Mughal Tombs and Mausoleums

Mughal funerary architecture represents and influential building traditions in the history of world architecture. From the construction of Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi in the 1560s to the last imperial mausoleums of the eighteenth century, the Mughal tradition produced a remarkable series of funerary monuments, set in carefully designed charbagh gardens, built of red sandstone and white marble, and decorated with the most refined techniques of the imperial workshops. The principal surviving mausoleums, including Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, the tomb of Akbar at Sikandra, the tomb of Jahangir at Lahore, the Taj Mahal at Agra, the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah at Agra, the Bibi Ka Maqbara at Aurangabad, and the tomb of Safdarjung at Delhi, constitute a substantial proportion of the world’s most important built heritage, and several of them are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Origins and the Timurid Inheritance

The Mughal mausoleum is a direct descendant of the Timurid and Persian funerary traditions. The Timurid mausoleum, developed in the fifteenth century in Herat, Samarkand, and Khurasan, established a number of conventions that were to govern the Mughal tradition: the location of the tomb on a raised platform in the centre of a four-part garden, the use of a high bulbous dome, the symmetrically planned facades with iwan portals, and the use of polychrome tilework and carved ornament. The Gur-e-Amir in Samarkand, the tomb of Ulugh Beg, the tile-clad mausoleums of Herat, and the related structures of Khurasan provided direct models for the early Mughal projects.

The Indian substrate also contributed to the development of the tradition. The pre-Islamic tombs of the subcontinent, including the Buddhist stupas and the early Hindu and Jain funerary monuments, provided a number of structural and decorative elements that were incorporated into the Mughal mausoleum. The trabeate construction of the earlier Indian monuments, the use of carved stone brackets and chhajja eaves, and the lotus motifs and bell-shaped finials derived from Hindu temple architecture all contributed to the distinctive character of the Mughal mausoleum.

The combination of these two traditions produced the mature Mughal mausoleum type. The earliest surviving example is Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, commissioned by the emperor’s widow Hamida Banu Begum in 1565 and designed by the Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyas. Most of the major Mughal mausoleums that followed can be understood as variations on or developments of the model established at Humayun’s Tomb.

Humayun’s Tomb

Humayun’s Tomb, located in the eastern part of Delhi, was the first major Mughal mausoleum and the building that established the formal vocabulary of the tradition. Commissioned in 1565 by the emperor’s widow Hamida Banu Begum and designed by the Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, the building was completed in 1572. The tomb is set in the centre of a large charbagh garden, with the principal building placed on a raised platform and the four parts of the garden divided by water channels and walkways.

The mausoleum itself follows a square plan with chamfered corners, producing an irregular octagonal outline. The facades are articulated with pointed iwan arches, the corners are marked by smaller two-storey pavilions, and the structure is crowned by a double dome of white marble on a high drum. The construction uses red sandstone as the principal material, with white marble for the dome and for the principal decorative elements, and the building is decorated with carved and inlaid ornament that draws on both Persian and Indian models.

Humayun’s Tomb is the prototype for the Mughal funerary tradition, and its formal vocabulary, the use of the charbagh setting, the high double dome, and the integration of the building with the surrounding garden, was to govern the design of Mughal mausoleums for the next two centuries. The building was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993, and it has been the subject of extensive restoration work in the post-Independence period.

Akbar’s Tomb at Sikandra

The tomb of the emperor Akbar, located at Sikandra on the outskirts of Agra, was begun during the emperor’s lifetime and completed after his death in 1605. The building is set within a large walled enclosure containing a charbagh garden, and the mausoleum itself is approached through a monumental gateway that bears a striking resemblance to the Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri. The design of the mausoleum is debated, and the building is notable for its eclectic character, drawing on a wide range of architectural traditions.

The mausoleum is constructed primarily of red sandstone, with extensive use of white marble for the cenotaph chamber at the centre of the building. The structure follows a square plan with the four corners chamfered, and the central chamber is crowned by a false dome that conceals the actual dome above. The decoration of the building includes carved and inlaid ornament, and the structure is notable for the absence of the rich marble inlay that characterises the later mausoleums of the tradition.

The most distinctive feature of the tomb is the eclectic character of the design, which incorporates Hindu, Jain, and Islamic motifs in a manner that reflects the syncretic religious vision of the emperor. The carved brackets, the chhatris, the lotus motifs, and the bell-shaped finials are all drawn from the Hindu and Jain architectural traditions, and the building has been read as a particularly clear expression of Akbar’s policy of religious pluralism.

The Tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah

The tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, located on the eastern bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, was commissioned by the empress Nur Jahan in memory of her father, Mirza Ghiyas Beg, who died in 1622. The building was completed around 1628, and it is conventionally cited as the first major building to use the white marble vocabulary on a substantial scale, pioneering the techniques of pietra dura inlay that were to be perfected in the Taj Mahal.

The mausoleum is set within a small charbagh garden, with the principal building placed on a raised platform in the centre. The building is constructed entirely of white marble, with the polychrome inlay of semi-precious stones covering much of the exterior surface. The inlay includes floral motifs, the buta or paisley motif that became a signature of Kashmiri textiles, and representations of the wine cup and the ewer drawn from the Persian poetic tradition. The cenotaphs are placed in a central chamber surrounded by pierced marble screens of extraordinary refinement.

The tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah is sometimes called the “jewel box in marble,” a name that captures the delicacy and refinement of the building. The structure is not on the scale of the later imperial mausoleums, but it is significant as the first major building in which the techniques of marble construction and pietra dura inlay were deployed on the exterior of a Mughal building.

The Tomb of Jahangir at Lahore

The tomb of the emperor Jahangir, located on the outskirts of Lahore on the banks of the river Ravi, was commissioned by the empress Nur Jahan in 1628 and completed in 1637. The building is set within a large walled enclosure containing a charbagh garden, and the mausoleum itself is approached through a sequence of gateways and courtyards. The building is constructed primarily of red sandstone, with white marble used for the central chamber and the principal decorative elements, and the structure has been compared in its plan to a large takht-i-suleimani or throne of Solomon.

The mausoleum follows a rectangular plan, with the central chamber containing the cenotaph placed on a raised platform. The building is crowned by a flat roof, with the actual dome placed on a lower level in the manner of the tomb of Akbar at Sikandra. The decoration of the building includes carved and inlaid ornament, and the central chamber is surrounded by a series of pishtaqs or monumental portals that create a rhythmic articulation of the facade.

The tomb of Jahangir is notable for the integration of the building with the surrounding landscape, with the charbagh garden extending from the building to the river and the views from the terrace across the water to the distant mountains. The structure has suffered from neglect and from the loss of much of its original marble facing, and the surviving buildings give only a partial impression of the original appearance.

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal, the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, represents the architectural apogee of the Mughal funerary tradition. The building, commissioned by the emperor Shah Jahan in 1631 and substantially complete by 1643, is set within a large charbagh garden, with the principal mausoleum placed on a square platform at the centre of the composition. The white marble of the structure, the polychrome inlay of semi-precious stones, the calligraphy of Amanat Khan, the symmetry of the plan, and the integration of the building with the garden, the river, and the city all contribute to the unique character of the building. The Taj Mahal is the most celebrated and most frequently reproduced example of the Mughal mausoleum, and the basic features of the design have been analysed in great detail.

The iconography of the Taj Mahal has also been extensively studied. The Quranic inscriptions, the symbolism of the lotus and the cypress, the representation of paradise, and the use of the building as a representation of the throne of God have all been read as elements of a deliberate symbolic programme. The identification of the building with the imperial cult of the memory of Mumtaz Mahal, and the use of the building as a representation of the relationship between the emperor and his consort, are also central elements of the iconographic reading.

Bibi Ka Maqbara

The Bibi Ka Maqbara, or “Tomb of the Lady,” is the mausoleum of Dilras Banu Begum, the wife of the emperor Aurangzeb, located at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. The building was commissioned by Aurangzeb’s son Azam Shah in 1660 and completed in 1666, and it is sometimes called the “mini Taj” because of its formal resemblance to the Taj Mahal. The building is set within a walled enclosure containing a charbagh garden, and the mausoleum itself is approached through a sequence of gateways.

The mausoleum is constructed of plastered brick faced with white marble, and the principal material was sourced from the older buildings of the region, including the tombs of the Bahmani and Nizam Shahi dynasties. The building is considerably smaller and less refined than the Taj Mahal, and the differences in the quality of the materials, the detailing, and the execution have been the subject of considerable commentary. The building is a significant example of the tradition in a provincial context, and it represents the continued patronage of the imperial funerary idiom well into the late seventeenth century.

The Safdarjung Tomb

The tomb of Safdarjung, the grand vizier of the emperor Muhammad Shah, was built in Delhi in 1753, well after the effective end of the imperial tradition. The building is set within a walled enclosure containing a charbagh garden, and the mausoleum itself is constructed of white marble with sandstone elements. The structure is sometimes described as the last of the great Mughal mausoleums in Delhi, and it has been the subject of considerable conservation work in the post-Independence period.

The building is not on the scale of the earlier imperial mausoleums, and the quality of the construction and the decoration is generally inferior to that of the seventeenth-century examples. The tomb is, however, a significant example of the continued patronage of the tradition in the late Mughal period, and it represents the provincial adaptation of the imperial model in the eighteenth century.

Construction Techniques, Materials, and the Charbagh Setting

The construction of the Mughal mausoleum involved a range of structural techniques and materials. The principal materials were red sandstone and white marble, with brick, rubble masonry, and lime mortar used for the structural elements. Red sandstone, quarried at Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, and other sites in Rajasthan, was the dominant material of the early and middle imperial period, while white marble, quarried at Makrana in Rajasthan, was used increasingly from Jahangir’s reign onward. The structural techniques included load-bearing masonry, the use of trabeate and corbelled construction, the construction of true domes and squinches, and the use of timber tie-beams and iron cramps. The double dome, in which an outer shell is supported on an inner structural dome, was a particular feature of the tradition, and the technique allowed the builders to achieve a much greater apparent height for the outer dome than would have been possible with a single shell.

The decorative programme of the Mughal mausoleum combined carved stone, carved and painted plaster, tilework, painted surfaces, gilt and lacquer, mirror-work, and stone inlay. The polychrome inlay of semi-precious stones, the use of carved and pierced marble screens, the inlay of calligraphic inscriptions in black marble, and the careful application of gold leaf and pigment in the interior surfaces were all elements of the tradition, and the most sophisticated examples represent the most refined techniques of the imperial workshops.

The Mughal mausoleum was, with very few exceptions, set within a charbagh garden, and the integration of the building with the surrounding landscape was a defining feature of the tradition. The charbagh plan divided the rectangular enclosure into four equal parts by means of water channels or raised walkways, with the principal mausoleum placed at the centre of the composition. The four-part division was understood as a representation of the four rivers of paradise, and the careful integration of the building with the garden was a visual representation of the Islamic vision of paradise.

Symbolism and Meaning

The Mughal mausoleum was understood by its patrons and its visitors as a representation of a number of interlocking symbolic programmes. The most important of these was the representation of the tomb as a place of paradise, with the building and the surrounding garden understood as a sensory equivalent of the Islamic vision of paradise. The Quranic inscriptions, the carved and inlaid ornament, the symbolism of the four-part garden, and the integration of the building with the surrounding landscape all contributed to this reading.

The mausoleum was also understood as a representation of imperial authority. The rigour of the geometry, the engineering of the water supply, the labour required to construct the building, and the maintenance of the foundation as a centre of pilgrimage and political networking all contributed to the symbolic value of the tomb as a manifestation of imperial order and continuity. The major imperial mausoleums, including Humayun’s Tomb, the tomb of Akbar, the tomb of Jahangir, and the Taj Mahal, were also understood as dynastic monuments, and the patronage of the mausoleum was an important element of the imperial cult of the dynasty.

The Post-Mughal Tradition

The tradition of the Mughal mausoleum continued well after the effective end of the imperial patronage in the eighteenth century, with the provincial courts and the successor states continuing to deploy the formal vocabulary of the tradition well into the nineteenth century. The tombs of the Nizam of Hyderabad, the nawabs of Lucknow, the nawab of Murshidabad, and the Rajput courts all represent later developments of the tradition, often combining the Mughal forms with local decorative traditions. The European colonial encounter, beginning in the eighteenth century and culminating in the Indo-Saracenic revival of the late nineteenth century, also engaged with the Mughal funerary vocabulary.

For the broader context of the imperial building tradition, the Mughal architecture overview pillar offers a synthetic account. The cluster pages on the Taj Mahal, the Mughal gardens, the Fatehpur Sikri, and the Mughal palaces treat the related themes in greater depth. The Humayun’s Tomb cluster provides a more detailed treatment of the founding monument of the tradition, and the history overview provides the dynastic context.

Sources

• Ebba Koch, Mughal Architecture (1991), ch. 4.