Sunday 24 December 2006

Humayan's Tomb


The second Mughal Emperor Humayun died in 1556, and his Persian wife, Hamida Begum, supervised the construction of his tomb from 1562-1572, designed by the Persian architect, Mirak Mirza Ghiyuath.
The beautiful mausoleum, and it is stunning, built of red sandstone and red and white marble, sits in the centre of an enclosure on a large platform and has a series of cells with arched openings.

On the bank of River Yamuna next to the shrine of the famous Sufi saint Nizam al-Din Awliya, this tomb is said to have been a precedent of later Mughal mausolea. The style of geometrically arranged garden, criss-crossed by numerous water channels, can also be seen in the Red Fort in Delhi and at the Taj Mahal in Agra.
The tomb was also the end of the line for our Zafar.
After a period of hiding he gave him self over to the British who spared his life but order his exile to Rangoon where he died.
Humayun's tomb is a UNESCO Heritage building and was the first Indian building to use the Persian double dome.

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