Dai Anga's Tomb (Lahore)

Pakistan / Punjab / Lahore / Grand Trunk Road
 tomb(s), interesting place
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Zeb-un-Nisa (d. 1672), or Dai Anga ('wet-nurse' in Urdu), was the wet-nurse of Shah Jahan, and the wife of a courtier under Jahangir. She is known as the founder of the Dai Anga Mosque in Lahore, one of the city's best-used mosques of the period. A few paces distant from the Gulabi Bagh gateway, on the north, is the splendid mausoleum of Dai Anga. The mausoleum is built on a raised platform. It is of octagonal form, with a large dome and towers at each corner. The walls are richly decorated with enameled pottery, and the walls bear on their interior inscriptions of passages from the Quran. The mausoleum comprises a central tomb chamber with eight rooms around it. The roof bears a low pitched dome on a high neck and a square kiosk at each corner supported on slender brick pillars. The graves are in an underground chamber. There are two graves, one of Dai Anga and the other of her daughter Sultana Begum. The original cenotaph made of marble was removed by the Ranjit Singh and replaced with plain brickwork masonry. Inscriptions at the site, written by Muhammad Salih, reveal that the mausoleum was constructed in 1671. The mausoleum was originally surrounded by an extensive garden which has now disappeared.
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Coordinates:   31°34'43"N   74°21'50"E

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  • Ranjeet Singh shall be known as dicoit of muslim heritage
  • good research
  • Zeb-un-Nisa (d. 1672), or Dai Anga ('wet-nurse' in Urdu), was the wet-nurse of Shah Jahan, and the wife of a courtier under Jahangir. A few paces distant from the Gulabi Bagh gateway, on the north, lies her splendid mausoleum. This rather ponderous, square brick structure sporting few apertures and presenting a solid face to the garden, was built to house the mortal remains of DaiAnga, Shah Jahan's wet nurse and of her daughter Shahzadi Sultan Begam, whose husband built the Gulabi Bagh Gateway. It is the same Dai Anga (wife of Mughal magistrate of Bikaneer), who built the spectacular mosque named after her, situated in Naulakha area of Central Lahore, in which also tile mosaic decoration is employed with wondrous effect. Traversing the intervening stretch of corridor-like space since the surrounding garden area has been occupied by various railway structures—you arrive at the rather squat-looking tomb placed on a raised plinth. The mausoleum is dominated by a low-pitched dome placed on a high neck or drum, while its corners are accented through the employment of four square pavilion-like kiosks, carrying projecting chajjas (eaves) and cupolas. Although shorn of most of its ornamentation, the original kashi kari (tile mosaic) can be noticed on the parapet, which points towards the quality and kind of tile mosaic that in all likelihood once covered the entire facade. The mausoleum comprises a central tomb chamber with eight rooms around it. Internally, the surface was embellished with fine fresco, portions of which are extant in the squinches above the projecting, beehive-like decorative muqarnas, along with a starlet dome treatment. The base of the squinches is encircled with inscr iptional panels from the Holy Quran, rendered in elegant calligraphy by Muhammad Saleh. Inscr iptions at the site, reveal that the mausoleum was constructed in 1671. The central sepulchral chamber and surrounding rooms are built upon a raised plinth consisting of subterranean chambers, in which the burials took place. There are two graves, one of Dai Anga and the other of her daughter Sultana Begum. Today, the original cenotaphs made of marble are no longer in existence, and the underground chambers are also inaccessible.
This article was last modified 15 years ago