Bibi Ka Maqbara

The Bibi Ka Maqbara, the “Tomb of the Lady,” is the mausoleum of Dilras Banu Begum, the first wife of the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and the mother of the emperor Aurangzeb, located on the western outskirts of the city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Commissioned by Aurangzeb’s son Azam Shah in the 1660s and substantially complete by about 1678, the building is one of the largest and most ambitious mausoleums of the late Mughal architecture tradition, and it is often described as a deliberate but reduced echo of the Taj Mahal, of which it is the most direct imitation in the wider Indian subcontinent. The comparison with the Taj Mahal has shaped the popular and scholarly understanding of the building since its construction, and the Bibi Ka Maqbara is sometimes called the “mini Taj” or the “Taj of the Deccan.” The complex is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.

Historical Context and Commission

Dilras Banu Begum, born a princess of the Persian Safavid dynasty and commonly known by the title Rabia-ud-Daurani, was the first wife of Shah Jahan and the mother of Aurangzeb. She died on 8 January 1666 in Aurangabad, then a major Mughal administrative centre in the Deccan, where Aurangzeb had been based for several years. The decision to build a mausoleum for Dilras Banu Begum at Aurangabad was made by her grandson Azam Shah, the second son of Aurangzeb, who commissioned the project in the late 1660s.

The political context of the commission is significant. Azam Shah was at the time a leading figure in the imperial court, and the construction of a major mausoleum for his grandmother was a statement of dynastic legitimacy and the place of the imperial family in the wider Mughal polity. The location of the building at Aurangabad, far from the principal centres of Mughal patronage in the north, also reflected the increasing importance of the Deccan in the later years of the dynasty.

The Architect

The principal architect of the Bibi Ka Maqbara was Ata-ullah, a master builder in the imperial workshop who had been involved in a number of the major projects of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. The design is widely understood to have been directly modelled on the Taj Mahal, and the use of the same vocabulary of forms, the same proportional system, and the same decorative techniques suggests a deliberate attempt to reproduce the most famous building of the dynasty in the Mughal Deccan.

The Charbagh Setting

The mausoleum is set within a large rectangular charbagh garden of the four-part type derived from the Persian tradition. The garden is divided into four equal parts by means of axial water channels and raised walkways, with the principal building placed on a raised platform at the centre of the composition. The use of the charbagh plan at the Bibi Ka Maqbara is consistent with the wider application of the convention in the Mughal tombs of the period, including Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, the Tomb of Jahangir at Lahore, and the Taj Mahal at Agra. The original planting of the garden has not survived in its original form, but contemporary references describe a planting that included fruit trees, cypresses, and a range of flowering and scented shrubs.

The Mausoleum

The mausoleum is constructed on a high platform of red sandstone, with the principal materials being red sandstone and a relatively limited amount of white marble, supplemented by a range of polychrome inlay stones and, most distinctively, the lime plaster that was used as a facing for much of the building. The plan of the building follows a square with the four corners chamfered, producing an irregular octagonal outline, and the facades are articulated with pointed iwan portals and the smaller two-storey niches that became a signature of the late Mughal idiom. At the centre of the structure rises a high double dome of white marble on a high drum, the most direct echo of the Taj Mahal in the design of the building.

The most distinctive feature of the building, and the one that has given rise to the most scholarly and popular discussion, is the use of lime plaster as a facing for much of the building, in place of the white marble that would have been used in a more generously funded project. The use of plaster, which was stuccoed and painted to imitate the appearance of marble, was a deliberate economy, and it is debated in the literature on the building. Some scholars have argued that the use of plaster was a positive choice, reflecting the building’s location in the Deccan and the availability of skilled plaster workers. Others have argued that the use of plaster was a sign of the declining resources of the imperial workshop in the later years of the dynasty.

Comparison with the Taj Mahal

The comparison between the Bibi Ka Maqbara and the Taj Mahal is inescapable, and the two buildings have been discussed together since the construction of the Deccan mausoleum. The most obvious similarities are the square plan with chamfered corners, the iwan portals on the four facades, the high double dome of white marble, the four minarets at the corners of the platform, the charbagh garden, and the use of red sandstone as the principal material with white marble for the principal decorative elements. The most obvious difference is the use of lime plaster in place of marble, the simpler carved and inlaid ornament, the smaller scale of the building, and the less elaborate integration of the building with the surrounding landscape.

The comparison is debated, with some scholars emphasising the deliberate imitation of the Taj Mahal and others emphasising the independent character of the Deccan mausoleum. The most balanced reading of the building treats it as a deliberate but reduced echo of the Taj Mahal, located in a different cultural and political context, built at a different moment in the history of the dynasty, and addressed to a different audience.

Criticism and Praise

The Bibi Ka Maqbara has been the subject of considerable criticism and praise since its construction. The criticism, which has been a feature of the literature on the building since the seventeenth century, focuses on the use of plaster in place of marble, the simpler decorative programme, and the perceived decline of the imperial workshop in the later years of the dynasty. The praise, which has been a more recent feature of the literature, focuses on the refinement of the proportions, the care of the construction, the use of local materials and craftsmen, and the successful adaptation of the Taj Mahal vocabulary to the conditions of the Deccan.

Symbolic Programme and Place in Mughal Architecture

The mausoleum was conceived as a statement of dynastic legitimacy and as a representation of the place of the imperial family in the wider Mughal polity. The location of the building at Aurangabad reflected the increasing importance of the Deccan in the later years of the dynasty. The use of the charbagh garden, the calligraphic programme, the use of the iwan portals, and the integration of the building with the surrounding landscape all locate the mausoleum within the broader Mughal imperial tradition.

The Bibi Ka Maqbara is monuments of the late Mughal architecture tradition, and it is often discussed together with the Taj Mahal at Agra, the Moti Masjid of the Red Fort in Delhi, and the Badshahi Mosque of Lahore as one of the principal surviving imperial buildings of the seventeenth century. The building is notable for the comparison with the Taj Mahal, the use of lime plaster in place of marble, the eclectic character of the design, and the successful adaptation of the imperial vocabulary to the conditions of the Deccan.

For the broader context of the imperial building tradition, the Mughal architecture overview pillar offers a synthetic account, while the cluster page on Mughal tombs treats the related building types in greater depth. The Aurangzeb cluster provides the political and biographical context for the construction of the mausoleum.

Sources

• Ebba Koch, Mughal Architecture (1991), pp. 162–66.