A Woman's Journey Round The World, From Vienna To Brazil, Chili, Tahiti, China, Hindostan, Persia, And Asia Minor By Ida Pfeiffer
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We Commenced With The Great Imperial Town Of Delhi; The Town To
Which Formerly The Eyes Not Only Of All India, But Almost Of All
Asia, Were Directed.
It was in its time to India what Athens was to
Greece, and Rome to Europe.
It also shares their fate - of all its
greatness only the name remains.
The present Delhi is now called New Delhi, although it is already
two hundred years old; it is a continuation of the old towns, of
which there are said to have been seven, each of which were called
Delhi. As often as the palaces, fortifications, mosques, etc.,
became dilapidated, they were left to fall into ruins, and new ones
were built near the old ones. In this way, ruins upon ruins
accumulated, which are said to have occupied a space more than six
miles in breadth, and eighteen in length. If a great part of them
were not already covered with a thin layer of earth, these ruins
would certainly be the most extensive in the world.
New Delhi lies upon the Jumna; it contains, according to Bruckner, a
population of 500,000, {183} but I was informed that there was
really only 100,000, among which are 100 Europeans. The streets are
broader and finer than any I had yet seen in any Indian town. The
principal street, Tchandni-Tschank, would do honour to an European
city: it is nearly three-quarters of a mile long, and about a
hundred feet broad; a narrow canal, scant of water and half filled
with rubbish, runs through its entire length.
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