Anarkali's Tomb Lahore
Relevance: Historical Architecture
Date of Visit:- 14.08.2018
(All pictures are owned, kindly respect copyrights)
Among
the earliest extant Mughal tombs, Anarkali's sepulcher is also one of the most
significant Mughal buildings of the period. The tomb, to the south of Lahore's Old City, is part of the compound of Punjab
Secretariat on Lower Mall, and is located at the rear of Chief Secretary's
Office. Since the tomb is utilized as the Punjab Archives, access to the
building is restricted. Make sure that you plan a visit to it during office
hours, otherwise you will find the gates to the secretariat locked and the
sentry at the gate unwilling to allow even a peep.
Not
only is it a "most ingeniously planned octagonal building", it is a
memorial to the love legend centering around prince Salim (later emperor
Jahangir), and Anarkali (pomegranate blossom) who belonged to the harem of
Emperor Akbar, Salim's father. Although Mughal sources are silent about
Anarkali, European contemporary travelers such as William Finch related the
popular gossip rife at the time, mentioning her as Akbar's "most beloved
wife."
Latif,
quoting popular legend says that Sharf-un-Nisa or Nadira Begam, with the title
of Anarkali, was found giving a return smile to the prince by the emperor in
the mirrors of his palace. Suspecting an intrigue or worse, Akbar ordered
Anarkali to be interred alive. Accordingly, she was placed in an upright position
and buried alive in a masonry wall, brick by brick. The prince, who must have
been devastated, on succeeding the throne in 1605, "had an immense
superstructure raised over her sepulcher" 16 years after her death.
The
tomb, once set off as the centerpiece of a beautifully laid out garden setting,
is today hemmed in by the structures surrounding it. However, it is this tomb
that gifted the name Anarkali to the whole area when the British first set up
a cantonment here. The monument employs a popular format using an octagonal
plan, its
sides alternately measuring 44 feet and 30 feet. Architecturally, however, it is unique in
its utilization of semi-octagonal towers dominating each corner, rising well
above the walls and terminated with cupolas over pavilion-like kiosks. A low-pitched dome—among the earliest Mughal examples of double-dome—spans the
central chamber and is carried on a drum or neck. The lower shell of the dome is constructed
of small bricks in five stages or rings. The central dome is supported inside
by eight arches 12 feet 3 inches thick. It is a masterpiece of solid masonry
work of the early Mughal period.
Over
the last couple of hundred years, the tomb has been put to several uses. In the
first half of the 19th century, it served as the residence of Ranjit Singh's French
general Jean Baptiste Ventura's Armenian wife. From 1847 it was used as offices
for the clerical staff of the first British Resident, Henry Lawrence. From 1851
it was the venue for divine service, while in early 1857 it was consecrated as
St. James' Church, later being declared a Pro-Cathedral.
The
sarcophagus made of pure marble of extraordinary beauty and exquisite
workmanship is, in view of 19th-century scholars, "one of the finest
pieces of carving in the world." It was put away in one of the side bays when the
building was first converted into a church. It was then placed in the spot from
which the altar had been removed rather than being replaced in its original
central position. In 1940 the grave was found intact in its original position,
five feet below the present floor. From accounts of its discovery, the grave is
apparently of plastered brickwork, inscribed on the top and sides with the
ninety-nine attributes of God and below with a Persian couplet. The Persian couplet inscribed on the
sarcophagus has been translated by Latif into English. "Ah! could I behold
the face of my beloved once more, I would give thanks unto my God until the day
of resurrection," and is signed "Majnoon Salim Akbar" or "The
profoundly enamored Salim, son of Akbar" and expresses Jahangir's intense
passion for the beautiful Anarkali. No doubt the two inscribed dates 1008
[1599] and 1024 [1615] refer to the date of Anarkali's death and the completion
of the sepulcher respectively. Historians
now believe the tomb to be that of Sahab-e-Jamal, one of the wives of Jahangir,
who died in Lahore in 1599.
Today
the monument appears as a simple, whitewashed massive brick structure, robbed
of its decorative veneer, and its apertures and aiwan profiles filled in to
serve its varied usage. However, the internal spaces, in spite of the alteration, are exciting, the viewing of which coupled with the amazing
treasure of archival material of Punjab Archives—set up as Punjab Record Office
in 1891, when the cathedral was shifted to its new premises—is wonderfully
rewarding. For those interested in the history of British Punjab, it is a treasure trove, for, along with rare images and other documents, files dating
back to the earliest days of British administration are carefully and
meticulously maintained here.
