Tomb of Parvez Mirza To Be Restored

The archaeological department of Uttar Pradesh will execute a conservation project to preserve a Mughal era monument from further decay. 

The structure situated between Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) conserved  Itimad-ud-Daula’s tomb and Chini Ka Ruza in Agra is said to be tomb of Sultan Parvez (Parviz), grandson of Akbar and second son of Jahangir. His daughter Nadira Banu Begum was the wife of Dara Shik oh, eldest son of Shah Jahan (son of Jahangir) and eldest brother of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Sahib-e-Jamal was Parviz’s mother. 

Bearing a striking resemblance to the mausoleum of megalomaniac 14th century Mongol leader Timur in Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Parvez Mirza’s tomb is in a shambles now.  Inverted lotus at the dome has been disfigured and lime mortar plaster over its walls has crumbled.

Timur’s mausoleum  is known as the Gur-e Amir mausoleum. 

Parvez died of delirium tremens in 1626 AD in Burhanpur (now in Madhya Pradesh). 

Several Mughal rulers and princes were addicted to alcohol and had died of delirium tremens.  Murad and Daniyal, the sons of Akbar,  had succumbed to delirium tremens. 

Babar, the founder of the Mughal Empire, was an opium eater and loved to drink fine wines. 

 

Taj Mahal Crowning Glory of Mughal Architecture

Taj Mahal is an architectural feat that marks a height of Mughal architecture. 

Synonymous with beauty and elegance, the world beating landmark of Taj Mahal was built by the order of fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan between 1631 and 1648 in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal who was his third wife. Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 in childbirth at the age of 39 at Burhanpur,    

Taj Mahal is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Taj Mahal was the result of the labour of over 12, 000 workers, over a period of 22 years. The cost incurred on the construction in those times was 50 (5 million) Rupees.

Sometimes, the design of Taj Mahal is credited to a Venetian, Gernimo Verrones. According to whispers, Shah Jahan had its architects blinded, so that they could never again replicate a monument so grand and majestic. However, these claims are not verified and not confirmed by the historians.

Sacking of Hooghly Port by Shah Jahan in 1632

Mast of a Portuguese Ship at Bandel Church, Hooghly / Image Credit 

Portugal was the first European power to establish factories and trading settlements in India in the early 16th century. In 1579–80, a Portuguese captain named Pedro Tavares received a firman from Mughal emperor to establish a city in Bengal for the Portuguese. The Portuguese were also allowed to preach their religion.  As a consequence, a Portuguese colony was established at Hughli (in 1579 AD). The famous church of Bandel in Hooghly was built by the Portuguese. 

The friendly attitude of Akbar towards the Portuguese was continued by his son and next Mughal emperor Jahangir.  

Jahangir died in October 1627 and after a short interregnum marked by violent conflict among the other claimants for the throne, his son Shah Jahan became emperor in 1628 by eliminating all other possible contenders to the throne. Shahryar Mirza (youngest son of Jahangir), Dawar Bakhsh (Grandson of Jahangir and Khusrau’s eldest son), two sons of Akbar's son Daniyal (Tahmuras and Hushang) were all executed.  

Shah Jahan was harbouring a grudge against the Portuguese as the latter did not side with him when he rebelled against his father Jahangir in 1622. 

Added to this, the casus belli for the sack of Hooghly by Shah Jahan in 1932 was the abduction of two slave girls of his consort Mumtaz Mahal by the Portuguese in 1624 during the reign of Jahangir. The Portuguese, on the other hand, became involved with the slave trade. This was rankling in Shah Jahan's mind. Hence he ordered Bengal governor Qasim Khan to crush the Portuguese. In 1632 Qasim Khan captured Hooghly after three months. The Bandel church was burnt down during the sacking of Hooghly.   

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Banda Bahadur: Epitome of Valour and Sacrifice

Banda Bahadur / Image Credit

Born as Madho Das on 27 October 1670 in Rajauri in a Hindu family, Banda Singh Bahadur was a Sikh leader known for devotion, chivalry and undaunted courage. He fought the Mughals with exemplary valour.  

Banda Bahadur was leading a life of an ascetic before he met the tenth Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh in 1708 at Nanded In Maharashtra. The Sikh Guru asked him to give up the life of ascetic and directed him to fight the Mughals.       

In November 1709, Banda Bahadur attacked Samana and captured it.  After thayt the Sikh forces under Banda Bahadur brought Sirhind under their control and established the first Sikh State. During Mughal period Sirhind was a city located between between Delhi and Lahore. 

Mukhlispur became the capital of the Sikh State and was renamed Lohgarh. The siege of Sirhind took place after the Battle of Chappan Chiri (on 12 May 1710) in which the Mughal Governor Wazir Khan was beheaded by the Khalsa  army. Wazir Khan had  ordered two sons of Guru Gobind Singh( 9-year-old Zorawar Singh and 6-year-old Fateh Singh) to bricked alive in Sirhind in 1705. 

Bahadur Shah I, the Mughal Emperor, died in 1712 during the course of his campaign against Banda Bahadur. His son Jahandar Shah became the next Mughal emperor who, in turn, was succeeded by Farrukhsiyar who ruled from 1713 to 1719. An important event of Farrukhsiyar's rule was the execution of Banda Bahadur.

Samad Khan, the Mughal governor of the Kashmir Subah, was tasked to capture Banda Bahadur who was defeated by the Mughal forces in the Battle of Gurdas Nangal which took place in April 1715. 

Banda Bahadur was tortured to death by the Mughals in 1716 in the Mehrauli area of Delhi. 

Tomb of Bibi Pari, Dacca

Tomb of Bibi Pari / Image Credit

One of the famous Mughal monuments in Bangladesh, the seventeenth century tomb of Bibi Pari  was built by the Mughal Subahdar of Bengal Shaista Khan for her daughter Iran Dukht Rahmat Banu. She was married to Muhammad Azam Shah, son of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. 

Tomb of Bibi Pari is located within the Lalbagh Fort in Dacca. The construction of Lalbagh Fort, then known as  Aurangabad Qila, was started by Muhammad Azam Shah in 1678, and was being continued by his successor Shaista Khan. 

Mirza Abu Talib, popularly known as Shaista Khan, was appointed Mughal Subahdar of Bengal by his uncle and Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb after the death of Mir Jumla in 1663. 

Mir Jumla was made governor of Bengal in 1659 by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. He died while he was on his way to Dacca and was entombed at Thakurbari on the Assam-Meghalaya border in the westernmost part of West Garo Hills. 

Shaista Khan was sent by Aurangzeb to defeat Shivaji. However, he had to retreat when in 1663 Shivaji embarked on a surprise attack at the well-guarded mansion of Shayista Khan in Poona. In the scuffle Shaista Khan lost his thumb and his son, Abul Fath, was killed. This incident served a body-blow to the Mughal prestige in the Deccan. Aurangzeb recalled Shayista and transferred him to Bengal. 

Raja Man Singh Tomar And Dhrupad Music

Apart from being great warrior and patron of architecture, Raja Man Singh (1486-1517), the Tomar Rajput ruler of Gwalior, was a skilled musician as well as a patron of musicians. He opened the doors of music to laymen. He developed Dhrupad, a Hindustani classical music, into a popular style and made it appealing for the common people. 

Mankutuhal (Man Singh's Curiosities) was the name of a treatise created by the musicians of the court of Raja Man Singh Tomar under his supervision. Manakutuhala was written in Hindi verse around 1488 A.D and is the first work on Indian music written in Hindi.

Though original Manakutuhala is no longer available, it was translated into Persian by Faquirullah Saif Khan in the seventeenth century by the name ‘Raga Darpan’. 

The dhrupads of Man Singh won the admiration of both Hindus and Muslims. 

Firoz Shah Tughlaq Tomb in Pictures

Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 1388 CE) was the third ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty of the famed Delhi Sultanate. He succeeded to the throne in 1351 after the demise of his cousin Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq who had become second Tughlaq sultan in 1325 AD. 

 

Tomb of Firoz Shah Tughlaq is located in Hauz Khas in Delhi.  Attached to the tomb is a madrasa built by Firoz Shah in 1352–53.