Биби-ка-Макбара

Bibi Ka Maqbara is the tomb of Rabia-ul-Daurani, also known as Dilras Banu Begum (d. 1657), wife of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707)^1,2,6. According to the ASI, it is believed to have been built by their son, Prince Azam Shah, in his mother’s memory, about 1651-1661^1,2. A Persian inscription on the brass plates of the main door, as summarised on the ASI’s notice at the gate, names Ata-ullah as architect and Hanspat Rai as engineer, working under the superintendent (darogha) Abu’l Qasim Beg, and gives the year 1071 AH (1660-61)³. Because it resembles the Taj Mahal at Agra, it is known as the Taj of the Deccan^1,4.

The ASI’s earlier account records that the marble came from mines near Jaipur, and that the traveller Tavernier saw about 300 carts laden with marble, each drawn by at least 12 oxen, on his way from Surat to Golconda². According to the Tawarikh Namah of Ghulam Mustafa, cited by the ASI, the tomb cost Rs 668,203 and 7 annas². Under the Nizams of Hyderabad a mosque was added on the west side of the enclosure, closing the western entrance, and the pavilions on the walls keep paintings of the Mughal and Nizam periods^1,2. Today the tomb is in the care of the ASI’s Aurangabad Circle¹.

The tomb stands at the centre of a walled enclosure of about 458 by 275 m, laid out as a charbagh garden^1,2. The main gate is on the south; open pavilions stand at the middle of the other three walls, and the crenellated wall has pointed arched recesses and bastions at intervals^1,2. From the gate, past a small tank, a path lined with a low screen wall and a row of fountains leads to the mausoleum, which stands on a high square platform with a minaret at each corner, reached by steps on three sides². The lower walls up to the dado and the dome are of marble; between them the walls are of basalt covered with fine plaster, polished to a marble-like finish and decorated in stucco^1,2.

The main gate is a two-storey building with a lofty central arch between wings and six small minarets; its teak doors, 4.57 m high, are faced with brass plates worked in geometric designs, and the Persian inscription runs along their middle rail³. Britannica describes the mausoleum as echoing the Taj Mahal’s central dome, four minarets and broad square plinth on a more modest scale⁷. The ASI’s earlier account says that the tomb was meant to rival the Taj Mahal but that its proportions fell short and made it a poor copy, while praising its garden setting with the hills behind².

Inside, the grave of Rabia-ul-Daurani lies below the main floor, enclosed by an octagonal marble screen and reached by a flight of steps going down². Above it, the floor of the main chamber is pierced by an octagonal opening with a low marble balustrade, so that the grave can also be seen from the ground level². The grave itself is plain, without ornament¹. Overhead, the dome is pierced with trellis work and panels of flower designs².