Tomb of Jahangir
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Quick Facts
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Tomb of Jahangir, (Urdu: جهانگير کا مقبرہ) is the mausoleum built for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir who ruled from 1605 to 1627. The mausoleum is located near the town of Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Pakistan. His son Shah Jahan built the mausoleum 10 years after his father's death.
History
Jahangir (20 September 1569 – 8 November 1627)
Jahangir died in Rajauri, as he was leaving Lahore for Kashmir. His body was brought back to Lahore and buried in Shahdara Bagh, on the banks of the river Ravi.
Emperor Jahangir was buried according to his last wish: in Lahore, in Noor Jahan's old pleasure garden known as Dilkusha Garden. The mausoleum is located at Shahdara on the banks of the Ravi, three miles northwest of the city.
Although contemporary court accounts credit Shah Jahan with the building of his father's tomb 10 years after his father de, it is more likely to have been the result of Noor Jahan's vision. The empress was a great patron of architecture, having built several buildings and gardens. She designed her husband's tomb in 1627, taking as model her parents' burial place, the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula in Agra. She also became a permanent resident of Lahore after her husband's death, and was thus in a position to influence the design and construction of the monument. Dilkusha Garden, which according to his own wish became the resting place of Jahangir, was owned by none other than the empress herself. In all fairness to Shah Jahan, though, no expense was spared. The monument, which was ten years in building, cost Rupees 10 lakhs.
Emperor Jahangir was buried according to his last wish: in Lahore, in Noor Jahan's old pleasure garden known as Dilkusha Garden. The mausoleum is located at Shahdara on the banks of the Ravi, three miles northwest of the city.
Although contemporary court accounts credit Shah Jahan with the building of his father's tomb 10 years after his father de, it is more likely to have been the result of Noor Jahan's vision. The empress was a great patron of architecture, having built several buildings and gardens. She designed her husband's tomb in 1627, taking as model her parents' burial place, the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula in Agra. She also became a permanent resident of Lahore after her husband's death, and was thus in a position to influence the design and construction of the monument. Dilkusha Garden, which according to his own wish became the resting place of Jahangir, was owned by none other than the empress herself. In all fairness to Shah Jahan, though, no expense was spared. The monument, which was ten years in building, cost Rupees 10 lakhs.
Architecture
Grave of Jehangir
It is sited in an attractive walled garden. It has four 30 meter high minarets. The interior is embellished with frescoes and pietra dura inlay and coloured marble.
The entrance to the mausoleum is through two massive gateways of stone and masonry opposite each other (to the north and south) which lead to a square enclosure known as the Akbari Serai. This enclosure leads to another one, on the western side, giving full view of the garden in front of the mausoleum, which is traversed by four-bricked canals proceeding from the centre, and in which many fountains were placed which are now in ruins. The corridor around the mausoleum is adorned with a most elegant mosaic, representing flowers and Quranic verses.The interior of the mausoleum is an elevated sarcophagus of white marble, the sides of which are wrought with flowers of mosaic in the same elegant style as the tombs in the Taj Mahal at Agra, India. On two sides of the sarcophagus the ninety-nine attributes of God are inlaid in black. Beautiful 'jalis' admit light in various patterns.
The entrance to the mausoleum is through two massive gateways of stone and masonry opposite each other (to the north and south) which lead to a square enclosure known as the Akbari Serai. This enclosure leads to another one, on the western side, giving full view of the garden in front of the mausoleum, which is traversed by four-bricked canals proceeding from the centre, and in which many fountains were placed which are now in ruins. The corridor around the mausoleum is adorned with a most elegant mosaic, representing flowers and Quranic verses.The interior of the mausoleum is an elevated sarcophagus of white marble, the sides of which are wrought with flowers of mosaic in the same elegant style as the tombs in the Taj Mahal at Agra, India. On two sides of the sarcophagus the ninety-nine attributes of God are inlaid in black. Beautiful 'jalis' admit light in various patterns.
Design
The grounds of the tomb, which cover 55 acres, are laid out in the classical charbagh pattern, with bisecting perpendicular paths.The setting of the chahar bagh is skillfully accomplished. Its four parterres are subdivided into sixteen divisions by means of a brick geometric pavement flanking narrow water channels and every intersection is marked by an alternate octagonal and square talab (tank). Entrance is through large northern and southern gates; the southern one is faced in red Sikri sandstone and white marble inlay.
The mausoleum itself is also in red sandstone and floral marble inlay, and consists of an arcaded platform, or takhgah, 84 meters square.The four corner minar, with white marble cupolas, rise in five stages to a height of 100 feet. The shaft is decorated in chevrons of pink and white marble, and a domed kiosk crowns each minaret. Openings on each of the four sides of the platform lead through long corridors to a central, octagonal crypt containing the marble cenotaph resting on a platform, the chabutra. The marble cenotaph is considered one of the finest in India. It is inlaid precious stones set in naturalistic floral patterns, and black calligraphy inscribing the date of Jahangir's death, and the ninety-nine names of ALLAH.
Originally, the crypt had a second floor; a platform still exists, built on top of the large square one. Remnants of a marble screen show that it was once enclosed, and traces indicate where a second cenotaph may have stood. It is, however, believed that the second story remained unroofed: before his death, Jahangir, like his ancestor Babur, had requested that his tomb be left open to the sky. To the west of the charbagh tomb garden, there is a related, rectangular enclosure known as the Akbari Seria, which served as the forecourt, or chowk-i jilo khana, for the mausoleum. A small mosque stands at its western wall.
The mausoleum itself is also in red sandstone and floral marble inlay, and consists of an arcaded platform, or takhgah, 84 meters square.The four corner minar, with white marble cupolas, rise in five stages to a height of 100 feet. The shaft is decorated in chevrons of pink and white marble, and a domed kiosk crowns each minaret. Openings on each of the four sides of the platform lead through long corridors to a central, octagonal crypt containing the marble cenotaph resting on a platform, the chabutra. The marble cenotaph is considered one of the finest in India. It is inlaid precious stones set in naturalistic floral patterns, and black calligraphy inscribing the date of Jahangir's death, and the ninety-nine names of ALLAH.
Originally, the crypt had a second floor; a platform still exists, built on top of the large square one. Remnants of a marble screen show that it was once enclosed, and traces indicate where a second cenotaph may have stood. It is, however, believed that the second story remained unroofed: before his death, Jahangir, like his ancestor Babur, had requested that his tomb be left open to the sky. To the west of the charbagh tomb garden, there is a related, rectangular enclosure known as the Akbari Seria, which served as the forecourt, or chowk-i jilo khana, for the mausoleum. A small mosque stands at its western wall.
