately five millennia in which this city has existed. Regardless of such a long history, one thing is very interesting about this city, that it even though in some aspects it has changed over the time, it has retained some of its history to date. Today this city, known as New Delhi since 1911, is the capital city for India. This particular piece of work examines the history of this city with the aim of establishing how the city has changed or remained unchanged over the time. The question that this analysis seeks to shed light into is to what extend has Delhi conformed to the waves of change over her lifetime?
Architecture
Over the period, the city of Delhi has been constructed and reconstructed. By mid sixteenth century, the city was under construction for the fifth time after the conquest of Sher Shah Suri who interrupted the rule of Mughal. The major constructions in the 17th century were by the Mughals who were great builders.1 During these periods, the major architectural designs included Akbar, Shah Jahan, Taj Mahal, Aurangzeb and Mugal gardens. In most cases, these architectural designs have Islamic and Hindu features. Most amazingly, the architectural history of this city has remained with it to date.2 The city’s architecture today has drawn inspirations from the Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist architecture. Even though the city’s architecture today has to be I line with the British classical tradition, it still has borrows tremendously from the indigenous architectural designs of the early empires
In addition, the sight of New Delhi presents several outstanding historical pieces of architectural designs. One among the chief is the “India Gate” which is the countries monument .Another is the national museum in New Delhi, which is the largest museum in the whole of India. Another outstanding giant in the history of this country is the Qutub Minar, a part of an ancient capital. These are just but a few in the architectural remains from the ancient Delhi.
Culture and Religion
Historically, the dominant religions in Delhi between the 17th and 18th century were Islam and Hindu with Hinduism being dominant. The historical staple food for people of this location is rice. Several ceremonies, which traditionally have religious belief on base, characterized each unit of the population. The main economic activity was farming with subsistence farming being the prevalent practice.3 Above all else, one of the most outstanding characteristics of their culture is the social stratification with the existence of a caste system. Again, this stratification has its inspirations from the religion practiced and it influences the individual’s status in the society.
A closer and keener examination into this also reveals that man had a position in the society, which they enjoyed over their female counterparts. Looking across all the existing religions, it is of great importance to realize the position of the male gender whereby the males enjoyed spiritual, social and religious sovereignty as only men would become priests in all the existing religions. A woman was supposed to obey all men from her father to her son.4 This male-head ideology was very important when it came to marriage matters and romantic preferences attracted no considerations since the man was the one entitled to receive or pay dowry.
Since historical times, these cultural practices are still prevalent in Delhi and even n most parts of India. Hinduism remains to be the dominant religion and all its historical ceremonial practices are still in practice to date. Furthermore, the family system, though a little more disturbed by higher education, receives special consideration and high esteemed. In addition, the position of the male gender has not considerably changed because of civilization but still the male gender enjoys a superior consideration as compared to their female counterparts.
Medicine
History reveals that medicine in Delhi has a tradition dating thousands of years of healing, teaching and research. Historical medicine involved traditional systems, which majorly depended on herbal medicine. Four major systems under the name Ayurveda have been in place and were the channels for medical attention since time immemorial.5 Among the four medical systems, only one depends on scientific knowledge and came into use only three centuries ago. The other three adopted a psychological approach to medicine. As of today, several things have changed as long as medicine is concerned. First and most important is the importance ascribed to medicine in New Delhi. Thought the psychological approaches are still used, a scientific approach to medicine is preferred today and is what the government advocates for in hospitals and colleges in not only the city but in the country as a whole.
Arts and Literature
This city, which has been associated with many empires in history, has a rich history in literature with some of the oldest pieces of literature like Sanskri being associated with it. Most of this literature as history presents it is religious writings. However, there are secular writings that are associated with this city and therefore, ancient literature was not only religious writings.6 The Sanskri literature of the middle age heavily involved both scientific and philosophical literature. The rise of the two famous poets Chandidas and Vidyapati accompanied by others in the fifteenth century suggest the rich literature of Delhi in this era. Flourishing of this literature between the 18th and the 20th century are evidence of the place literature took in those times.
The history of visual arts in Delhi dates back four millennia ago. Chief among these elegant masterpieces of work thrived in the religious context with most of the work involving statutes, temples and paintings especially in the Hinduism and the Islam. Performance arts have no long history in Delhi but as of today, they have been incorporated in the arts field. Actually, the history of arts reveals evolution and civilization these fields. Philosophical writings are no longer characteristic in Delhi but on the contrary, writing literature has evolved to the modern literature of today in this city. Visual arts, which are in a greater context spiritual, are still under practice in this city. The spiritual aspect of painting and sculpture remain to date despite the historical transitions though there have been new inspirations for today’s graphic artists like for instance expressionism. Performance arts have been embraced and are part of the city’s economic activity and a source of entertainment. This has seen the increase of film production firms with productions drawing inspirations from outside religion and regional culture.
Sports
The history of sporting in Delhi and India at large is quite interesting. This historic culture dates back in the Vedic era. Like in many historical cultures, sporting was an activity for the young and children, mostly with the perception of youth. However, as we know today, this goes beyond an activities for the young and those who are growing since the versions we see today of games like badminton have evolved from the cultural children games for the children in India. Other game whose origin is associated with Delhi includes chess, cards and snakes and ladders. However, it is of great importance to note that these games are not in their original and primitive version but have evolved to the sporting activities present today.
Conclusion
Some practices that define the lifestyle of people are embedded deep in their culture and may be persistent even when waves of change dictate otherwise. Nonetheless, social groups change for a greater good and for this reason, with time the behaviors that are not for the greater good fade away while those which are for this good flourish. The level of conformity may be a function of several factors that may range from migration to colonialism and industrialization. However, some factors tend to work towards retention of culture and cultural activities for instance, locations that have been inhabited by the same social group tend to share the same history as that of the people. Regardless of the changing times, this city still carries its history, which reflects the history of its people, to date though some of its history has faded away. The level of conformity to change is comparatively lower when compared to other countries especially in the African continent. Studying this history will go a long way in helping the student understand and appreciate both the culture and the practices of the people.
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