As one drives across the Barapullah flyover towards Sarai Kale Khan from JLN stadium, a striking structure on the left catches the eye. Built of red sandstone, it is a spitting image of the Humayun’s Tomb — albeit much smaller in size — situated nearby.
This is the tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khanan, or simply Rahim, the commander-in-chief of Mughal emperor Akbar’s army, one of his Navratnas, and a renowned poet.
Rahim had built the tomb in memory of his wife Mah Banu, some 40 years before Emperor Shah Jahan built Agra’s Taj Mahal. After he died in 1627, Rahim was also buried beside his wife, just like Shah Jahan was in the Taj decades later.
Son of a celebrated commander of the Mughal Army, Bairam Khan, Rahim is now mostly remembered for his couplets (dohe), which cover a range of issues — from the importance of humility to the frailty of human relationships.
Situated in Nizamuddin East on Mathura Road, the tomb, however, was reduced to ruins over the years — partly due to neglect and partly due to the monument being used as a quarry, its stones plundered to construct other structures, the most prominent being Safdarjung Tomb.
Asar-ul-Sanadid, published in 1847 by educationist and reformer Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan, perfectly illustrates the shoddy state of the tomb in the late 19th Century. “The tomb was very beautifully constructed and decorated with floral designs, but its marble and stones have been mercilessly pulled out… Even the headstone of the grave was not spared… today… it resembles a skeleton of mortar and brick,” an excerpt from the book reads.
In the 1920s, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) provided masonry support to overhanging sandstone blocks on the facade, preventing it from total collapse.
According to Ratish Nanda, CEO of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), the tomb was in a very ruinous condition until a few years ago. “It suffered from significant structural failures. There were large cracks in its walls. Lots of portions were completely lost,” he told The Indian Express.
The fate of the neglected premises took a turn in 2014, when apart from the ASI, the InterGlobe Foundation came on board with the AKTC as part of the Union Tourism Ministry’s ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme for a conservation project that lasted six years.
According to an AKTC document, “This has been the largest conservation effort ever undertaken at any monument of national importance in India, and also the first-ever privately undertaken conservation effort
under ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’.”
Said Nanda; “The monument was in such a state that there were chances of it collapsing completely. It took a significant amount of restoration and reconstruction efforts for it to be in the state we see today.”
A salient aspect of the monument is the finish on its dome — it is only partly covered with marble, with the rest of the surface left as is. This was done on the advice of ASI, which was wary of “retouching history”, as reported by The Indian Express in 2020.
Praising the restoration work, Rameen Khan, who conducts heritage walks and tours in Delhi and outside, told The Indian Express: “It has been beautifully restored… and there are displays of interesting snippets of Rahim’s life inside the complex. There is so much to savour when you visit here.”
Calling the mausoleum a “criminally underrated structure”, he said, “It is tragic how Humayun’s Tomb and Sunder Nursery, situated nearby, remain packed through the day while there is hardly any visitor here.”
Nevertheless, the monument looks its best when seen from the Barapullah flyover at night, bright and illuminated, leaving everything else, even its inspiration, far in the background.
Perhaps, this is a befitting tribute to a master court poet, whose verses still hold their own, centuries after he left this world.
The tomb of Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khanan as seen from the Barapullah flyover at night. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha) 
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