The Viceroy of India when the British capital was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi was Lord Hardinge (Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst). The transfer was announced by King George V during the Delhi Durbar in 1911, and the actual move took place shortly thereafter.
Key details include:
- Lord Hardinge served as Viceroy from 1910 to 1916.
- The announcement was made at the Delhi Durbar on December 12, 1911, where King George V and Queen Mary declared the capital's shift from Calcutta to Delhi.
- New Delhi was planned and designed by British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker.
- The move symbolized British imperial authority and the strategic significance of Delhi as a historical seat of power.
- The foundation stone for New Delhi was laid during the 1911 Durbar, but the formal inauguration of New Delhi as the capital happened in 1931 by Lord Irwin, Hardinge's successor.
Additionally, Lord Hardinge survived an assassination attempt in 1912 by Indian revolutionaries during the procession marking the capital's transfer.
