Tomb of Jahangir, the Mughal Emperor of India

Paying a small amount of about 10 cents, we entered a massive gate of stone and masonry. First to meet the eyes was an open courtyard flanked on all sides by a raised terrace with built rows of hundreds of small cubicles fronted with a long corridors. It was known as “Sarai” meaning ‘guest house’. These were used for the visitor comfort and as living quarters for the staff on duty. The corners of the Sarai were graced by magnificent watch-towers.

The sarai was situated between the tombs of Jahangir and Asif Khan. We decided first to go towards Asif Khan.

Built entirely with bricks, the tomb was in octagonal shape with a large central double-layered bulbous dome. It stood in the centre of a vast garden divided into four squares once set with reservoirs, fountains and pathways. Each side of the octagonal tomb had a deeply recessed alcove with a door looking inside. In old days, the mausoleum was covered with marble and blue tiles. The historian Hargreaves says about the tomb, "Despite its simplicity, there is a sense of restful quietude at this site which renders it one of the most fascinating monuments in the neighbourhood of Lahore."

The grave of Asif Khan was made of white marble and inlaid with decorative motifs and inscriptions. The floor around the grave was brick-paved. Originally, the eight doors had glittering bronze gates with finely wrought metallic motifs and there were huge chandeliers hanging in the centre.

Also, the interior was renowned for its lavish use of white marble and precious stone inlay, which had been removed by the invaders in 1799-1849.

Born in Iran, Asif Khan migrated to India in 1546. Sheer good luck brought him to the court of Akbar, where he became a distinguished lawyer. Later, his sister, Noor Jahan, married the emperor’s son Jahangir. He rose to unprecedented heights when his daughter, Mumtaz Mahal married Shah Jahan, both famed for the Taj Mahal Monument at Agra, India.

Later Asif Khan sided with his son-in-law in securing the Mughal throne.

When Asif Khan died in November 1641, he was reputed to have left behind "a colossal fortune,” His tomb was stripped off and plundered in the search of this fortune by the invaders.

After visiting the Asif Khan Tomb, we move towards the main attraction of this complex, Tomb of Jahangir. As we crossed its gate, there was a full view of the garden in front of the mausoleum. The wonderful garden was traversed by four-bricked canals proceeding from the centre. There were fountains set in pools, and water flowing over the chutes provided a dazzling effect.

The Monument, a single storey structure, square in plan, consists of a platform with tall octagonal corner towers and a projecting entrance bay in the middle of each side. The corridor around the mausoleum was adorned with a most elegant mosaic, representing flowers and Quranic verses.

The four corner towers, with white marble cupolas, rise in five stages to a height of 100 feet with a zigzag inlay of white and yellow marble.

Though the credit goes to Shah Jahanfor building his father’s tomb, it was in fact the Noor Jahan's vision. She was a great patron of architecture. She had the experience of planning designing and supervising completion of several buildings and gardens. It is said that she designed her husband’s mausoleum in 1627 on the basis of lessons learned from watching her father burial place at Agra, the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula. Also, she had settled in Lahore after the death of her husband and was in a commanding position to influence the design and construction of the monument.

After having a good round of the tomb, we decided to go inside. A long corridor was leading to the grave. The corridor was embellished with floral frescoes and pietra dura inlay and coloured marble. (Pietra Dura means stone-in-stone, a technique of inserting precious and semi-precious stones in another stone usually marble to achieve vividness, clarity and permanence in design. Locally known as ‘Patchi-Kari’, was used to make the design look fresh even after centries.)

Soon we entered a hall with grave of the emperor and offered a small prayer. The marble grave was located on a raised platform bearing inscriptions of the ninety-name names of God in exquisite Arabic calligraphy. A skill called as ‘wet-in’wet” was used in water color paints to smudge and diffuse colors to give subtle and vanishing effects.

When visiting this tomb, Thomas Roe (the first English ambassador to the Mughal court) exclaimed, "Here lies the emperor, who was considered one of the mightiest Princes in Asia."

Born in August 1569, Jahangir was the 4^th emperor and ruled the empire from 1605 to 1628. He did not pursue military conquests like his father, Akbar the Great, but maintained a firm grip in his domain. His era was of peace and prosperity in India. He lavishly patronized the architecture, literature, philosophy, paintings and other form of art.

He was known for his justice and had installed a 'Chain of Justice', a golden chain attached to some bells outside his palace. Anyone in despair could pull the chain and go in for a personal hearing from the emperor himself.

He was also a good writer and had penned down his life and his experiences in the form of an autobiography named Tuzk-e-Jahangiri.

Finally, we proceeded towards Tomb of Noor Jahan, a short distance away. Originally, the tomb was located to the west of the tomb of her brother, Asif Khan. Early in 19^th century, the British cut a railway line separating the two siblings.

The tomb was in a state of neglect. There were no boundaries for its protection and young men were playing cricket in courtyard. Also the ticket we purchased earlier could be used for visiting this tomb.

The layout of Noor Jahan tomb looked similar to Jahangir's tomb except it was a smaller version. Originally, it was set in the same chaharbagh-style with water channels, tanks, cascades, fountains, causeways, and wooded avenues.

The tomb itself was an arcaded plinth. There were four octagonal towers, one on each corner. It was single-story structure with no domes or minarets.

In the centre were two graves; one of the Queen and the other of her daughter Ladli Begum.

Both the tomb and the garden were in poor condition due to due to temperature variations, weather changes, rains’ impact, strong winds, periodical floods, earthquakes, and other natural hazards.

She was born in 1577 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. She belonged to an aristocratic Persian family who had immigrated to India. At the age of 17, she was married to a Persian soldier who was executed after a failed coup d'etat . He left behind a widow with a young daughter.

In 1607, Nur Jahan was brought to the Moghul court to serve as a lady-in-waiting where Jahangir set eyes upon her. Though middle-aged, she was a remarkable beauty and it perhaps was not surprising that Jahangir married her within two months. He first gave her the title Nur Mahal which he changed in 1616 to Nur Jahan, or "Light of the World."

Commenting on the political prowess of Noor Jahan, Stanley Lane-Poole writes in History of India, “So great was the influence of this Persian princess that Jahangir joined her name with his on the coinage, a conjunction unparalleled in the past history. The wording on the coins, in Persian is worth quoting: (By the order of Jahangir, gold attained a hundred times its beauty when the name of Nur Jahan, the First Lady of the court was impressed upon it).

Lane-Poole further said that this gifted woman ˜practically ruled the empire during the greater part of Jahangir reign."

Another writer, GHR Tillotson, emphasizes that Noor Jahan was the most powerful woman in Mughal history, able to control state affairs from behind the screen.