(All pictures and research belong to the author and should only be used after written permission)
Date of visit:- 09 November 2019
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| Front view of Tomb |
Tapiala Dost Muhammad Khan is a small
town located 11.7 km on Muridka-Narang Mandi Road. In ancient times Grand Trunk
Road passes through this town. I also found some remains of the old Grand Trunk
in Tapiala.
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| Remain of Old of GT Road Road |
GT Road from Tapiala (mausoleum) made the onward journey
to Pul Shah Daula with an ancient bridge on Nullah Degh.
There is an old, isolated mausoleum standing in an
ancient graveyard of Tapiala Dost Muhammad Khan. Long ago, I read about this
mausoleum in a book, "The Silk Roads Highway of Culture and
Commerce" by Vadim Elisseeff. But not much written about
its history. In the Urdu language, 'Tapi' means tree and the meaning of
'Tapiala' could be derived as' the town full of trees.
The second question that came to mind was that who was
Dost Muhammad Khan.
In history, the most prominent personality by this name
was of Dost Mohammad Khan (December 23, 1793 – June 9, 1863). HE
was the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of
Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War. With the decline of the Durrani
dynasty, he became Emir of Afghanistan from 1823 to 1839 and then from 1843 to
1863. An ethnic Pashtun. However, the present tomb is not related to him as the
Afghan king died in Afghanistan and has a burial tomb present in Herat.
Meanwhile, we met an elderly guy from Tapiala. He was aware
of the history of this place. He shared that Dost Muhammad Khan was a local
chief appointed by Mughal Darbar.
The tomb's outer facade was plastered recently with cement. It has a double-dome roof, that
is present almost in all Mughal mausoleum in the sub-continent.
Inside there
were three graves present.
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| Three Graves |
The most interesting thing found in this tomb was fresco paintings on the walls and
roof.
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| Fruit Painting |
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| Fruit Painting |
After the decline of Mughals in Punjab, Sikh’s were the main ruler and Tapiala Dost Muhammad
khan lies in the area where Sikhs have dominancy.
There is a possibility that the current structure might be converted into some Sikh
samadhi for some period. Locals also told that in past it is also
used for storing crops and excavated many times by treasure hunters. The
graves which I found inside were not that old some local saint after
pre-partition was buried there along with his family members.
The fresco
paintings found inside are in very bad condition and can be erased if proper
care not done. Hope the concerned department does some needful action before this site
disappears completely.
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| Fresco Painting (image 1) |
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| Fresco Painting (image 2) |
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| Fresco Painting (image 3) |
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