Noor Jahn Tomb

Noor Jahan (31 May 1577 – 17 December 1645) born as Mehr-un-Nissa, was Empress of the Mughal Empire as the chief consort and favorite wife of Emperor Jahangir. A strong, charismatic, and well-educated woman, she is considered to be one of the most powerful and influential women of the 17th-century Mughal Empire. She died in 1645 and was buried in the tomb she built for herself during her lifetime.  The tomb was completed in a period of four years for Rs. 0.3 million of the time.

The tomb structure is a square, measuring 40.84 meters aside and 5.89 meters in height.  The Tomb of Noor Jahan is a red sandstone structure. The vaulted ceilings were covered with marble and wrought with flower mosaics in semi-precious stones (Plundered by Sikhs).  Minute panelling was executed in intricate patterns and cornices were honeycomb-shaped in several rooms. The inner floor is covered with marble and the outer platform with sandstone. The exterior, encased in red sandstone, was inlaid with floral motifs in addition to white, black, and yellow marble.

The central vaulted chamber of the tomb contains a marble platform with two cenotaphs, one that commemorates Noor Jahan and the other to commemorate her daughter, Ladli Begum. Hakim Ajmal Khan of Dehli had arranged the laying of a marble floor in the central chamber in 1912.