Part Twelve: The Chînî-ka-Rauza
 

Beyond Itmâd-ud-daulah's tomb, on the same side of the river, is a beautiful ruin, once entirely covered with the same Persian mosaic tile-work, which suggested the more costly style of decoration in inlaid marble. It is called Chînî-ka-Rauza [BL: Seeta Ram, 1814-45: *exterior of the tomb*; *interior of the tomb*]; [*BL: Lala Silchand, 1825*]; [*ANU: views of the Chini ka Rauzah*], or the China Tomb, and is supposed to be the mausoleum of Afzal Khan, a Persian poet, who entered the service of Jahangir, and afterwards became Prime Minister to Shah Jahan. He died in Lahore in 1639. The weather and ill-treatment of various kinds have removed a great deal of the exquisite enamel colours from the tiles [*ANU: details of the enamel work on the tiles*], but enough remains to indicate how rich and magnificent the effect must have been originally. A part of the south façade which has fallen in shows how the builders employed earthen pots to lessen the weight of the concrete filling, a practice followed in the ancient dome construction of Egypt and Rome.

 

 
 

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