A thread on Humayun ''s tomb

Emperor Humayun died on 27 January 1556 by falling of the roof of Sher Mandal in the Purana Qila his fort in the 6th city of Dinpanah founded by him earlier.
He was interred there & later acc to some scholars shifted to temp grave in Sirhind

1/
His tomb was started in 1565 AD.
It took sixteen years to complete this and cost 15 lakh rupees at the time.
Gulbsdan Begum mentions Bega Begum ( eldest wife) as the builder of his tomb. It's possible some of the expense was borne by Akbar.
The chief architect of these tombs was Mir Mirak Ghiyas of Herat, identified as a stonecutter in Emperor Babur’s memoirs. He had worked extensively in Bukhara, and his area of speciality was buildings and landscape architecture.
3/
Mir Ghiyas died be4 it was finished &is son completed it
But he had estd the principle of charbagh or paradiasical tombs
In that plan the tomb is placed squarely in centre of the char bagh (quadrilateral garden layout based on the 4 gardens of Paradise) mentioned in the Quran
5
Taj Mahal's char or chahar bagh bagh
Paradise as described in the Quran will have rivers of milk & honey and gardens with trees in it.
Humayun’s tomb was the first tomb built on this Persian principle of Char Bagh
The tomb when built was surrounded by gardens with cypress trees and flowerbeds
PC- Carelli 1908
7/
There were water canals flowing all around it, with fountains flowing in the hauz at intervals. The hauz and water channels are still there, but only the pools have water & channels are dry .
8/
The garden had become completely desolate in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and for a brief time was used for agricultural cultivation. Lord Curzon, responsible for saving many of India’s architectural treasures, helped preserve Emperor Humayun’s tomb.
Photo- 1858- BL
Bega Begum also known as Haji Begum brought 300 people from Haramain sharif ( Mecca & Medina) after her hajj pilgrimage & settled them in the area known as Arab Sarai. They were well versed in religion. Prayers for departed V imp in Islam
10/
The square red sandstone double-storeyed structure of the mausoleum with chamfered corners rises from a seven-metre high square terrace, raised over a series of cells, which are accessible through arches on each side.
Photo credit : AKDN
The grave proper in the centre of this cell-complex is reached by a passage on the south. The octagonal central chamber contains the cenotaph, and the diagonal sides lead to corn[...]lead to cornerchambers which house the graves of other members of the royal family.
11/
The first garden tomb of India was built for Sikander Lodi ( in photo) in today's Lodi Gardens.
Humayun's tomb was the first on char bagh principles & became a template
12/
The tomb has two magnificent gateways, a western and southern one. The western darwaza which we use today had apartments on top, which must have once housed the people who took care of it.
Southern in photos was the royal entrance. It's Closed now.
12/
This complex houses the graves of Hamida Bano Mariyam Makani, Mohammad Azam Shah, Emperors Farukhsiyar, Jahandar Shah, Rafi-ud-Daula and Alamgir II. But perhaps the most important is the tomb of Dara Shukoh.
However None are marked or identified categorically.
The waterworks for the streams and fountains were housed in a pavilion in the nofthern wall which bordered the river Yamuna. They can be seen from the Damdama Gurudwara.
14/

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Rana Safvi رعنا राना

Rana Safvi رعنا राना Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @iamrana

28 Sep
Today is the chehellum of Imam Husain known as #arbaeen.
It is the day when millions walk to Karbala to pay homage.
I was part of it a decade ago.
#Arbaeen_e_Hussaini
Over 1400 years ago, After being released from imprisonment by Yezid, the Imam's sister Bibi Zainab, lone surviving son Imam Zainul Abidin & family visited the spot & mourned their beloved Imam & lived ones
#Arbaeen2021
Most of the pilgrims walk to the shrine mainly from Najaf/ Kufa to Karbala, and it's called the Arbaeen Walk.
Throughout the locals provide food & drink, services including massaging feet of tired ones
This lady gave us food cooked in her very modest house
She was all heart.
Read 4 tweets
9 Sep
Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, who lived from 1238 to 1325, is an extremely popular Sufi saint of the Chishti Order. He had two disciples, both well-known poets of their time: Amir Khusrau and Amir Hasan Sijzi.
This post is about Hasan Sijzi's mazar in khupdabad
#SufiThursdays
1/
When Sultan Mohd bin Tughluq ordered in 1327 that his capital be shifted from Delhi to Deogir (Daulatabad),he instructed the elites, nobles, officers, common men, and even the saints to shift with him
The Sufi saints, 1,400 of them, decided to settle in an area near Daulatabad
2/
Amir Najm al-Din Hasan Dihlavi ibn Khwaja Ala al-Din Sistani, commonly known as Amir Hasan Sijzi or Hazrat Amir Hasan Dehlvi, was also buried there. He too had been ordered to leave Delhi for Daulatabad, and was never to return.
3/
#SufiThursdays
Read 9 tweets
8 Sep
Everytime I go to Shahjahanabad or Old Delhi I try to check on the state of the Chaah Rahat.

Water was supplied to its ablution pool by a well situated at a short distance from the mosque. Water was pumped from the well via a Persian wheel.
This is the inscription
And the plaque reads:

براۓ آب رسانی حوض جامع مسجد دھلی

Baraaye aab rasani hauz Masjid Jame, Dehli

For the supply of water to the wuzu hauz of Jama Masjid, Dehli
We went in from the back and saw the well and pulley by which water was pumped to the #hauz in #JamaMasjid. All in a sad state as a factory runs there and families live in it.
Read 4 tweets
21 Aug 20
Since most people are unaware of the significance of #Muharram or the sacrifice of Hussain please bear with me as I recite the history of #Karbala every day

#twittermajlis
Karb ( anguish) and Bala ( calamity) were the name given to the land of Nainawa where Imam Hussain and the male members of his family ( excluding an ill son) were martyred along with his companions. The ladies were imprisoned & taken to Syria
#Muharrum #Karbala #twittermajlis
When Yazid son of Mu'awiya declared himself as a ruler over the Ummah, he demanded Imam Hussain 's allegiance . Imam
flatly refused
Yezid floured the tenets of Islam as taught by the Prophet and #Hussain said,
"Someone like me, does not pledge allegiance to someone like him”.
Read 115 tweets
11 Aug 20
The Mughals called themselves Timurids.
The term Mughal was applied to them in the 16th c by the Europeans & it stuck.
But today I learnt thanks to a paper by Prof Najaf Haider that even the name Mowgli, the young hero of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, is derived from it.
. @Aakar__Patel asked me about Mughal chronicles, which I just saw, so here's a description thread of the Mughal chronicles by rulers, princesses and court historians
Mughals were meticulous about documentation. Their chronicles become an important source for us today, to study the affairs of empire and its court.
Apart from describing their imperial status it was commissioned to become an account of their rule for posterity.
Read 32 tweets
21 Jun 20
Bahr al hayat is the earliest text which illustrated #Yoga asanas.
Because gurus traditionally taught yoga orally and directly to their disciples, Hindu treatises only tersely describe asanas.

1/
The earliest extant manuscript with illustrated asanas, the Ocean of Life (Bahr al-hayat), dates from the turn of the 17th c
#Internationalyogaday2020
None of its asanas are taught in any earlier Sanskrit text, and their descriptions are more detailed than those in other Sanskrit treatises written over the next century. The illustrated treatise was produced in the context of an Indo-Islamic court.
#InternationalYogaDay
3/
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(