Calcutta, Bombay and Madras represent classic examples of these colonial base cities in India. As colonial power over the subconlinent tightened, the capital of British India moved to Delhi in 1911, where a new European city was appended to the historic city (see Box 21.4).
The traditional bazaar-based city is widespread in South Asia and retains features that predate the colonial era (Figure 22.8). This model comprises a number of concentric zones:
1.The city grows normally in response to a trade function originating from agricultural exchange, location as a transport node, temple site, or due to an administrative role. The urban core is a crossroads or chowk around which develop the
houses of the richer merchants, who often live above or behind their shops and warehouses.