Editing Delhi (section)

== Toponym ==
There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name ''Delhi''. One of them is derived from ''Dhillu'' or ''Dilu'', a king who built a city at this location in 50&nbsp;BCE and named it after himself.<ref name="ecosurv1">{{cite web |url=https://delhiplanning.nic.in/Economic%20Survey/ES%202005-06/Chpt/1.pdf |title=Chapter 1: Introduction |access-date=21 December 2011 |work=Economic Survey of Delhi, 2005–2006 |publisher=Planning Department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi |pages=1–7 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113174155/https://delhiplanning.nic.in/Economic%20Survey/ES%202005-06/Chpt/1.pdf |archive-date=13 November 2016 }}</ref><ref name=dhillu>{{cite book |last=Bakshi|first=S.R.|title=Delhi Through Ages|orig-year=2002|publisher=Whispering Eye Bangdat |isbn=978-81-7488-138-0|page=2|year=1995}}</ref><ref name=geobritish>{{cite book |last=Smith|first=George|title=The Geography of British India, Political & Physical |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_C20DAAAAQAAJ|quote=raja delhi BC.|access-date=1 November 2008|publisher=J. Murray|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_C20DAAAAQAAJ/page/n258 216]–217|year=1882}}</ref> Another legend holds that the name of the city is based on the [[Prakrit]] word {{transliteration|hi|dhili}} (''loose'') and that it was used by the [[Tomara dynasty|Tomaras]] to refer to the city because the [[iron pillar of Delhi]] had a weak foundation and had to be moved.<ref name=geobritish /> According to Panjab Notes and Queries, the name of the city at the time of King Prithviraj was {{transliteration|hi|dilpat}}, and that {{transliteration|hi|dilpat}} and {{transliteration|hi|dilli}} are probably derived from the old Hindi word {{transliteration|hi|dil}} meaning "eminence". The former director of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]], Alexander Cunningham, mentioned that {{transliteration|hi|dilli}} later became {{transliteration|hi|dihli/dehli}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/hobsonjobson_query.py?qs=DELHI&searchhws=yes |title=Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive |access-date=30 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701211851/https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/hobsonjobson_query.py?qs=DELHI&searchhws=yes |archive-date=1 July 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some suggest the coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called ''dehliwal''.<ref name=ncertVII>{{cite web
|url=https://ncert.nic.in/textbooks/testing/Index.htm|title=Our Pasts II, History Textbook for Class VII|access-date=6 July 2007|publisher=NCERT |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070623140748/https://www.ncert.nic.in/textbooks/testing/Index.htm |archive-date = 23 June 2007}}</ref> According to the [[Bhavishya Purana]], King Prithiviraja of [[Indraprastha]] built a new fort in the modern-day [[Purana Qila]] area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort ''dehali''.<ref name=historyhistoryabtindra>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V11_242.gif Delhi City] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190534/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V11_242.gif |date=3 March 2016 }} [[The Imperial Gazetteer of India]], 1909, v. 11, p. 236.</ref> Some historians believe that ''Dhilli'' or ''Dhillika'' is the original name for the city while others believe the name could be a corruption of the [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] words ''dehleez'' or ''dehali''—both terms meaning "threshold" or "gateway"—and symbolic of the city as a gateway to the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Gangetic Plain]].<ref name=cohen>{{cite journal
|last = Cohen |first=Richard J. |date=October–December 1989 |title=An Early Attestation of the Toponym Dhilli | journal = Journal of the American Oriental Society | volume = 109 | issue = 4 |pages=513–519 | doi = 10.2307/604073
|jstor = 604073}}</ref><ref name=dhilika>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Chauhans (Cahamanas, Cauhans)|access-date=22 December 2006 |last=Austin |first=Ian |author2=Thhakur Nahar Singh Jasol |encyclopedia=The Mewar Encyclopedia |publisher=mewarindia.com |url=https://www.mewarindia.com/ency/chat.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061114120751/https://mewarindia.com/ency/chat.html |archive-date = 14 November 2006}}</ref>

The people of Delhi are referred to as ''Delhiites'' or ''Dilliwalas''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Why developers charge a premium for upper storeys in Delhi/NCR region|url=https://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-08-05/news/29855331_1_floor-psf-delhiites|newspaper=[[The Economic Times]]|date=5 August 2011|access-date=30 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127185535/https://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-08-05/news/29855331_1_floor-psf-delhiites|archive-date=27 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern [[Indo-Aryan languages]]. Examples include:
* {{transliteration|hi|[[Dilli Door Hai|Abhī Dillī dūr hai]]}} ({{lang|hi|अभी दिल्ली दूर है}} / {{Lang|ur|{{unq|ابھی دلی دور ہے}}}}) or its [[Persian language|Persian]] version, {{transliteration|fa|Hanuz Dehli dur ast}} ({{lang|fa|هنوز دهلی دور است}}), literally meaning "Delhi is still far away", which is generically said about a task or journey still far from completion.<ref name="ref46cojam">{{Cite book | title=A handbook for travellers in India, Burma and Ceylon | author=John Murray | publisher=J. Murray, 1924 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kEKAQAAIAAJ | quote='Dilli hanoz dur ast' ('Delhi is still far off') – has passed into the currency of a proverb | year=1924 | access-date=6 November 2015 | archive-date=1 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101225812/https://books.google.com/books?id=0kEKAQAAIAAJ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ref88difob">{{Cite book | title=A dictionary of Hindustani proverbs | author1=S.W. Fallon | author2=Dihlavi Fakir Chand | publisher=Printed at the Medical hall press, 1886 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hh8UAAAAYAAJ | quote=Abhi Dilli dur hai | year=1886 | access-date=6 November 2015 | archive-date=1 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101225812/https://books.google.com/books?id=hh8UAAAAYAAJ | url-status=live }}</ref>
* {{transliteration|hi|Ās-pās barse, Dillī pānī tarse}} ({{lang|hi|आस-पास बरसे, दिल्ली पानी तरसे}} / {{Lang|ur|{{unq|آس پاس برسے، دلی پانی ترسے}}}}), literally meaning "It pours all around, while Delhi lies parched". An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it idiomatically refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty.<ref name="ref88difob" />

The form ''Delhi'', spelled in the [[Latin script]] with the ''h'' following the ''l'', originated under colonial rule and is an alternation of the spelling based on the Urdu name of the city ({{Nastaliq|دہلی}}, ''Dehli'').<ref>Syed Mahdi Husain: ''Bahadur Shah Zafar and the War of 1857 in Dehli''. Aakar Books, Delhi 2006, ISBN 81-87879-91-2, p. LV of the preface.</ref>