Mausoleums

Khusrau Bagh

The Ultimate Mughal Garden…

Khusrau Bagh is a large stone walled garden and a burial complex, the 16 th century structure is situated at the center of the metropolis which is just a stone’s throw away from the Allahabad Junction in muhalla Khuldabad area, owing its name to a large Sarai (inn) constructed in 1587 and was popularly known as Sarai Khuldabad (Paradise Inhabited)

Originally Khusrau Bagh was purposely built as a pleasure garden for Mughal Emperor Akbar’s son prince Salim who would later become the Emperor Jahangir, This pleasure resort was constructed when the Prince dissented against his father and took refuge here in 1599.

The four sided polygonal building is spread over forty acres while having tombs of

Sultan Begum (Shah Begum), Jahangir’s first wife and Rajput princess (Man Bai of Amber)

Khusrau Mirza, Jahangir’s eldest son and briefly heir apparent to the Mughal throne

Nithar Begum (Sultan-Un-Nisa) the real sister of Sultan Khusrau.

And,

Tamolon bibi (Istambul Begum of Fatehpur Sikri) history unknown

The three sandstone mausoleums located within this four walled garden represent an exquisite example of Mughal architecture with khusrau’s tomb at the centre hence celebrated as the khusrau bagh.

The Structure:

The design of the mausoleums as well as the gardens is attributed to Aqa Reza, Jahangir’s chief artist. The entrance gateway to the garden is an arched portal with projecting balconies. The mausoleums of  Khusrau Bagh are entirely red sandstone structures brought from Chunar and Shankergarh areas. In fact there are actually four sandstone mausoleums inside the garden where the fourth building is famously known as Tambolan Bibi’s tomb (empty with no epitaph)

Sultan Begum’s Tomb:

The tomb of Shah Begum is a three storied terrace plinth (platform) without a main mound is surmounted by a large chhatri which is very much similar to the constructions at Fatehpur Sikri (also Akbar’s tomb at Sikandra) which were built during Akbar’s reign.

The persian inscriptions at the begum’s tomb is beautifully etched by Mir Abdullah Mushkin Qalam (Jahangir’s most notable calligraphist) celebrating the illustrious history of the great Mughal empire.

Nithar Begum’s Tomb:  

Next to Shah Begum’s mausoleum is the tomb of Nithar Begum, This complex is the most elaborate among the three. History says, the Tomb was built on Nithar’s own wish (1624-25) as she wished to be buried near her mother and brother however her mausoleum is empty and was buried near her grand-father Akbar at sikandra in Agra.

 Lying on an elevated platform and the structure is marvelously adorned with panels depicting the scalloped arch motif where the ceilings of the rooms (within the plinth) have been elaborately painted with stars in concentric circles with flowery decorated walls portraying Persian Cypresses, Flowers and Plants.

 Khusrau’s tomb:

The tomb of Khusrau (1622) is the last of the three tombs in Khusrau Bagh while first from the east. The tomb has latticed jalis (fretwork windows) and the temporary tomb of mirza Jahangir also lies near his own. The burial chamber is an underground complex where the interiors of the tomb are opulently embellished with Mughal Paintings, Plaster Art highlighting Birds, Flowers and Persian Inscriptions.

There are two smaller graves in the tomb one of which on the left belongs to Khusrau’s son Dawar Baksh while the other one is just an empty structure.

Tamolon Bibi’s tomb:

The fourth mausoleum of the complex is locally known as Tambolan Bibi’s tomb which stands in the extreme west in the series, which has no sign of a tomb and is without any inscriptions.It is sometimes associated with  Istambul Begum of Fatehpur Sikri but another version has it that a sister of Khusrau had built it for herself but is buried elsewhere

However the tomb was used by British as residence but was restored at the orders of Lord Curzon when he visited the Bagh in 1903.

The park was originally built as a pleasure resort when Jahangir came to Prayag as Governer in 1599 and declared himself as ‘Badshah’ in 1601 and  dissented against his father (Akbar) while history was repeated once again when Khusrau rebelled against his father Jahangir but as luck would have it, he was imprisoned in this park.

History:

On the word of some eminent historians and scholars the memorial is a contemporary of Akbar’s fort at Allahabad (built in 1583). Documents say that the remnant of the building material of the fort was used here to hoist the boundary walls of the garden on the instructions of Jahangir while it was frequently visited by the Mughal Royals regularly.

Akbar reportedly himself has been a visitor to this Garden in (Tabaqat-i-Akbari).It is believed that distressed by the discord between Jahangir and his elder son Khusrau, Shah Begum committed suicide by swallowing large amount of opium in 1604.

Sultan Khusrau Mirza was born in Lahore (1587) and was the eldest son of Jahangir with his first wife Man Bai and briefly heir apparent to the Mughal throne on Akbar’s wish but unfortunately he came into unfortunate conflict with his father Jahangir.

Khusrau was considered to be a popular prince and an admired figure among the masses, a virtuous personality compared to his dissipated father (prince Jahangir a.k.a Salim) who revolted against Akbar to be his successor.

The tomb of Khusrau is the last of the three tombs in Khusrau Bagh. Following an attempt to escape, he was blinded on Jahangir’s order and was eventually murdered (1622) on the command of his own brother Khurram (emperor Shah Jahan) to clear the way for his succession to the Mughal throne.

Revolt of 1857 (uprising)

During the Revolt of 1857 Khusrau Bagh became the headquarters of the sepoys under Maulvi Liaquat Ali who took charge as the Governor of liberated Allahabad. In Allahabad however the Mutiny was swiftly put down and Khusrau Bagh was recaptured by the British in two weeks.

Note: Do not confuse Sultan Khusrau Mirza with the great sufi mystic Amīr Khusrau (Sufi musician, poet and scholar) born in 1253 a.k.a  “Father of Qawwali”.