Library Herald Year : 2008, Volume : 46, Issue : 4 First page : ( 308) Last page : ( 319) Print ISSN : 0024-2292. Libraries Through the Ages in Delhi: A Historical Perspective
Bhatt R K, Reader & Head Department of Library and Information Science, University of Delhi, Delhi - 110007.
Abstract Military occupations accompanied by pillage and rapine, altered the course of Delhi city's fortunes, both materially and culturally-Captured by Qutubuddin Aibak in 1192 or 1193, Nadir Shah's capture of the city in 1739, followed by its occupation by Ahmad Shah Durrani, the British in 1803, and the destruction which accompanied the uprising of 1857. Unfortunately, the libraries were made victims of plunder and destruction during the invasion of the kings and the ignorance of the Britishers to the cause of library development perhaps is the resultant, the Delhi does not provide much information on the dissemination of information and the role libraries must have played in different settlements. In the post-independence era, Delhi witnessed tremendous changes which has made it a nucleus of educational and library activities converting Delhi into a knowledge hub. The present article is an in-depth attempt which clearly reflects the actual position of libraries of that era and its changing scenario in the present circumstances.