Delhi

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History

The earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period (c. 300 BCE); in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (273–235 BCE) was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of several major cities can be found in Delhi. The first of these was in the southern part of present-day Delhi. Tomara Rajput King Anang Pal built the Lal Kot and several temples in 1052 CE. The Chauhan Rajputs under Vigraharaja IV conquered Lal Kot in the mid-12th century and renamed it Qila Rai Pithora. Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated in 1192 by Muhammad Ghori in the second battle of Tarain. Qutb-ud-din Aibak, was given the responsibility of governing the conquered territories of India after Ghori returned to his capital, Ghor. When Ghori died without an heir in 1206 CE, Qutb-ud-din assumed control of Ghori's Indian possessions and laid the foundation of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mamluk dynasty. He began construction of the Qutb Minar and Quwwat-al-Islam (Might of Islam) mosque, the earliest extant mosque in India. It was his successor, Iltutmish (1211–1236), who consolidated the conquest of northern India. At , the Qutb Minar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Delhi, was completed during the reign of Sultan Illtutmish in the 13th century. Although its style has some similarities with the Jarkurgan minaret, it is more closely related to the Ghaznavid and Ghurid minarets of Central Asia Razia, daughter of Iltutmish, became the Sultana of Delhi upon the former's death. For the next three hundred years, Delhi was ruled by a succession of Turkic, Indian and an Afghan, Lodi dynasty. They built several forts and townships that are part of the seven cities of Delhi. Delhi was a major centre of Sufism during this period. The Mamluk Sultanate (Delhi) was overthrown in…

Geography

Delhi is located in North India at . The city is bordered on its northern, western, and southern sides by the state of Haryana and to the east by that of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Two prominent features of the geography of Delhi are the Yamuna flood plains and the Delhi Ridge. The Yamuna River was the historical boundary between Haryana and UP, and its floodplains provide fertile alluvial soil suitable for agriculture but are prone to recurrent flooding. The Yamuna, a sacred river in Hinduism, is the only major river flowing through Delhi. The Hindon River separates Ghaziabad from the eastern part of Delhi. The Delhi Ridge originates in the Aravalli Range to the south and encircles the west, northeast, and northwest parts of the city. It reaches a height of and is a dominant feature of the region. In addition to the wetlands formed by the Yamuna River, Delhi continues to retain over 500 ponds (wetlands According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Delhi was the most polluted city in the world in 2014. In 2016, the WHO downgraded Delhi to the eleventh-worst in the urban air quality database. However, as recently as 2022, data from the WHO and IQAir, among other groups, ranked Delhi as the fourth most-polluted city globally. According to one estimate, air pollution causes the death of about 10,500 people every year. The air quality index is generally moderate (101–200) between January and September, and then it drastically deteriorates to Very Poor (301–400), Severe (401–500) or Hazardous (500+) levels between October and December, due to various factors, including stubble burning (a type of biomass burning), firecracker-burning during Diwali, and cold weather. During 2013–14, peak levels of fine particulate matter (PM) increased by about 44%, primarily due to high…

Most-observed species

• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  16,435
• House Crow

  Corvus splendens Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  16,230
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  16,085
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  14,749
• Rose-ringed Parakeet

  Psittacula krameri (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  13,092
• Red-vented Bulbul

  Pycnonotus cafer (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  10,785
• Jungle Babbler

  Turdoides striata (Dumont, 1823) · Aves
  10,658
• Brown-headed Barbet

  Psilopogon zeylanicus (J.F.Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  9,737

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2025-07-11
  10 km NW of Kharkhauda, India
• M 4.5 — 2025-07-10
  8 km NNE of Jhajjar, India
• M 4.2 — 2025-02-17
  10 km SSE of Nāngloi Jāt, India
• M 4.1 — 2022-12-31
  Haryana, India
• M 3.7 — 2022-06-27
  11 km SE of Rohtak, India
• M 3.9 — 2021-07-05
  7 km WNW of Kharkhauda, India