Tombs of the Mughal Emperors

What is a tomb? Tombs directly relate to the commemoration of someone's life, accomplishments, and stature. The Mughals were Muslims; that is, they practiced the religion called Islam. Islam, like Christianity, has traditions for burial of the dead. (Those who pracice Hinduism, in contrast, cremate the dead.) There are certain patterns that tombs follow. Conventions include a centralized plan, a certain type of garden setting around the central building, and a particular type of architecture and grave decoration.

Take a look at Emperor Humayun's tomb plan. First of all, the tomb isn't just a building. It includes a garden, walls around the garden, and elaborate gates on each of the four walls. Usually it also includes a mosque, the site of worship in Islam.
Plan of Humayun's Tomb complex
1562-72

Note how everything is pretty much symmetrical. The garden has four main parts. These are divided by waterways that come out of the central tomb area and lead to the four gates. Water and the garden are important parts of tombs because they remind the visitor of paradise, where water and vegetation are abundant. The tomb building itself sits in the center of the garden. This is the basic format of imperial Mughal tombs. We'll see how they change as we move into more specifics. Click the links to visit Humayun's tomb, Akbar's tomb, or Shah Jahan's tomb (the Taj Mahal). We suggest moving through them in that order. You can click on the "onward" elephant at the bottom of each page to move through the site as well.

Mughal Tombs | Mughal Portraits | Mughal City
Humayun's Tomb | Akbar's Tomb | Shah Jahan's Tomb

What is a tomb? Tombs directly relate to the commemoration of someone's life, accomplishments, and stature. The Mughals were Muslims; that is, they practiced the religion called Islam. Islam, like Christianity, has traditions for burial of the dead. (Those who pracice Hinduism, in contrast, cremate the dead.) There are certain patterns that tombs follow. Conventions include a centralized plan, a certain type of garden setting around the central building, and a particular type of architecture and grave decoration.
Take a look at Emperor Humayun's tomb plan. First of all, the tomb isn't just a building. It includes a garden, walls around the garden, and elaborate gates on each of the four walls. Usually it also includes a mosque, the site of worship in Islam.	Plan of Humayun's Tomb complex 1562-72
Note how everything is pretty much symmetrical. The garden has four main parts. These are divided by waterways that come out of the central tomb area and lead to the four gates. Water and the garden are important parts of tombs because they remind the visitor of paradise, where water and vegetation are abundant. The tomb building itself sits in the center of the garden. This is the basic format of imperial Mughal tombs. We'll see how they change as we move into more specifics. Click the links to visit Humayun's tomb, Akbar's tomb, or Shah Jahan's tomb (the Taj Mahal). We suggest moving through them in that order. You can click on the "onward" elephant at the bottom of each page to move through the site as well.