Dillī, a city shrouded in myths and legends, carries a name steeped in the whispers of time. One tale traces its origin to Dhilluor Dilu, a king who, in BC 50, crafted a city and crowned it with his own name.

Another story weaves through the fabric of Prakrit, where the word ‘dhili’ (loose) reflects the city’s tentative beginnings — the Tomaras christened it thus, lamenting the weak foundation of an iron pillar that once stood uncertain. In the chronicles of Panjab Notes and Queries, Dillī in the era of King Prithvīrāj was known as Dilpat, a name that echoed the old Hindī word ‘dil,’ meaning ‘eminence’. Alexander Cunningham, former director of the Archaeological Survey of India, noted the evolution of the name to Dihli or Dehli.

Some scholars suggest that the Tomaras minted coins known as Dehliwal, further embedding the city’s name in commerce and culture. In the ancient verses of the ‘Bhaviṣya Purāṇa’, it is said that King Prithvīrāj of Indraprastha built a new stronghold in today’s Purāṇa Qilā, for the ease of all in his realm. He commanded the crafting of a grand gateway, later calling the fort ‘Dehali.’

To some, Dillī or Dhillika remains the city’s true origin, while others whisper of its connection to ‘dehleez’ or ‘dehali’ — Hindustānī words for ‘threshold’ or ‘gateway’ — painting Delhi as the grand entrance to the Gangetic Plain, a threshold between realms.

Seven ancient cities thread through the mists of Dillī’s storied past, the earliest being Indraprastha, whispered in the Sanskrit epic Mahābhārata (considered Itihasa). Perched on a rise by the Yamunā’s sacred flow, Indraprastha’s description brushes against the contours of Purāna Qilā, a fourteenth-century stronghold of the Dillī Sultanate, as noted by art historian Catherine B Asher. Yet, the resemblance fades like a mirage in the sun. The Mahābhārata sings of a city adorned in splendour and guarded by mighty walls, but the excavations yield only faint echoes — uneven shards of painted grey pottery, relics of a humbler past, rooted to more than 3000 years ago.

The earliest architectural vestiges (found so far) trace their roots to the Mauryan epoch (fourth century BC). In 1966, an inscription of Emperor Aśoka (BC 273–35) surfaced near Śrīnivaspurī, etched like a whisper of antiquity in........

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