The tomb of I’timād-Ud-Daulah : A queen's tale

The image of India is synonymous with the image of the Taj Mahal. So much so, that you are bound to witness tens of hundreds of people line up in front of the ticket counter even before the opening hours are initiated. The crowds of people that come from across the globe at the dawn of sunrise hope to catch the sun rays falling perfectly on the Taj which creates the illusion of a halo. I have witnessed first hand, the early risers all ready with their cameras and tripods in order to catch the first look of Taj. My dad being one of the sun catchers, tried and hoped to do the same. It so happened that he was accompanied by me and mom. 

But this post is not commemorating the grandeur of the Taj Mahal. This post is about the tomb of I’timād-Ud-Daulah, also called the “Little Taj” and is the underdog in the list of grand Mughal monuments to be ever built. Its fame is dwarfed by the member of the seven wonders coexisting in Agra. Its beauty and architecture remain sadly under appreciated. As I proceed to tell you about this precious gem, I would also get back to its title - “Little Taj”. 

Tomb of I’timād-Ud-Daulah

This tomb also located on the banks of the river Yamuna was built by Queen Mehr-un-Nissa for her father Mirza Ghiyas Beg the favourite of all wives of Jahangir (Salim), the fourth Mughal ruler. For his excellent work, he was awarded the title of Itimad-Ud-Daula or ‘Pillar of the State’ by Emperor Akbar. Mehr-un-Nissa was already married to an important governor of the empire when Jahangir fell in love with her. In pop culture, of course, the love story of Anarkali and Jahangir is well known, but that remains under contestation. Mehr-un-Nissa was honoured with the title Nur Mahal or light of the palace and eventually, it came to be Nur Jahan or light of the world. For convenience, I’ll be using Nur Jahan from now on. 

Nur Jahan was an ambitious woman even beyond the realm of the Royal Harem. While Jahangir spent his days pleasuring himself by opium and wine, Nur Jahan would order royal farmans. We always look at the Mughal lineage in terms of Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and so on. In essence, it really should be Akbar, Jahangir, Nur Jahan, Shah Jahan and so on because that is how powerful this queen was. To her advantage, Jahangir was totally smitten by her and was, in fact, nothing more than an obedient puppy in front of her. What makes her probably the most important political women in Mughal history is she not only had coins struck in her name but she could also use the imperial seal to sign on official documents. That is a privilege that only the king was supposed to have. 

The hexagonal pillars

The history of this tomb is not just the history of another example where Mughals proved how filthy rich they were, but it is deeply ingrained in the history of that one woman who was the Empress. Well, almost. To maintain her power in the court, she got her niece Arjumand Banu Begum married to Prince Khurram. If these names are not sounding familiar, that is because their story is better known as that of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan. Nur Jahan went a little far in expectations when she hoped that the generation coming after her would also pay obedience to her but Prince Khurram rebelled against his father to come to the throne. Nur Jahan had to ‘banish’ him along with his wife and children from the capital for some time.

After Shah Jahan’s succession, Nur Jahan spent most of her time in Lahore. But that didn’t stop her from erecting a tomb for her father (but both her parents are put to rest there) made completely out of marble. This is also a political statement on her part like Taj Mahal is a political statement by Shah Jahan (Surprise Surprise!). Just like with the idea of the Taj, she wanted to etch her name and more importantly her family name in history forever. She wanted to imply that her father may just have been a wazir, but her ancestry and lineage was as legitimate as that of the Mughals, maybe even more. This being the first example for the Mughals to have a building entirely constructed of marble, also reflected on the authority and wealth that she had as a woman, as an Empress. 

The ceiling

The structure is made entirely of marble and stands on a base which is one metre high. The marble was brought in from Rajasthan and the walls are encrusted with semi-precious stones and gems. The designs are in the form of symmetric nature symbols for the most part. It has an extensive inlay work of Pietra dura, which is also seen in the Taj. The whole building is symmetrical except for the way her parent's tombs are placed inside it, something which we get to see even in the Taj. 

I am not refuting Taj Mahal as a symbol of love. Shah Jahan was enamoured by Mumtaz and her death deeply affected him. So much so, that according to legend (I can’t know for sure), he decreed that his daughters Jahanara and Roshanara would never get married. But it was a political statement nevertheless. Shah Jahan and Nur Jahan always had troubled relations and with the building of the tomb of I’timād-Ud-Daulah, Nur Jahan unknowingly provoked Shah Jahan to create one of the seven wonders of the world. Shah Jahan wanted to build something bigger and grander to assert once again the dominance of the Mughal rule. It was his attempt at sidelining Nur Jahan when history would be written and to some extent he was. 

This mausoleum deserves much more attention than what we give it. By calling it the “Baby Taj” or the “Little Taj”, we are undermining the only woman who ruled in this dynasty, even if it was with the Emperor's name. We are belittling its importance by comparing its standards to the Taj Mahal. Of course the two can’t be compared and obviously, the Taj is made on a larger scale with some specific ideas in mind. But this tomb came before the Taj and now lies largely ignored by the general public because it is not a work of wonder. 

Disclaimer - All pictures are by me unless stated otherwise.