Delhi Durbar: 1911 The Complete Story

by Rohit Agarwal, Sunil Raman

n 1911, British King George V’s desire to be crowned as the Emperor of India saw thirty sleepy villages of Delhi transform into a tented city with all modern amenities for the stay of the British royal couple, Indian maharajas, rajas, and top British officials. King George V became the first reigning monarch to visit Britain’s most coveted colony, India. One million pound sterling was spent in 1911 to house 25,000 people at a Durbar that became well known for the announcement of the transfer of capital to Delhi.

About The Author
Sunil Raman, an experienced journalist, is a history graduate from Delhi University. He has worked with the BBC, The Economic Times, and CNBC TV. A history buff, Raman knows Delhi’s known and unknown historic secrets and leads heritage walks across the city. Sunil has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge. Currently he works as a freelance journalist and a consultant on political risk assessment.

Rohit Agarwal retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, after 20 years with Indian Army’s elite Armoured Corps. A post graduate in defence studies and strategy, Colonel Agarwal has researched subjects like the relevance of Kautilya’s Arthashastra and the role of Indian soldiers in World War One. His second book is a Politico Military thriller called Riding the Raisina Tiger, about an imaginary military coup in India.

292 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 2011

About the author

A post-graduate in Strategy from Chennai University, and MBA in International Marketing from IIFT, New Delhi, Rohit Agarwal is a certified Master Trainer for International Finance Corporation (IFC - World Bank Group), assessor for Learning & Performance Institute, UK, and a certified trainer for Franklin Covey’s ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ program. He has 33 years of professional consulting and training experience, including 20 years in Indian Army. He writes on History, Military History and has also dabbled in Fiction.

Reviews

[Vikas Singh]

A beautiful well researched book on the historic 1911 Delhi Durbar that changed the course of the country. Extensively researched and supported by rare photographs and illustrations, the book does not burden the reader as scholarly work. Rather it is a light read spiced up with interesting anecdotes. Without sacrificing historical accuracy, the authors have made it an easy read. A must read for anyone interested to know more about this historic “tamasha”.

[Moira Donovan]

Enjoyed reading this in-depth look at the 1911 Delhi Durbar. As I’m trying to learn more about Delhi history, it was nice to read this cohesive narrative of a major event in the city’s history. It also helps contextualize things for me. Despite being a well researched and comprehensive history text, this was a very quick read.