Tomb of Aurangzeb

In the late 1600s, after the Mughal Empire expanded its reign to South India till Golconda, a downfall had begun due to continuous wars and battles that lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of human lives and an insane amount of money. The expenses, that also included wasteful indulgences, drove the Mughal Empire to bankruptcy. At the end of his life, the emperor went through a period of introspection and guilt, and as per his instructions, a simple funeral and his burial were carried out at Khuldabad where he has purchased the burial ground. It is said that the entire expense did not cross INR 15/- at that time.

After the funeral, Aurangzeb was given the title of Khuld-Makan which means the one whose abode is an eternity. A wooden porch with Persian inscriptions was erected all around the tomb over a platform. But, because of its simplicity, the tomb was sort of left unmarked. Around the mid-1700s, a British Statesman, Lord Curzon, discovered the tomb and built a white marble encasing and flooring around it. The simple yet elegant structure that we get to see today, is an open-air tomb with a domed portico, open ceiling and screens of marble with Jali work. A large piece of marble with inscriptions that contain Aurangzeb’s complete name with his title can also be seen in one corner around the tomb.