Itmad Ud Daulah's Tomb in Agra

The Itmad-Ud-Daulah tomb is a beautifully ornamented structure built by Jahangir's Begam Noor Jahan as a memorial of her father Mirza Ghiyas Beg in the city of Agra. The tomb has a pietra dura inlay and lattice work in the marble screens. Before Taj Mahal was built, this was the most famous structure in the Agra city. The tomb built in the year 1628, is situated to the North of Agra fort in the bank of the river Yamuna. The Itmad-Ud -Daulah tomb is sometimes referred as baby Taj.

The Itmad-Ud-Daulah tomb is quite different from the other Mughal structures in terms of architecture. The sight of the tomb is fascinating even it was not as big as Taj Mahal. The mausoleum is set on a base about 50 meters square and 1 meter high. The tomb is a square structure of about 23 meters. On each corner of the tomb, there are hexagonal towers, each about 13 meters tall. Mirza Ghiyas himself laid out the &;Char Bagh;(meaning four gardens) style of architecture of the tomb six years before his death. The beauty of the white marble with the mosaic and the lattice is very pleasant to the eyes of beholders. The tomb structure has a minaret on each of its four corners. The walls of this cenotaph are inlaid with marvelous illustrations.

Especially the cypresses and geometrical designs are engrossing. The walls of the chambers contain a recurrent theme of wine flasks with the snakes as handles, also images of cut fruits or bouquets of flowers on a vase. Light to the interior, passes through delicate jali (lattice work) screens of intricately carved white marble.

The adjacent chambers to the main chamber have the tombs of other members of the family. The cenotaphs of Mirza Ghiyas and his wife lie side by side.

The main chamber of Itmad-Ud-Daulah tomb is ornamented with semiprecious stones like cornelian, lapis lazuli, jasper, onyx, topaz etc inlaid on the mosaics. The decoration follows the style of Indian version of Pietra Dura and is quite different from that of Europe.

The mausoleum is set in the centre of a large cruciform garden criss-crossed by watercourses and walkways.