Safdarjung's Tomb

Built in 1754 for Safdarjung, a nawab of Awadh who served as vizier, this is generally counted the last of the great Mughal garden tombs, put up when the empire had little money left, which shows: marble for the facing was reportedly taken from the earlier tomb of Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, and the proportions are heavier and the detail coarser than at Humayun's Tomb, which it clearly imitates. It stands on a terrace in a charbagh garden with water channels, pavilions on the enclosing walls and a domed chamber over the cenotaph. It is one of the quietest monuments in central Delhi.

History

Safdar Jang, Nawab of Awadh, was made wazir, or prime minister, of the Mughal Empire when Ahmad Shah Bahadur came to the throne in 1748; he left Delhi in 1753 and died in Awadh in 1754. His son Shuja-ud-Daula asked the emperor's permission to build him a tomb in Delhi, and the tomb, designed by an Abyssinian architect, Bilal Muhammad Khan, at a cost of about three lakh rupees, was the first time someone outside the immediate imperial family built such a tomb and garden complex (Wikipedia, Tomb of Safdar Jang).

The main sights

• The domed tomb - a bulbous dome over the central chamber on a terrace.
• The charbagh - the four-part garden with channels and pathways.
• The wall pavilions - structures set into the enclosing walls.
• The quiet - far fewer visitors than the major Delhi monuments.

When to go

October to March for pleasant weather; the garden is at its best in the early morning or the hour before closing, when the light is low and warm on the sandstone.

What to expect

The visit is short, under an hour for most. The building is visibly less refined than its models, which some find disappointing. Facilities on site are minimal.

Nearby

Lodhi Gardens lies east; Humayun's Tomb is further east.

Key facts