Najaf Khan’s Tomb

nzWhile coming back from work I usually take back lanes of South Delhi to avoid the heavy traffics of Ring road etc.  On one such detour I suddenly spotted this tomb, stopped my car to find out more. And to my utter surprise, in the middle of busy Lodhi Colony and Aurbindo Marg, this lush green and well maintained tomb is a shock to me as I proudly call my self a pure Delhi wala Sad smile 

The tomb is built in the centre of the Mughal Charbagh styled garden However, what makes the tomb a strange piece of architecture is the fact that it has been constructed as a structure without a dome, from a distance it looks no more than a plinth with 2 cenotaphs on top of it. That is actually how it is also. But the plinth or the base is arched and has chambers on it. The cenotaphs can be reached from a double sided staircase on the eastern side.

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As its famous दिल्ली शहरों का शहर है, ( Delhi is city of many cities ), this tomb unveiled a new story to me. Came back home and searched more info about it and found out this :

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Mirza Najaf Khan (1723– April 26, 1782) was a Persian adventurer in the court of Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. He had royal lineage, having been a Safavi prince, when that dynasty was deposed by Nader Shah in 1736. He came to India around 1740 and may even have come a year earlier with the Afsharids. His sister married into the family of the Nawab of Awadh. He also held the title of Deputy Wazir of Awadh. He served during the Battle of Buxar and his main contribution in history was as the highest commander of the Mughal army from 1772 till his death in April 1782.

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Najafgarh which is located at the outskirts of the south western part of Delhi, was named after the same Kiledar (Fort Administrator) Nazaf Khan of the Mughal Dynasty during the 16th century

How to get there :

To get to the tomb, the closest metro station is “Jor Bagh”, from where the tomb is a 10-minutes walk toward BK Dutt Colony.

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nz1

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