Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
@SamDalrymple123
Mar 4, 2025 • 9 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
Scrolly
The Melon Palace

In a small corner of Burhanpur, near the city's municipal rubbish dump, stands a rather gorgeous tomb known as the Kharbuja Mahal, or Melon Palace.

In actual fact it's not a Palace at all, but rather the Tomb Bilqis Bano Begum, the wife of Price Shah Shuja. Image
Shuja's parents, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, are buried in the Taj Mahal, and the Tomb of Shujas wife shows the same aesthetic attention to detail. Image
A painting survives of the baraat during Shah Shuja's marriage to Bilqis Bano Begum (Pic 8) Image
Shuja soon moved to Dacca as governor of Bengal, and there he built many of the Bangladeshi capital's most famous landmarks like the Bara Katra depicted here... Image
... and the Hussaini Dalan depicted here. Image
Sadly his marriage to Bilqis was short lived and she died soon after. Image
In 1657, Shuja's father Shah Jahan became ill and a war of succession broke out between Shuja and his brothers Aurangzeb, Dara and Murad.

Shah Shuja declared himself Emperor, but ultimately it was his puritanical brother Aurangzeb who actually came to the throne. Image
Shuja fled first to Tripura and then to Mrauk U in modern Myanmar.

This kingdom was one of the most fascinating places in South Asia, a Buddhist kingdom populated by Rakhine archers, Rohingya poets, Portuguese pirates and Japanese ronin samurai. Image
Four months after his arrival, the Mrauk U king confiscated Shuja's wealth leading to an attempted coup-detat by the Mughal refugees.

Shujas family was killed, and Shuja fled yet again to Tripura where he finally passed away. His private mosque still stands in Tripura's Udaypur Image

• • •

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

Keep Current with Sam Dalrymple

Sam Dalrymple 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 @SamDalrymple123

Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Feb 5
This week I finally got to visit Pakistan's two greatest Gupta masterpieces: the Brahma of Mirpur Khas in Karachi... Image
And the Jain sculptures of Murti in Lahore Museum! Image
The greatest Punjabi Gupta site - Murti - suffered during Partition, with the site's archeological finds divided between Chandigarh and Lahore. Here you can see some of the temple fragments now in India as a result. Image
Image
Read 4 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Jan 24
The Last Kings of Lanka

In the early 18th century, a young Telugu prince named Vijaya Rajasinha set sail from the South Indian city of Madurai for the island of Sri Lanka. Image
Vijaya Rajasinha's family had once ruled a vast kingdom in Southern India but by the time Vijaya was born, his family’s power was fading.

Then, in 1739, a convoluted dynastic succession suddenly placed this Hindu prince on the throne of Kandy in Sri Lanka. Image
His successor – Kirti Sri Rajasinha – would subsequently kickstart one of the most sophisticated schools of painting in Ancient and Medieval South Asia: the Kandyan school of Art Image
Read 10 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Jan 17
The Terracotta Pyramid of Bengal

Tucked away in the heart of West Bengal, the small town of Bishnupur remains one of India’s best-kept secrets. Still largely unknown outside the state, it hosts some of the most refined temples in the subcontinent. Image
As our car drove westward from Kolkata, the urban sprawl of the Hooghly delta fell away and revealed lush paddy fields crisscrossed by lazy distributaries. Then, as we entered Bankura district, the paddy gave way to the ‘Jungle Mahals’ - a rugged forest region of silver-barked Sal trees and gnarled, thick-leaved Mahua.Image
For centuries, these forests had served as a refuge for Bengal’s most independent-minded chiefs, and even today it feels a world away from the riverine plains to the east. Image
Read 11 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Dec 10, 2025
Why is the King of Afghanistan Buried Near Chandigarh?

Well it turns out to be linked with how the Sikhs got hold of the Kohinoor Diamond. Image
Shah Zaman became king of Afghanistan in 1793. Two years later, with his treasuries empty, he ordered an invasion of Punjab - "the time honoured Afghan solution to a cash crisis."

But Punjab was increasingly falling under the sway of the East India Company and Governor General Wellseley managed to persuade the Qajar Shah of Iran to attack Durrani's kingdom's rear. In 1799, Shah Zaman was forced to retreat.Image
In the subsequent power vacuum, a young Sikh Raja called Ranjit Singh ended up as the new ruler of Lahore. And over the next two years, this new Sikh rulers would gradually prise away the Durrani Empire's most lucrative provinces. Image
Read 12 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Nov 22, 2025
Why is the tomb of the last Ottoman Emperor in Ellora Image
The Ellora Caves have long been considered one of the most sacred sites in the world. So much so that the last Ottoman Caliph chose to be buried on a hill overlooking it. Image
Ridiculously, the tomb is not a protected site. Indeed there is no road there, and you still have to scramble up a goats path to reach it. Image
Read 8 tweets
Sam Dalrymple Profile picture
Nov 16, 2025
The First Indian Muslims

We often think of the Muhammad Ghori's 'Islamic invasions' in the 12th century as the start of the Muslim presence in India. Yet by this time, Muslims had already been an integral part of Indian society for almost four hundred years.

Indeed India's earliest Islamic heritage was often patronised by dynasties that we associate with a 'pure' Hindu past.Image
For example, some of the earliest mosques were built under the Pallava, Chola and Pandya kings, in order to attract Muslim traders to their domains. The oldest intact Islamic mihrab is actually in the ancient Chola capital of Uraiyur, across the river from the great temple of Srirangam, and dates from 734AD.Image
Meanwhile a mihrab embedded in the walls of Gwalior Fort is proof that the Pratihara rulers - who built much of modern Gwalior Fort and are most renowned for keeping the Arab Caliphate at bay - did the same.

Evidence of North India's early Islamic community is slim, but the historians Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Hawqal both make reference to an early Muslim trading community there, and a 'turushkadanda' tax imposed on all Turks (Muslims) by the Pratihara rulers. This was probably a tit for tat response to the jizya tax imposed upon non-Muslims in Islamic domains.Image
Read 8 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

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

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

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(