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    Mausoleum of Shad-e (or Shadi) Mulk Aga in Shah e Zinda, Samarqand

    Mausoleum of Mahmud Pahlavon in Khiva, Uzbekistan

    The tomb of Baba Rukn al-Din Shirazi, Takht-i Fulad, Isfahan, Iran

    The Summer Mosque of the Arc in Khiva, Uzbekistan

    Shrine of Sheikh Zainuddin Bobo in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

    The Madrasas ( educational institutions) of Ulugh Beg

    The Madrasas ( educational institutions) of Ulugh Beg

    Dargah of Sheikh Raju Qattal in Khuldabad, Maharashtra

    Dargah of Sheikh Raju Qattal in Khuldabad, Maharashtra

    AkshayVat in Allahabad/ Prayagraj

    AkshayVat in Allahabad/ Prayagraj

    Helical stepwell in Pavagadh area of Gujarat

    Islam Khoja ensemble in Khiva,Uzbekistan

    Mysore Silk and Tipu Sultan

    Mysore Silk and Tipu Sultan

    Lord Buddha statue in Chandigarh Museum

    Akbar’s Inscription in The Ranakpur Jain Temple

    Neelkanth Temple in Kumbhalgarh

    Neelkanth Temple in Kumbhalgarh

    Vijai Stambh in Chittorgarh Fort

    The importance of River Yamuna in Vrindavan

    The importance of River Yamuna in Vrindavan

    Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur or Shahenshah-e Haft-e Aqleem Hazrat Baba Tajuddin

    Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur or Shahenshah-e Haft-e Aqleem Hazrat Baba Tajuddin

    Shri Niwas or the House of Mirrors in Jaipur’s City Palace

    Shri Niwas or the House of Mirrors in Jaipur’s City Palace

    Kanishka statue in Mathura museum

    Kanishka statue in Mathura museum

    Shahji ka Mandir, Vrindavan

    Shahji ka Mandir, Vrindavan

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      Mausoleum of Shad-e (or Shadi) Mulk Aga in Shah e Zinda, Samarqand

      Mausoleum of Mahmud Pahlavon in Khiva, Uzbekistan

      The tomb of Baba Rukn al-Din Shirazi, Takht-i Fulad, Isfahan, Iran

      The Summer Mosque of the Arc in Khiva, Uzbekistan

      Shrine of Sheikh Zainuddin Bobo in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

      The Madrasas ( educational institutions) of Ulugh Beg

      The Madrasas ( educational institutions) of Ulugh Beg

      Dargah of Sheikh Raju Qattal in Khuldabad, Maharashtra

      Dargah of Sheikh Raju Qattal in Khuldabad, Maharashtra

      AkshayVat in Allahabad/ Prayagraj

      AkshayVat in Allahabad/ Prayagraj

      Helical stepwell in Pavagadh area of Gujarat

      Islam Khoja ensemble in Khiva,Uzbekistan

      Mysore Silk and Tipu Sultan

      Mysore Silk and Tipu Sultan

      Lord Buddha statue in Chandigarh Museum

      Akbar’s Inscription in The Ranakpur Jain Temple

      Neelkanth Temple in Kumbhalgarh

      Neelkanth Temple in Kumbhalgarh

      Vijai Stambh in Chittorgarh Fort

      The importance of River Yamuna in Vrindavan

      The importance of River Yamuna in Vrindavan

      Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur or Shahenshah-e Haft-e Aqleem Hazrat Baba Tajuddin

      Tajuddin Baba of Nagpur or Shahenshah-e Haft-e Aqleem Hazrat Baba Tajuddin

      Shri Niwas or the House of Mirrors in Jaipur’s City Palace

      Shri Niwas or the House of Mirrors in Jaipur’s City Palace

      Kanishka statue in Mathura museum

      Kanishka statue in Mathura museum

      Shahji ka Mandir, Vrindavan

      Shahji ka Mandir, Vrindavan

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      Rana Safvi
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      The Amazing Bahu Begum and her Stunning Maqbara in Faizabad

      inMedieval Indian History, Our Cultural Heritage
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      Bahu Begum was only legitimate daughter of he Nawab Mutaman-ud-Daulah Muhammad Ishaq, a noble in the Court of the Mughal Emperor Mohammad Shah.Her name was Ummat-uz Zohra but she is famous as Bahu Begum, the wife of Nawab Shuja-ud Daulah of Awadh.

      AN 18TH CENTURY PAINTING OF BAHU BEGUM . SOURCE – GOOGLE IMAGES


      The marriage took place in 1746 after her father’s death, and was a grand affair, with all expenses, amounting to a staggering two crores (according to the LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT of BAHU BEGUM, by A. F. M. ABDUL ALI, Keeper of Imperial Records) borne by her brother Najmud Daulah, who had no children of his own.
      It was an occasion for the display of “uncommon splendour and extraordinary expense under the personal charge of the Emperor.’ Among the presents offered to the bride “there were a thousand cups of silver weighing each a hundred rupees’. Moreover she was a recipient of a “jagir consisting of parganas of Salone etc. which yielded an annual income of nine lakhs of rupees’.
      Nawab Shuja-ud Daulah had such a high regard for her that used to place the seals of his government in her custody and allowed her to enjoy a perquisite derived from “a tax of a twenty fourth part of the yearly pay of every officer and soldier of cavalry.” Further he granted her an additional jagir of the extensive district of Gonda for the payment of establishments of “the Khas and Khurd Mahals.”

      Nawab Wazir Shuja-ud-Daulah. Wikimedia Commons

      The next Nawab Vazir was Asaf-ud-Dowlah, (1775-97), her son. He quarrelled with his mother and left Faizabad, the head-quarters of his father, for Lucknow. But Bahu Begum continued to live at Faizabad till her death in 1816.
      Faizabad had risen to a height of unparalleled magnificence under the rule of her husband almost rivalling Delhi. According to Mr. H. R. Nevill, I.C.S., “it was full of merchants from Persia, China and Europe and money flowed like water.”
      After the death of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah in 1797 his adopted son Wazir Ali succeeded him, but his reign was short-lived and the British put his uncle Sadat Ali Khan on the masnad of Awadh in 1798. Sadat Ali Khan was the step-son of Bahu Begum.
      Bahu Begum did not get along with the new nawab and it was “a want of cordiality and confidence between them which drove her to the protection of the British and led eventually to making them the “residuary legatees” of her will.”
      (letter from N. B. Edmonstone to the Resident at Lucknow, dated 17th August, 1808)
      He reduced her allowance and stationed troops in Faizabad. The enraged Bahu Begum wrote to the Marquis of Wellesley and even appeared before Mr. Lumsden the Resident in Lucknow. She appeared in her Sedan ~chair and spoke for herself using no medium as her spokesman and without allowing admittance any one except her Minister, Jawahir Ali Khan.
      Her stepson was affronted by this ‘unseemly boldness’ on her part and told her that he was ashamed of this unusual proceeding. Bahu Begum retorted that it was he who had driven him to take this unusual step.
      This sealed the complete alienation between them.
      Mr. Lumsden informed the .Governor-General about the Begum’s desire and the Marqius of Wellesley sent a report to the Court of Directors in London.
      The Begum was asked to furnish a physical will as a verbal agreement may not be enough.This was to have a full statement of her properties and possessions.

      LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT of BAHU BEGUM, by A. F. M. ABDUL ALI, Keeper of Imperial Records


      Her will provided for three lakhs of rupees to be given to her trusted minister, the khwajasara Darb Ali Khan to construct a mausoleum for her.


      One lakh of rupees was to be paid as donation to the shrines of Kerbala, Najaf-i-Ashraf and other holy places at the discretion of the above Minister.
      Revenue of certain villages were assigned to defray expenses of the mausoleum’s upkeep and the surplus revenue of these villages to be given to the poor and religious me inhabiting the said mausoleum.
      Bahu Begum would go every year to her nephew’s house in Faizabad for the first ten days of Muharram to pay respects to the Tazia of Imam Hussain. That year in 1816, at the age of 88 she caught a chill on her return and died of it.
      “The day before she died she said that ‘the great Nawab’ (meaning Shuja-ud-Daulah, her husband) had come to take her.’
      “Darab Ali Khan who enjoyed her perfect confidence carried her venerated corpse to the river and washed it.” She was “borne with great respect and ceremony’’ to the Jawahir Bagh on the shoulders of the nobles of Faizabad ; “around her bier walked servants scattering silver and gold for the repose of her soul with a lavish hand that enriched the needy and relieved the poor. Darab Ali Khan opened the earth in the ‘baradari’ at the very spot where she used to sit, spread below her some sacred dust which had been brought from Karbala by pilgrims and laid her on it to rest. A thousand men sat all night reading the sacred texts for the Quran till the day dawned and the shadows were removed.”

      The mausoleum was built in 1816 by Darab Khan for his mistress.

      The entrance to the complex of the maqbara


      it has 3 small domes on each level to support the floor above, thereby transferring the load to the supporting walls and increasing it’s strength.

      The gateway to the maqbara
      The gallery before the main chamber

      The distinctive beauty of this for me was the fact that each ceiling except the uppermost was beautifully decorated. Tje one on the second level is lovely and well maintained.

      The first floor chamber with cenotaph and an imambara

      Since Bahu Begum was a devout Shia and had endowed the shrines in Iraq it was good to see an Imambara in tje cenotaph chamber and hear that regular majlis are held here in Muharram.

      The Imambara on first floor

      Each level had a painted and decorated ceiling

      The outside had picture perfect arches and cupolas

      The side cupola
      Recite a prayer for Bahu Begum
      The crypt

      Some input on my request from Rafiq Kidwai
      “This is an impressive structure
      The double dome is regular feature even the Taj has one
      Its mostly to do with the proportion of the space
      What works for the inside is not impressive or proportionate for the external structure “

      Pic 1- exterior
      Pic 2- crypt and grave chamber
      Pic 3- first floor with cenotaph and an Imambara
      Pic 4&5- a beautiful blue ceiling above the second dome. Have not heard of any other structure with double domes that has a decorated ceiling as it’s an empty space
      Pic 6 – under the top dome

      Ceiling design on first floor
      Second floor
      Ceiling on top of second dome.
      The third floor dome and ceiling under main dome just painted plain blue

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      Come, explore and fall in love the Beauties of Delhi (Dilli ki Ranaiya’n) and the World with me, Rana Safvi

      I have a masters in medieval history from the prestigious Centre for Advanced Studies, Dept. of History, AMU. A firm believer in our Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb, I am passionate about gaining and sharing knowledge and these days I am doing it via the social media platform.

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