To reach the tomb of Khan-e-Jahan Bahadur Zafar Jang Kokaltash, you should proceed south on Shalimr link Road from G.T. Road. You will need to turn right (west) into Canal Bank Road.
As you drive along the pleasant bank of the canal, Nawab Bahadur Khan’s tomb will appear on you right beyond the canal. Making a ‘U’ turn on the bridge you will need to travel east for a little distance along the opposite side of the canal, before you can take a sharp left turn on a road that slopes down from Khayaban-e-Anne Marie Schimmel (Canal Bank Road). On your right stands one of the earliest extant structure of the Mughal period in Lahore-the magnificent brick tomb of Nawab Bahadur Khan on a raised podium following the octagonal plan from the tomb.
Although bereft of its facing, its beautiful well detailed brick masonry lends it a character entirely its own. The division of wall surface in a pattern of sunken panels would have lent itself admirably to treatment with fresco painting and possibly even tile mosaic. its 32’ diameter dome, raised on a drum, is reminiscent more of the dome from utilized in the tomb of Anarkali’ rather than those of other nobles such as Ali Mardan Khan or Asaf Khan. This is not surprising, since Nawab Bahadur Khan, reputed to be one of Akbar’s nobles, died in 1601, which makes this tomb contemporaneous with the tomb of Anarkali, built in 1615.
The tomb’s eight sides are punctured with alcoves consisting of Timurid peshtac openings, roofed with Kalib kari (stalactite or muqarnas) squinches. A 5′ high and preservation. Some of the original fine brick paving laid in geometric patterns, which you might like to examine on the northeast portion of the podium, is still extant. Writing at the end of the 19th century, historian Latif notes the existence of turrets with cupolas; however, those are no longer to be seen.
The marble that once embellished the dome’s surface has also been lost- possibly during Ranjit Singh’s reign. In view of the popularity of funerary gardens among the Mughals, no doubt the tomb once stood in a large garden, the extent of which is no longer possible to determine. In view if its easy accessibility from Mian Mir Cantonment, during the early British period the tomb was considered eminently suitable for entertainment activities and served as a theatre! However, later when railway authorities took over the area, once part of a historic quarter known as Mohallah Ganj, the tomb was put to a debased function of a railway storehouse.
The tomb of Bahadur Khan – a lofty double-dome mausoleum of a Mogul noble – is losing its charm after several years of neglect, and no budget has been allocated for its conservation this year. Situated near the railway crossing on the Canal Road, the mausoleum is protected under the Punjab Special premises act of 1975 and administratively falls under the federal government’s jurisdiction The multi cusped arches, sunken panels and decorative marble of the building – now being used for occasional public gatherings – have been stained and many of the bricks in its walls are broken.
The site has no boundary wall and people living nearby often use it for wedding parties. Marks of nails driven into the centuries -old building’s walls are quite visible. Sources in the federal Archaeology Department (FAD) said not a penny had been spent on the building in 10 years. The department had not appointed a curator to look after the site, they said. FAD Northern Circle director Dr Mohammad Arif confirmed that no budget had been allocated for the monument this year, But said the department planned to conserve the site next year.
The Rs 2.8 million budget this year could only be spent on monuments that required immediate repair, he said. the “original shape” of the monument would not be changed, he said, but repairs would be made. He said he had “taken notice of ” the reports of wedding parties and public gathering at the mausoleum and had asked the department to hire more people to take care of historical sites. He denied that the side had no curator, saying a person had been appointed to look after the mausoleum and two other sites “close by”. the octagonal mausoleum is constructed in cut brickwork but no red sandstone has been used, making it a unique building of its time.
In its original setting, the tomb of Bahadur Khan stood prominently in a complex of historical building – Musjid-e-Qasban (the mosque of the butchers), the tomb of Shiekh Abdul Haque (a disciple of Mian Mir), the tomb of Khan Dauran Nusrat Khan and Kos Minar. the ancient Mohallah of Khafipur (presently Mian Mir) was on its southeast. Khan-e-Jahan Bahadur Zafar Jang was among the mogul nobles of Aurangzeb Alamgir’s period. He was appointed the subedar of Punjab on April 11, 1691 but was dismissed in the middle of 1693. He died on November 23, 1697. Some 19th-century scholars have identified the person buried in the tomb as Bahadur Khan, an Emir of Mogul emperor Akbar. Since they quote no contemporary source of this, other scholars dismiss it is a case of “unanimity in ignorance”.
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