Where the Mughal Empress Was Laid to Rest Before the Taj Mahal

Author: Puja Changoiwala / Source: Atlas Obscura

The glory and grandeur of the Taj Mahal stand beside those of any landmark in the world; the white marble mausoleum of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and empress Mumtaz Mahal is instantly recognizable.

But 500 miles southwest of the bustling streets of Agra, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, is the remote, relatively sleepy city of Burhanpur, which holds another chapter in the afterlife of Mumtaz. There, spared the flood of tourists, are the shambling ruins of the Ahukhana, Mumtaz’s original resting place.

“As citizens of an ancient glorious civilization, we are obligated to have a deep sense of appreciation for our cultural heritage,” says Mohammed Shehzada Asif Khan, 72, a photographer, who has been organizing the Mumtaz Mahal Festival in Burhanpur for the past 40 years. “But even as seven to eight million people flock to the Taj Mahal each year, no one knows or cares about the Ahukhana, the queen’s original tomb.”

The Ahukhana was built in 16th century as a deer park for Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The garden sprawled over six miles, with two main structures, a small palace adorned with traceries and a pillared pavilion known as the baradari. It was at the baradari that the remains of Mumtaz laid in state for six months after her death. The tomb, however, is highly neglected today—grounds overgrown, walls marked with graffiti, columns marred with alarming cracks.

Shah Jahan ruled his empire from the capital Delhi in the north. In the late 1620s, his empire was beset by revolts among the Deccani kingdoms to the south. To quell the unrest, he set up a command center in Burhanpur, the gateway to southern India, famous then for its chintzes and opium, and directed military operations from the city for two years. He resided there at Shahi Qilla, a large palace across the Tapti River from the deer park. It was there, according to Diana and Michael Preston, authors of 2010’s A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time: The Story of the Taj Mahal, that Mumtaz died while giving birth to her 14th child, on June 17, 1631.

“Weak through the loss of blood, Mumtaz whispered to her distraught husband of their everlasting love and begged him not to marry again. Her final request was that he should build her a mausoleum resembling paradise on earth, just as she had seen in her dreams,” they write. “The authoritative court chroniclers record her death just a few minutes after giving birth to a daughter: When she brought out the last single pearl, she emptied her body like an oyster.”

Nandkishore Devda, a 90-year-old historian who has penned three books on Burhanpur, says that for a week after Mumtaz’s death, Shah Jahan did not appear before the court, and it seemed as if life had ceased to interest him. “The…

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