Tomb of Ataga Khan

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The Tomb of Ataga Khan is a 16th-century mausoleum in Delhi, India, located on the edge of the Nizamuddin Dargah complex. It was built during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar to honor Ataga Khan, Akbar’s prime minister and husband of Jiji Anga, one of the emperor’s wet nurses. In 1562, Ataga Khan was murdered by Adham Khan, and Akbar ordered the construction of the tomb to memorialize him. Some historians think Ataga Khan’s son Mirza Aziz Koka supported the project.

Construction started in 1562 and was completed in 1566. The tomb was designed by Ustad Khuda Quli, with calligraphy by Baqi Muhammad from Bukhara.

Architecturally, the tomb is a cube, 10 meters on each side, with an outer dome of 4 meters in diameter and an inner dome underneath. The entrance faces south through a wooden door. The site sits on raised ground within the outer area of the Nizamuddin Dargah complex.

The building uses rough sandstone, faced with red sandstone inlaid with colored stones and white marble engraved with verses from the Quran. The interior once featured plaster decorations, but only fragments remain today. The Quranic inscriptions and the tomb’s location inside a sacred area are seen as signs of the high honor given to Ataga Khan after his death, reflecting the martyr status assigned by the Mughals. The design also shows influences from earlier Delhi tombs, such as the Qila-i-Kuhna mosque.

In 1905, the Archaeology Department reached an agreement with the tomb’s hereditary guardians to share management: archaeologists would direct conservation, while the government would finance repairs. Public access was allowed, except to the central tomb and during the urs ceremony, when the site is closed.