Kandhari Begum Tomb - Historical landmark in Agra - Agra, India

If you're planning a trip to India, visiting the Taj Mahal is an absolute must! Built as a monument to eternal love, this palace is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world and visited by millions of travelers each year. Read on for everything you need to know before visiting the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is located in Agra, India. The city of Agra is located in northern India, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The city gained importance during Medieval times and remains a popular tourist destination to this day thanks to the Taj Mahal and its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mirza Muzzaffar having some problems with the Safavid ruling authorities and perceiving the Uzbek pressure to capture Kandahar was forced to capitulate on terms to surrender it to the Mughals. Therefore, as Akbar who was keenly waiting for any chance to capture Kandahar, immediately sent Shah Beg Khan Arghun, Governor of Bangash, to take prompt possession of Kandahar, and though, as in all his undertakings, Muzaffar wavered at the last moment and had recourse to trickery, he was obliged by the firm and prudent behavior of Shah Beg Khan. In this way Kandahari Begum had to leave her native place to visit India in the company of her father and came to India during Akbar's reign near about in the end of 1595 when her father and her four brothers, Bahram Mirza, Haider Mirza, Alqas Mirza and Tahmasp Mirza and 1000 qazilbash soldiers arrived in India. Muzaffar Khan received from Akbar the title of Farzand (son), and was made a Commander of five thousand, and received Sambhal as Jagir (property), "which is worth more than all Kandahar." Mirza Muzaffar Husain had exchanged the lordship of Kandahar for a high rank and splendid salary in the service of Emperor Akbar. His younger brother Mirza Rustam, also immigrated to India in Akbar's reign and rose to eminence under Jahagir. The Mughal Emperors made the most of this opportunity of ennobling their blood by alliance with the royal family of Persia even through a younger branch. Muzaffar found everything in India bad, and sometimes resolved to go to persia, and sometimes to Makkah. From grief and disappointment, and a bodily hurt, he died in 1603. His mausoleum (now a domeless crumbled down stone and brick structure with an underground burial chamber with Persian Nastaleeq calligraphed epitaph on the door facing South,) lies amidst other ruins in a garden complex that now is the campsite of the Bharat Scouts & Guides Delhi Jamboree, north of Humayun's Tomb at Delhi. And so it was that eighteen-year-old Khurram was compelled to make his first marriage to a young Persian maiden. Subsequent Mughal court recorders and biographers, however, merely accord the princess the blandly descriptive label Qandahari Mahal, a clear indication of her lesser status at the court. The process of arranging the marriage appears to have taken some time. The Emperor Jahagir. recorded two related entries in his memoirs, nearly a year apart. The first appeared as just one item of business in a typically humdrum account of the day's court transactions, regional promotions, salary checks and other miscellaneous imperial housekeeping chores. On Sunday, 12 December 1609, Jahangir sent fifty thousand rupees as a wedding pledge to Kandahari Begum's house. Jahangir writes in his Tuzuk that "previously to this I had the daughter of Mirza Muzaffar Husain, son of Sultan Husain Mirza Safavi, ruler of Qandahar, betrothed to my son Sultan Khurram, and on this the marriage meeting had been arranged, I went to the house of Baba Khurram and passed the night there."

A monument at the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal that appears to have been taken over by cats. It is the tomb of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's first wife, Kandari Begum. Legend has it that she was very fond of cats. Even today, 350 years after her death, her grave is a refuge for more than 100 cats. The tomb and mosque in the building are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Local legend has it that the Queen established an 'orphanage' for kittens on the site, and was buried there after her death. According to historical records, Qandari Begum was of Persian descent. She was born in 1594, married Shah Jahan in 1609, and died in 1666. The Mughal Emperor married several times. There is little historical material on all but a few of his wives. Although there are many legends about the site, there are those who believe that the tomb is actually the tomb of the "King of the Fairies". (Jinn are supernatural creatures). The reason for this belief is the reason for the unusually large number of cats in logic.

Kandhari Begum Tomb provides a set of products asked by its customers and works to maintain its inventory in a fresh and comprehensive state. Have you already visited this company previously? You can write your opinion and describe your reaction on the level of products, costs and overall atmosphere. Fair critique motivates management to improve their work. Kandhari Begum Tomb is located by the following address: Dharmapuri, Forest Colony, Taj Ganj -- 282001. ..................................................................

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Part Fourteen: Sikandra *Akbar's Tomb* -- *The Kanch Mahal* --*Suraj-Bhan-ka Bagh* -- *Mariam Zamani's Tomb*. Sikandra, a village about five miles from Agra, and the burial-place of Akbar, is reached by two roads. The older one follows, to some extent, the alignment of the great military road to Lahore and Kashmir, planned by Babar and completed by his successors. A few of the kos-minars, pillars which marked off the kos-- a distance of about two and a half miles-- can still be seen along the road, or in the adjoining fields. Numerous remains of archaeological interest are passed on the way of the old road. First the Delhi gate of the old city walls. About a mile further on the right-hand side, is a great walled enclosure, named after Ladli Begam, the sister of Abul Fazl, Akbar's famous Prime Minister and biographer. It formerly contained her tomb, as well as that of Sheikh Mubarak, her father, and of Faizi, her eldest brother. Many years ago the whole enclosure was sold by Government. The purchasers, some wealthy Hindu merchants of Muttra, promptly pulled down the mausoleum, realized the materials, and built a pavilion on the site. In front of the great gateway was a splendid *baoli*, or well-house, the largest in the neighbourhood of Agra. This was filled up about five years ago. "Not far from Ladli Begam's garden is the Kandahari Bagh, where the first wife of Shah Jahan, a daughter of Mozaffar Husein, who was the great-grandson of Shah Ismail Safvi, King of Persia, is buried". About a mile further along the road, on the left-hand side, is a curious statue of a horse in red sandstone, which, tradition says, was put up by a nobleman whose favourite horse was killed at this spot; the *syce* who was killed at the same time has his tomb close by. Nearly opposite to this is a large dried-up tank, called the Guru-ka-Tal, which, with the adjacent ruined buildings, are attributed to Sikandar Lodi, one of the Afghan predecessors of the Mogul Emperors, who has given his name to Sikandra.

Kandahari Begum married Prince Khurram on 12 December 1609 in Agra. There were several family connections between their two families, perhaps the nearest of which was that Khurram's father Emperor Jehangir was a half-brother of Kandahari's step-mother Khanum Sultan Begum. Khurram's official biographer, Muhammad Amin Qazvini, was far more eloquent in his description of the marriage. Indeed, effusive compliments were the order of the day and his delirious account left no superlative unexplored. The festive assemble was arranged in a beautifully appointed mansion that was traditionally assigned to the widow mother of the ruling emperor and located inside the thick walls of Agra Fort adjacent to the palatial State House. The astrologers duly consulted the marriage at an auspicious hour. On 21 August 1611, she gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter, who was named "Parhez Banu Begum" by her grandfather, Emperor Jahangir. However, in the Maasir-i-Alamgiri, she is referred to as Purhunar Banu Begum. She was the eldest child of her father, but the only child of her mother. The infant was entrusted to the care of her great-grandmother, the Dowager empress Ruqaiya Sultan Begum, who had been Emperor Akbar's first and chief wife, and had also brought up Khurram. She lies buried at Agra, in the center of the expansive garden at Agra founder by her (c. 1628 - 50), called Kandahari Bagh. She also had a mosque built, which was three arched, single dome mosque on the western side of the Kandahari Bagh at Agra. It served a quarry of bricks for constructing modern day buildings in the complex, and is no longer extant. The building over her tomb was largely destroyed during the period of anarchy which followed Aurangzeb's death in 1707. The building, which is in the vault is converted into a dwelling place. Her tomb does not exist any more, just the compound it was situated in does, along with one of the entrance gates, a portion of the wall and a couple of the wall's corner cupolas.

Kandahari Begum. And what a difference between the two tombs! Technically, Kandahari Begum's tomb does not exist any more, just the compound it was situated in does, along with one of the entrance gates, a portion of the wall and a couple of the wall's corner cupolas. The compound became property of the Bharatpur rulers at some point in the colonial era, and a mansion/haveli was built in place of the central tomb. Compare the buildings in these photos to the Taj ......