Thesaurus
Populated from ancient times; pillaged and rebuilt several times. The current city is the seventh on this site. Indraprastha was built about 1400 BCE under the direction of Yudhisthira, a Pandava king, on a huge mound somewhere between the sites where the historic Old Fort (Purana Qilah) and Humayun's Tomb were later to be located. Although nothing remains of Indraprastha, according to legend it was a thriving city. The first reference to the place name Delhi seems to have been made in the 1st century BCE, when Raja Dhilu built a city near the site of the future Qutb Minar and named it for himself. The city reached its height in the 13th century under the Sultanate of Delhi; it was beautified by Shah Jahan in the 1630s. Later, was under Maratha and British control. New Delhi to the south is the official national capital.