The Tomb of Nur Jahan is a red sandstone mausoleum located in Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was constructed for the Mughal empress Nur Jahan as her final resting place.
History
Mehr-un-Nissa(1577-1645), entitled Nur Jahan (Light of the World), was the fourth child of Mirza Ghiyas Beg, a noble from Persia,
and of his wife, Asmat Begum. She was born after the family had
migrated to India. Her father served the Mughal emperor Akbar, who
bestowed him with the title of 'Itmat-ud-daulah' (Pillar of the State),
while her brother Asaf Khan served Jahangir and the next heir to the
Mughal throne. After she became a widow in 1607, she became the last and
favorite consort of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1569-1627) in 1611.
For the rise from an immigrant to become an Empress of the great
Mughal empire, Nur Jahan was one of the most influential women of her
era. Nur Jahan's illustrious reign (1611-1627) saw her effectively shape
the expanding Mughal Empire, along with her immense contributions to
religion and flourishing overseas trade. Mehr-un-Nissa was first married
at the age of 17 to a Persian adventurer named Sher Afghan Ali Quli
Khan Istajlu, who was renowned for his brilliant military career, and
from whom she bore a daughter, Ladli Begum Having survived Jahangir by
18 years, she died at the age of 72 years and the mausoleum was most
probably constructed during her lifetime. The mausoleum is located in
Shahdara Bagh, not far from the tomb of Jahangir. The tomb of Asif Khan, her brother, is also located nearby. The tomb took four years to complete at the cost of Rupees three lakhs.
Some historians[who?] believe that during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh,
the whole of the tomb was stripped of its ornamental stones and it was
ordered that the subterranean room which contained the queen and her
daughter were opened.[citation needed] The tomb underwent minor repairs but is slated for major restoration.[1]
Architecture
The whole mausoleum is surrounded by Mughal gardens. Unlike her father's tomb (tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah), which was constructed in white marble, Nur Jahan's mausoleum is primarily clad in red sandstone. Standing on a platform of 158 square feet the tomb measures 124
square feet and 19.6 feet high. The vaulted ceilings were covered with marble and wrought with flower mosaics in semi-precious stones. Minute paneling was executed in intricate patterns and cornices are honeycomb
shaped in several rooms. The inner floor is covered with marble and the
outer platform with sandstone. The exterior, encased in red sandstone,
was inlaid with floral motifs
in addition to white, black and yellow marble. Turtle The central
vaulted chamber of the tomb contains a marble platform with two cenotaphs, one that commemorates Nur Jahan and the other to commemorate her daughter, Ladli Begum. Built by Hakim Ajmal, Khan of Delhi in 1912, the original marble sarcophagus
bears ornate workmanship and the name of Allah, in the same style and
size as seen in the tombs of Jahangir and Asif Khan. On her tomb is
inscribed an epitaph: “On the grave of this poor stranger, let there be neither lamp nor rose. Let neither butterfly’s wing burn nor nightingale sing”.
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