Delhi hasn't been the capital of India always but has played an important role in Indian history. The settlement of Indraprastha, which featured in epic Mahabharata over 3000 years ago, was approximatley on the site of present day Delhi. Over 2000 years ago, Patliputra (near modern day Patna) was capital of Ashoka' empire. the Mughal emperors made Agra the capital through the 16th and 17th centuries. Under the British rule, Calcutta (Kolkata) was the capital until inaguration of New Delhi in 1931. One of the fascianting aspects of Delhi is the visibility of its historic past. Were it not for the demands of urbanization, large portions of the city could well be earmarked as archaeological parks. This is because of the rulers of successive dynasties from the 13th and the 17th centuries established eight cities in different parts of Delhi, and the old saying that - "whoever found a new city in Delhi will lose it" has come true every time most recently for the British who lasted on 16 years. the first four cities were to the south, around the area where Qutub Minar stands.
Delhi's history goes much further back in the time than the 13th century. In 1955, excavations at the Purana Qila revealed that the site was inhabited 3000 years ago. Indraprastha, the earliest known Delhi was entered near Purala Qila. fine pottery known as Painted Grey Ware, dated to 1000 BC, confirmed this as being yet another site associated with epic Mahabharata. the excavations also cut through houses and streets of the Sultanate, Rajput, Post-Gupta, Gupta, Saka-Kushan, and Shunga periods, reaching updown to the Mauryan era (300 BC), thus revealing almost continuous habitation. The association of emperor Ashoka with delhi has come to light with the discovery of a Minor Rock Edict in the locality known as Srinivaspuri.
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