Mughal-era Delhi

Timeline

1. c. 1450–1521Delhi · DelhiAround 1521 Delhi was the capital of Ibrahim Lodi's sultanate, represented by Purana Qila and the Lodi Gardens tomb complex, controlling trade and military routes across the Ganges–Yamuna plain; infighting between the sultan and his amirs weakened defenses, creating a political vacuum for the 1526 Mughal invasion.
2. 1526Delhi · DelhiAfter the First Battle of Panipat on April 21, 1526, Babur's army entered Delhi; Ibrahim Lodi was killed and the Lodi dynasty ended. Babur proclaimed padshah authority with a khutba at a Delhi mosque, taking over the sultan's mints, warehouses, and defenses, as Delhi passed from the last sultanate capital to the symbolic Mughal imperial capital.
3. 1527–1530Delhi · DelhiAfter the battles of Khanwa (1527) and Ghaghra (1529) consolidated Mughal control of North India, Delhi and Agra formed an administrative–symbolic dual core: the actual court and fief allocations mostly resided at Agra, while Delhi retained its historic status as the empire's nominal capital and a trade node; over the decade 1521–1530 the city's population and commerce gradually recovered amid the regime change.
4. c. 1638–1650Delhi · DelhiIn 1638 Shah Jahan moved the imperial capital to Delhi and built Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) along with the Red Fort and Jama Masjid, restoring Delhi as the absolute political and cultural center of the Mughals; the imperial–Delhi symbolic link established in 1526–1530 was fully realized architecturally and administratively in this phase.