Agra Travel GuideSikandra Fort  SECOND
STOREY: The second storey has an arcaded verandah on each side which is composed of 23 bays. The use of an ornamental arch and square pillar has brought about unique composition. THIRD AND FOURTH STOREYS: These storeys are smaller in size than the one below it. They have an identical arrangement of arches supported on pilllars and chhatris attached on the exterior to each façade. FIFTH STOREY: The fifth storey is entirely in white marble as against the lower storeys which are finished in red sandstone. ITMAD-UD-DAULA Itmad-ud-Daula is the tomb of Mirza Ghiyas Beg, a Persian who had obtained service in Akbar's court. The tomb set a starting precedent as the first Mughal building to be face with white inlaid marble and contrasting stones. Unlike the Taj it is small, intimate and, since it is less frequented, has a gentle serenity. ABOUT MIRZA GHIYAS BEG:  Mirza
Ghiyas Beg was the son of Khawaja Muhammad Sharif who was the wazir (Prime Minister)
of Khurasan and then of Yazd under the Safawid Emperors of Persia. After the
death of his father, Mirza Ghiyas came to India and was introduced to Akbar
who enrolled him in the imperial service. Mirza was an able man and rose high
by the sheer dint of his merit. On Jahangir's succession in 1605 he became Wazir
and received the title of Itmad-ud-Daula (Pillar of Government). Jahangir fell
in love with his daughter Mehrunnissa, better known as Nurjahan, and married
her in 1611. It was Nur Jahan who built the tomb for her father in 1628 AD,
6 years after his death. ENTRANCE A sandstone pathway leads to the main tomb which stands on a low platform (4m high and 45m square). The tomb is in the centre of a Charbagh, the four-quartered garden, measuring 540 ft and enclosed on all sides by high walls. THE GARDEN SETTING False gateways, which may be appropriately called water-pavilions, have been constructed in the centre of the north and south sides. The west side has in its middles a multi- storeyed and multi-roomed pavilion. It overhangs the river impressively and is so open and abundantly airy that it could have served the purpose of a pleasure-pavilion during the lifetime of Itmad-ud-Daula . These subsidiary structures magnificently flank the central edifice on all sides. The shallow water-channels, which originally took water from two overhead tanks situated on the riverside, run on all sides of the garden and around the mausoleum. Sunk in the middles of the raised, stone-paved pathways and associated with regularly set lotus ponds and cascades, the channels divide the charbagh into four equal quarters, stretching from the middle of each side to the centre of the plinth of the main mausoleum. THE MAIN TOMB:  The
main gateway, and also the side pavilions, are constructed of red sandstone,
with inlaid designs in white marble. The main tomb is of white marble but it
stands on a plinth of red sandstone, having in the centre, of each side opposite
the central arch, a tank with a fountain. The tomb is square in plan, with octagonal
towers attached to the corners. The towers attain a circular form above the
terrace and are surmounted by circular chhatris. Each façade of the tomb
is composed of three arches, the central one providing the entrance, the other
two on the sides being closed with beautiful trellis screens. Each side is protected
above by a chhjja and a perforated balustrade. The jalies have been carved very
delicately and appear more to be made of ivory rather than of white marble.
The tomb has inscriptional designs in abundance. More than seventy six Quranic
verses in the Hiuluth script have been artistically carved on white marble panels
which are distributed all over the building. THE INTERIOR OF THE TOMB: The interior is composed of a central mortuary hall housing the cenotaphs of Nur Jahan's mother Asmat Begum and father Itmad-ud-Daula, four oblong rooms on the sides and four square chambers on the corners-all interconnected through common doorways. The corner rooms contain tombstones of some near relations of Nur Jahan including that of her daughter Ladli Begum from her first husband Sher Afghan. Marble screens of geometric lattice work permit soft lightning of the inner chamber. Engraved on the walls of the chamber is the recurring theme of a wine flask with snakes as handles. The main chamber which contains the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula and his wife, is richly decorated with mosaics and semi-precious stones inlaid in white marble. << BACK
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