who shifted the capital of india from calcutta to delhi
New Delhi Delhi had served as the political and financial centre of several empires of ancient India and the Delhi Sultanate, most notably of the Mughal Empire from 1649 to 1857. During the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British administration to shift the capital of the British Indian Empire, as India was officially named, from Calcutta on the east coast, to Delhi.[8] The Government of British India felt that it would be logistically easier to administer India from Delhi in the centre of northern India.[8]
Delhi During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Delhi fell to the forces of East India Company after a bloody fight known as the Siege of Delhi. The city came under the direct control of the British Government in 1858. It was made a district province of the Punjab.[20] In 1911, it was announced that the capital of British held territories in India was to be transferred from Calcutta to Delhi.[55] The name "New Delhi" was given in 1927, and the new capital was inaugurated on 13 February 1931. New Delhi, also known as Lutyens' Delhi,[56] was officially declared as the capital of the Union of India after the country gained independence on 15 August 1947.[57] During the partition of India, thousands of Hindu and Sikh refugees, mainly from West Punjab fled to Delhi, while many Muslim residents of the city migrated to Pakistan. Migration to Delhi from the rest of India continues (as of 2013[update]), contributing more to the rise of Delhi's population than the birth rate, which is declining.[58]