Najafgarh

Najafgarh

 is a city in the South West Delhi district of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India. It is one of the three subdivisions of the Southwest Delhi district. Najafgarh is located at outskirts of south western part of Delhi sharing its territory with Gurugram and Bahadurgarh, Haryana.

History

Najafgarh was named after Mirza Najaf Khan (1723–1782) the commander-in-chief of the Mughal Army under King Shah Alam II. He marched several kilometers from the capital of Shahjahanabad to establish a military outpost, which would guard Delhi against attacks by British, Rohillas and Sikhs. He built a strong fort, in the suburbs beyond the capital city, and settled a small number of the Mughal here. That fort was later named Najafgarh. After the death of Najaf Khan, Najafgarh later became a fortified stronghold of the Rohilla Afghan chieftain Zabita Khan (b. 1785).

During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and as a part of the Siege of Delhi, the Battle of Najafgarh took place on 25 August 1857 between Indian rebels and British Raj soldiers. Approximately 800 people were killed. After the defeat of the Mughal troops in 1857, Delhi came under the control of the British Empire in 1858. Najafgarh became a part of Delhi district of the Delhi Division of Punjab Province. Delhi was transferred from the North-Western Provinces (later the United Provinces) to Punjab by the British Government in 1859.

In 1861, the North-Western Provinces education system was abolished in Delhi,^: 18 and a new system for schools modelled on the Punjab education system was introduced by W.M. Holroyd, the Inspector of Schools for the Ambala Division.^: 47 New schools were opened at Narela, Najafgarh, Mehrauli and their suburbs. Several schools were opened in the following decades. The Delhi Normal School was shifted to Najafgarh from Kashmere Gate in 1911.^: 71 The Delhi Normal School, with a small attached Model School, trained its teachers in closer accordance with European methods than any other Normal School in Northern India.

Politics

Pravesh Verma of BJP is the MP from this constituency while Kailash Gahlot, Advocate of the Aam Aadmi Party is MLA and Parliamentary Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi from this region. Mr. Gahlot defeated former MLA Bharat Singh of the INLD in the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election

Transport

Indira Gandhi International Airport is the nearest international Airport to Najafgarh.

Najafgarh is connected by roads with major destinations all over Delhi and Haryana. The DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) and DIMTS (Delhi Multi-Model Transit System) provide bus services from Najafgarh Bus Terminal to the other parts of Delhi. In October 2019, a new metro line called the Grey Line was linked from Dwarka to Najafgarh, taking the rapid transit system to the area for the first time. The line was further extended to Dhansa Bus Stand in September 2021, thereby linking the interior rural areas of Najafgarh.