In one year of his stay in Delhi, William Dalrymple has chronicled the history of Delhi that is spread across millennia.

The writing style is surprisingly simple and engaging. It is not easy to weave the timeline of a city like Delhi with accurate facts (especially when authentic sources are rarely available), weave it with stories, and then carefully present it in lucid writing.

William Dalrymple has done us a favor by retracing a history that we are proud of but never take care of. The beauty of the book is that it travels back in time. From the religious sentiment-induced collision to the first holy war, this book travels back in time while keeping the present as a constant.

I wish at least one chapter from this book is included in school history lessons.

About the book:

The City of Djinns is a journey through the long-drown and time-layered history of Delhi. As long as our knowledge of history stretches, Delhi has remained the capital city. The Pandavas, the following line of Indian kings, the Mughals, the British, and the Indian government found no replacement for Delhi as a capital.

Despite the numerous invasions, the city has never been deserted - it has been conquered several times but never owned by anyone for too long. Everyone who sat on the throne tried to build a Delhi of their own. The many architectural remnants that are strewn across the city are a testament to the many hands that Delhi passed through. It is sad that these historical artifacts are not cared for and are let to decay with the marching of time.

Despite the many passing of rulers, Delhi and its djinns continued living their living with a toehold in its history and its present.

Delhi is indeed a city of djinns - those souls that can never leave the city even when rulers, religious masses, and changing times press an invisible force to outcast them. These djinns are not just invisible creatures, but people whose history and customs have woven an inseparable connection with the city.

Mr. and Mrs. Puri, the landlords of William during his one year stay, Henry Smith and Bert Brown, Marion and Joe Fowler, Shaykh Nizam-ud-dinn, the fakirs of Old Delhi - they are all djinns in human form that can never leave Delhi because they have been in love with it when the city was at its prime in cultural and imperial glory.

Delhi must have some hidden charm that made even the Britishers who came as traders who later became conquerors fell in love with the city and its culture. They married, had children, wore Indian clothes, smoked Indian hookah, and turned Delhiites in their hearts. The remnants of British rule can still be found in Delhi in the form of dilapidated bungalows that are now largely used as government offices.

Delhi is not a part of India's history. It is the apex of Indian history and government. The City of Djinns is a brilliant piece of work by William Darlymple. Everybody should read it.

Wondrous tribute to Delhi, this travelogue encompasses across both space and time.
Only Dalrymple could have done it.

It was so intriguing and eye-opening at the same time. I fell in love with Delhi, not just the one we have in our country right now but the one surviving every dynasty it was a part of.

Also, I found one of my favorite authors.

I would describe this book as a non-linear history of Delhi from Iltutmish to Indira. It is definitely a very engaging read and many a times makes you want to jump out of the chair and get to the ruins of a random 16th century haveli at this very instant. The portions about the Mughals, especially Shah Jahan onwards are well researched and presented. The narrative is a bit sparse on the earlier Mughals and also on the history of the pre-sultanate period.
All in all, it is definitely worth a read. It will definitely make you go down the spiral hole of Wikipedia browsing several times.

Wanted to read a book on Delhi and reviews pointed me to Mr. Dalrymple. One part of me (driven by feedback I also received from someone) was whether I need someone who’s not Indian to tell me about the city I live in. The second part said why not hear what could be an outsider’s perspective, and am happy I read the book. The outsider knows the inside a lot better than I do, and also knows how to pen down his thoughts.

A lot of credit to William to have spent the time and effort to cover the very long history of the city. He’s covered the Mughal era in detail mainly Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb but also done enough to cover the Tuqhlaq dynasty, elements of 1947 and 1985 when the city probably faced the most turbulence in the modern era. He’s ended with going back to Mahabharata times and in a way opining on the authenticity of the epic itself (though he seems to use a proxy there of another historian/ archaeologist).

Was fun to read about different parts of Delhi from the Red Fort to Humayun’s Tomb; from Tughlakabad to Raisina Hills. He’s even covered elements of British rule and reminds the readers that the Peacock Throne and Kohinoor were just examples of our heritage and wealth than still adorn museums in England. One aspect I have to specifically compliment is that the writing has been very smooth and never was it a difficult read or a boring one.

The only element I would have loved is maybe a sense of chronology but then maybe it would then read as a history book and not as the travelogue (if I can call it so) of Mr. Dalrymple in his twelve months in the city.

City of Djinns- this is second book of William Dalrymple …
Before I have read his book Kohinoor and is halfway with new book ‘The Anarchy’.
Last month we have witnessed riot in Delhi , but Delhi was the city which had riots before also. The city which was capital of many ruling elites like pandava’s indraprasta in Mahabharata time,mughals ,British …now capital of our country is place where all the control of realm took place.
This city during rule from peacock throne had witnessed riots and bloody massacres .Nadir Shah , tyrant who took the Kohinoor from Delhi made blood stains and transported the peacock throne is the bloodiest carnage this city witnessed then to the time of partitions where
many had been displaced from their hometown to Pakistan was the massacres where millions lost their life .
1984 riots by Sikh was the massacre which had been witnessed 3decades ago in this city was last in the chain before 2020.
This book was written by author during his one year stay in Delhi for the research gives us account of this city of Djinns-.
Delhi is also city of peers of Sufi like nizamudheen avliya and many mystic and dervish who had been contacted by the Djinns and made use of then.

History of Delhi interwoven with and anecdotes about living there. Almost 30 years old but still interesting.