Old Delhi: Chandni Chowk, Red Fort & the Mughal Capital

Old Delhi (Shahjahanabad) is one of the world's most overwhelming urban environments — a planned Mughal capital laid out by Shah Jahan in 1639 that has been continuously inhabited, expanded, and intensified for nearly 400 years until it became the most densely populated neighbourhood in one of the world's most densely populated cities. The Red Fort (Lal Qila), Shah Jahan's magnificent sandstone palace-fortress, anchors the neighbourhood's eastern edge — its vast courtyards, marble audience halls, and ornate royal apartments survive as UNESCO-listed remnants of the Mughal zenith. Chandni Chowk, the main commercial artery, is best experienced on a cycle rickshaw or on foot — a chaotic, aromatic corridor of spice merchants, silver jewellers, textile wholesalers, and the city's most celebrated food. Karim's, operating since 1913 near the Jama Masjid, serves the most authentic Mughlai cuisine in India. The Jama Masjid — India's largest mosque, built by Shah Jahan in 1656 — can accommodate 25,000 worshippers and its minarets offer the most complete view of Old Delhi's roofscape.