Vol. 1, Issue 7, Part F (2015)

Abstract
Conventionally, historian see the partitioning of Delhi into two opposing urban landscapes, of modern New Delhi / traditional Old Delhi, healthy/insalubrious as largely a consequence of the colonial state’s preoccupation with the preservation of aesthetic ideals of New Delhi. Placing the characteristic traits of the colonial state at the centre of analysis - racism, limited liberalism, exercising both sovereign and disciplinary power - scholars contend that the vision of an imperial capital, designed to embody the political and aesthetic rationalities of British empire contributed largely in shaping the urban landscape of Delhi city in post-1911 period. In contrast this article aims to highlight the dilemmas that the colonial state encountered and took in to account, beyond merely the aesthetic considerations, in shaping the urban landscape of Delhi city. It also show how colonial state’s concern for profit contributed much more than the aesthetic imperatives in shaping the urban landscape of Delhi city as it grew westward.