Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 5.1.4

5.1.4

It is about forty years ago that Chah-Jehan, father of the present Great Mogol, Aureng-Zebe, conceived the design of immortalising his name by the erection of a city near the site of the ancient Dehli. This new capital he called after his own name, Chah-Jehan-Abad, or, for brevity, Jehan-Abad; that is to say, the colony of Chah-Jehan. Here he resolved to fix his court, alleging as the reason for its removal from Agra, that the excessive heat to which that city is exposed during summer rendered it unfit for the residence of a monarch. Owing to their being so near at hand, the ruins of old Dehli have served to build the new city, and in the Indies they scarce speak any more of Dehli, but only of Jehan-Abad; however, as the city of Jehan-Abad is not yet known to us, I intend to speak of it under the old name of Dehli, with which we are familiar. Dehli, then, is an entirely new city, situated in a flat country, on the banks of the Gemna, a river which may be compared to the Loire, and built on one bank only in such a manner that it terminates in this place very much in the form of a crescent, having but one bridge of boats to cross to the country. Excepting the side where it is defended by the river, the city is encompassed by walls of brick.