Tweet of the Day: The Tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan

The Tomb of Abdul Rahim  Khan-i-Khanan (17 December 1556 – 1 October 1627).

Popularly known as  Rahim and immortalize through his dohas or couplets, Rahim was among the most important ministers in Akbar’s court.  He was one of the Navartnas and continued to serve Salim after his accession to the throne as Emperor Jahangir. He was a Hindi poet, astrologer, had expertise in Sanskrit and was the son of Bairam Khan( who was caretaker for Akbar till he assumed the real power).

It is situated in Nizamuddin East on the Mathura road, near Humayun’s Tomb, in New Delhi. In 2014 InterGlobe Foundation and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) announced a project to conserve and restore Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan’s Tomb.

 

Trivia

Abdul Rahim was known for his strange manner of giving alms to the poor. He never looked at the person he was giving alms to, keeping his gaze downwards in all humility. When Tulsidas heard about Rahim’s behaviour when giving alms, he promptly wrote a couplet and sent it to Rahim:-

“ऐसी देनी देंन ज्यूँ, कित सीखे हो सैन

ज्यों ज्यों कर ऊंच्यो करो, त्यों त्यों निचे नैन”

“Why give alms like this? Where did you learn that? Your hands are as high as your eyes are low”

Realizing that Tulsidas was well aware of the reasons behind his actions, and was merely giving him an opportunity to say a few lines in reply, he wrote to Tulsidas saying:-

“देनहार कोई और है, भेजत जो दिन रैन

लोग भरम हम पर करे, तासो निचे नैन”

“The Giver is someone else, giving day and night. But the world gives me the credit, so I lower my eyes.”

Tomb Architecture (credit: nizamuddinrenewal.org)

The Tomb was opened for the public on December 22, 2020, after six years of restoration work- perhaps the largest conservation project ever undertaken for any monument of national importance in India-comparison with the Taj Mahal as one set foot inside was inevitable. While the latter attained to glory and became the most sought-after monument in the country, Rahim’s Tomb which inspired the architecture of the Taj, stood alone and faded from the public memory.

Restoration work (credit: Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative)

Five decades before the Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan, it was Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, who built a tomb in Delhi in memory of his wife Mah Banu. It was the first Mughal tomb built for a woman. After his death in 1627, Rahim was buried beside his wife, just like Shah Jahan was in the Taj.)

 

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