History of the Safdarjung Tomb

• Mirza Muqim Abul Mansur Khan, otherwise known as Safadarjung, presided over Awadh as an autonomous leader at the position of the viceroy of Muhammad Shah. After the demise of Emperor Muhammad Shah, Safdarjung shifted to Delhi.

• Safdarjung was a native of Persia, which is now present-day Iran. He was a descendant of Qara Yusuf from the Kara Koyunlu. His name at birth was Muhammad Muqim in-Khurasan. In 1722 AD, he moved to India and became the Subadar Nawab of Oudh, or the ruler of the Awadh state on March 19, 1739. He served this position till his death and was bestowed with the title of ‘Safdarjung’ by Emperor Nasir-ud Din Muhammad Shah.

• In 1748, upon the ascension of Ahmad Shah Bahadur as the new Mughal emperor, Safdarjung relocated to Delhi. Here, he was elected as the Wazir ul-Mamalik-i-Hindustan or the Prime Minister of Hindustan. However, five years later, in 1753, Safdarjung returned to Awadh and passed away a year later in Sultanpur, which is close to Faizabad.  

• Later, the Mughal emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur granted Safdarjung’s son, Nawab Shujaud Daula, to construct a tomb in the memory of his father in Delhi.

The Architecture of Safdarjung Tomb:

• Safdarjung Tomb is the last garden tomb of the Mughals and thus, it gains another significant role in Mughal history.It was designed by an Ethiopian architect who built the tomb in a similar style to that of Humayun’s Tomb. 

• The monument was built on an elevated ground and surrounded by a large square-shaped garden. The square garden measures 280 metres or 920 feet. Each side has a courtyard, and a three-domed mosque is enclosed within a wall inside the compound of the tomb.