The Tomb of Jahangir is a 17th century mausoleum built for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The mausoleum dates from 1637, and is located in Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, along the banks of the Ravi River. The site is famous for its interiors that are extensively embellished with frescoes and marble, and its exterior that is richly decorated with pietra dura. The tomb, along with the adjacent Akbari Sarai and the Tomb of Asif Khan, are part of an ensemble currently on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status.
The tomb was built
for Emperor Jahangir, who ruled the Mughal Empire from 1605 to 1627 C.E. The emperor died in the
foothills of Kashmir near
the town of Rajauri on 28
October 1627. A funeral procession transferred his body from Kashmir and
arrived in Lahore on Friday, 12 November 1627. The Dilkusha Garden in which he was buried was a favorite spot of Jahangir and his wife Noor Jahan, when they lived in Lahore. His son, the new
Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan,
ordered that a "mausoleum befitting an Emperor" should be built in
his father's honor to inter his remains.
The tomb was
constructed in a Mughal style influenced by Safavid style architecture from Persia, which may have been introduced into the
Mughal Court by Noor Jahan, who was of Persian origin. Similar to the tomb
of Akbar, Jahangir’s tomb lacks a central dome as
the Emperor is reported to have expressly forbade the construction of a dome
over his tomb. The use of domes in Mughal funerary architecture was
first used at the Tomb of Humayun,
and re-established by Shah Jahan.
