Over the last seven years, Delhi has transformed itself from a staid political capital into the social and cultural centre of India.

The glitterati throng to Delhi for fashion shows, celebrity book launches, rock shows and raves. Culture vultures know this is the place to catch the best dance, music and theatre. Swanky American-style shopping malls complete with eateries, bars and multiplex cinemas keep popping up everywhere. And a rash of new restaurants provides everything from South East Asian and Mediterranean to arguably the best Indian food in the world. Add to this the wonderful historical presence of the eight cities of Delhi, built over three thousand years by successive rulers, and you have a tourist destination that offers incomparable variety at incredible value-for-money prices.

One of the oldest of the world's cities, Delhi’s 20,000 ruins are ignored by all but the visiting tourist. The earliest reference to Delhi is in the great Indian epic, the Mahabharat, which was composed around 900 BC The first historically accurate dating of the city, however, is in the 11th century when the Tomar dynasty set up its capital in the vicinity of the Qutab Minar, Delhi's Eiffel Tower, which has recently been restored (spotlit, it is breathtakingt at night). This was Delhi's first city.

Towards the end of the 12th century, Mohammed Ghori invaded India from Afghanistan and his successor, Allauddin Khilji, built the second city of Delhi at Siri (now the location of the Asian Games Village and the Siri Fort Auditorium, one of the best in Delhi) in 1303. The third and fourth cities of Delhi were built during the reign of the Tughlak Dynasty from 1320 to 1412. They were Tughlakabad, where today stand the ruins of a mighty fort reminiscent of the Coliseum, and Jahanpanah.

Delhi's fifth city was founded by Feroz Shah, who grandiloquently named it Ferozabad after himself. Today, this area is known as Feroz Shah Kotla, the frenzied, fan-mobbed site of Delhi's cricket stadium and adjacent to Delhi's Fleet Street, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg.

The sixth city of Delhi was constructed in 1533 by the Mughal Emperor Humayun around the beautiful Purana Quila (Old Fort), now the venue of concerts and fashion shows.

But it was Humayun's great-grandson, Shah Jehan, who left behind the most glorious architectural legacy of all. Shahjehanabad (old Delhi), built between 1638 and 1649, contains, among other fine examples of Mughal architecture, the famous Red Fort from the ramparts of which the Prime Minister of India addresses the nation every Republic Day and the fabulous, three-domed Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque) which affords a panoramic view of the city. In the lanes below are famous Muslim eateries, including Karim's, home of such gastronomical delights as burra kebabs, mutton chaaps and the best mutton biryani ever.

Delhi's eighth city, (now New Delhi), was commissioned in 1911 following the British decision to move the capital of imperial India from Calcutta to Delhi and formally inaugurated in 1931. The work of two British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, New Delhi is nothing so much as an imperial statement with its wide thoroughfares, sweeping vistas and imposing edifices. But with a sensitivity rare in colonisers, the architects of New Delhi took pains to blend their architectural styles with those that had gone before.

Today's Delhi has grown outward to embrace the neighbouring areas of Gurgaon and Noida where high-rise buildings full of trendy yuppies create an ersatz Manhattan skyline.