Syed Altamash Ahmad

"रहिमन धागा प्रेम का, मत तोड़ो छिटकाय।  टूटे से फिर न मिले, मिले गाँठ परिजाय॥" "Rahim says don’t break the thread of love, once broken can’t be joined, even if joined, it will have a knot." Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan was one of the Navratnas in Akbar's court and also was a General in Akbar’s military camp. Along with these Rahim was famous for his couplets. He was mastered in Hindustani, Persian, Braj, Arabic, Turkish, Sanskrit, and many more languages.   In 1598, in memory of his beloved wife, Rahim built a tomb next to Humayun's Tomb in the vicinity of the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi. The Tomb of Mah Banu shows the importance of love in Rahim's life like his poems. The tomb is now known as Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan's Tomb but was originally built in the memory of his wife and he himself was buried here in 1627. Historians say it was the first Mughal monument built for a woman and the architectural innovation developed there “informe...

  Sunehri Masjid, located outside the Delhi Gate of the Red Fort, Delhi. Udham Bai later known as Qudsia Begum was first introduced as a dancer in Mughal Mughal court and soon she won everyone's heart including the 13th Mughal Emperor, Muhammad Shah. She was married to Muhammad Shah they both had a son Ahmad Shah Bahadur who became the 14th Mughal Emperor in 1748 after the death of his father. As a widow, she took the title, Qudsia Begum. She was an administrator and served as de facto regent of India from 1748 to 1754.  Qudsia Begum was known for her enthusiasm and keen interest in architecture best known for the palace and garden complex, Qudsia Bagh on the banks of Yamuna, although that one no longer exists.  In 1750-51, She constructed a mosque called Sunehri Masjid also known as The Golden Mosque for Nawab Bahadur Javed Khan, a chief eunuch of the royal household.  The Entrance Gate outside the Mosque   The Sunehri Masjid is located outside the...

Kos Minar, Jasola Vihar, New Delhi  After the realignment of Uttarapatha, Sher Shah Suri named the road as "Sadak-e-Azam" or "Badshahi Sadak" now known as GT Road. From Teknaf, Bangladesh on the border with Myanmar west to Kabul, Afghanistan, Sher Shah Suri established many structures along with the road for the convenience of travelers and traders including Dharamshala, Sarai, step-wells, gardens, and kos minar.  The word Kos Minar is driven from the Sanskrit Kos means "a unit of land distance of various lengths from 1 to 3 miles" and Urdu Minar means "A tower or Turret". Kos Minar functioned as a tower made of various structures and lengths to help travelers to determine the distance. These were plastered solid brick structures standing on a square platform. Each minar soars from a narrow octagonal base with a round pillar, around 30 feet in height.  The concept of kos minars has been there for centuries. In the third century BC, Mauryan empero...

We always prefer the Taj Mahal as a symbol of Love as it was built by a man for his love. Whether it's Chittorgarh fort, Roopmati Pavilion, or Bibi ka Maqbara, one thing we can find similar in these monuments is that they were built by men for women. There are plenty of structures built by men for their loved ones but we merely hear about any structure built by a woman for a man. Well, there are many monuments built by women for their men like Lokeshwar Temple, Rani ki Vav, Humayun's tomb, and many more.   We mostly don't consider them as a symbol of love as we still see things from a patriarchal perspective. It's not our fault it's just, that's how we grew up which resulted in our ignorance towards many stories from the female perspective. The story of Humayun's tomb is one of them that didn't get as much attention as it deserves. This story is about a wife's love for her late husband. Bega Begum was known as Zan-i-Kalan being the first wife of Hum...