The Tomb of Nadira Begum ( ur, ) is a

Mughal era The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

tomb in the city of

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, which houses the tomb of Mughal princess Nadira Banu Begum, wife of Prince Dara Shikoh.

Background

Nadira was the wife of Dara Shikoh, who served as the governor of Lahore in the 1640s. In 1659, Dara was fighting his brother Aurangzeb for the Mughal throne. After Dara's defeat in the Battle of Deorai, he and his wife tried to flee to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

through the

Bolan Pass Bolān Pass ( ur, ) is a valley and a natural gateway, through the Toba Kakar range in Balochistan province of Pakistan, south of the Afghanistan border. The pass is an stretch of the Bolan river valley from Rindli in the south to Darwāza ...

, but Nadira died of dysentery and exhaustion. Though Dara's troops were depleted, he sent his remaining soldiers to carry his wife's body from the pass to

, to be buried near the shrine of

Mian Mir Baba Sain Mir Mohammed Sahib (c. 1550 – 22 August 1635), popularly known as Mian Mir or Miyan Mir, was a famous Sindhi Sufi Muslim saint who resided in Lahore, specifically in the town of ''Dharampura'' (in present-day Pakistan). He was a di ...

, whom both considered to be their "spiritual guide".

History

The tomb is believed to have been robbed of all costly marbles and semi-precious stones during Ranjit Singh's rule, leaving it in a "dilapidated" state. The tomb is also a prey to "contemporary vandalism" which is evident from the gaudy

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

on the mausoleum "with the ugly plague of wall chalking".

Architecture

Unlike other Mughal tombs, which are built in gardens, this tomb does not have a dome and was built in a sunken water tank. The tomb stands at the center of the tank on a raised platform . The tank was "200 by 200 Mughal

gaz GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: ГАЗ or Го́рьковский автомоби́льный заво́д, , Gorky Automobile Plant) is a Russian automotive manufacturer located in Nizhny Novgorod, formerly known as Gorky (Го� ...

in size". Later, however the tank was converted into a Mughal garden. The corners of the tank were denoted by pavilions and the tomb could be accessed through "lofty gateways" on the north and south through a masonry bridge. The bridge stands on thirty arches. The central chamber is 14

feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

wide and is surrounded by an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

. The square tomb measures 44 feet on each side and is 32 ft 6 in tall. The first storey is 13 feet and surrounded by square headed apertures. The stairs for reaching the upper storey are located in the northeast and southeast corners. The grave is 6 ft 10 in long, 2 ft 10 in wide and 1 ft 8 in high.

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

ic verses are inscribed in Nastaliq script on a marble slab on the northern face of the grave.

Gallery

File:Princess Nadira Banu Begum.jpg, Princess Nadira Banu Begum File:Nadira Begum Tomb.jpg, Tomb of Nadira Banu Begum File:Tomb of Nadira Begum i.jpg, Tomb of Nadira Begum File:Tomb of Nadira Begum iii.jpg, Grave of Nadira Begum File:Tomb of Nadira Begum ii.jpg, Interior of Tomb of Nadira Begum File:Tomb of Nadira Begum iv.jpg, A window in Tomb of Nadira Begum File:Tomb of Nadira Begum v.jpg, Ornaments in Tomb of Nadira Begum File:Tomb of Nadira Begum vi.jpg, Stairs to the upper level in Tomb of Nadira Begum

References

{{Cultural heritage sites in Punjab, Pakistan Tombs in Lahore Mausoleums in Punjab, Pakistan Architecture of Lahore Mughal tombs Mughal gardens in Pakistan Tourist attractions in Lahore