The Tomb of

Ghiyas ud din Balban Ghiyas ud din Balban (1216–1287, reigned: 1266–1287) ( ur, ); ( Hindi: ग़ियास उद-दीन बलबन); (IAST: ''Ghiyās ud-Dīn Balban'') was the ninth sultan of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi. Ghiyas ud Din was the '' re ...

is located in

Mehrauli Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, a district of Delhi in India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurgaon and next to Vasant Kunj. History Mehrauli is one of the seven medieva ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Built in circa 1287 CE in

rubble masonry Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an inn ...

, the tomb is a building of historical importance in the development of

Indo-Islamic architecture Indo-Islamic architecture is the architecture of the Indian subcontinent produced by and for Islamic patrons and purposes. Despite an initial Arab presence in Sindh, the development of Indo-Islamic architecture began in earnest with the establi ...

, as it was here that first Islamic

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vault ...

made its appearance in India, and according to many, the first Islamic

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a ...

as well, which however hasn't survived, making '' Alai Darwaza'' built in 1311 CE, in the nearby

Qutb complex The Qutb Minar complex are monuments and buildings from the Delhi Sultanate at Mehrauli in Delhi, India. Construction of the Qutub Minar "victory tower" in the complex, named after the religious figure Sufi Saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, ...

, the earliest surviving dome in India.

(1200–1287) was a Turkic ruler of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

during the rule of

Mamluk dynasty of Delhi The Mamluk dynasty ( fa, سلطنت مملوک, Salṭanat Mamlūk) was founded in Northern India by Qutb ud-Din Aibak, a Turkic Mamluk slave-general of the Ghurid Empire from Central Asia. The Mamluk dynasty ruled from 1206 to 1290; it was t ...

(or Slave dynasty) from 1266 to 1287. He was one of the most prominent rulers of the Slave Dynasty. The tomb of Balban was discovered in the mid-20th century.

Overview

It is an imposing stone and masonry building, though lacking the splendid ornamentation to be seen in the tomb of his master,

Iltutmish Shams ud-Din Iltutmish ( fa, شمس الدین ایلتتمش; died 30 April 1236, ) was the third of the Mamluk kings who ruled the former Ghurid territories in northern India. He was the first Muslim sovereign to rule from Delhi, and is thus ...

. The tomb is surrounded by the ruins of an extensive late-medieval settlement and it offers, from certain angles, a remarkable view of the

Qutub Minar The Qutb Minar, also spelled Qutub Minar and Qutab Minar, is a minaret and "victory tower" that forms part of the Qutb complex, which lies at the site of Delhi’s oldest fortified city, Lal Kot, founded by the Tomar Rajputs. It is a UNESCO Wor ...

. To the east of Balban's tomb, lies a ruined rectangular structure said to be the grave of Khan Shahid, Balban's son, whose original name was Muhammad, who died fighting against the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group indigenous peoples, native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia, Buryatia Republic of the Russia, Russ ...

s near Multan in 1285.

Gallery

File:Graveyard of Balban ,Mehrauli Archaeological Park,New Delhi,India.jpg, Grave of Balban's son File:Tomb of Balban,Mehrauli Archaeological Park,New Delhi,India.jpg, Tomb of Balban, Mehrauli -(As on 28-09-2016) File:Ruins of tomb of Balban,Mehrauli Archaeological Park,New Delhi,India.jpg, Ruins of tomb of Balban-(As on 28-09-2016) File:Ruins of the tomb of Balban,Mehrauli Archaeological Park,New Delhi,India.jpg, Ruins of structure adjoining the tomb of Balban File:Entrance to Tomb of Khan Shahid, Mehrauli.jpg, Entrance to Tomb of Khan Shahid, Mehrauli File:Tomb of Khan Shahid, Balban's son, Mehrauli.jpg, Tomb of Khan1 Shahid, Balban's son, Mehrauli File:Grave in Balban's tomb enclosure.jpg, Grave in Balban's tomb enclosure, Mehrauli

References

External links

Balban's tomb

wikimapia Wikimapia is a geographic online encyclopedia project. The project implements an interactive "clickable" web map that utilizes Google Maps with a geographically-referenced wiki system, with the aim to mark and describe all geographical object ...

Image of Tomb of Balban
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balban Mehrauli Architecture of the Mamluk dynasty (Delhi) Mausoleums in Delhi 1287 establishments in Asia 13th-century establishments in India Monuments of National Importance in Delhi