Dai Anga's Tomb in Lahore

Dai Anga's Tomb in Lahore. Zeb-un-Nisa (d. 1672), or Dai Anga ('wet-nurse' in Urdu), was the wet-nurse of Shah Jahan, and the wife of a courtier under Jahangir. A few paces distant from the Gulabi Bagh gateway, on the north, lies her splendid mausoleum. Although shorn of most of its ornamentation, the original kashi kari (tile mosaic) can be noticed on the parapet, which points towards the quality and kind of tile mosaic that in all likelihood once covered the entire facade. The mausoleum comprises a central tomb chamber with eight rooms around it. Internally, the surface was embellished with fine fresco, portions of which are extant in the squinches above the projecting, beehive-like decorative muqarnas, along with a starlet dome treatment. The base of the squinches is encircled with inscriptional panels from the Holy Quran, rendered in elegant calligraphy by Muhammad Saleh. Inscriptions at the site, reveal that the mausoleum was constructed in 1671. The central sepulchral chamber and surrounding rooms are built upon a raised plinth consisting of subterranean chambers, in which the burials took place. There are two graves, one of Dai Anga and the other of her daughter Sultana Begum. Today, the original cenotaphs made of marble are no longer in existence, and the underground chambers are also inaccessible.

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