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Delhi in the Year of the Creation of India's "Imperial City" and later "New Delhi"

Very rare plan of the northern part of Delhi.

The present map cover the traditional part of Delhi (the center of which appears at the bottom left.  The lower portions cover the more modern sections (New Delhi), which were then actively under construction as the newly minted capital of India.

First published in 1912, with later printings in 1919 and 1920 (two); COPAC records only single versions of the earlier printings - in the British Library's India Office collections, but no example of this 1926 edition.

The map notes that it is a "Revised edition published under the direction of Lieut-Colonel C.P. Gunter, O.B.E., R.E. Officiating Surveyor General of India."

The key at the top left identifies the many and precise details offered by the map, including:

• Railway Lines, differentiated by 5 different rail types
• Telegraph Lines
• Cart and Camel Tracks
• Various Important Religious Sites 
• Wells, including depths and linings
• Agricultural classifications
• Inspection Bungalows and Police Stations
• Fence types
• Deserted Villages

Below the reference key, an index locates 47 points of interests.

1926 was an important year in the history of Delhi. In 1911, King George V and his consort Queen Mary were crowned rulers of India at a darbar on December 12, 1911. At the time, George V announced that the imperial capital was to be removed from Calcutta (Kolkata) to Delhi. On the 15th, the King and Queen laid the first two foundation stones for this city.

As part of the transfer, a district of Delhi was designated as the government quarter, and this area, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, was extensively rebuilt, creating the many buildings need for government. Construction was finally completed in 1931, after long delays occasioned by the First World War, and its aftermath. This quarter was originally known simply as the new capital or "Imperial City" but on  December, 31, 1926, the "Imperial City" was formally renamed New Delhi. This government quarter is on the missing two sheets.