Editing Delhi (section)

=== Ancient and early medieval periods ===
[[File:Purana Qila ramparts, Delhi.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0|The walls of the 16th-century [[Purana Qila]] built on a mound matching ancient literary descriptions<ref name=asher-indraprastha/>]] Traditionally seven cities have been associated with the region of Delhi. The earliest, [[Indraprastha]], is part of a literary description in the Sanskrit epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'' (composed c. 400&nbsp;BCE to 300&nbsp;CE but describing an earlier time<ref>{{cite book |last1=Austin |first1=Christopher R. |title=Pradyumna: Lover, Magician, and Scion of the Avatāra |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-005411-3 |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jCoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |language=en |access-date=2 February 2024 |archive-date=7 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907124231/https://books.google.com/books?id=4jCoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |url-status=live }}</ref>) which situates a city on a knoll on the banks of the river Yamuna. According to art historian Catherine B. Asher, the topographical description of the ''Mahabharata'' matches the area of [[Purana Qila]], a 14th-century&nbsp;CE fort of the [[Delhi sultanate]], but the analogy does not go much further. Whereas the ''Mahabharata'' speaks of a beautifully decorated city with surrounding fortifications, the excavations have yielded "uneven findings of [[Painted Grey Ware|painted grey pottery]] characteristic of the eleventh century BCE; no signs of a built environment, much fewer fortifications, have been revealed."<ref name=asher-indraprastha>{{citation|last=Asher|first=Catherine|title=City Walls: The Urban Enceinte in Global Perspective|editor=James D. Tracy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|chapter=Delhi walled: Changing boundaries|date=25 September 2000|pages=247&ndash;, 250|isbn=9780521652216|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S7dUv-1Ql2oC|access-date=12 October 2021|archive-date=9 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109200300/https://books.google.com/books?id=S7dUv-1Ql2oC|url-status=live}}</ref>

The earliest architectural relics date back to the [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]] period (c. 300&nbsp;BCE); in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor [[Ashoka]] (273–235&nbsp;BCE) was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of several major cities can be found in Delhi. The first of these was in the southern part of present-day Delhi. [[Tomara dynasty|Tomara Rajput]] King [[Anangpal Tomar|Anang Pal]] built the [[Qila Rai Pithora|Lal Kot]] and several temples in 1052&nbsp;CE. The [[Chahamanas of Shakambhari|Chauhan Rajputs]] under [[Vigraharaja IV]] conquered Lal Kot in the mid-12th century and renamed it [[Qila Rai Pithora]].