Tuesday, 22 December 2020

Khan-i-Khanan Tomb - Rahim Gets a New Wardrobe

Rahim Tomb

Circa March 2013

Who can forget reciting ‘Dohe’ in our school Hindi classes? Dohas are short Hindi couplets conveying profound messages that draw meaning from everyday life for easy understanding. Apart from Kabir, another prolific dohe writer was Rahim. To understand the childhood connection with Rahim, we need to jog our memory to recall a popular doha:

रहिमन धागा प्रेम का, मत तोड़ो चटकाय।
टूटे से फिर ना जुड़े, जुड़े गाँठ परि जाय॥

English Translation
Rahim says; Do not break the thread of love between people. If the
thread breaks, it cannot be mended; even if you mend it there will
always be a knot in it. The friendship will not be same anymore.

Rahim Tomb - South Western Corner - 2020

 Khan-i-Khanan Tomb: South East View - March 2013

Now that sure brought an instant childhood connection with Rahim and a smile to the face.

Khanzada Mirza Khan Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan (17 December 1556 – 1626) popularly known as Rahim was one of the Navratnas (Nine Ministers or Nine Gems) in Akbar’s court. Abdul Rahim Khan was the son of Bairam Khan. History is amazing – how can a son of a Mughal general infamous for atrocities could turn out to be composer and poet.

March 2013

 The East Face - 2020

Akbar who was probably sick of the overbearing and revolting Bairam Khan – Akbar’s tutor, regent and general – retired him and sent him packing to Mecca. This was better than being thrown off the Agra Fort as Adham Khan would testify. On his way in Gujarat, Bairam Khan was recognised by a certain man called Hazi Khan whose father was brutally killed by Bairam Khan during the Second Battle of Panipat between Akbar and Hemu.

March 2013

2020

March 2013


Bairam Khan had exhorted the kid Akbar to behead Hemu as he lay bleeding from an arrow wound in the eye. Bairam must have done something similar to this guy’s father too. Anyway, Hazi Khan takes revenge and kills Bairam Khan. Maybe it was all planned by Akbar! However, Rahim Khan then four and his mother were released unharmed and they returned to Akbar’s court.


He was a contemporary of Tulsidas and both would exchange notes. You could call them today’s Gulzar and Javed Akhtar. Although a Muslim, he was a devotee of Lord Krishna and wrote poetry dedicated to Him. The reason could be owing to his maternal lineage tracing back to Jadaun Rajputs and Yadavas.


History again has a way of repeating unflinchingly in gory ways. Just like Rahim’s father Bairam Khan tutored Akbar and was unceremoniously disposed off in an ambush in Gujarat for his efforts, Rahim tutored Akbar’s son Jahangir. For his efforts, Jahangir had Rahim’s two sons killed and their bodies left to rot at Khooni Darwaza opposite Feroz Shah Kotla. Jahangir was simply annoyed that Rahim’s sons supported Jahangir’s eldest son Khusrau to succeed Akbar.

During his trips to Delhi, Mirza Khan marvelled at the beauty of the recently built Humayun Tomb. He figured that he would build something similar for his wife; just like Haji Begum did in her husband Humayun’s memory. Built in 1598, about 30 years after Humayun’s Tomb, the structure and planning of Khan-i-Khanan Tomb is similar but on a much smaller scale. The tomb, like Humayun Tomb, is faced with red sandstone and white marble. The high dome has decorated plaster work. On his death, Rahim Khan was also buried here along with his wife and sons.

March 2013

Mirza Khan’s cenotaph lies on the first floor. The tomb was stripped of its sandstone and marble for building the Safdurjung Tomb – a pattern repeated earlier by Sher Shah Suri who dismantled Siri Fort to build Shergarh and Shahjahan who walked away with Feroz Shah Kotla to build Shahjahanabad.

The chain of inspiration for building tombs for spouses continued and later Shahjahan taking a cue from Rahim Khan built a popular tomb in Agra for his wife.

 Seems like yesterday, don it - March 2013


March 2013


Today, the Khan-i-Khanan Tomb sits on prime real estate in East Nizamuddin. The lawns are lush and well maintained. Since it is a ticketed monument and that too in the shadow of Humayun Tomb, it does not get many visitors. Most people driving on the busy Mathura Road are too busy negotiating the traffic to look. Few who do, look at the tomb with some bewilderment. People are not sure what to make of the stripped exterior. The tomb looks like a once rich person who has been dealt a bad hand and all that is left now is a tattered coat and some old glory. It looks both tragic and endearing – just like Rahim’s life.

Come and spend some time among the scarred and stripped walls. You just might hear poetry and couplets wafting in the air.


Getting There: As you drive on Mathura Road from Subz Burj roundabout towards Nizamuddin Railway Station, the tomb lies on the left.

https://www.ghumakkar.com/knowing-delhi-khan-i-khanan-tomb-in-nizamuddin/

(first published on the Travel Portal Ghumakkar)

 

Circa Feb 2015

As you rummage through your photos, you realise you had visited the tomb on a foggy morning in Feb 2015 too. Looking at the blueprint pieces of paper (looks like the radioactive sign) pasted on different sections of the tomb, the renovation was about to start around this time. The visit gives a nice midway point of time between 2013 and 2020. Here are a few photos from that visit.

This is what you noted on a FB post:

Looking at the heavy slabs of red sandstone, it seems Khan-i-Khanan Tomb will undergo large scale restoration. You like the tomb’s bare stripped appearance. The walls of the lower levels cells have already been plastered over. Most of the original incised plasterwork is gone. Not happy with the work done so far.

Last chance to go and record the original look before the red slabs cover the facade.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dhpclub/permalink/939462572760429 

(quite an enlightening conversation)

Khan-i-Khanan Tomb in Feb 2015 





December 2020

The General has New Clothes

धरती की सी रीत है, सीत घाम औ मेह ।
जैसी परे सो सहि रहै, त्‍यों रहीम यह देह॥

You have never seen the Sabz Burz roundabout choked on a Sunday. Entire Delhi seems to have descended here. People are tired of the lockdown and a sunny Sunday offers exciting opportunities. About a km to the south, everything is tranquil at the gates of the newly renovated tomb. Wait a minute - there are some Bongs who apparently can’t get the new ASI site to issue e-tickets trying to talk some sense into the caretaker to let them in. You try too but the site is apparently overloaded with all the folks back at Humayun Tomb trying to buy tickets. ASI has just lifted the 1000 people a session limit this weekend. Now hoping they start opening them up for the lit hours too. Time to get some e-payment app on the phone.




You are entering the premises after about six years. They have opened a new gate on Mathura Road side with parking. Last time you entered from the North gate on the East Nizamuddin colony street. What you see is almost a majestic tomb, glowing in the beautiful sunshine and some of the bluest skies. For a moment, it seems the tomb is cocking a snook in Safdurjungs Tomb’s direction for stealing its stone (both lie on a perfect east-west axis few kms apart). The tomb has lost its emaciated, stripped and defeated look.  The tomb has certainly gained weight and a new dapper wardrobe during the lockdown. The wispy white clouds seem to be celebrating the comeback of Mirza Khan. The exposed rubble walls have brand new sandstone and marble attire. Your feelings are mixed seeing the new Rahim. To you it seemed the earlier avatar poignantly reflected the tragic life of Bairam Khan’s (allegedly killed by Akbar) son, whose own two sons were killed by Jahangir – the vicissitudes of imperial life. 



Aga Khan Foundation (AKTC) along with INTACH has been doing the restoration work for years now in the Nizamuddin area. Humayun Tomb was a colossal project. Later, Sundar Nursery was rejuvenated with its crumbling monuments given new life. Sabz Burj is being worked upon now. While they have done good job on Chaunsath Khamba, you are not sure if they will be able to reclaim several monuments inside the Basti from the usurpers like the probably already disappeared Lal Mahal. INTACH and the Foundation overall, has done a good job with the structure, the grounds and the interpretation. But seeing their recently restored monuments already coming apart in Sundar Nursery, you are really not sure how soon the new plaster and the painting will start unravelling inside the chamber. So here is what you think – their stonework is good however, they are yet to crack the formula of plaster making. 


March 2013




On the first-floor platform, an informed traveller remarked that the water tank is usually not seen on the first-floor platforms of Mughal tombs. Palaces like in the Red Fort and other contemporary Rajput palaces have fountains and tanks and water channels. You are racking your brains if you have seen this feature in the Deccan and if some architect or Mirza Khan’s posting in Deccan exposed him to this element. Since the Tomb was inaugurated by the Culture and Tourism Minister, today the tank has clean waters fragrant with rose petals. In a few days, it will be filled with gutkha spits and chips packets. 


March 2013





The dome in the chamber has been done up quite nicely. Apparently, the original incised plasterwork has been exposed and painted. The sun streaming through the west iwan doorway now fitted with metal filigree screen throws interesting patterns on the plaster. Pigeons have not yet invaded the chamber and the walls still sparkle for the time-being. Lets wait for the first monsoons - that will be the test of the new restoration.


You come out and stand on the southwest corner as you watch the tomb gleam in the soft winter Delhi sun as the clouds drift creating interesting patterns on the blue sky. Such moments are rare in Delhi. Rahim would be smiling.



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