LODI ROAD

Safdarjung's Tomb

This is located at the Lodi Road, besides the Safdarjung Airport.
History - The tomb was built in the year 1754 for Safdarjung by his son Nawab Shuja-ud-Daulah. Safdarjung was the governor of Awadh and later became the powerful prime minister of Mohammad Shah, a Mughal emperor from 1719 to 1748. The second Nawab of Awadh dynasty (popularly known as Safdarjung) was born as Mohammad Muqim in Khurasan province of Persia and migrated to India in 1722. He succeeded his father in law and maternal uncle, Saadat Khan, to the throne of Awadh. In order to occupy the throne, he had to pay an astounding amount of money to Nadir Shah. Later the Mughal emperor, Mohammad Shah, gave him the title of "Safdarjung". The tomb has been erected roughly on the pattern of the Humayun's tomb. It was built by an Ethiopian architect, Bilal Mohammed Khan, at an exhorbitant cost of Rs.3 lakhs. The marble and sandstone facing used for it was abstracted from the tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-e-khana.
Garden- This is a garden tomb in a marble mausoleum. It represents the last phase of Mughal style of architecture. The garden, entered through an ornate gate with its facade decorated with elaborate plaster carvings, is in the Mughal gardens or charbagh style. It covers an area of 300 sq.m. and has an enclosure raising to two levels. There are four water canals leading to four buildings. One is the ornately decorated gateway, while the other three are pavilions, with living quarters built into the walls. These beautiful pavilions are known as"Moti Mahal" or pearl palace, "Jangli Mahal" or the sylvan palace and "Badshah Pasand" or the emperor's favorite. The last one was used by the family in later times as residence. Octogonal towers are in the corners. The canals are also the four oblong tanks, one on each side of the tomb. The garden is thus divided into 4 equal parts and then again divided into 36 parts with the help of fountains and canals. There is also a madrassa (Muslim school) inside the premises and a mosque. There is a library over the main gateway maintained by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).
Tomb - The tomb stands on high terrace of 110 sq feet faced by a verandah broken by arched openings leading to a series of cells inside. The central tomb has a huge dome with bulbous outline and the polygonal corner towers topped by chhatris. It is built with red sandstone and buff stone relieved by marble. There are two graves here, one of Safdarjung and the other apparently his wife's. The square central chamber of the mausoleum is surrounded by eight rooms all around. It is carved and finely polished while the surrounding rooms are rhombic or square. Sunlight enters through the lattice work. Constructed of small hard baked lakori bricks, the central structure has double storeyed minarets at the corners and a globular marble dome. The double storeyed mausoleum is 18.28 sq.m in area. The three domed arched mosque with whaleback roofing at the entrance was added later. The dome of the tomb rises from a sixteen sided base.
Timings - The tomb is open from sunrise to sunset.