Raj Niwas () is the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is the constitutional head of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The post was established in September 1966, following the enactment of The Delhi Administration Act, 1966. Thereafter, the former Delhi Le ...

, who serves as the head of state for Delhi and the

Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi The Government of Delhi, officially the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD; ISO: ) is the governing body of India's National Capital Territory of Delhi, whose urban area is the seat of the Government of India. It also ...

. It is located on Raj Niwas Marg in

Civil Lines, Delhi The Civil Lines is a historical residential area and one of the three subdivisions of the North Delhi district in India. It is also one of the 12 zones under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. During the colonial rule, it served as the hub fo ...

. The incumbent lieutenant governor of Delhi is

Vinai Kumar Saxena Vinai Kumar Saxena (born 23 March 1958) is an Indian business executive who is currently serving as the List of lieutenant governors of Delhi, 22nd Lieutenant Governor of Delhi since 2022. He previously served as chairman of the Khadi and Villa ...

, who has held office since 23 May 2022. In 1911, when Delhi was proclaimed the new imperial capital of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, Raj Niwas was the residence of Chief Commissioner of Delhi.

History

The area in which Raj Niwas stands has played an instrumental role in the administrative history of Delhi for over 175 years. Located just north of the 17th-century Mughal city of

Shahjahanabad Shahjahanabad colloquially known as Old Delhi( Hindustani: ''Purāni Dillī'') is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city and officially named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan decided to shi ...

, it adjoins the

Mughal garden A Mughal garden is a type of garden built by the Mughal Empire, Mughals. This style was influenced by the Persian gardens particularly the Charbagh structure, which is intended to create a representation of an earthly utopia in which humans c ...

known as Qudsia Bagh. After the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

established their administrative control over Delhi in 1803, several palatial British mansions were gradually built in the locality. In 1831,

Ludlow Castle Ludlow Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in the Ludlow, town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire, standing on a promontory overlooking the River Teme. The castle was probably founded by Walter de Lacy (died 1085), Wal ...

became the residence of the highest-ranking Brirish official in Delhi, the Resident or Political Agent of the

Governor-General of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the emperor o ...

to the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

court. After the 1857 Indian Rebellion was suppressed, it served as the residence of the Chief Commissioner of Delhi, appointed by the

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

. In the decades after the Revolt of 1857, the Chief Commissioner of Delhi moved from

to a smaller bungalow, now known as Raj Niwas. As more bungalows were constructed in the area, Civil Lines was developed. The road became known as Ludlow Castle Road, with Ludlow Castle itself being occupied in the late 19th century by the Delhi Club and later by a school.

References

External links

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Official website
Governors' houses in India Government buildings in Delhi {{India-gov-stub

History

See also

References

External links