The Khokari (or Khokri) tombs are three 500-year-old massive stone tombs of the early rulers of the erstwhile

Janjira State Janjira State was a princely state in India during the British Raj. Its rulers were a Siddi dynasty of Habesha descent and the state was under the suzerainty of the Bombay Presidency. Janjira State was located on the Konkan coast in the prese ...

in western

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, near Murud in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

state.

History

The largest is the tomb of Sidi

Surul Khan Surul is a census town in Bolpur Sriniketan CD block in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Surul is a village adjacent to Visva-Bharati University, founded by Rabindranath Tagore. A major part o ...

, who was chief of

from 1707 to 1734. One of the two smaller tombs is that of Sidi Kasim, commonly known as Yakut Khan, who was in command of Janjira (1670–1677), of the Mugal fleet (1677–1696), and again of Janjira (1696–1707). The other small tomb is of his brother Khairiyat Khan, who was in command of Danda–Rajpuri (1670–1677) and of Janjira (1677–1696). The tomb of Surul Khan is said to have been built during his lifetime. Yakut Khan's tomb has an Arabic inscription stating that he died on Thursday 30th Jama-Dilaval AH 1118 (AD 1707). Khairiyat Khan's tomb also has an inscription. The figures of the date of his death are AH 1018, but the Arabic words give the date H. 1108 (AD 1696). The latter date is believed to be the correct one. The tombs were kept in repair by the Nawab, who had assigned to the village of Savli-Mitha-gar a yearly revenue of Rs. 2,000 for the maintenance of Surul Khan's tomb, and by the village of Dodakal for the maintenance of Yakut Khan's and Khairiyat Khan's tombs. In the past, Kuran was read at these tombs on Thursday nights, on yearly death-days or when urus were celebrated.Gazetteer By Bombay (India : State), Bombay (Presidency) (Published 1883)
/ref> The monument, which is done in the

Indo-Saracenic Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, or Hindoo style) was a revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government ...

style, is being restored by the Mumbai Circle of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

(ASI).

References

External links

{{commons category
Archaeological Survey of India List of Monuments under Mumbai Circle
Monuments and memorials in Maharashtra Siddhi people Indo-Islamic architecture