Hazira Maqbara, Vadadora - a beautiful Mogul style mausoleum

Front view of Hazira  en.wikipedia.org

Gujarat state has numerous historical Muslim monuments,  particularly, in Ahmadabad city. The mausoleum known as Hazira Maqbara at Vadodara is a historical monument constructed in a sort of Mogul style. Built in 1586, it has close similarity with the tomb of Humayun at Delhi. The important feature of this mausoleum is it contains the tombs of two prominent personalities.  They are Qutb-ud-din Muhammad Khan who was the tutor of Salim, son and successor of the great Mogul ruler Akbar, and  the other one is that of his son Naurang Khan who held important positions in Gujarat under Akbar. Qutb-ud-din was  the uncle of Mirza Aziz Koka, a foster brother of Akbar and the Governor of Gujarat. He held the powerful post  three times  in between 1573 AD to 1583 AD. Muzaffar Shah III, the last sultan of Gujarat Sultanate, a rival ruler  killed Qutb in 1583. Though simple, this monument stands in full glory and quite inspiring. The added advantage is here you have a serene ambiance that induces you to be at peace with yourself.

Hazira-maqbara,   travelrage.wordpress.com

Hazira restored  en.wikipedia.org

This structure is built on the model of Mogul tombs at Delhi with high octagonal platform and smaller gates on the cardinal directions and five big arches on each side. As in Delhi tombs, the real  grave is in the  underground chamber and the false grave is in the main tomb chamber. This type of design of toms was quite prevalent during the Mogul period. Visitors are allowed to enter the tombs in the small room. As in many tombs, the  Quranic texts in Arabic are  nicely and artistically carved at many places - inside tomb chamber, on lintels, arches and also above Jalli work on eastern side walls. Jallis and tall lattice windows are beautiful and the artisans would have spent much time on these  windows, etc as they seem to be a delicate work.This mausoleum does not exhibit eye-catching embellishments  except the extant parapet wall on the roof terrace which is well-decorated  with Merlon designs in brick red color. The outer walls of the garden tomb are made of  red bricks. The lower part of cylindrical dome surrounding the tomb has thick plaster of brick red color.
The mausoleum has a double dome- must have been a  garden tomb. Vav or step well close by was  built to supply water to the vast garden in the olden days.
https://travelrage.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/hazira-maqbara-vadodara/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazira_Maqbara