Photo 1003(136)

Genre: Architectural Photography

Showing doorway at bottom left, façade and part of dome; a poor quality image.

'List of Ancient Monuments in Bengal' (Calcutta, 1896), pp. 450-453: 'It is so called, as it is supposed to have cost a lakh of rupees. Though the materials are chiefly brick, it is the handsomest building in the place. It forms a square, with a frontage of 80 feet, roofed by a dome, with a small turret at each corner. The walls outwardly have been ornamented by carved tiles, and the dome within has been neatly plastered. It is lighted by three small doors, one on each side, and internally forms an octagon. Much of the ornemented brickwork has been carried off ...The architecture is of the Pathan style and period 816-831 A.H. ... This seems to have been intended as the mausoleum of three Royal perosnages, whose tombs occupy the middle of the floor. There is no inscription to serve as a guide, but it is said that the tombs are those of Sultans Ghyashudin, Zaynulabdin, and Wahuzudin. The two latter were probably sons of the first, who was the third Muhammadan king of Bengal ... The carved tiles on the outer walls have all disappeared; there is no plaster visible in the dome within. There are four small doors on the four sides. The Collector and Deputy Collector were much struck with the imposing appearance of this building, which is in rather better preservation than any other in Peruah or Gaur. The trees grow thickly, however, on top of the dome.'

Alexander Cunningham, 'Report of a tour in Bihar and Bengal in 1879-80' (A.S.I. vol. XV, Calcutta, 1882) pp. 88-90.

George Michell, Catherine B. Asher (et al.), 'The Islamic Heritage of Bengal' (UNESCO, 1984), p. 113: 'Tradition considers this square single-domed tomb is the mausoleum of Sultan Jalal al-Din (d. 1431, the converted son of the Bengali Hindu ruler Raja Ganesh. The proximity of this tomb to the Choti Dargah, the tomb of the revered saint Nur Quth Alam, Jalal al-Din's spritiual leader, makes this attribution convincing. The Eklakhi Tomb, one of the first extant square brick tombs in Bengal, and a model for subsequent structures of this type, evolves from the first square brick mausoleum in eastern India, the Tomb of Ibrahim Bayyu in Bihar Sharif (Nalanda District, Bihar) dated to 1353 ...The gently sloped cornice of the roof - a feature generally believed to be derived from bamboo hut architecture - appears here in permanent material and becomes a trademark of Bengali architecture ...'

Duplicate of Photo 1002 (136).