A Few Old Bungalows in the Civil Lines Area

The Civil Lines area of Delhi, immediately north of Shahjahanabad/Old Delhi, had started to be occupied by the British from the early decades of the 19th century, when British officers and officials started moving out of the northern parts of the walled city into bungalows built amongst the vast gardens and downtrodden mansions of erstwhile Mughal nobility that covered the area north of the old city. The Civil Lines was built along the edge of the floodplains of the Yamuna river, much like the line of forts and palaces to its south, namely Shahjahanabad/Red Fort, Firozabad and Purana Qila/Dinpanah. By the early-20th c, prominent Indians had started purchasing and living in these Civil Lines bungalows as well.

Most of the old bungalow building stock in the Civil Lines is from the late-19th/early-20th c, but unfortunately not many examples remain. Since these are private properties, most have long been demolished and replaced with newer structures. However some wonderful examples of colonial bungalow architecture still remain, including along the nearby Underhill Road and Bhiku Ram Jain Marg. I visited the area in 2012 and took photos of a few of these bungalows.

Bungalow on Sham Nath Marg, now a dispensary