Ep. 7 - Delhi, India
With one of the largest populations and oldest cultures in the world, India brings to the table a wide range of stories bound to pique the interest of many. Take a break from the daily monotony and adventure to Delhi, the current seat of Indian government and the former home to multiple empires and nearly 1000 years of rich history.
Listen to full episode :
Transcription:
*Intro music*
Hello! Isn’t it wild? It’s been 7 weeks already! Thank you so much for tuning in to The Friday Take Five. I’m your host, Mark Moran, and this podcast is your weekly five minute dose of history and adventure. Once again, we’re covering a new location, with a new story. By the end of this episode, you may very well be developing feelings of wanderlust and/or an affinity for history. Both are perfectly natural, and encouraged. So take five, sit back, relax, and let’s discover.
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Today, we’re covering more of a region than a specific city, and that’s because this area has tons of great history and adventure to be had across a wide swath of the country. Unfortunately, there will still be a huge chunk of the country I miss, so we’ll be sure to come back for more in a future episode.
For the first part of today’s story, we’re headed to Delhi, which is the district that holds one of the older capitals of India in Old Delhi, and the modern day capital of New Delhi. In this massive metropolis you’ll find a population of over 30 million and hundreds of activities to keep you busy. A simple Google search yields results of all of the many temples to visit, segway and rickshaw tours available, shows to see, and the great food and nightlife available within the district.
Though there’s an almost overwhelming new number of things to see and do each day, those of you that know me or are getting to know me know that I like to dig a bit deeper into history, which is why we’re heading back in time to the Mughal Empire.
One of the noteworthy sites to see in Old Delhi is the Red Fort. Embarrassingly, one of the first times I had ever heard of this site was from one of my favorite childhood video games, Civilization - And he calls himself a fan of history - I know, pretty disappointing right? Well, anyway, in doing more research on the fort, I had come to find out, what do you know, that it had hundreds of years of history!
The Red Fort was originally commissioned by Shah Jahan of the Mughal Empire in the early to mid 1600s. He was deciding to move the capital to his newly established city so creatively named ShahJahanabad, which is today’s Old Delhi, and with that, he needed a fort for the palace.
Interestingly, the palace fort has continued to be seen as a monument of power throughout the generations. It has stood through the Mughal Empire, past British rule, to the celebration of Indian Independence. In fact, it’s where Indian Independence continues to be celebrated today.
The architecture of the fort contains elements of both Hindu and Persian traditions and has served as almost a template for future architectural developments across Delhi and the greater region. The architecture, and the architect, Ustad Ahmad Lahori, is actually the reason this episode expands outside of just the Delhi area.
Shah Jahan moved the capital of the empire to Shahjahanabad, from Agra which is about 2 hours away by train today. Many of you may not have heard of Agra, but you’ve probably heard of one of the most famous world heritage sites associated with it - the Taj Mahal.
Though it’s shouted the loudest that the Shah Jahan designed the Taj, Ustad Ahmad Lahori is the most likely chief architect. This is further reinforced by a 17th century manuscript that claims him as the architect of both the Red Fort and the Taj.
The Taj Mahal was commissioned by the Shah Jahan in remembrance of his favorite wife, of which there were several, who died in labor while giving birth to their 14th child. To this day, the Taj serves as a Mausoleum for Shah Jahan and his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and tourists can visit to feel the tie to history.
India has been on my list for awhile and the history of the Mughal Empire makes me want to go even more. There is incredible architecture and there are incredible stories across all of India, so we’ll definitely need to come back in a future episode to inspire more exploration, but I hope in today’s episode we helped you relive great memories or helped add a new location to your bucket list to explore history, and explore the world.
*Transition music*
Hiya! That’s all for this week folks - Thanks for listening in to another episode of The Friday Take Five. If you haven’t already, be sure to give us a rating on podcasting platforms, and don’t forget to turn on notifications and automatic downloads to keep up with our newest episodes. Have your own stories about Delhi/Agra, feedback or recommendations on places / stories for us to cover? We’d love to hear it so follow and dm us on socials @FridayTakeFive or email us at thefridaytakefive@gmail.com. Stay curious, stay adventuring, and have a great weekend!
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