Dawn Upon Delhi: Rise of a Capital (1857-present)

A month-long exhibition recreated the making of the city of Delhi from the Mutiny of 1857 to the present day. The visuals featured have also been acquired from the Alkazi Collection, the Archaeological Survey of India, and the personal archives of photographers D.N. Chaudhuri and Habib Rahman.

Glimpses of the Durbar and the people who attended the Delhi Coronation Durbars of 1877, 1903 and 1911 have been represented in the exhibition through iconic 19th and 20th century photographers like Vernon & Co, Johnston and Hoffman, Bourne & Shepherd, Raja Deen Dayal & Sons and artists like Mortimer Menpes. Two of the other sources were the Illustrated London News and the Illustrated Times published from London.

The visuals are mounted in a loose chronological order, beginning with engraved 1858 images of the siege of the capital from the 'History of Indian Mutiny' by Charles Ball, which were published by The London Printing & Publishing Company.

Rare black and white photographs of the last Mughals, their clans and homes, an old Delhi nautch girl, trading communities of old Delhi, the early days of Connaught Circus, the erstwhile maharajas of India, a photographic portrait of Lord Curzon and the construction of the secretariat, north block and Lutyen's Delhi offer fascinating peeks into another era - transporting viewers to the past.