Eklakhi Mausoleum is a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consi ...

located at Pandua in

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. T ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

, India. It was built around 1425. It houses three tombs, possibly belonging to Sultan

Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah ( bn, জালালউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ শাহ; born as Yadu or Jadu) was a 15th-century Sultan of Bengal and an important figure in medieval Bengali history. Born a Hindu to his aristocratic fat ...

, his wife, and son

Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah Shamsuddīn Aḥmad Shāh ( bn, শামসউদ্দীন আহমদ শাহ, fa, ; r. 1433–1436) was the last Sultan of Bengal belonging to the House of Ganesha. He was the son and successor of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. Aft ...

, but the identification is disputed. The structure represents a village hut with a sloping roof and serves as a prototype for the various other buildings constructed during the

Bengal Sultanate The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the dominan ...

History

The mausoleum was built in the early 15th century (). It houses three tombs. One tomb is believed to be that of Sultan

, the other two of his wife and son

. The orientation and the identification of these tombs is disputed. Jalaluddin was a son of

Raja Ganesha Raja Ganesha ( bn, রাজা গণেশ) was a Hindu Brahmin zamindar ruler of Bengal, who took advantage of the weakness of the first Ilyas Shahi dynasty and seized power in Bengal. Contemporary historians of the medieval period considere ...

and had later converted to Islam. He was the first

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entertai ...

Muslim king of Bengal and the last Sultan of Bengal to rule from Pandua. According to tradition, the construction of the mausoleum cost one lakh rupees (). The mausoleum received its name "Eklakhi" () from this amount. The mausoleum is an ASI listed monument.

Architecture

The mausoleum is the earliest surviving square-shaped building with a single dome in Bengal. The brick structure has thick walls and an octagon-shaped interior, which together minimize the size of

squinch In architecture, a squinch is a triangular corner that supports the base of a dome. Its visual purpose is to translate a rectangle into an octagon. See also: pendentive. Construction A squinch is typically formed by a masonry arch that spans ...

es required. The mausoleum has a smoothly curved

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, terracotta ornamentation on the walls, and engaged towers at the corners. The cornice supports the hemispherical dome on square squinches. The mausoleum is wide and in height. The diameter of the dome is . A doorway is present at each of its facades. Each doorway has a pointed arch. The interior chamber measures and has no window. Historian Perween Hasan writes that the architecture may have been inspired by the brick temples in pre-Islamic Bengal. As Jalaluddin was the first native Muslim king of Bengal, he may have built the mausoleum in typical Bengali style, highlighting his roots. The mausoleum's structure represents a

thatched Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

hut with a sloping roof forming

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

. It is the earliest example of the distinctive Bengali architecture which was popularised during the period of the

and later.

Gallery

File:Eklakhi Mausoleum at Pandua in Malda district 11.jpg, Terracotta carvings on the walls File:Eklakhi Mausoleum at Pandua in Malda district 04.jpg, Octagonal tower strengthening the structure File:Eklakhi Mausoleum at Pandua in Malda district 10.jpg, Carvings File:Eklakhi Mausoleum at Pandua in Malda district 14.jpg, Decorated gate and walls

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eklakhi Mausoleum Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal Architecture of the Bengal Sultanate Mausoleums in India Architecture in Bangladesh Tombs in India Buildings and structures completed in the 15th century Tourist attractions in Malda district