Chauburji
Encyclopedia
Mughal era
The Mughal era is a historic period of the Mughal Empire in South Asia . It ran from the early 15th century to a point in the early 18th century when the Mughal Emperors' power had dwindled...
in the city of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
In the historic city of Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, on the road that led southwards to Multan
Multan
Multan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
, the Chauburji gateway remains of an extensive garden known to have existed in Mughal
Mughal era
The Mughal era is a historic period of the Mughal Empire in South Asia . It ran from the early 15th century to a point in the early 18th century when the Mughal Emperors' power had dwindled...
times. The establishment of this garden is attributed to Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
Princess Zeb-un-Nisa, 1646 AD, which appears in one of the inscriptions on the gateway. The gateway consists of four towers and contains much of the brilliant tile work with which the entire entrance was once covered.
Architecture
Chauburji represents a strong blend of Mughal architecture with ancient Muslim style of building. Its distinguishing features are the minarets which expand from the top, not present anywhere in the sub-continent. Some, however, believe that there were cupolas upon these minarets which collapsed with the passage of time. Arches are of the so-called 'Tudor' style, adapted to Islamic architecture, particularly in Mughal mausoleums and mosques. The red brickwork is typical of the Muslim buildings of the sub-continent; the doorways and windows running through the interior corridors are examples of the living style that characterized the Mughal buildings. However, the main purpose of building Chauburji appears to be strictly monumental. The decrepit building, which has not lost its elegance, stands alone surrounded by hoardings and bustling traffic on the busy Multan Road.Resemblance to Charminar of Hyderabad
Dr. Ajaz Anwar wrote in an article published in The Pakistan TimesPakistan Times
Pakistan Times is an independent online daily newspaper. It is published from Islamabad.-External links:**...
in April, 1985: “But the real prototype of Chauburji is the Charminar
Charminar
Charminar built in 1591 AD, is a landmark monument located in Hyderabad, India. The two words Char Minar of Urdu language are combined to which it is known as Charminar . These are four ornate minarets attached and supported by four grand arches, it has become the global icon of Hyderabad and is...
(meaning: four minarets) of Hyderabad Deccan constructed in 1591 by Muhammad Quli as a triumphal arch at the junction of four roads, leading to the four quarters of the old city. Octagonal minarets were later used along the corners of the Tomb of Jahangir
Tomb of Jahangir
Tomb of Jahangir, is the mausoleum built for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir who ruled from 1605 to 1627. The mausoleum is located near the town of Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Pakistan. His son Shah Jahan built the mausoleum 10 years after his father's death. It is sited in an attractive walled garden....
itself. This became a motif and was incorporated in the Taj where the minarets flank the corners of the platform... The Charminar, though it comes closest to Chauburji, has a striking contrast and a sense of negation between the very simple lower portion and the heavily decorated upper portion. In the tomb of Akbar, the white marble and variegated stone give the feeling of having been added later... Chauburji, because of the colour of the brick adorned with glazed tiles having the look of flowering creepers, retains a distinctive unity.” http://www.dawn.com/2001/11/14/fea.htm#3
Lost Garden of Zeb-un-Nisa
Originally it was gateway to the Garden of Zeb-un-Nisa or Zebinda Begum, the accomplished daughter of AurangzebAurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
. This garden is believed to have been extended from Nawankot in the south to the main city of Lahore towards north. However, no traces of such an expansive garden are now available. A fragmentary inscription on the eastern archway records that the garden was built in AH. 1056 i.e. 1646 AD.
Although most of the inscriptions have been lost, on the upper-most part of the construction Ayat-ul-Kursi can be seen in Arabic script in blue and worked in porcelain. Others include two couplets written in Persian above the arch:
It is thus understood that it was commissioned by Sahib-e-Zebinda (one endowed with elegance), Begum-e- Dauran (Lady of Ages) and was bestowed upon Mian Bai Fakhrunnisa (Pride of Women), the favourite female attendant of the princess.
Renovation
During a severe earthquake in 1843, the north-western minaret collapsed and cracks appeared in the central arch. This has however been restored as much as was reasonably possible and the gateway now looks quite as it might have been during the time of its Mughal patroness. The restoration was carried out by the Department of Archeology in the late in 1960's.External links
- Watch Chauburji in 3D by using Google EarthGoogle EarthGoogle Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
. Modeled by Ahsan Iqbal