durbar

durbar, in India, a court or audience chamber, and also any formal assembly of notables called together by a governmental authority. In British India the name was specially attached to formal imperial assemblies called together to mark state occasions. The three best-known durbars were held in Delhi in 1877, 1903, and 1911. They celebrated Queen Victoria’s assumption of the title of empress of India (1876), the coronation of King Edward VII (1902), and the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to India (1911).

This article was most recently revised and updated by Maren Goldberg.