Adham Khan’s Tomb, built in 1562, is located in Mehrauli in New Delhi, India.
Adham Khan was a general in the army of Emperor Akbar and was the son of Maham Anga, a wet nurse and foster mother of Akbar. Thus, Adham Khan was a foster brother of Akbar. Another wet nurse and foster mother of Akbar was Ji Ji Anga. Her husband Ataga Khan was Akbar’s foster father and also his favourite general. Both these (former) wet nurses wielded considerable political power and influence in Akbar’s empire and there was some rivalry between their two families. When in 1561, Akbar appointed Ataga Khan to a high post, Maham Anga and Adham Khan did not like it at all. One day in 1562, Adham Khan killed Ataga Khan inside Agra Fort. Akbar had tolerated many earlier misdeeds of Adham Khan who probably expected to get away with this murder too. But when Akbar got the news of Ataga Khan’s death (from none other than Adham Khan himself), he was enraged and ordered General Khan to be thrown down from the ramparts of Agra Fort.
Believe it or not, but the hardy general had to be thrown down from the ramparts twice before he died. Now, the ramparts of Agra fort are quite high - about 40 feet (12 metres), and I wondered how General Khan survived the first fall from such a height. Could it be, I thought, that the General had managed to bribe Akbar’s men and persuaded them to throw him into the river Yamuna which, then flowed along the eastern side of the fort, rather than on the ground? He could well have survived this splash into the Yamuna.
But then, I saw a painting from Akbar’s official biography, Akbarnama by Abu Fazal. It depicts the scene of Adham Khan’s execution and shows Akbar standing with a sword in hand, watching the whole operation as Adham Khan is falling down and is about to hit the ground. So, obviously, my hypothesis of Adham Khan having fallen with a splash rather than a thud, does not hold water. However, the text of Akbarnama does mention that the “short-sighted men” who had been ordered to throw Adham Khan, did not throw him down “properly” out of their misplaced “consideration” for Adham Khan, with the result that he remained “half alive” after the first fall. The next time, he was thrown head down and Akbar’s objective was achieved. Later, I read that at the time of this incident, the walls of Agra Fort were only as high as ‘the height of a man and a half’. I wonder why Akbar did not make use of the sword in his hand. Perhaps, he did not want to kill his foster brother with his own hands.
When Akbar broke the news about Adham Khan to his mother Maham Anga, she is reported to have said, “You did well”. But actually, she could not bear the grief of her son’s death and died forty days after his death. Akbar felt sad at his foster mother’s death. He must also have felt remorse for his own action and ordered a “lofty” tomb to be built at Mehrauli where both Adham Khan and his mother Maham Anga were buried. Incidentally, Ataga Khan (who died on the same day as Adham Khan) was buried near the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia.
Today, the tomb of Adham Khan is in a state of neglect, quite unlike the tombs at Lodi Gardens. There is a small signboard at the tomb, which says simply, ‘Bhulbhulaiya’, but there is no mention of Adham Khan or his mother. The local people around the tomb seem to know it only as a bhulbhulaiya (maze/labyrinth). The tomb is octagonal in shape with three arched entrances on each side and stands on a high platform. It is known as Bhulbhulaiya because apparently, some people believe that one can get lost within the walls of the tomb. Personally, I cannot imagine anyone getting “lost” in the tomb, which has open exits on all sides.
Looking at what remains of the tomb, one can hardly imagine what a magnificent monument it once was. Luckily for me, I came across a photograph of a nineteenth century watercolour of Adham Khan’s Tomb as it then existed. Due to copyright reasons, I cannot post the photograph here, but you can see it by going to Google and doing a search for “Tomb of Adham Khan, nineteenth century watercolor” (do not omit the quotation marks).
I saw only one grave inside the tomb, presumably that of Adham Khan. According to some sources, in the 1830s, a British officer named Blake of Bengal Civil Service removed the graves and converted the tomb into his residence. Obviously, the man had no fear of ghosts and evil spirits. After his death, for many years, the tomb was used by the British as a rest house and then as a police station, post office etc. Later, Lord Curzon got the tomb vacated and restored as a monument. But the grave of Adham Khan only was restored. Apparently, the grave of Maham Anga is now lost for ever.
Since no government body seems interested in taking care of this tomb, perhaps, some corporate house could be persuaded (and allowed) to maintain it. Or perhaps, we must wait for another avatar of Lord Curzon, for the Tomb of Adham Khan to be restored to a semblance of its original magnificence.
See also, A Walk Back In Time, Via Mehrauli.
