Context: The Mausoleum that inspired Taj restored, opens for public.
It is said that the monument’s double dome was originally clad with marble, which is said to have been quarried from here for use in Safdarjung’s tomb in the mid-18th century.
Five decades before the Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan, it was Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan — commander-in-chief of Akbar’s army, and a poet — who built a tomb in Delhi in memory of his wife Mah Banu.
It was the first Mughal tomb built for a woman. After his death in 1627, Rahim was also buried beside his wife, just like Shah Jahan was in the Taj.
As Rahim Khan’s tomb was opened to the public earlier this week after six years of restoration work — perhaps the largest conservation project ever undertaken for any monument of national importance in India.
In 1920s, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) provided masonry support to overhanging sandstone blocks on the facade, saving the structure from collapsing on itself.
In 2014, the InterGlobe Foundation came on board with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) to support the “conservation of Rahim’s mausoleum”.
Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan
He was popularly known as simply Rahim, was a poet who lived in India during the rule of Mughal emperor Akbar, who was his mentor, also.
He was one of the nine important ministers (dewan) in his court, also known as the
Apart from writing various dohas, Rahim translated Babar's memoirs, Baburnama from Chagatai language to Persian language, which was completed in 998 (1589–90) AD.
He had an excellent command over the Sanskrit language. In Sanskrit, he wrote two books on astrology, Khetakautukam and Dwatrimshadyogavali
