I have just finished reading a great novel (** Twilight in Delhi by Ahmed Ali **) (not for its plot but in its descriptions and language) set in Delhi, just after the War of Independence (1857) about the life and times of an upper middle class Muslim family…this novel is now deemed a classic and was written in 1940 by Ahmed Ali and initially banned by the British…for obvious reasons if you read it!
But it is highly recommended, and describes a lifestyle which is now, sadly, vanished for ever…
If you are a Muslim you will find this book especially poignant and moving but for all Subcontinentals it tells of how much the British Occupation actually did to destroy our heritage and culture…
yes indeed that civilisation and culture is lost forever
delhi was a muslim city before the partition
and it was called dehli
after partition most of the muslims left for pakistan and the few who remained were killed
and the muslim delhi today is a punjabi hindu city called new delhi
and there are few pockets of muslims in old delhi around red fort jama masjid who live in fear of thier hindu neighbours
i had been to delhi a few years back and there was a place called sadar bazar .i could smell the muslimness in the air the architecture of the place was overwhelming muslims there was a huge muslim graveyard and a dargah inside the premises but i was surprised to find that the homes which appeared to have muslim architechture and arabic and urdu inscriptions and some houses even had a crecent moon on the top of its roof the houses belonged to sardars and there were hardly any muslims around all the houses were occupied by sardars after partition so that says it all