Jahangir Tomb

Tomb of Jahangir

Location:    Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

The Tomb of Jahangir is a 17th-century tomb built for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The tomb dates from 1637, and is located in Shahdara Bagh in Lahore along the banks of the Ravi River. The location is famous for its interiors that are highly decorated with paintings and marble, and its exterior that is splendidly adorned with pietra dura. The tomb, alongside with the nearby Akbari Sarai and the Tomb of Asif Khan, are part of an group currently on the provisional list for UNESCO World Heritage status.

In this blog

Ø  Location

Ø  History

Ø  Architecture/construction

Ø  Monument

Ø  Gardens

Ø  Layout

Ø  Protection

Location

The tomb is located in Shahdara Bagh, northwest of the Walled City of Lahore. The tomb is situated diagonally the River Ravi from Lahore. The tomb in situated in Nur Jahan's desire garden, the Dilkusha Garden, that had been placed out in 1557  .The tomb of Jahangir's wife Nur Jahan is located slight southwest of Asif Khan's tomb.Most of the tomb's interior is adorned with Mughal-era paintings.

History

The tomb was constructed for Emperor Jahangir, who reigned the Mughal Empire from 1605 to 1627 C.E.. The emperor deceased in the hills of Kashmir near the town of Rajouri on 28 October 1627. A burial procession moved his body from Kashmir and arrived in Lahore on Friday, 12 November 1627.The Dilkusha Garden in which he was buried was a "favorite spot" of Jahangir and his wife Nur Jahan, when they existed in Lahore. His son, the new Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, ordered that a "tomb appropriate an Emperor" should be built in his father's honour to inter his remains.

Emperor Jahangir prohibited the construction of a dome over his tomb

Though current historians feature construction of the tomb to Jahangir's son Shah Jahan, the tomb may have been the result of Nur Jahan's idea. Taking inspiration from her father's funeral place, she is said to have designed the tomb in 1627, and probably helped trust it. Construction started in 1627,demanding ten years for completion, and cost Rs 10 Lakh.

Repair works were started at the tomb in 1814 according to Sikh court records. The tomb complex, however, was also dishonored under Sikh rule when they were plundered by the army of Ranjit Singh, with building materials used for decoration of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The pillaged grounds were then converted for use as a private dwelling for an officer in the army of Ranjit Singh, Senior Oms, who was also known as Musa Sahib.[16][17] Ranjit Singh further desecrated the mausoleum once more when he ordered that Musa Sahib be buried on the tomb's grounds after dying from cholera in 1828. By 1880, a rumour had begun partying which suspected that the tomb once was topped by a dome or second storey that was stolen by Ranjit Singh's army, though no evidence has been found to propose that a dome or second story ever existed at the tomb.

Construction of Jangir Tomb

The use of spires reflects a rehabilitated interest in Timurid style during the supremacy of Jahangir.

The walls of the tomb are decorated with carved marble.

The tomb was built in a Mughal style inclined by Safavid-style architecture from Persia, which may have been introduced into the Mughal Court by Nur Jahan- who was of Farsi origin. The tomb is placed out as a takhtgah - or a tomb built upon a platform which serves as a takht, or "throne. “For except, there is no takhtgah on the stage, nor seemingly had ever been built.

Alike to the tomb of Akbar, Jahangir’s tomb lacks a central dome as the Emperor is reported to have specifically prohibited the construction of a dome over his tomb. The use of domes in Mughal funereal construction was first used at the Tomb of Humayun, and re-established by Shah Jahan.

In possession with Sunni religious tradition, Jahangir's great grandfather Babur indicated to be buried in a tomb open to the sky at the Gardens of Babur. Jahangir's tomb destitute with this tradition by including a roof. In order to forge a compromise with Sunni tradition, Jahangir expressly forbade the construction of a dome over his tomb.

The square-shaped tomb is a 22 foot tall, single-floor platform with arcades coating all four sides of the structure. Curved coves along the perimeter of the tomb emulate Timurid architectural styles from Central Asia. The tomb's front of red sandstone is decorated with melodies phony of white marble.

From the building rise four octagonal ornamental minarets gratified from each corner of the building, decorated with geometric decorated stone. The use of minarets, absent from early Mughal commands, reflects a renewed attention in Timurid architecture from Central Asia during the supremacy of Jahangir. The minarets are divided into three sections, with the tomb forming the base, upon which the body of the minaret rests, called by white marble domes. The minarets rise to a height of 100 feet (30m).

The tomb's gardens are laid out in the Persian Chahar Bagh style.

The gardens surrounding the tomb are vast, and laid out in the Persian Chahar Bagh, or Heaven garden. The garden is divided into four squares by cemented paths and two bisecting central water channels which are designed to reflect the four rivers that flow in Jannat, the Islamic concept of paradise. Each of the four squares is further divided into smaller squares with pathways, creating into 16 squares in all. The garden forms a courtyard measuring almost 500 metres on each side.

Garden view


The burial chamber contains the Emperor's cenotaph.

The tomb building is separated into a series of domed compartments which are richly embellished with Mughal buon painting.

At the center of the tomb is an octangular chamber lined with carved marble in which the remains of the Mughal Emperor rest in a crypt below a cenotaph. The interior of the tomb features a white-marble monument decorated with pietra dura in botanic patterns, as well as the 99 Names of Allah, a common theme in Islamic spirituality.

Layout

The mausoleum is set in a large courtyard with gates facing each of the cardinal directions. Entry to the courtyard is via the western edge through the Akbari Sarai - a gate containing a small mosque. To the immediate west of the Akbari Sarai is the Tomb of Asif Khan - Jahangir's brother-in-law.

UNESCO Protection

The site is sheltered by the Federal Ancient times Act 1975, though requisites of the law are frequently abandoned, resultant in damage to the site and nearby area. The act prohibits construction within 200 feet of the location, however isolated homes have been built that are located a few metres from the edge walls of the spot. The location was decorated on the uncertain list for UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1993.

Timing: 9AM-7PM

Ticket:20PKR

Disclaimer: Please note that the information cited in this blog has been obtained from the official website and Facebook page  of Jahangir Tomb. Therefore, the entry ticket prices and other rates are topic to change at the decision of the resort organization.

Note: All the images have been traced from the official face book page of Jahngir Tomb.


if you make a trip to Jahangir Tomb then you can visit Lahore Fort in one package:

link in below:

https://rushdarasheed1.blogspot.com/2021/04/lahore-fortshahi-qilahistoricalbeautifu.html