The Story of a Plain Tomb – Mirza Najaf Khan’s Tomb by Purbasha Mukherjee

Peeking through the ruined gateways, a seemingly plain tomb fell into the notice of a teenager while making her occasional visit at the Kali Bari in Lodhi road. Interest piqued, a barrage of questions following later, her curiosity got sated when she finally stepped into its enclosure bright early in the morning. That fateful day, I got to know that this was the tomb of Mirza Najaf Khan, a Persian Noble, but in whose court I couldn’t seem to care less about it. This kind of behaviour was quite unusual on my account. I was so spellbound by the sheer simplicity of the tomb that all my thoughts had flown out of the proverbial window. Gaping like a fish in front of the tomb, I allowed myself to get drunk in its beauty. I explored the maximum tomb area and some parts of the garden enclosure which I could with my brother and cousin in the limited amount of time we had in our hand. Casting a few longing glances back at the tomb while exiting the enclosure, I made a promise to visit this tomb again. Little did I know that it was just the beginning of my tryst with this particular monument. 

             

                          Najaf Khan’s Tomb

After the airing of Adham Khan’s Tomb of Not-so-famous Mughal Monuments Series on the Speaking Archaeologically’s YouTube channel, all the Research Wing members got instructed to keep an eye out for the lesser known Mughal Monuments in their area. Delhi being the seat of many empires as noted by Chopra (Chopra, 1970), I started listing all the places in my head I knew about. My Eureka moment arrived while I was walking back home from the market. I realized that Mirza Najaf Khan qualifies all the criterias of being a Not-so-Famous Mughal Monument: An ongoing project by Speaking Archaeologically. From delivering frantic messages to Shriya Ma’am so that I can talk to her to listing down things and making plans with my father to visit the site the very next day, I was a ball of energy. 

Standing in front of the Tomb on 4th July not only as a student of history but as someone who got trained through the various sessions and personally by Shriya ma’am on how to cover a site, my anxiety was reaching new heights. It felt just too surreal to achieve a part of my dream to work on the underrated sites. Located on the South of Safdarjung Tomb and opposite to the Safdarjung Airport (erstwhile Willingdon Airdrome), the Najaf Khan’s Tomb stands within a garden enclosure hidden away from the world. This tomb belongs to the Late Mughal school of Architecture and the absence of a dome was quite shocking. 

                

                Inside the Tomb of Najaf Khan 

Mirza Najaf Khan was the last scion of Safavid dynasty of Iran which was displaced by Nadir Shah. Saved by Saadat Khan, the then Nawab of Awadh from the dungeons of Nadir Shah, he and his sister migrated to India where Najaf Khan started serving in the Mughal army. Described as ‘Lion hearted’, ‘a man of great ability’ by various scholars he was granted the title of Amirul Umra and Zulfiqar ud-Daula by Shah Alam II. After a brief bout of illness, he died and was laid here, near Safdarjung’s Tomb. The tomb houses the graves of Najaf Khan and his daughter Fatima along with two other uninscribed graves in another room. According to scholars, they might be members of Najaf’s family. 

The entrances of the tomb are closed, the only openings being the octagonal bastions on the four corners of the tomb carrying all sorts of things within them. From disgustingly saccharine confessions of love, pupas of god knows what, packets littering the floor to guard clothes hanging inside these chambers, one can find anything and everything in here. Alas, like every other protected and unprotected monument, this tomb is also not an exception to vandalism. The ruined gateway standing guard to the tomb is made of lakhori bricks , a resident feature of Mughal architecture from the reign of Shah Jahan.

Mirza Najaf Khan’s Tomb is the best example of the phrase ‘appearances can be deceptive’. Although from outside it looks well maintained (maybe a misconception due to the well maintained garden enclosure laden with fruit trees and flowers), from inside it’s slowly deteriorating. Black mould infested corridors, mortar peeling off from the chambers, peepal trees growing from the cracks of stairs and the foundation and various insects infesting the niches are some of the factors affecting this tomb. The well situated near the northern boundary wall of the enclosure is in a deplorable condition. Filled with garbage, trees growing from inside through the cracks on the wall of the well, it needs immediate attention. In a similar state are the chambers located in the Northern and Western boundary wall which are covered with overgrown vegetation, heaps of garbage, broken wine bottles making navigation in these areas difficult. Heaps of dry leaves greet us while walking around the path near the boundary walls. An absolute cherry on the top among these factors is the active railway line (LDCY) adjacent to the Southern boundary wall. 

With all the observations stated above about this tomb, it’s not very surprising to find it slowly fading away. Interestingly enough, the reports by the government state that the RWA is responsible for the maintenance of both protected and unprotected monuments in areas with high concentration of historical structures but from the current scenario, are unaware of their very duty. The pitiable condition of the execution and implementation of the heritage laws in our country is quite another story altogether. The Tomb of Najaf Khan has been quite special to me. Even though it’s no architectural marvel , it has the serenity and the simplicity which is quite hard to find in a happening city like Delhi. Surendranath Sen in his work pointed out that this tomb is historically important, if not architecturally and I couldn’t have agreed more. On an ending note, each tomb has its own story to tell, it only needs a keen ear and an eye to convey them.