New Delhi

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New Delhi displaced Calcutta as the capital of British India in 1912. It was selected to stand adjacent to Old Delhi, an erstwhile capital of the Mughal empire, to emphasize continuity between the two imperial traditions. Many of its public buildings were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to provide a sense of grandeur, suggestive of power and permanence. But the impression was illusory—within 35 years the British had gone. New Delhi remains the capital and seat of government of the Republic of India and contains the diplomatic enclaves of all foreign governments.

David Anthony Washbrook

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New Delhi