Karol Bagh
Encyclopedia
Karol Bagh, also spelled as Qarol Bagh , is a mixed residential-cum-commercial neighbourhood
Neighbourhood
A neighbourhood or neighborhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town or suburb. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction among members. "Researchers have not agreed on an exact definition...

 in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, known for its shopping streets, like the Ghaffar Market and Ajmal Khan Road. It is one of the three administrative subdivisions, of the Central Delhi
Central Delhi
Central Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India.It is bounded by the Yamuna River on the east, and by the districts of North Delhi to the north, West Delhi and South West Delhi to the west, New Delhi to the south, and East Delhi to the east across the...

 district, of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, with the other two being, Darya Ganj and Paharganj
Paharganj
Paharganj is a neighbourhood of Central Delhi, located just west of the New Delhi Railway Station...

.

It was also home to the Karol Bagh Lok Sabha constituency
Karol Bagh (Lok Sabha constituency)
Karol Bagh Lok Sabha constituency was a Lok Sabha constituency in the Indian National Capital Territory of Delhi. This constituency came into existence in 1961. It was abolished after the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission were approved by the presidential notification on February 19,...

 till it was abolished in 2008, now it is a Legislative Assembly of Delhi
Legislative Assembly of Delhi
The Legislative Assembly of Delhi, also known as Vidhan Sabha, is a unicameral law making body of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, one of the 7 union territories in India...

 segment of the New Delhi
New Delhi (Lok Sabha constituency)
New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 7 Lok Sabha constituencies in the Indian National Capital Territory of Delhi. This constituency came into existence in 1951.-Assembly segments:...

 constituency.

History

In 1920s, residents of villages like Madhoganj, Jaisingh Pura and Raja ka Bazaar evacuated to build Connaught Place
Connaught Place, New Delhi
Connaught Place Connaught Place Connaught Place (Hindi: कनॉट प्लेस, (officially Rajiv Chowk) is one of the largest financial, commercial and business centers in Delhi. It is often abbreviated as CP and houses the headquarters of several Indian firms. Its surroundings occupy a place of pride...

 and nearby areas, were relocated in Karol Bagh to the West, then a rocky area populated by trees and wild, bushes.

The area was primarily residential with a large Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 population until the exodus of many Muslims to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 and an influx of refugees from West Punjab
West Punjab
West Punjab was a province of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 160,622 km², including much of the current Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Territory, but excluding the former princely state of Bahawalpur. The capital was the city of Lahore and the province...

 after partition
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

 in 1947, many of whom were traders. There remains a sizeable Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

-speaking population. Karol Bagh was also home to a large Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...

 community, and has one of the oldest Durga Puja
Durga Puja
Durga puja ; দুর্গা পূজা,ଦୁର୍ଗା ପୂଜା,‘Worship of Durga’), also referred to as Durgotsava ; , is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and...

 in the city, though their numbers have now dwindled.

Several incidents were reported at Karol Bagh in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots
1984 anti-Sikh riots
The 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms / riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a sikh genocide there was four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs killed Sikhs, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked gurdwaras, in response to the...

, including burning of shops. Karol Bagh was the target of a terrorist attack in October 2008 when a there was a bomb blast in Ghaffar Market.

Noted residential places in Karol Bagh are Raigar Pura (named after the Raigar caste from Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

), Beadon Pura (named after an English officer), Dev Nagar, Bapa Nagar, W.E.A.

In Karol Bagh there is also a wholesale garments market known as Tank Road. It came into existence with few shopkeepers in the end of 1980s like COPS JEANS.

Education

The historic Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College
Tibbia College
Tibbia College, also known as The Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College, is a public university located in New Delhi, India. The university, which offers education and training in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine, has its origins dating back to the late 19th century...

 was inaugurated here by Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

 in 1921, and Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College is named after the first Guru of the Sikhs. The college is one of the constituent colleges of Delhi University and managed by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee. It imparts instruction up to post-graduate courses in Humanities and Commerce...

, also of Delhi University is situated here.

Markets

The area is now considered where the affluent people of New Delhi go shop, with a busy shopping streets including Ajmal Khan Road, Arya Samaj Road and the Ghaffar Market, named after freedom fighter Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was an Afghan, Pashtun political and spiritual leader known for his non-violent opposition to British Rule in India...

. In the recent years, many western businesses have established themselves in this area. Pizza Hut, TGIF, Reebok, Sketchers, Puma and Lacoste have all established successful businesses in Karol Bagh.

Transport

Karol Bagh is situated at a distance of 20 – 22 km. from the Indira Gandhi International Airport
Indira Gandhi International Airport
Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport of the National Capital Region of Delhi, India, situated in West Delhi, 16 km southwest of New Delhi city centre. Named after Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, it is the busiest airport in India in...

, and is serviced by the Karol Bagh station
Karol Bagh (Delhi Metro)
The Karol Bagh Metro Station, also rendered as the Qarol Bagh Metro Station is located on the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro catering to the Karol Bagh residential and commercial area....

, located on the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system serving Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region of India. It is one of the largest metro networks in the world. The network consists of six lines with a total length of with 142 stations of which 35 are underground...

.

In popular culture

12/24 Karol Bagh
12/24 Karol Bagh
12/24 Karol Bagh is an Indian television drama series that airs on Zee TV channel set the Karol Bagh area of Delhi. The series premiered on August 31, 2009, and replaced the drama series Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann. The series directed by Ravi Bhushan, produced by Sunshine Productions, is being shot...

(2009–2010), a recent TV series on Zee TV
Zee TV
Zee TV is an India-based satellite television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, which broadcasts various programmes in Hindi and other regional languages of India. Broadcasting is also present in various nations of South Asia, Europe, the Middle East,...

, was not only set in Karol Bagh, but was also shot and produced in Delhi, its subsequent success started the trend of many TV serials being set in Delhi. Zoya Singh Solanki the central character in the rom-com novel by Anuja Chauhan
Anuja Chauhan
Anuja Chauhan is an Indian author and advertiser. She worked in the advertising agency, JWT India, for over 17 years, eventually becoming vice president and executive creative director, before resigning in 2010 to pursue a full-time literary career...

, The Zoya Factor
The Zoya Factor
The Zoya Factor is a novel written by Anuja Chauhan, published by HarperCollins India in 2008. It is about a Rajput girl named Zoya Singh Solanki who meets the Indian Cricket Team through her job as an executive in an advertising agency and ends up becoming a lucky charm for the team for the 2010...

(2008) lives in Karol Bagh, who ends up becoming the lucky mascot for the Indian cricket team in the novel. The 2010 album of Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean (band)
Indian Ocean are an Indian rock band formed in New Delhi in 1990. They are considered to be the pioneers of fusion rock genre in India. Susmit Sen, Asheem Chakravarty, Rahul Ram and Amit Kilam formed the most stable and successful line-up in the band's timeline. This line-up lasted till Asheem's...

, a Delhi-based rock fusion band, is titled 16/330 Khajoor Road, named after the address of the 100-year old bungalow in Karol Bagh area, where the band has been practicing since 1997.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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