Class Notes NCERT Solutions for CBSE Students
Question: Write the activities performed by the British in Delhi, after regaining its control in 1857.
Answer: The Siege of Delhi was one of the decisive conflicts of the Indian rebellion of 1857.The rebellion against the authority of the East India Company was widespread through much of Northern India, but essentially it was sparked by the mass uprising by the sepoys of the units of the Army which the company had itself raised in its Bengal Presidency (which actually covered a vast area from Assam to Peshawar). Seeking a symbol around which to rally, the first sepoys to rebel sought to reinstate the power of the Mughal Empire, which had ruled much of India during the previous centuries. Lacking overall direction, many who subsequently rebelled also flocked to Delhi.This made the siege decisive for two reasons. Firstly, large numbers of rebels were committed to the defence of a single fixed point, perhaps to the detriment of their prospects elsewhere, and their defeat at Delhi was thus a very major military setback. Secondly, the British recapture of Delhi and the refusal of the aged Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II to continue the struggle, deprived the rebellion of much of its national character. Although the rebels still held large areas, there was little co-ordination between them and the British were inevitably able to overcome them separately.
Question: Discuss the construction plan of New Delhi.
Answer: New Delhi was constructed as a 10-square-mile city on Raisina Hill, south of the existing city. Two architects namely Edward Lutyens and Herbert Baker, were called on to design New Delhi and its buildings. The government complex in New Delhi consisted of two-mile avenue, Kingsway, now known as Rajpath, led to the Viceroy’s Palace, now known as Rashtrapati Bhavan, with the Secretariat buildings on either sides of the avenue.
The features of these government buildings were borrowed from different periods of India’s imperial history, but the overall look was classical Greece of Fifth century BCE. For instance, the central dome of the Viceroy’s Palace was copied from the Buddhist stupa at Sanchi, and the red sandstone and carved screens or Jalis were borrowed from Mughal architecture.
These new buildings, had to assert British importance. Therefore, the Viceroy’s Palace was kept higher than Shah Jahan’s Jama Masjid.
Question: What did the Census of 1931 reveal? What attempts were made to decongest the old city?
Answer: The Census of 1931 revealed that the Walled City area was densely populated with as many as 90 persons per acre, while New Delhi had only about 10 persons per acre.
Several attempts were made to decongest the the old city, for example, in 1888 an extension scheme called the Lahore Gate Improvement Scheme was planned by Robert Clarke for the Walled City residents. The idea was to draw residents away from the old city to a new type of market square, around which shops would be built. Streets in this redevelopment strictly followed the grid pattern and were of identical width, size and character. Land was divided into regular areas for the construction of neighborhoods. But this development remained incomplete and did not help to decongest the old city.
In 1936, the Delhi Improvement Trust was set up. It built areas like Daryaganj south for wealthy Indians. Houses were grouped around parks. Within the houses, space was divided according to new rules of privacy. Instead of spaces being shared by many families or groups, now different members of the same family had their own private spaces within the home.
