Acknowledgements

Rahim ke dohe, widely known even today—four centuries since they were written—are a testimony to Rahim’s genius. Together with several Hindustani cultural icons—Hazrat Amir Khusrau, Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahanara Begum, Mirza Ghalib, among others—Rahim lies buried in close proximity to the 14th-century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Awliyā’.

In India, it was considered auspicious to be buried near a saint’s tomb or dargāh and hence, since the 14th century onwards, over a 100 tombs—grand, like Humayun’s Tomb, and small such as the intricate marble

screen enclosure of Mughal Emperor Muhammed Shah Rangila—were built in the Nizamuddin area. Though several have disappeared, especially in the late 20th century, since 2007, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in partnership with the Archaeological Survey of India has been undertaking a major urban conservation effort to conserve the surviving structures.

In 2013, conservation works were completed at the World Heritage Site of Humayun’s Tomb

allowing the experienced multi-disciplinary team to undertake the challenging multi-year conservation of the once grand but now ruinous tomb Rahim built for his wife. Conservation works here were only possible

with the generous support and partnership of InterGlobe Foundation, marking India’s first ever conservation effort at a national monument undertaken with corporate funds. We hope that our efforts in ensuring

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds could be utilized for conservation and a successful conservation effort here would serve as a model for many more similar projects to be undertaken.

The significance of the mausoleum lies not only in its architectural and archaeological value but primarily in its association with an eminent cultural personality, which gives it an immense historical significance. Aimed at

disseminating Rahim’s literary works, including his dohe, and enhancing our understanding of both Rahim and

the culture of the early Mughal era, InterGlobe has, in addition to the conservation effort, also supported an intense research programme of which this book is one outcome. We at AKTC are grateful for the valuable support and partnership provided by InterGlobe Foundation. At InterGlobe, I would especially like to thank Ms Rohini Bhatia for her leadership and personal interest as well as Ms Neelanjana Singh for her sustained involvement and continuous support. Thanks are also due to Shreya Shalini, Ganapati Arvind and Padam Prasad.

I am grateful to my colleagues Shakeel Hossain and Deeti Ray for their efforts over the past year to achieve

the project objectives and for bringing together scholars and musicians devoted to performing and disseminating Rahim’s cultural legacy. For the two of them, this has been a labour of love, and I appreciate their deep commitment. Coupled with the conservation effort, Deeti has also led a very successful heritage awareness programme among school children, using both walks and theatre, with the assistance of the Saire-Nizamuddin, a group of heritage volunteers from the Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti.

It has been a privilege for us to present here essays from a diverse group of authors, who shed light on the

personality, skill, cultural and military achievement, pluralist character and value of Rahim in today’s age. The coming together of T. C. A. Raghavan, Harish Trivedi, the late Iqtidar Husain Siddiqui, Eva Orthmann,

Sunil Sharma, Chander Shekhar, Wheeler M. Thackston, Mehr Afshan Farooqi, Richard Cohen, Rupert Snell and Allison Busch, has made this publication invaluable and to them we owe our sincere gratitude.

This publication also continues our well-established partnership with Mapin Publishing, who have earlier

published two major volumes dedicated to another Indian cultural icon, the 14th-century noble and poet, Hazrat Amir Khusrau. At Mapin, I am grateful to Bipin Shah, Neha Manke and Gopal Limbad.

In order to revive Rahim’s cultural legacy, the team has travelled across northern and central India to document Rahim’s verses. For the 2017 Rahim festival, the wide repertoire has been performed by classical

performers Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Pandit Ritesh and Rajnish Mishra, and Swaransh Mishra. In their

performances, Devnarayan Sarolia and Rehmat Khan Langa used their grounding in Malwa and Rajasthani folk music. Mohammad Ahmed Warsi, the noted Rampur qawwāl, vocalist/guitarist Harpreet and percussionist

Netai Das, dastango Ankit Chadha all symbolized the diversity of Rahim’s legacy. Never before, in the past

century, have Rahim’s verses been known to be performed in this manner, and it is hoped many more such festivals will follow.

Aparajita Das has served as research assistant for this publication and the accompanying exhibition for over

a year. For the March 2017 festival exhibit, the AKTC design team, led by Archana Saad Akhtar and including Rinkesh Rana and Sagar Suri as well as research assistant Swati Goel, has worked tirelessly. M.P. Mishra enthusiastically participated in the efforts.

Since this effort at cultural revival is coupled with a major conservation effort for the mausoleum, I would like to acknowledge the partnership of the Archaeological Survey of India. We are honoured to serve as partners

to the ASI for two decades now. At the ASI, I express my gratefulness to Dr B.R. Mani, former Additional Director General; Dr R.S. Fonia, Joint Director General; Janhwij Sharma, Joint Director General; S.B. Ota, Joint

Director General; R.S. Jamwal, Director (Conservation); Dr Daljit Singh, Superintending Archaeologist, Delhi Circle; Shri Basant Swarankar, former Superintending Archaeologist, Delhi Circle; Bhima Ajmera, Deputy SA Engineer, all of whom have provided valuable guidance for the conservation effort at various stages.

At the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Rajpal Singh, N.C. Thapliyal and Ms Ujwala Menon have had principal

responsibility of overseeing the conservation works and have been supported by Archana Saad Akhtar,

Guntej Bhushan and Vishal Kakkar. Hundreds of craftsmen led by Shri Attar Singh, Shri Amirak, Shri Babu Lal and Shri Dhani Ram have implemented the presently ongoing conservation works. The team’s effort in overcoming significant challenges and risks is laudable.

It is hoped that both the conservation effort and the associated academic and cultural programmes will enhance the city of Delhi and become a model for our shared tangible heritage to be conserved and presented in context and together with our remarkable pluralistic intangible heritage.

Ratish Nanda Aga Khan Trust for Culture, India