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I made the trip out to Burhanpur 2 weeks ago, w/ highs hovering around 108F/42C, so you wouldn't have to. Located in Madhya Pradesh, it was a major political/commercial center (esp. for textiles) till the 18C. Today, looms still grind away and lonely-looking donkeys roam freely.
There are a number of important monuments in Burhanpur, such as a Faruqui jami' mosque, founded 1588, bearing a bilingual (Arabic & Sanskrit) inscription in the northernmost niche along its qibla wall. The Mughals added a Persian epigraph to mark their 1601 conquest of the city
But the real highlight for me was the Shah-Jahan period Ahukhana ("Deer House"), a massive, enclosed pleasure park located across the Tapti River, opposite the city. And I mean MASSIVE--NB the satellite image. Today farms encroach, but the walls, gates, & ASI keep them at bay.
Like most Mughal complexes, the Ahukhana includes a sophisticated system of (now-defunct) pools, fountains, water channels, and wells. Waterworks connect the Ahukhana's two pavilions, built on axis. In the heat of summer, these hydraulic systems would have functioned as a/c.
The construction materials are brick and polished plaster. Some of the designs in plaster--flowers, trees, and other motifs common to the period--still survive. If anyone knows what purpose the wood located below the eaves (see pic no. 4) may have served, please chime in!
And a short distance away, due NW of the Ahukhana, lie the ruins of the original & temporary resting place of Mumtaz Mahal, for whom Shah Jahan constructed the Taj. An adjacent mosque bearing inscriptions for the Rashidun caliphs appears to still be in use.
Asirgarh, a mountain-top fort north of Burhanpur, is worth a visit. The Faruquis constructed the the jami' mosque (another bilingual inscription!). Note the hokey colonial gable--dating from the British occupation--that surmounts the Mughal inscription in pic no. 4.
The jami' mosque at Asirgarh, like the Faruqui jami' mosque in Burhanpur, bears stunning carved stone designs that are reminiscent of Gujarati work. No wonder: the Faruquis enjoyed a close relationship (through marriage and commerce) with the Muzaffarids of Gujarat.
There's much more to see Mughal-wise in Burhanpur, including the bizarre, one-of-a-kind melon-shaped tomb of Bilqis Begum, wife of Shah Shuja', and the tomb of Shah Nawaz Khan, son of 'Abd al-Rahim Khan-i Khanan. Both are early 17C & have extensive interior painting programs.
I could keep going...but I'll conclude here. If you decide to make the trek to Burhanpur, be forewarned that the roads from Aurangabad (our pt of origin) are not great. Stop en route at the excellent restaurant in the Urban Residency Hotel in Buldana--the thecha is to-die-for.
Oh, and the road up to Asirgarh starts out paved and then becomes gravel about 2/3 the way up. We left the car close to the top and walked the rest of the way because the gravel shoulder was beginning to give way. You've been warned!
Pro-tip: If you find the spiked, barbed-wire-topped gate on the west side of the Ahukhana locked, you don't actually have to scale it (like we did); there's an easier access point through a wall gap on the south side.
Really, if you're not prepared to potentially be impaled on a fence spike, tear your flesh on barbed wire, become dehydrated while trekking uphill in extreme heat, and be chased by dogs & monkeys, you may not be cut out for architectural/archaeological fieldwork in South Asia.
By the same token, you'll be eating the best food in the world (IMHO). That's something.
Finally (for real): A big shout out to my traveling companions, Pushkar Sohoni & Riyaz Latif, both architectural historians in Pune. Pushkar is a Deccani specialist, author of amazon.in/Architecture-D…; & Riyaz is a Maghribi specialist, as well as an Urdu poet.
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