Why India’s capital moved to New Delhi

An announcement at the Durbar

On 12 December 1911, at a great ceremonial durbar in Delhi, King George V announced that the capital of British India would move from Calcutta to Delhi.^[1] Calcutta is today called Kolkata.^[2]

The same year, the British reversed the partition of Bengal. Lord Curzon had split the province in two in 1905, despite strong nationalist opposition, and instead of weakening the nationalist movement it had intensified it. The partition was annulled in 1911, the year the capital moved, to appease Bengali feeling while keeping the administration convenient.^[4]

Building a new city

A three-member committee was formed to plan the new administrative centre, and its key architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, gave the city its shape. The British moved to the partly built city in 1912.^[5] Construction began that year on a site about 5 km south of the old city centre.^[2] Lutyens and Herbert Baker had been asked to design a new imperial city on Raisina Hill.^[3]

Work began slowly and was interrupted by the First World War, then sped up in the 1920s.^[3] Until 1926 it was just the new imperial capital. On 31 December 1926 King George V approved the name New Delhi.^[3][1]

Its broad, straight and diagonal avenues, green spaces and wide views contrast sharply with the narrow, winding streets of Old Delhi next door.^[2]

Opened in 1931

The Viceroy, Lord Irwin, oversaw the last stages. He opened the Council House, now the old Parliament House, on 18 January 1927, and moved into the finished Viceroy’s House, now Rashtrapati Bhavan, in late 1929.^[3]

The inauguration lasted a week. On 10 February 1931 Irwin unveiled four Dominion Columns, gifts from Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and on 12 February he dedicated the All-India War Memorial, now India Gate. The new capital was formally opened on 13 February 1931.^[3][1] It is still the national capital of India.^[2]