Cities Founded by Indian Rulers: Founders, Capitals, PYQs

Almost every famous city of India was once somebody's capital, and examiners like this topic because a single table of founder and city can be turned into a dozen one-mark questions. From Udayin's fort at Pataliputra to Sawai Jai Singh's planned grid at Jaipur, the founding of a city was a political act: it announced a dynasty, guarded a frontier or commanded a trade route. These notes gather the pairs that SSC, Railway, State and UPSC papers ask, period by period.

Ancient capitals and their founders

In the age of the mahajanapadas the capital was the kingdom. Rajagriha, ringed by five hills, was Bimbisara's capital of Magadha; his grandson Udayin moved the seat to a new fort at the meeting of the Ganga and the Son and that fort grew into Pataliputra, the capital of the Nandas, the Mauryas and later the Guptas. Vaishali was the seat of the Lichchhavis and the world's first republican assembly is traced to it. Ujjayini was the capital of Avanti, Kaushambi of the Vatsas, Shravasti of Kosala and Taxila of Gandhara. In the south, Pulakeshin I of the Chalukyas made Vatapi, today's Badami, his capital; the Pallavas ruled from Kanchipuram, the Pandyas from Madurai and the Cholas from Thanjavur, which Vijayalaya Chola took in the ninth century, before Rajendra I built his own capital Gangaikondacholapuram. Harshavardhana shifted his capital from Thanesar to Kannauj, which stayed the prize of north Indian politics for three centuries.

The seven cities of Delhi

Delhi is the best example of city building as statecraft. The Tomar ruler Anangpal built Lal Kot, which Prithviraj Chauhan enlarged into Qila Rai Pithora. Alauddin Khalji raised Siri, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq built the fortress city of Tughlaqabad, his son Muhammad bin Tughlaq walled Jahanpanah between Siri and the old city, and Firoz Shah Tughlaq founded Firozabad on the Yamuna, where the Firoz Shah Kotla stands. Mubarak Shah of the Sayyid dynasty founded Mubarakabad. Humayun began Dinpanah at the site of the Purana Qila, and Shah Jahan built Shahjahanabad with the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid, moving the Mughal capital there from Agra in 1648. Muhammad bin Tughlaq also carried out the most famous capital shift in Indian history when he renamed Devagiri as Daulatabad in 1327 and ordered the move from Delhi, only to reverse it a few years later. Firoz Shah Tughlaq was the busiest founder of all: besides Firozabad he laid out Hisar, known as Hissar-Firoza, Fatehabad, Firozpur and Jaunpur.

Sultanate and Mughal foundations outside Delhi

• Ahmedabad was founded by Ahmad Shah I of Gujarat in 1411 on the Sabarmati.
• Gulbarga, called Ahsanabad, was the first Bahmani capital under Alauddin Bahman Shah, and Ahmad Shah Wali later shifted the capital to Bidar.
• Sikandar Lodi made Agra his capital in 1504, and Sher Shah Suri rebuilt Patna in 1541 on the ruins of Pataliputra.
• Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri from 1571 after his victory in Gujarat and kept it as his capital for about fourteen years; he also founded Ilahabas, later Allahabad, at the confluence at Prayag in 1583.
• Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah founded Hyderabad in 1591 near Golconda, and the Charminar belongs to his reign.
• Malik Ambar founded Khadki in the Deccan, the city Aurangzeb later made his base and which took the name Aurangabad.

Rajput, Maratha and later foundations

The Rajput cities are a favourite of state examinations. Rawal Jaisal founded Jaisalmer in the twelfth century, Ajayaraja founded Ajayameru or Ajmer, Rao Jodha founded Jodhpur in 1459, Rao Bika founded Bikaner in 1488, and Maharana Udai Singh II founded Udaipur in 1559 after Chittorgarh fell to Akbar. Sawai Jai Singh II founded Jaipur in 1727, India's first planned city of the modern period, laid out on a grid with the help of Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. Shivaji made Raigad his capital and was crowned there in 1674. In Awadh, Asaf-ud-Daula shifted the capital from Faizabad to Lucknow in 1775, while Murshid Quli Khan gave his name to Murshidabad in Bengal. Guru Ram Das founded Ramdaspur, today's Amritsar, and Guru Tegh Bahadur founded Chakk Nanaki, which became Anandpur Sahib. The Gond chief Bakht Buland Shah founded Nagpur, and Dost Mohammad Khan founded the modern city of Bhopal, a site linked in tradition to the Paramara king Bhoja.

How to revise this topic

Learn the pairs in three groups. First, capitals that moved: Rajagriha to Pataliputra, Thanesar to Kannauj, Delhi to Daulatabad, Gulbarga to Bidar, Agra to Shahjahanabad, Faizabad to Lucknow. Second, cities named after their founders: Jodhpur after Rao Jodha, Bikaner after Rao Bika, Jaisalmer after Rawal Jaisal, Jaipur after Jai Singh, Murshidabad after Murshid Quli Khan, Ahmedabad after Ahmad Shah. Third, cities renamed by a ruler: Devagiri to Daulatabad, Prayag to Ilahabas, Khadki to Aurangabad, Ramdaspur to Amritsar. Keep the dates of 1336, 1411, 1504, 1571, 1591, 1639 and 1727 at your fingertips, because a question will often give the city and ask for the year or the dynasty.