In Greater Noida, a Shah Jahan-era tomb with Red Fort link cries for attention

The structure is often associated with the Nihalde Sati Temple in the neighbourhood, which, historians believe, is linked to the Rajasthani epic of Nihalde and Narsultan.

According to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) documents dating back to 1969, “The tomb of Ikram Khan, one of the officers entrusted with the building of the fort at Delhi (Red Fort) by Shah Jahan, constructed of red sandstone, still exists in a fair state of preservation.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, Author and Historian Sam Dalrymple said, “One of the tragedies of expansion of modern Delhi is that it swallowed up all these areas and all these old historical villages have been lost. We know that there used to be a tomb and there used to be a fort in that area and that has unfortunately not survived from what we have seen. The tomb is begging to be restored. The Mughal Park (known today as Kasna Park) is intact and is being used as a public park in Greater Noida but no one has written about it.”

Historians said the legend of Nihalde and Narsultan “latched on to” the tomb when people from Rajasthan moved into the area in the 1980s.

Situated just an hour from Delhi, Kasna was one of the villages that paid tax to the Mughal emperor. “It was an old Mughal village. The fortress is gone now but just like many in Rajasthan, it (Kasna) would have had a small military fortress to enable the local Mughal zamindars to collect tax. One assumes that this is Ikram Khan’s land. His tomb is there but we don’t know why exactly he was buried there,” said Dalrymple.

Speaking about the uniqueness of the tomb, Dalrymple said, “So often, we go to the monuments of kings and sultans. But this is one of the few monuments or tombs built for a craftsman. I can only think of one more such monument, the Bahauddin’s tomb in Fatehpur Sikri.”

On the legend of Nihalde and Narsultan, Dalrymple wrote in an Instagram post along with Author Rana Safvi: “One day, a Rajasthani prince called Narsultan spotted her (Nihalde) on the swing and fell in love. After asking permission from king Magh, the two were married, and Nihalde moved to her husband’s kingdom at Keshavgarh. After some scheming at the court by the evil Phoolkanwar, Narsultan was sent into exile. Nihalde promised that if he didn’t come back by the day of Teej, then she would commit Sati and jump on a funeral pyre made for her husband … Months passed and finally the day arrived. But Narsultan reached Teej too late. By the time he had arrived, Nihalde had already jumped on the pyre. He then built this ‘temple’ in her honour.”