Humayun Tomb
Humayun’s Tomb (1565-71) is the first great Mughal garden tomb. This is the blueprint which reached maturity in the Taj Mahal at Agra. His senior widow Bega Begum, known as Haji Begam, built it to the designs of a Persian, Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, who took local materials and forms and arranged them to Persian spatial concepts. He also added a new element : a double dome whose two skins made possible a lofty exterior and a well-proportioned interior. Together, widow and architect achieved ‘one of the most arresting examples of the building are in India’ and ‘an outstanding landmark in the development of the Mughal style. The synthesis of two of the great building styles of Asia – the Persian and the Indian’ (Percy Brown). Successive gateways finally open into a char-bagh where the domed memorial sits on a high plinth. Clamber up onto it for more good views back to Purana Qila and to more monuments scattered nearby.
Inside the mausoleum, the emperor is not alone. Other Mughals here include Bega Begam, Shah Jahan’s son Dara Shukoh and Mughal emperors Farrukhshiyar (ruled 1713-19) and Alamgir II (ruled 1754-59). The last emperor, Bahadur Shah II (ruled 1837-58), was found hiding here during the Mutiny. Outside the gateway, the aptly named Sabz-Burj (green dome) on the roundabout gives and idea of how luxurious the Mughal building looked when first built, as does the tiled Nila-Gumbad (blue dome, 1625), at the southeast corner of the tomb walls. On the way there, you will pass Bega Begam’s so-called Arab-Serai, which probably housed the Persian craftsmen working on the tomb. Near here is another Mathura Road monument, the massive square tomb of Khan-i-Khanan (died 1627). It has lost its exterior decoration to Safdar Jang’s tomb, but held onto its delicate incised and painted plasterwork inside.
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