Isa Khan's Tomb
Delhi, India

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Isa Khan's tomb is located immediately to the south of Bu Halima Enclosure. It consists of an octagonal garden enclosure, with the entrance on the north. Right in the centre lies the mausoleum. With a central octagonal chamber surrounded by verandahs, each side pierced by three arches, the mausoleum rises from a low plinth and is surrounded by a dwarf wall.

Above the arches runs a chhajja and each of the side is surmounted on the roof by a domed chhatri, with the central dome rising from a thirty-two-sided drum. The sides of the chamber are closed by perforated stone slabs except on the west and south. The western side contains a minhrab on the interior, while the southern side forms the main entrance. A three-domed mosque projects outward from the western side of the octagonal enclosure. It follows, thus, the typical pattern of the octagonal Lodi tombs.

Isa Khan's Tomb represents a fine example of Islamic tomb architecture in India.

Isa Khan, the man within the tomb

Isa Khan was a nobleman at the courts of Sher Shah Suri (1539-45) and his son Islam Shah (1545-54). Sher Shah was the Afghan ruler of Delhi who had ousted Humayun. There is an inscription over the minhrab mentioning the date of 954 A.H. (1547-48). The Tomb, located outside the main grounds of Humayun's tomb, was built in 1547.

The octagonal form of the tomb has a long history in Islamic art and became popular in India in the second half of the fourteenth century for members of ruling families. To the untrained eye, the tomb of Isa Khan has the more graceful proportions. Its particular evocation of the form is noteworthy for the elegant clustering of chhatris (kiosks) and pinnacles around the dome, features which were absent on the Lodi tomb. [an error occurred while processing this directive]