When you enter the main walk-way |
Here I am inside the Bagh |
From an Angle , the tomb of Khusro |
Tombs of Sultan un Nisa and far one is Khusro' |
The right one is Prince Khusro's tomb |
Would you locate me in the picture ? |
The Persian verses inside the Doorway |
Over the gate of Sultan un Nisa ( Nisar's ) tomb |
The decaying paintings floral designs..... |
The beautiful designs inside the dome |
Architectural delight |
Beautifully carved Spout |
Delightful |
Water systems |
Seem to have loved the spout too much ..... |
In all buildings Word "ALLAH is written twice on each Mihrab |
Khusro's tomb |
The door leading to the inner Chamber |
Trees |
Beautiful blossoms and ME |
Again |
Fretwork |
The Painting is gone here |
All the three main mausolems in Line....First one is Khusro |
Man Bai ( Shah Begum's Tomb ) |
Tambolan Bibi' Tomb |
ASI Board |
Inside Chamber of Nisar |
Khusro Bagh - Pargana Chail - Allahabad
During my recent visit to Allahabad, I had a chance to visit and re-look at the tombs inside the famous Khusro Bagh, located almost at the centre of the city of Allahabad. While visiting these tombs, I was reminded of its historical past and the gory stories that are associated with the life & death of Prince Khusro and that prompted me to share it with you.
During my recent visit to Allahabad, I had a chance to visit and re-look at the tombs inside the famous Khusro Bagh, located almost at the centre of the city of Allahabad. While visiting these tombs, I was reminded of its historical past and the gory stories that are associated with the life & death of Prince Khusro and that prompted me to share it with you.
Khusro bagh is located actually in Mohalla Khuldabad adjacent to the Sarai in Pargana Chail Allahabad (Now Tehsil sadar in Allahabad)
First let’s have a look at the Khuldabad Sarai.
Khuldabad
Khuldabad Muhalla owes its name to the large Sarai reportedly constructed in 1587(997 Hijri). This grand Sarai a & garden was named as Khuld + Aabaad ( Paradise Inhabited). The Khuldabad Sarai was a large enclosure with heavy gateways at either end and on the west is an inscription to the effect that it was built by Jahangir. It is situated to the west of Chowk , the Grand Trunk road passes through this large masonry Serai (Sarai) which was so large that it covered 17 Acres of land. The Sarai was known as Sarai Khuldabad. There were ( and still are ) small tenement houses/chambers for the travelers to stay on all the four sides of the serai. There were four Gateways, out of them the one at North was the biggest and the grandest of all. On the western gate there is a Persian inscription that gives the information about the constructor. The inscription on the gates states Aqa Reza as the main architect of this grand edifice and he is the same artist who designed the Khusro Bagh Garden & Mausoleum as well. Aqa Reza was a an artist , architect of Jahangir era.
بفرمان شھنشاہ جہانگیر
کہ زیبد ملکش از مہ تا بہ ماہیبنا شد این سرائے آسماں قدر
By the Order of Emperor Jahangir, whose kingdom extends from the sky to the nadir , this lofty and sky-high Sarai has been built.
Archaeological Survey of India confirms its construction on 997 Hijri 1587 but without any reference.Its grand gateway (phatak) towards Khusro Bagh is no more now and the other one as well is crumbling.
A quick recap
Khuldabad Gateway - Constructed in AH 997 – AD 1587
Khusro Bagh Gateway – Constructed in AH 1010- AD 1601
Shah Begum's death - Died in AH 1012 – AD 1604
Khusro's death - Died in AH 1022 - AD 1615
Khusro Bagh GateAs seen by Daniel Thomas (1749-1840 ) |
Khusro Bagh
Khusro Bagh is a beautiful walled garden located in the heart of the city just a stone’s throw away from the railway station. It is surrounded by high walls on all four sides, with the southern gate being the grandest of all. It is about 60 feet high and resembles the main gateway of the Allahabad Fort. It has at its centre the tomb of Khusro, the eldest son of Jahangir and hence it is famous as Khusro Bagh.
This lofty and handsome gate ,situated to the north of the Khuldabad Sarai,bears an Persian inscription ascribing its construction to Jahangir and the architect is mentioned as Aqa Reza. This garden is a typical Mughal garden enclosure, entered through a 18 m high archway and houses the large, handsome tomb of Khusro , his mother , sister and a tomb famous as Tambolan Bibi's tomb.The tombs are inside the large garden and hence obviously surrounded by lush green patches. The tombs itself are built from red sandstone, which is ornately carved and tastefully decorated with marble carvings.
If we look at the attached picture made in early 18th Century showing the main Gate of Khusro Bagh, we can see that the world has changed around the gate. This picture was made by Dainel Thomas , an English Traveller.
If we look at the attached picture made in early 18th Century showing the main Gate of Khusro Bagh, we can see that the world has changed around the gate. This picture was made by Dainel Thomas , an English Traveller.
This is no doubt that the gate at Khusro bagh one of the few imposing gates of the Mughal Articheture second only to the Fatehpur Sikri’s Buland Darwaza and Mandu’s Alamgiri Gate. Several European and british travelers are full of praise for the nice structure. Its walls were built by Jehangir and as we learn from history that Jahangir used this place as a resort while he stayed in Allahabad during 1599 AD to 1605 AD. Later, the resort was named as Khusro Bagh after Prince Khusro, when his eldest son was buried here. The main gate, the surrounding gardens, and the three-tier tomb of Sultan Begum, who died in 1604, has been attributed to Aqa Reza, Jahangir’s principal court artist and architect.
بحکم حضرت شہنشاہی خلافت پناہی ظلل الہی نورالدین محمّد جہانگیر بادشاہ غازی
بہ اہتمام مرید با اخلاص آقا رضا مسور
این بنانے عالی صورت اتمام یافت
It states that by the order of Jahangir his dear artist Aqa Raza (Reza) completed its construction. This gives the year 1010 Hijri ( 1601 AD).
Khusru Bagh, Allahabad, photographed in 1870s. (British Library) |
There were two step wells ( Bawli) on the south and east of the bagh. The Eastern Bawli was first included in the water-works and later on fully dumped & covered.
Who actually laid out and conceived this bagh is not clear from the books of history but the historians are unanimous that it is contemporary of Akbar's fort at Allahabad and we know well that construction of Akbar’s fort started in 1575. A report says that the remnant of the building material of the fort was used to raise the boundary walls of this garden by the order of Jahangir and it was frequented by the Mughal Royals regularly is evident from the books of history.
Akbar himself had been reported to visited this Bagh in (Tabaqat-i-Akbari).
Prince Daniyal also used to come here to refresh and take a rest here when he was governor of Allahabad. ( Munkhatib ul Lubab by Khafi Khan P141. Vol1).
Jahangar too was a regular visitor and used it as a pleasure garden after his extensive hunting expeditions. (Distt Gazeetter PP 169). Jahangir lived in Allahabad for a long period and was in love with this garden. When his step-mother (Queen mother Saleema Sultan Begum) came here to bring Jahangir back to Agra , he welcomed his mother at the same place in Khusro Bagh. ( Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri)
There was another prince Mirza Jahangir (1791-1821) s/o Akbar Shah II who fired a shot on Mr.Archibald Seton (1758-1818) in 1809 who was working in the office of the President at the Court of Akbar Shah II and for this offence, he was exiled to live in Allahabad. He died in Allahabad at the age of 31 on 18 July 1821. He was buried outside Khusro's grave but later on at the request of his Aged parents, his remains were transferred to delhi and was re-buried at the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia (RA). ( Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Official By William Sleeman)
Jahangir with Khusro & Khurram ( Happier Times) |
Prince Khusro
Now I would tell you the sad story of a gloomy and fateful life of Prince Khusro Mirza who lies buried in Khusro bagh.
The history of Mughals is full of fratricidal events and bloody succession wars smeared with blood as if it was a necessary prelude to succession a rite de passage for a prince to become a king emperor But, in my eyes, the most pathetic case, second to the tragic end of Dara Shikoh, was that of ,Sultan Khusro Mirza
Sultan Khusro Mirza (August 16, 1587 – January 26, 1622) was the eldest son of Emperor Jahangir with his first wife Man Bai and thus he was the eldest grand-son of Akbar. He was born in Lahore on August 16, 1587. His mother committed suicide on May 16, 1604 by consuming opium at Allahabad. Distraught over Jahangir (Salim’s) indulgence in wine and opium, Akbar had considered the unlikely option of entrusting the amiable Khusru with his throne. And when Prince Salim revolted and started holding court in Allahabad in 1599, Khusru was driven into an incongruous conflict with his father to be Akbar's successor.
Khusro was believed to be a pious man compared to his debauched father. Chroniclers have mentioned that Khusro was a popular prince , a gentleman of a very lovely presence and fine carriage, loved by the masses that he was Amor et deliciae . He was a man who constrained himself to one wife only, although he had few marital connections during his life under considerations from his father but he kept his love alight and lived with his first wife throughout his life till his death.
Thus he was a favourite with his grand-father Akbar, who perhaps wanted to make him the successor but unfortunately he came into unfortunate conflict with his father Jahangir and rebelled against his father in the first year of the latter's reign, but was defeated and captured. His supporters made another conspiracy after a short time , and this having been detected , he was , kept in confinement for the rest of his life. He died in Asirgarh near Burhanpur in 1622, and in all probabliity murdered by brother Shah Jahan to clear the way for his sucession to the throne. He had two sons, Dawar Bakhsh Urf Bulaqi and Garshasp, who both were put to death at Shah jahan's instance when he acceded to the throne. ( Amal-i-salih )
Rebellion
Emboldend by his popularity and acceptability and pushed by the clique around him who aspired to throne him on imperial seat he left the capital Agra with barely 350 followers. On the evening of April 6, 1606 he escaped from semi-confinement in Agra, under the pretext of visiting his Dada's grave at Sikandra, while he made his way to Punjab gathering troops with the help of Mirza Hasan.
At Mathura, he was joined by Husain Beg Badakhshani. At Panipat, the Dewan of Lahore, who was proceeding to the capital with the revenues of his province, was allured by the belligerent prince. Threats, persuasion and promise of high office induced him to defect to the prince’s camp. He handed over to the prince, the revenues of Lahore, which amounted to one lakh rupees. The prince conferred upon him the title of Malik Anwar and made him his wazir.
Jahangir Writes in his Tuzuk " Khusru , influenced by the petulance and pride which accompany youth, by his want of experience and prudence, and by the encouragement of evil companions, got some absurd notions into his head. They never thought that Government cannot be managed by men of limited intellect. The vain dreams of Khusru and his foolish companions could end in nothing bust despair and disgrace. (TuzuK i Jahangiri )
An alarm was raised and pursuit began, the struggle of Khusru ended within 3 weeks, the Governor of Lahore did not open the gates for the rebel prince who later on was captured trying to Cross the river Chenab.
At Tarantaran, Punjab Sikh Guru Arjun Dev gave his blessings. Khusro marched towards Lahore. Khusro failed to lure the fauzdar of Lahore into submission and the defenders repulsed all assaults.Enraged Jahangir decided to personally take the field and entered Punjab with a large force..The Prince, however, was determined to offer resistance to his father, Suddenly, one of his commanders caught hold of the reins of his horse and marched it backwards, a few paces. Before Khusro realized what was happening, his soldiers thought that their leader was withdrawing and ran in different directions.eventually he was captured.
On the 3rd of Muharram, 1015(May 1607), Khusru was brought before his father Jahangir in Lahore. Every noble who helped Khusro was impaled or hanged on the trees along the road. But what made the matter worse was that in the aftermath some of Khusro’s remaining followers contrived a assassination plot for emperor Jahangir but young Shah Jahan got wind of that conspiray and alerted his father. The conspirators were captured and put to death mericiellsy .
The rebels were severely dealt, Commander Husain Beg Badakhshani and Abdur Rahim, the Dewan of Lahore, were stripped of all their clothes and were dressed in freshly peeled skins; one, in the skin of a cow, and the other in that of an ass.
The next day they were paraded on asses through the streets of the city. Having survived this ordeal they were brought to the pleasure-house of the Emperor.Husain Ali Beg couldn’t take more and fell on the ground and his head chopped off was displayed on the main gate of the Lahore fort. His body was cut into four pieces and displayed, tied to sticks, in the four important places of the city.
Hapless Khusro was imprisoned and taken to Agra but the fate had something dreadful for him waiting there.The Intikhab i Jahangir Shahi gives the following account
His Majesty ordered Prince Khusro to be deprived of his sight.
When the wire was put in his eyes, such
pain was inflicted on him that was beyong all expression. Later on when he was
brought to Agra, Paternal love revived again. The most experienced Physicians
were ordered to take measures to heal the eyes of the prince. One of Persian
Hakim Sadra took responsibility and within six months, Prince Khusro recovered
his original vision in one of his eyes but the other remained defective. He was
presented to His Majesty, who showered great favous on the Hakim and honoured
him with the title of Masih-uz-Zaman (Elliot & Dowson , History )
Although he partially recovered his sight, but not his liberty. He was destined to become a pawn in the polticial game, and he was not the gay and pleasant Khusro of olden days; he remained dejected and spoke to none. He was always in melancholy and took no interest in anything, notwithstanding his father’s kindness.
At the instance of ladies of the Harem ,Jahangir got relented towards Khsuro and allowed him some liberty to move and attend the durbar in 1613 but the conspirators inside the court contrived again. Shah Jahan was the favourite of Nur Jahan then. They conspired to transfer the prisoner Khusro to Asaf Khan's custody who was the father-in-law of Shahjahan and thereafter to Shah Jahan.
In 1620, he was entrusted to the care of Khurram, the second son of Jehangir, well known to history as Shah Jahan. Khurram, at that time, was asked to go to Deccan to quell a rebellion. According to the Portuguese version, he insisted upon entrusting Khusro to himself, as a condition of his taking the Deccan command and as feared in 1622 Jahangir received a report from Shah Jahan that Khusru died of a Colic in Burhanpur.
De Laet gives the following acount of this strange Colic "
Shah Jahan,in Burhanpore, was
guardian to his brother Khusro; He contrived a plan to get rid of his brother
without incurring the suspicion of having murdered him. He took his
Khan-i-Khanan into confidence and went into hunting expedition. His slave Raza
who was assigned the task to commit the murder, knocked at the dead of the
night upon the door of Prince Khusru's bedroom, pretending that he and his
companions have come with the Kings letters and robes to set him free. The
prince did not believe the story and refused to open the door. He is told to be
reading Quran when Reza came knocking at his door. Finally Seeing that Sultan
would not open the door, Raza ordered it to be unhinged. They did so and entered
the room. The Prince Khusro stood up and groped for a sword or a knife to kill
the attacker but found only a water-pitcher. He threw but there was six-seven
other wicked men who threw him on the ground and sat on his chest. Although
he tried to make a noise and with his hands and feet but no one heard him…One
of them took a chord and put him around his nect, tightened it till he was
dead. Then they lifted his body and laid
it on the bed as if he had died naturally.
(Joannes DeLaet, The Empire of the Great Mogol, Bombay, 1928)
When Shah Jahan returned to the city , he sent letters to his father Jahangir announcing his brothers death. ( Hoyland and Banerjee pp.198-99). Many contemporary writers believe that Khurram engineered the murder of his brother in order to make his succession easy. That Jahangir was seriously ill at the time, reinforces this suspicion.
His body was buried in Burhanpur hastily in May 1622. At Jahangirs desire he was Dis-interred and carried to Agra in June 1622 from where it was taken to Allahabad, to be buried by the side of his mother's tomb in Khuldabad ( Now known as Khusru Bagh). In agra the common man took great respect and thronged at his grave. Worshipped him as a shaheed. Then he was shifted to Allahabad ( De Imperio Magni Mogolis by De Laet)
”By the command of his father, whose wrath seems to have been allayed in the awful presence of death, his remains were conveyed to Allahabad, where they were interred by the side of his mother, in the garden near Khuldabad. The walled garden known as Khusro Bagh, still stands in its melancholy grandeur to remind the visitor of those unhappy events which led to the tragic end of the Prince, who has been rightly described as the most interesting and pathetic figure in Indian history.” (Ishwari Prasad).
Prof.Sarkar describes that Aurangzeb, in one of his letters to Shah Jahan during his captivity, reminds him of his murder of Khusru.
Khurram better known as Shah Jahan the second son of Jahangir was not comfortable of having a rival claimant to the throne a year as he was wary of the growing sypathy between NurJahan and the ill-fated Prince Khusro's family as she might support him for the throne , also the health of Emperor Jahangir was failing rapidly. Therefore he took no time and committed the gravest of crime a brother could do to a brother.
Its pertinent to note that Jahangir himself had rebelled against his mighty father Akbar but he was fortunate enough to be let off, Khusro who was guilty of lesser degree was not that fortunate of having a fatherly generosity that Akbar showed for Saleem.
V.A Smith says" his father shadowy though it be, is one of the most interesting and pathetic in Indian history".
Sons of Khusro
The bloody story of fatricide is not over here. One chapter more to it......Khusro had two sons, one of his sons Dawar Bakhsh Alias bulaqi was placed on the throne for a very short time when Jahangir died in Bhimbar. But it was a plot by Asaf Khan to stop others from claiming the throne as his son-in-law Shah Jahan was away in Deccan. Dawar Baksh was made a sacrifical lamb and the Khutba was read in Dawar Bakhsh's name in Bhimbar. ( Badshah Nama Elliot and dowson VII pp.5-6). As soon as Shahjahan arrived in Lahore to ascend the throne. All the young ones and possible claimants of the Mughal dynasty were mercilessly put to death.
Inayat Khan writes in Shahjahan Nama "
On royal Command, The emperors brother
Shaharyar, and nephews ,Dawar Bakhsh( son of Khusru) and Gurshahsp
alongwith Danyal's sons Tahmuras and
Hushang were put to death on February 2, 1628 four days after the Khutba was
read in the name of Shah Jahan in Lahore. It was the same Killer Raza Ghulam
Bahadur who killed his father Khusro six years ago. the sordid details are a
pain to read when we know that Raza butchered five princes in the royal bathing
suite to which Asaf Khan had the only key. It tells of the role of Asaf Khan in
the gruesome story. When the Prnice Dawar Saw Raza coming , he commented Raza has not come, its our Qaza that has
come. Raza straightaway cut their throats and carried their heads as a trophy
to his master in Agra when he was playing chess with his brother in Agra.
Marhoom Dil bhi kya tha , Kya hasratein thin us mein
Ab tak kuchh uski batein meri zuban per hain !!!!!!!!!!!
Marhoom Dil bhi kya tha , Kya hasratein thin us mein
Ab tak kuchh uski batein meri zuban per hain !!!!!!!!!!!
It would be unjust if I do not make mention of the chaste, loyal and devoted wife of Khusro who followed his husband from the time of marriage till her tragic murder. The lady did not approve of living outside the Cell or prision and lived in Prison his entire married life. She bore him at least two children a son and a daughter..
Noor Jahan tried her best to lure Khusro to marry her daughter and in turn she woudl intervene for her release and reinstate his powers , but Khusro chose to live with this faithful lady till his death.
The height of his love towards his husband is that She insisted and tried to prevail upon his husband to marry Noor Jahan;s daughter " You please marry Nur Jahan's daughter , this way you will be released and will be able to live a life of pleasure , I will live like a maid under your benevolence , My lord. My only is to see you set free and live a life of ease " But Khusro was adamant and the rest of the story has been told earlier.
My salute to this lady whose name is not recorded but was the daughter of Mirza Azeez Kokaltash. The noble of Jahangir's court.
Jis per ab tak naaz karti hain khawateen-i-Watan
Ek Aisi hi amanat khaak ki khilwat Mein Hain !
Buildings inside the Garden ( Khusro Bagh)
There are four sandstone mausoleums inside this Walled garden being exquisite example of Mughal architecture. From the east they belong to Khusro, his sister Sultan-un-Nisa, and his mother Shah Begum while the fourth building is famous as Tambolan Bibi’s but which is without a tomb and sans any inscription. In short there are 4 tombs
1. Prince Khusro Mirza – Buried
2. Sultan-un-Nisa - Empty (She was not buried here)
3. Shah Begum - Buried
4. Tambolan Bibi - Empty, no epitaph.
Now we take a look at each of the tombs one by one.
Man Bai ( Shah Begum’s tomb )
The first one who got buried here was the mother of Khusro and the first wife of Jahangir. At the age of 15 Salim (Jahangir )got married to Man Bai , dauther of Bhagwan Dass of Amber ( Modern Jaipur). The marriage took place on 13, Feb 1585.
A daughter was born 26 April 1586 and was named Sultan-un-Nisa. Although she lived upto 60 years of age (d.1646), she played no part in the politics in Mughal history. The second child Khusro was born on 6 August 1587.Man Bibi was later given the title of Shah Begum.
Distressed by the discord between her husband Jahangir and son Khusru, she committed suicide in 1604 by taking overdose of opium. Her tomb was designed in 1606 by Aqa Reza and is a three storied terrace plinth without a main mound, like tombs in Fatehpur Sikri. The tomb however has a large chhatri that surmounts the plinth and the persian inscriptions that adorn her tomb were carved out by Mir Abdullah Mushkin Qalam, Jahangir's greatest calligrapher.The tiered structure of Akbar's tomb at Sikandra shows some influence of the Shah Begam's tomb in Khusro Bagh.
The grave is at the center and it is surrounded by double galleries which is again a part of amazing work of the architecture of that period. Shah Begum died in 1012 Hijri (as per the epitah) 1604 when Jahangir was out for hunting. He was much grieved when he came back and found her beloved first wife dead due to the discord between her son and husband. He mourned her death for long.
Sultan-un-Nisa Begum
Next to the Begums on the east side is the tomb of Khusru's sister, Sultan-un-Nisa who was never buried here. I don’t know why she is wrongly mentioned and named as Nisar Begum outside the tomb although there is no reference or any clue of such name in history of Jahangir. However it is true that this mausoleum was built on her instructions in 1624-25 as she wished to be buried near her mother and brother. Her mausoleum is however empty and it does not contain her tomb within it. She died in Agra and was buried near her grand-father Akbar.She was the first issue of Jahangir and Shan Begum and she was born in 1586 AD and the real sister of Sultan Khusro.
Interior of Sister's tomb |
Interior of Sultan-un-Nisa's Tomb |
For a sheer architectural pleasure, this is the most elaborate of the three tombs. It lies on an elevated platform and is adorned with panels depicting the arch motif. The ceilings beneath are elaborately painted with stars in concentric circles. The central room has on its walls floral decorations depicting Persian cypresses, flowers and plants. The grave built inside is just symbolic.. However, the plaster is peeling off at a few spots of the arched ceilings and is in need of immediate repair.
Khusro’s tomb
The tomb of Khusru, is the first of the three tombs in Khusro Bagh from the east. The tomb has fretwork windows and the Temporary tomb of mirza Jahangir lies near his own. Khusru's tomb was completed in 1622. The burial chamber is underground and the decoration is plaster work painted with birds, flowers and Persian inscription.
These tombs are built with red sandstone, brought from Chunar and Shankergarh areas. The interior of the tomb has been richly embellished with Mughal paintings. There are inscriptions in Persian on the walls. There are two smaller graves in the tomb one of which on the left belongs to Khusro's son Dawar Baksh. The other one on the right is a dummy structure.
One is left dumbfounded after looking at the art and engineering displayed in making the tombs.The drainage system is so meticulously built that the central fountain was linked to the main water source from which the water gushed out.
There are 12 couplets in Persian written inside the main dome , out of which two ashar indicate the year of death of Khusro.
Tambolan Begum’s tomb
In the centre of the garden is the fourth epitaph called Tambolan Begum’s tomb is without anyone buried here. It was used by English as residence but was restored at the orders of Lord Curzon when he visited the Bagh in 1903. The officer evacuated it and got a new one at some other place in the city. There is no sign of a tomb inside, with no inscription that leaves us to make guesses in dark. ( Gazetteer-Allahabad PP 206.)
1857 Uprising ( Revolt )
During the Revolt of 1857 Khusru Bagh became the headquarters of the sepoys under Maulvi Liyaqat Ali , a pious leader of Mahgaon, Pargana Chail, who took charge as the Governor of liberated Allahabad. This way Khusro Bagh was once again centre of attraction at the end of the Mughal Rule when Maulvi Liaqat unfurled the green flag in support of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and accompanied by Ram Chandra another leader of Patriotic forces , established the head quarters of their interim government at Khusro Bagh and started to convene his court in the Bagh Sultan Khusro. He delivered a sermon daily in the morning. Daily an assault was lanuched by his men at the Fort in Allahabad.Unfortunately his rule could not live long the uprising was swiftly put down and Khusro Bagh was retaken by the British in two weeks.
Since it is a full fledged garden with a thriving nursery , you may get a glimpse of some of the older trees and shrubs that you don't come across generally.
Trees inside |
Today
The tombs are intact but they are unkempt and not kept as it should have been. There were students, studying under the palm trees and some were having an afternoon nap , with some loafers looking for corners.
This legendary place with great historical importance has dwindled into some kind of a backyard-local-park, misused by anti-social elements, which has greatly diminished the significance of famous Allahabadi red guava. Khusro Bagh happens to be, the only cultivation centre for rare and famous guavas.
I met a young man here who had some very interesting tales about Khusro Bagh, for example, in the night a lot of giant snakes are to be seen there. Some have long hairs. He told that the snakes there are very old and they could be seen in the late night till the early hours.
He showed me a coin that he found here when some tree fell down and he got some of the coins as shown below.
Coin found in Khusro Bagh |
There were also some people who told me and tried their best to confuse Khusru with the Sufi great Amir Khusro.
I am equally surprised at the mistake by the celebrated British Researcher CA Bayly who locates Amir Khusro’s tomb in Allahabad. It is a serious omission for a scholar who spent his time and did his primary research in Allahabad (Rulers , Townsmen and Bazaar , CA Bayly PP 129)
While standing at the tomb of Khusro , my heart ached and was filled with emotions that cannot be translated. What a life of sadness and full of tortures ? What a life that only Khusro knows and of Course Allaah knows best ! He only knows what happend and how did it happen but at least there is something that makes my heart bleed .............
While standing at the tomb of Khusro , my heart ached and was filled with emotions that cannot be translated. What a life of sadness and full of tortures ? What a life that only Khusro knows and of Course Allaah knows best ! He only knows what happend and how did it happen but at least there is something that makes my heart bleed .............
Jab
tak dar-o-Diwar ki dunia mein bana hai
Afsana
rahega meri shoreedah Sari ka !
Was’salaam
9 comments:
Wonderful work Khalid... Keep it up. You are the true historian of Allahabad....
Ghazab hai sach mein
Thankyou Br. Khalid for shedding a fresh light on the grandeur of khushrob agh and the ill fated Khushro Mirza and the selfless and loyal wife of his (she command a mention of her..).
The Grand and beautiful gate of This garden is long lost behind unending encroachments and the wastes thrown by the vegetable vendors unfortunately.
Afsos kai bar khusro bagh sei guzra hon, lakin andar kabhi nahi gaya, time hi nahi mila, due to have only 30 days visa.
quresh
Well done Khalid bhi !!!
Khalid, well written and factually correct. I enjoyed reading your post and thank you for making it so interesting!
Bahoot khob.
Assalam alikum Khalid bhai,
Please watch my documentary on khuld-Aabad on youtube channel abu_infotainment
lovely write-up. Made my day.
Just one Q - If you could enlighten about who was Tambolan Biwi. I am unable to find anything related to her history.
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