Plan of Delhi and Its Environs

Circa 1863

Original hand-coloured lithograph on paper

Print Size: 12.75 x 17.75 in (32 x 45 cm)
With Mount: 19 x 24 in (48.5 x 61 cm)

A relatively uncommon map, which was among maps originally issued in weekly installments for The Weekly Dispatch over many years, published for Day & Son, London, but issued only in the 1863 production of the Cassell's Complete Atlas.

Each edition of the Weekly Dispatch newspaper from 1856 to 1862 contained a map of a specific region of the globe. The Weekly Dispatch newspaper issued a total of 118 maps during this period. The maps are characterized by the unique symbol of a half globe with the figure of Mercury atop. The engravers were diverse, but they included Edward Weller and John Dower. In 1863, The Dispatch Atlas was published, which featured a collection of English county maps. In 1865, the two were amalgamated to form Cassell's Complete Atlas. A number of municipal plans are included, numerous large scale maps of areas that are not frequently observed.

This intriguing plan represents 'Old Delhi', Shah Jahan's new Mughal capital established in the 17th century. The map, seen from a roughly westward-oriented perspective, depicts the city shortly after the Siege of Delhi, a crucial event of the 1857 Uprising; however, much of Delhi has remained untouched since Shah Jahan's reign and has been inhabited since the second millennium BC, with stable settlements dating back to the sixth century BC. The Tomar Rajput Dynasty founded Lol Kot in 736 AD, establishing the future site of Delhi as an important political centre for the first time. In 1180, the Chauhan kings of Ajmer seized Lal Kot and renamed it Qila Rai Pithora, establishing the first of the "Seven Cities of Delhi." Over the next four and a half centuries, the Delhi Sultanate would demolish and rebuild these successive imperial capitals established in the Greater Delhi region. Qila Rai Pithora succumbed to the Delhi Sultanate. From 1206 to 1526, five dynasties governed nearly all of Northern India (and, for a time, during the 14th century, most of the Subcontinent). The Delhi Sultanate's subsequent capitals were Mehrauli, Siri, Tughlakabad, and Firozabad. The short-lived Suri Empire (1540–1556), after a brief stint under Mughal domination, planned to build Shergarh as their capital but never completed it. After the Mughal restoration in 1556, Agra replaced Delhi as the imperial capital. However, Emperor Jahan (reigned 1628–58) decided to build Shahjahanabad from 1638 to 1649, which legally became the capital of the Mughal Empire in 1648. With the exception of various alterations and revisions added over the next two centuries, the present map of Delhi mostly accurately depicts the original shape of Shajahanabad. Massive walls with fourteen entrances surrounded Shah Jahan's city, which spanned slightly more than 6 square kilometers. The city was dominated by the Red Fort, a huge imperial palace built of red sandstone in 1648 that straddled an offshoot channel of the “Jumna” (Yamuna) River, as shown in the lower part of the map. A large thoroughfare stretched from the Fort's Lahore Gate to the “Chananee Choak” (Chandi Chowk, meaning Moonlight Square), a huge market place created around 1650 by the emperor's daughter, Princess Jahanara. Several exquisite gardens lined the north side of the market area, and the “Musjid Futeporee” (Fatehpuri Mosque) stood at the end of the main thoroughfare. The mosque was built in 1650 under the sponsorship of one of Shah Jahan's wives, Fatehpuri Begum, and named after her native city, Fatehpur Sikri, which served as the Mughal capital from 1571 to 1585. Further south, amidst the thick maze of streets that comprised the majority of the city, is the “Jama Musjid” (Jama Masjid), technically the Masjid-i-Jahan-Numa. A relatively contemporary structure occurs in an enclave off the southern portion of the city's walls. Emperor Aurangzeb founded "Oriental College" as a madrasa in 1692, and it closed in 1790-1. It reopened in 1792 as a college for the arts, literature, and sciences. Zakir Husein Delhi College, named after India's third president, continues to operate today. There are several details offered about sites outside Delhi's walls. “The Cantonment”, located north of the city, refers to the enormous British army that guarded it. The “Kotila of Feeroz Shah” is located just south of Delhi and refers to the Feroz Shah Kotla, a fortress erected by Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1354-6 to anchor his intended metropolis of Ferozabad. Interestingly, the Kotla included one of the several surviving Pillars of Ashoka, monuments with inscriptions commissioned by King Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire in the third century BC. During his reign, these spread throughout Ashoka's kingdom.

Edward Weller (1819-1884)
Edward Weller was a cartographer and engraver located in London. Weller was the nephew of another well-known map publisher, Sidney Hall (1788-1831), who offered him 50 pounds to cover his apprenticeship fees. In 1851, John Arrowsmith and others recommended him for membership in the Royal Geographical Society, acknowledging his involvement in the community and his engravings for numerous well-known mapmakers. After inheriting the Sidney Hall map business, he became the unofficial geographer for the Royal Geographical Society, following Arrowsmith's lead. Weller was one of the earliest map printers in London to utilize lithography. He is most recognized for his work in Cassell's Weekly Dispatch Atlas, which is published monthly for subscribers of the Weekly Dispatch newspaper. This collection of maps gradually expanded to encompass much of the known world. They published various editions between 1855 and the early 1880s. Weller died in May 1884, leaving a profitable business and a sad widow. His son, Francis Sidney Weller (1849–1910), followed in his father's footsteps and continued the family map company. The atlas Mackenzie's Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, published in 1894, features F S Weller's signature on the map.

This lot will be shipped unframed.

NON-EXPORTABLE

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