Delhiwale: The Irvin Road mystery | Latest News Delhi

So weird. The mosque’s gigantic signage is calling it Masjid Irvin Road. A masjid sure is standing on the spot, but Delhi has no road of such name. And yet here is worker Omvati (see photo) washing anew the municipality signage that confidently bears this non-existent road name.

Actually, Irvin Road is today known as Baba Kharak Singh Marg. Irvin was a British administrator in colonial India. Kharak Singh was an Indian anti-colonialist. And stuck between these two is this mute roadside landmark forgetting to update its name. This is how a city’s identities sometimes get flummoxed—when new times rawly reinterpret the olden times into a contemporary context. What was in vogue yesterday becomes archaic today. It was exactly eight years ago that Delhi erased one of its last major roads that were named by or after the colonisers. In 2017, Dalhousie Road was renamed after Dara Shikoh, a doomed Mughal prince known for his passion for India’s multifarious traditions. Dalhousie himself was a pucca colonialist, who as India’s governor general, forcibly annexed the brave Veerangana Rani Lakshmi Bai’s Jhansi into British rule. Here are some colonial-era roads, starting with stretches that continue to commemorate the colonial era.

Connaught Lane

Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, was the seventh, and the most favourite, child of Mallika Victoria. He laid the foundation of the iconic India Gate.

Chelmsford Road

Viceroy Chelmsford, along with countryman Edwin Montagu, a liberal politician, introduced the so-called Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms, aimed to bring self-governing institutions into British-run India.

Hailey Road

William Malcolm Hailey served as the governor of Punjab and United Provinces respectively. The world-famous Jim Corbett Park was originally named after him.

Some of the colonial-era road names that were eventually rechristened post-independence:

Baird Road

David Baird was the subject of the 1839 painting titled ‘General Sir David Baird Discovering The Body Of Sultan Tippoo Sahib After Having Captured Seringapatam (4 May 1799).’ Road renamed after Gurudwara Bangla Sahib.

Ratendone Road

The actual name of marquis of Ratendone, who served as viceroy, was Freeman Freeman-Thomas. The road was renamed after painter Amrita Sher-Gil. It runs by a garden that was originally named after Freeman’s wife. (He was also known as Lord Willingdon; Lady Willingdon Park being later renamed Lodhi Garden.)

Hardinge Avenue

Hardinge served as India’s viceroy during the Delhi Durbar in 1911, when the capital was shifted from Calcutta. The road was renamed after freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

Reading Road

Reading, or Rufus Daniel Isaacs, was colonial India’s only Jewish viceroy. Road was renamed after Laxmi Narayan Temple, aka Birla Mandir.