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TOMB OF
I'TIMAD-UD-DAULAH
(1622-28 A.D)
THIS
IS THE TOMB OF MIRZA GHIYAS BEG AND HIS WIFE ASMAT BEGUM. HE
HAILED FROM IRAN AND SERVED AKBAR. HE WAS FATHER OF THE FAMOUS 'NUR
JEHAN' AND GRAND FATHER OF 'MUMTAZ MAHAL', OF THE TAJ MAHAL FAME.
HE WAS MADE VAZIR (PRIME MINISTER) AFTER NUR JEHAN'S MARRIAGE WITH
JEHANGIR IN 1611. HE HELD THE MANSAB OF 7000/7000 AND THE TITLE 'I'TIMAD-UD-DAULAH'
(THE LORD TREASURER). HE DIED AT AGRA IN 1622, A FEW MONTHS AFTER
HIS WIFE'S DEATH. NUR JEHAN BUILT THIS TOMB FOR HER PARENTS
BETWEEN 1622 AND 1628. HER OWN TOMB AND THAT OF JEHANGIR ARE AT
LAHORE.
THE TOMB, SITUATED ON THE EASTERN BANK OF THE RIVER JAMUNA, IS
PLANNED IN THE CENTRE OF A CHAR-BAGH
 (FOUR
QUARTERED GARDEN), WITH THE USUAL ENCLOSING WALLS AND SIDE
BUILDINGS. AS CONDITIONED BY ITS SITUATION, THE MAIN GATE IS ON
THE EASTERN SIDE. ORNAMENTAL GATEWAYS WITH PROMINENT IWANS ARE
BUILT IN THE MIDDLE OF NORTH AND SOUTH SIDES. A MULTI-STOREYED
OPEN PLEASURE PAVILION IS THERE ON THE WESTERN SIDE, OVERLOOKING
THE RIVER IMPRESSIVELY. THESE BUILDINGS ARE OF RED SANDSTONE WITH
BOLD INLAID DESIGNS IN WHITE MARBLE.
SHALLOW WATER-CHANNELS, SUNK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RAISED STONE
PAVED PATHWAYS, WITH INTERMITTENT TANKS AND CASCADES, DIVIDE THE
GARDEN INTO FOUR EQUAL QUARTERS. THEY ARE ONLY SLIGHTLY RAISED
FROM THE PARTERRES WHICH COULD BE CONVERTED INTO FLOWER-BEDS.
SPACE FOR LARGE PLANTS AND TREES WAS RESERVED JUST ADJOINING THE
ENCLOSING WALLS, LEAVING THE MAUSOLEUM FULLY OPEN TO VIEW.
THE MAIN TOMB, OF WHITE MARBLE IS MARVELLOUSLY SET IN THE CENTRE
OF THIS GARDEN. IT STANDS ON A PLINTH OF RED STONE HAVING IN THE
MIDDLE OF EACH SIDE, FACING THE CENTRAL ARCH, A LOTUS TANK WITH
FOUNTAIN. THE TOMB IS SQUARE IN PLAN WITH OCTAGONAL TOWERS
SURMOUNTED BY CHHATRIS, ATTACHED TO ITS CORNERS. EACH FAÇADE HAS
THREE ARCHES. THE CENTRAL ONE PROVIDING THE ENTRANCE, AND THE
OTHER TWO ON THE SIDES BEING CLOSED BY JALIS. EACH SIDE IS
PROTECTED BY A CHHAJJA AND A
 JALIED
BALUSTRADE ABOVE IT. THERE IS NO DOME; INSTEAD, THE BUILDING IS
ROOFED BY A SQUARE 'BARAHDARI' HAVING THREE ARCHED OPENINGS ON
EACH SIDE WHICH ARE CLOSED BY JALIS EXCEPT IN THE MIDDLE OF NORTH
AND SOUTH SIDES. IT IS PROTECTED BY A CHHAJJA ABOVE WHICH IS THE
CHAUKHANDI (PYRAMIDAL) ROOF CROWNED BY LOTUS-PETALS AND KALASH
FINIALS. THE INTERIOR IS COMPOSED OF A CENTRAL SQUARE HALL HOUSING
THE CENOTAPHS OF ASMAT BEGUM AND MIRZA GHIYAS, FOUR OBLONG ROOMS
ON THE SIDES AND FOUR SQUARE ROOMS ON THE CORNERS, ALL
INTERCONNECTED BY COMMON DOORWAYS. THE CENOTAPH OF ASMAT BEGUM
OCCUPIES THE EXACT CENTRE OF THE HALL. CORNER ROOMS HAVE
TOMBSTONES OF NUR JEHAN'S DAUGHTER LADLI BEGUM AND HER OTHER
RELATIONS.
THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS TOMB IS ITS POLYCHROME
ORNAMENTATION. BEAUTIFUL FLORAL, STYLIZED, ARABESQUE AND
GEOMETRICAL DESIGNS HAVE BEEN DEPICTED ON THE WHOLE EXTERIOR IN
INLAY AND MOSAIC TECHNIQUES, IN VARIOUS PLEASING TINTS AND TONES.
WINE-VASE, DISH-AND-CUP, CYPRESS, HONEY-SUCKLE, GULDASTA AND SUCH
OTHER IRANIAN MOTIFS, TYPICAL OF THE ART OF JEHANGIR, HAVE BEEN
EMPHATICALLY USED. SOME COMPOSITIONS HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY THE
PLANT-STUDIES OF 'USTAD MANSUR NAQQASH', THE FAMOUS 'FAUNA AND
FLORA' PAINTER OF JEHANGIR. SOME STYLIZED DESIGNS HAVE ALSO BEEN
DONE IN EXQUISITE CARVING, BOTH INCISED AND RELIEF. THEY LOOK LIKE
EMBROIDERY WORK DONE IN IVORY. DELICACY IS THEIR QUALITY. STUCCO
AND PAINTING HAVE BEEN DONE IN THE INTERIOR WHERE MINUTE ANIMAL
AND HUMAN FIGURES HAVE ALSO BEEN SHOWN. THE INSPIRATION HAS COME
FROM THE CONTEMPORARY ART OF PAINTING. THERE IS NO GLAZED-TILING
AND THE DECORATION IS LARGELY BY COLOUR STONES WHICH IS AN
INDIGENOUS DEVELOPMENT. BY FAR, IT IS THE MOST GORGEOUSLY
ORNAMENTED MUGHAL BUILDING. IT TESTIFIES THAT 'THE MUGHALS BEGAN
LIKE TITANS AND FINISHED LIKE JEWELLERS'. CHAPTERS 48 AND 73 OF
THE QURAN HAVE BEEN CARVED ON THE 64 PANELS ON THE EXTERNAL SIDES
OF THE GROUND FLOOR. THE DATE OF WRITING A.H. 1037/1627 A.D. IS
MENTIONED IN THE LAST PANEL. CHAPTER 67 OF THE QURAN IS INSCRIBED
ON THE 12 INTERNAL PANELS OF THE UPPER PAVILION.
THE TOMB OF I'TIMAD-UD-DAULAH IS A MASTERPIECE OF THE DOMELESS
CLASS OF MUGHAL TOMBS. IT IS THE FIRST BUILDING FINISHED IN WHITE
MARBLE AND MARKS THE TRANSITIONAL PHASE FROM RED STONE TO WHITE
MARBLE, FROM AKBAR'S TOMB SIKANDARA TO THE TAJ MAHAL. IT REFLECTS
THE PERSONALITY OF THE POLISHED IRANIAN WHO LIES BURIED HERE AND,
MORE THAN THAT, THE FORMAL AND ORNAMENTAL CHARACTER OF ITS BUILDER
NUR JEHAN WHO RULED THE MUGHAL EMPIRE FROM BEHIND THE CURTAIN FOR
16 YEARS (1611-27). THIS IS PROTECTED AND CONSERVED BY
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA.
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