Eassy Of Chandni Chowk

Why its “Chandni Chowk”?

During the time of Jahandar Shah (1711-12) the dandy emperor’s detractors used to refer it to as Kothawali-Ka-Rasta because his concubine Lal Kanwar came that way to the Red Fort before she became a Queen. In Mohamed ShahRangila’s reign it acquired the epithet of Rangila Chowk but in 1739, when Nadir Shah held Delhi for 58 days and massacred the residents while sitting at the Sunehri Masjid, it was branded Khooni Chowk. In Begum Sumroo’s heyday part of it was known as Chooriwali- Ka-Adda.

When the Rohilla chief Ghulam Qadir raided Delhi and blinded Shah Alam, his clansmen swarmed Chandni Chowkand people started warning fellow citizens of avoiding Rohilla Chowk. That was in 1788 .After the 1857 uprising, theChowk began to be reffered as Murdon-Ka-Chowk because of the large number of sepoys and others killed there.

During the freedom struggle the freedom fighters toyed with the idea of calling it Kranti Chowk and after when independence came there were suggestions to call it Azadi Chowk. Incidentally, the part of the Chowk around Northbrookfountain (Phawwara) was earlier named Bhai Mata Das chowk.

The real Chandni Chowk was the square in front of the town hall, where once the Clock town stood.That was as per the wishes of Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahanara Begum who had a magnificent sarai built close by in the space occupied byGandhi Park.

The original Chandni Chowk was in the Agra Fort and it was from it that the princess got the idea of having a more spacious one of that name in Shahajanbad, after her father moved the capital back to Delhi. Slowly the whole street fomFathepuri Masjid to Lal Mandir facing the Red Fort came to be known as Chandni Chowk.