Hidden Secrets of Bibi ka Maqbara- The Domain of BIBI-KA-MAQBARA
The most glorious, spectacular and magnificent specimen of Mughal architecture in Deccan India, is the “Bibi-ka-Maqbara”, well known as the Taj of the Deccan. This impressive monument represents a fine blending of the Muslim traditions of medieval architecture. The Maqbara has an architectonic affinity with the Taj Mahal of Agra and the GolGumbad of Bijapur. It may surprise many if they were told that the hands which built the Bhadkal Gate of Aurangabad, the GolGumbad of Bijapur, the Taj Mahal of Agra and the Bibi-ka-Maqbara of Aurangabad were working under a common canopy of architectural impulse.
Aurangabad Deccan, the capital of the Mughals during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was not only famous for being the capital of the Deccan but also for the beautiful monument of the Maqbara of Dilras Bano Begum. “Rabiya-ud-Daurani” is an honourable title accorded to Dilras Bano Begum after her death in the memory of Hazrat Rabiya Basra. This great tomb, with a splendid building, was erected on the bank of Ambari Lake which was known as Talab-e-Kalan (Big Lake) in the Tehsil Record of Aurangabad.
It is modelled on the design of the Taj of Agra and can be viewed from miles together in every direction of the Dudhna river valley, in which this magnificent and royal town is situated. Mortimer Wheeler has rightly endorsed it as the “Taj Mahal of the Deccan.” It was erected in the memory of Dilras Bano Begum, the daughter of Shahnawaz KhanSafavi, a prince of the Safavid Dynasty of Iran. Dilras Bano Begum was the wife of the exalted Prince Aurangzeb. Undoubtedly, this mausoleum has the grandeur of its own, and ranks amongst the first of the beautiful buildings which the Mughals had left behind in the Deccan as memorials of their greatness both as monarchs and as architects.
The Bibi-ka-Maqbara of the Mughal princess Rabiya-ud-Daurani, in the opinion of many critics, is one of the most beautiful buildings of the Deccan. Not as a mausoleum as such, but as a blending of Muslim culture, art and architecture in the seventeenth century.
The Taj of the Deccan was raised when Prince Aurangzeb was quite young and he was romantically and sentimentally attached to his wife Dilras Bano Begum. She became an instrument in bringing Mughal art and architecture to the soil of the Deccan.
Dr Shaikh Ramzan
M.A., M.Ed., PhD (History) Researcher
