The Tomb of Sikandar Lodi is the

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

of the second ruler of the

Lodi Dynasty The Lodi dynasty ( ps, لودي سلسله; fa, سلسله لودی) was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he ...

Sikandar Lodi Sikandar Khan Lodi (died 21 November 1517), born Nizam Khan, was a Pashtun Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate between 1489 and 1517. He became ruler of the Lodi dynasty after the death of his father Bahlul Khan Lodi in July 1489. The second and most ...

(reign: 1489–1517 CE) situated in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, India. The tomb is situated in Lodhi Gardens in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

and was built in 1517–1518 CE by his son Ibrahim Lodi. The monument is situated 100 meters away from the

Bara Gumbad Bara Gumbad () is a medieval monument located in Lodhi Gardens in Delhi, India. It is part of a group of monuments that include a Friday mosque (Jama Masjid) and the "''mehman khana''" (guest house) of Sikandar Lodhi, the ruler of the Delhi Sult ...

and the area in which it is situated was formerly a village called Khairpur.

History

Sikandar Lodi (born Nizam Khan), was the Sultan of

between 1489 and 1517 CE and was the son of

Bahlul Lodi Bahlul Khan Lodi (12 July 1489) was the chief of the Pashtun Lodi tribe. Founder of the Lodi dynasty from the Delhi Sultanate upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous Sayyid rule. Bahlul became sultan of the dynasty on 19 A ...

. After the death of his father in 1489, Sikandar Lodhi assumed the

reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-prince of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kings, the Franks, List of ...

the same year and ruled until his death in 1517 CE. Upon Sikandar Lodi's death in 1517 CE, his son Ibrahim Lodi built the tomb. The Tomb of Sikandar Lodi was inspired in parts by the tomb of

Muhammad Shah Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...

which is also situated in the Lodhi Gardens.

Construction and architecture

The Tomb of Sikandar Lodi was inspired in parts by the tomb of Muhammad Shah. It has

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, w ...

design and the architectural style is Indo-Islamic. The tomb is the first garden tomb in

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

and is India's earliest surviving enclosed garden tomb. The tomb is enclosed within a fortified complex (entered from a south facing gateway) with the main entrance having two umbrella shaped domes (

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

s) which was designed to preserve the symmetry and relative proportions of the body of the building. Both pavilions on the square platform in the front have remains of blue tiles. The tomb is situated in the middle of a large garden and tall boundary walls. Tomb chamber is surrounded by a wide

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...

with carved pillars with each side pierced by three arches and the angles occupied by sloping

buttresses A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (si ...

. Tomb walls have Mughal architectural designs and many foreign languages have been inscribed on the walls. The tomb is decorated with enameled tiles of various colors. Inside the complex, the western wall has been built to serve as a wall mosque also since the

Quibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the ...

is indicated through arches and paved area in the front.

Location

The Tomb of Sikandar Lodi is located in and is a part of the Lodhi Gardens in

, India. The village, where the monument stands was earlier called ''Khairpur''. The garden is bounded by

Amrita Shergill Marg Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913 – 5 December 1941) was a Hungarian-Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an ear ...

in the West, North-West and North, Max MuellerMarg on the East and

Lodhi Road Lodhi Road (Hindi: लोधी रोड, Urdu: لودھی مارگ) in New Delhi, India, is named after the Lodhi Gardens located on it. Two Mughal mausoleums, Humayun's Tomb and Safdarjung's Tomb, lie at the eastern and western ends of t ...

on the South Side. Safdarjang Tomb is situated on South-West corner of the Lodhi Garden.

Gallery

File:Sikandar Lodi's tomb 2015.JPG, Tomb File:Sikandar Lodi's tomb wall.JPG, Fortified walls as seen from inside the complex File:Sikandar Lodi's tomb window.JPG, Window inside main chamber File:Sikandar Lodhi's tomb interior tilework (3547967515).jpg, Tomb interior tile-work File:Central Mihrab, Sikander Lodi's Tomb wall mosque (01).jpg, Central Mihrab, Sikander Lodi's Tomb wall mosque File:Sikandar Lodi's tomb sunset.JPG, Sikandar Lodi's tomb at sunset

References

{{Delhi Mausoleums in Delhi Domes Architecture in India Architecture of the Lodi dynasty Tombs in Delhi Buildings and structures completed in 1518 Monuments of National Importance in Delhi

History

Construction and architecture

Location

Gallery

See also

References