Safdarjung Tomb Delhi: The last Twinkle Glory of Mughals Dynasty

Each place has been a theater of actions for centuries. Come, lets discover the ideas that shaped our multiple identities.

 

Delhi may be called capital home of tombs, Drgahs of Sufi Saints  and monuments. Most of the monuments are of the Mughal era. One such monument is “Safdarjung Tomb. “This is one of the few buildings built during the last days of Mughal era.

Tomb of Nawab Safdar Jung 

Despite its central Delhi location, this beautiful monument “Safdarjung Tomb.”  Is less visited by people and is generally less crowded. Moreover, Most of the people living in Delhi don’t even know about this place.

 

Many of us are familiar with the name ‘Safdarjung’. But who was he? And how is his story linked to the decline of the Mughal Empire? At one point of time, Safdarjung was the richest and most powerful man in India.

A view of Entrance to Safdar Jung's  Tomb from road

 

Safdarjung Tomb is sometimes regarded as the poor man’s Taj

Entry Gate of Safdar Jung's Tomb 

Even more interestingly, to the south of Safdarjung Tomb lies the field – now, a defunct airfield! – where the fearsome Central Asian conqueror Timur “the Lame” (ancestor of the Mughals) defeated the much-weakened Tughlaq ruler of Delhi, Nasiruddin Mahmud.

 

Safdarjung Tomb is special in many ways. It is considered to be the last twinkle of glory of Mughal Dynasty, a dynasty which created some of the most impressive monuments still standing, including India’s masterpieces like the Taj Mahal, Red Fort.

 

Inside  visit of of Safdarjung’s Tomb:A Hidden Heritage Gem of Delhi  in Delhi

The monument is built on a raised platform that lies in the center and there are manicured gardens that are well maintained and complete a pretty picture. There are also private pavilions named Moti Mahal, Badshah Pasand and Jangli Mahal.

 

The gardens are designed like a Charbagh – divided into four squares, pathways and tanks which are further divided into smaller squares. Colorful flowers bloom and the monsoon ensures a generous tinge of green on the trees. The effect is almost enchanting, and even surreal at times.

 

It has several smaller pavilions with names like Jangli Mahal, Moti Mahal, and Badshah Pasand. The complex has a Madrasa and a library too over the main gateway. It is maintained by The Archaeological Survey of India.

 

The garden surrounding and the entire tomb complex is a very aesthetic landscape for photography. You can come here with your cameras and click some cool pictures for your Instagram.

 

The chambers inside the tomb are rectangular in shape and the corner chambers are structured octagonal.

 

It follows in the pattern of the great garden tombs, which began with the sandstone mausoleum and geometric garden of the second Mughal emperor, Humayun.

 

Safdar Jung’s Tomb is a strangely appropriate monument. It sums up in stone the decline of the once-great empire. The mausoleum and its Mughal gardens are clearly modeled on Humayun’s.

But the proportions of the main building feel strange, with an over-sized dome and chunky corner-towers, and the decorative marble elements are ostentatious, lacking all the elegance of the Taj Mahal’s exquisite inlaid stone work.

Tomb of Safdar Jung

Like other Mughal monuments, the tomb of Safdarjung is n’t a monument built at the height of the supremacy of the empire. The marble and red sandstone used for this structure is said to have been removed from the tomb of Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, popularly known as Rahim (of the dohe fame).

 

Much of the stonework is rather shabby, some of the pathways are uneven and overgrown, and all the water channels have long been empty.

 

The garden’s four water courses, one leading from each side of the tomb, also have a rather awkward, and overly-literal feel. It is as if the architect was trying too hard to show off the main features of the design, without understanding the intricacies and balance require to create a great building.

 

The masjid with its three domes stands neglected in a corner. I could not find an entrance to it. It does not seem to be a monument popular with tourists either, I could barely spot a couple of foreigners in the three-four hours that were spent wandering around.

A Masjid in Safdar Jung's Tomb

Deserted monuments in cities are quite popular for young lovers and Safdarjung’s Tomb befits its status as a monument that no one cares about. Canoodling couples occupy quiet corners making it almost a crime to look around for hidden architectural delights.

 

I notice that the inlay work on the marble on the floor has been left unfinished; history suggests that there were little funds available to be spent on costly things like marble and the Tomb was barely completed by materials scavenged from here and there.

 

Among other things, it appears that halfway through the construction of the tomb, the marble ran out. The stone used to build parts of the monument, most visibly the dome, are not even consistent in color. How on earth did the builders of such a magnificent tomb do such a shoddy job?

 

This is also explained by the sudden, sharp decline of the empire. The traditional quarries, that were used to mine stone to build monuments in Delhi, were located near Agra–which was no longer controlled by the Mughals.

As a consequence, the builders of the tomb had to resort to stripping down existing monuments in Delhi to gather stone and other raw material for the construction of the tomb.

 

(The grave of Safdar Jung inside the tomb. He was originally buried in Sultanpur where he died, and his grave was shifted here when his son decided to build him a tomb in Delhi.

 

Who was Safdar Jang?

Safdar Jung (1708 –1754),born Muhammad Muqim was descended from a Turkic tribe tracing its ancestry to the Caucasus region (modern-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia). He came from Nishapur, Iran to India in 1723 at the age of fifteen on the invitation of Saadat Ali Khan I (Nawab of Awadh-Lucknow).

Nawab Safdar Jung (Second Nawab of Awadh---1739-1754)

He was Saadat Ali Khan’s nephew and his son-in-law, and took the reins as the new Nawab of Awadh in 1739. He was given the title ‘Safdar Jung’ by emperor Muhammad Shah ‘Rangila’.

 

Like his uncle/father-in-law, he too proved to be a good administrator who effectively ran the political affairs of Awadh and also proved to be of valuable assistance to the Emperor Muhammad Shah.

 

All future Nawabs of Oudh were male line descendants of Safdar Jung.

In the mid-18th century, when a much weakened Mughal emperor Mohammad Shah Rangila ruled, Safdar Jang was a very important noble in the Mughal court. It was Mohammad Shah Rangila, who bestowed the title of Safdar Jung on him. At one point of time, Safdarjung was the richest and most powerful man in India.

Mohammad Shah Rangila (1702-1748)

Safdar Jung was also the second ruler, titled Nawab, of the semi-autonomous dynasty (originating from Persia) which ruled Awadh.

 

In 1748 when Emperor Mohammad Shah Rangila died, Safdar Jang managed to install a new emperor of his choice on the Mughal throne, Ahmad Shah Bahadur, acquiring for himself the position of Wazir-ul-Mumalik-i-Hindustan (Prime Minister of Hindustan).

 

With a substantial personal army, he was much embroiled in palace politics and held complete control over the weak new emperor.

 

Palace intrigues and power struggles with other powerful nobles eventually led to Safdar Jang’s ouster from Delhi. Twice attempts were made on his life by his rivals. But he survived. Later he shifted to his fiefdom, Awadh.

 

The story goes that it was Safdarjung who invited the Persian king Nadir Shah to Delhi, so he would depose the Mughal emperor from the throne. A move that cost Delhi dearly, in terms of many lives and innumerable wealth and treasures lost, including the Peacock Throne and the Kohinoor.

Nadir Shah of Persia invaded India in 1739

The tomb was built in 1754 after his death, by his son Shuja-ud-Daula, the next Nawab of Awadh. Although Safdarjung died in Sultanpur, he was buried in Delhi given his political importance.

 

Safdar Jang was an able administrator. He was not only effective in keeping control of Awadh, but also managed to render valuable assistance to the weakened Emperor Muhammad Shah.

 

He was soon given governorship of Kashmir as well, and became a central figure at the Delhi court. During the later years of Muhammad Shah, he gained complete control of administration over the whole Mughal Empire.

 

When Ahmad Shah Bahadur ascended the throne at Delhi in 1748, Safdar Jung became his Wazir-ul-Mumalik-i-Hindustan or Prime Minister of Hindustan. He was also made the governor of Ajmer and became the "Faujdar" of Narnaul.

However, court politics eventually overtook him and he was dismissed in 1753. He returned to Awadh in December 1753 and selected Faizabad as his military headquarter and administrative capital. He died in October 1754 at the age of 46 years in Sultanpur near Faizabad. 

The tomb’s location he chose himself while he was still living: near the holiest Shia site in Delhi known as the Dargah Shah-e-Mardan, in present day Jor Bagh, also popularly known as Karbala.

 

When Safdar Jung arrived from Persia, Delhi was still the richest, most magnificent and most populous city between Istanbul and Edo (Tokyo); with two million inhabitants, it was larger than either London or Paris.

 

By his death, the Mughal empire had been reduced nearly to dust at the hands of the Marathas (who would go on to form a great empire of their own), and Delhi would no longer be the power center it once was – until 1911 when the British government in India would announce that New Delhi was to be their new capital. And more than a hundred years later, it remains the capital of independent India.

Grave of Nawab Safdar Jung (1708-1754)

How to Reach

A major portion of Delhi is now inter-connected by Delhi Metro, which makes it easier for tourists to reach destinations within a short amount of time. So if you are planning to visit this Safdarjung tomb then there are many different ways to reach here.

 

The very first option is to take a Metro and get off at the Jor Bagh metro station. The tomb is at a short distance from here, you can walk straight from here or you can take an auto to reach the monument.

 

So if you love historical places and love finding more about the beauty of Mughal architecture just like me then add Safdarjung tomb to your bucket list and plan your visit.

 

Entrance ticket

Entry Ticket cost is Rs 25.00. Still camera photography is free of charge, and Rs 25.00 is charged for each video camera but if you are capturing videos from your mobile phones then it’s okay.

Did you know?

In 2013 American American biographical drama film based on the life of Steve Jobs, from 1974 while a student at Reed College to the introduction of the iPod in 2001. It is directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matt Whiteley, and produced by Stern and Mark Hulme. This Movie was  filmed here in this Safdarjung Tomb.

 

Many smaller tombs and buildings of even less architectural worth have got more love than this compact complex, ironically so near the abodes of some of modern India’s most powerful rulers. Will we have to wait until foreign entities “sell” our forgotten monuments to us?

The End

Disclaimer–Blogger has prepared this short write up with of Safdar jung’s Tomb with  help of Wikipedia  and materials available on net. Images on this blog are posted to make the text interesting.The copyright of these materials are with the respective owners. Blogger is thankful to original writers.