Dheli is mentioned once briefly in "North and South" and the very begninning of the story. In the opening chapter, Margaret's cousin, Edith, is about to get married and as she is packing she revels in the beauty of a few Indian Shawls and the maids wonder if they are from Dehli specifically. This is the only time this specific time Dehli is mentioned but I think as I will discuss later on that it plays a specific role in how Margaret looks at material goods.
India went through a major change in government in the 1800's, this was due to the rise of Imperialism and England had thier sights set on India. With ease they gained control and India became a British territory. While the British did invade, they were relatively mild when it came to erasing Indian culture when compared to other imperialzied sociaeties of the time. In fact the English found the culture fascinating and wanted it to be preserved. Also around this time, Indian words such as "khaki" and "dungaree" were entering the English language.
However, it didn't take long for Indians to resent the British and in 1857 the Sepoy Mutiny occured. The tipping point was rumored to be how British soliders cleaned their guns, and the grease they used was from animals that were off limits for one reason or antoher to both Hindus and Muslimes, this the soldiers turned on their British commanders, but tension had been groiwng for a while.
Uprisings continued for the next year, causing chaos over India, but a new unifying enemy. Less than 10% of Indians remained loyal to the British after the mutiny.
In 1858, peace was restored due to the dissolving of the East India Company, a mojor trade empire, and India was flly assumed under British monarchy rule. This was never the intention of England, but they grew desparate as they got threatened. History shows this is not the last time the British would be fought against, it wouldn't be until decades later than India regained their independence.
The obvious connection between India and England and "North and South" is that India at the time of the novel was under English control. However, Delhi specifically was mentioned. Dehli was, and still is, a popular urban area in India. It has been a center for industry for decades and this brings me to my point.
Dehli, as a center for Industry still today, deals with unethical working conditions. Especially due to the unfortunate rise of the fast fashion industry. At the time Edith's shawls were fashionable, trendy, much like the "Brandy Melville Style" clothes of today. Margaret looks with envy on the shawls, and the maids gossip about them and their beauty. This a material good, it was most likely made in a factory or some work group where women or children worked long hours with minimal pay if any to make those shawls. Margaret's intial envy for the shawls without thinking about where they came fromm demonstrates her lack of knowledge about where good come from. Once she moves to Milton and seees what it's truly like to work in a factory, we see her internal thoughts showing care about how things are crafted and eventually not caring for material goods at all since she knows the truth behind them and the value they once held for her was now gone.
Sources
A Timeline of India in the 1800s (British Raj) (thoughtco.com)
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