Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

Aga Khan Trust for Culture

Tata Trusts

Rethinking Conservation Series

HUMAYUN’S TOMB CONSERVATION Francesco Bandarin

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RLD HERIT AG E

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foreword by

• UN E

Archaeological Survey of India

Rethinking Conservation Series

HUMAYUN’S TOMB CONSERVATION Located in the heart of Delhi, the Nizamuddin heritage precinct comprises the areas of Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, Humayun’s Tomb and Sunder Nursery. In 1993, the Humayun’s Tomb was designated a World Heritage Site. With almost a hundred heritage buildings located here, the area is visited by millions of tourists and pilgrims each year and the resident communities here are custodians of 700 years of living culture.

Following the successful restoration of the Humayun’s Tomb garden in 2004, the Aga Khan Development Network—in partnership with the Archaeological Survey of India, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and Central Public Works Department—embarked on an urban renewal initiative in the larger Nizamuddin area in 2007.

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) focuses on leveraging cultural assets to achieve physical, social, cultural and economic revitalisation of communities in cities across the world.

The Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative brings together world-class professional capabilities in all relevant areas and combines a visionary approach with the local contexts and complexities. From the onset, the project objectives included conservation of heritage buildings coupled with a cultural revival of intangible heritage, improving quality of life in Nizamuddin Basti through socio-economic development measures and environmental development of its green spaces.

The Humayun’s Tomb conservation, co-funded by the Tata Trusts from the onset, has been a prominent component of the urban renewal initiative. It remains the only privately undertaken conservation effort at any of India’s sites of national importance. This volume details the philosophy, principles and processes followed during this successful conservation effort with the intention to inform as well as allow the project to serve as case study for similar efforts countrywide.

Illustrated with detailed architectural drawings and lavish photographs of the heritage structures, and accompanied with a DVD featuring the conservation work, this book documents the conservation works undertaken on the Humayun’s Tomb and its neighbouring monuments that have aimed to redefine standard conservation practice in India.

With 245 photographs, 27 illustrations and 18 drawings.

Rethinking Conservation Series

HUMAYUN’S TOMB CONSERVATION

RETHINKING CONSERVATION A publication series disseminating learnings from the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative, a project of the Aga Khan Development Network

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Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

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Rethinking Conservation Series

HUMAYUN’S TOMB CONSERVATION

Ratish Nanda with inputs from Rajpal Singh and Archana Saad Akhtar

Aga Khan Trust for Culture in association with

Mapin Publishing

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Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

CONTENTS

Foreword

8

Francesco Bandarin,

UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture

Preface

14

1. Site’s History and World Heritage Designation

16

2. Understanding Humayun’s Tomb

44

3. Conservation Planning

68

4. Conservation Philosophy

84

5. Conservation Programme

98

146

6. Historic Urban Landscape

Notes 158 Acknowledgements 160

Project Team 162

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Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

FOREWORD Francesco Bandarin UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture

T

he monumental complex of Humayun’s Tomb stands out as one of the greatest artistic achievements of the Mughal Empire. It is the expression of an architectural language inspired by the great Central

Asian and Persian traditions able to reach high refinement and a new level of expression as well as manage architectural scales only attained by the greatest empires of history.

This monument has been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993 because of its own universal value, and because it represents the beginning of an extraordinary sequence of architectural achievements, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal seven decades later.

But the importance of this monument cannot be limited to the Tomb itself.

It extends to many other components, such as the gardens—an extraordinary example of the perfection achieved by the Mughals in this field; its historic setting including the surrounding area of the Sunder Nursery and its monuments; and finally the nearby Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti—the urban area built around the Jamaat Khana Mosque, in the courtyard of which the 14th-century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya lies buried.

It is only when we look at this entire complex that we can understand the reasons that moved Emperor Akbar to choose this place for the tomb of his father. It is a place marked by great spiritual values, a centre of prayer and pilgrimage for over seven centuries.

The research, restoration and rehabilitation projects conducted by the Aga Khan Historic Conservation Program in the Humayun’s Tomb–Nizamuddin Basti area since 1997 have ensured not only the long-term conservation of individual monuments, but also allowed a complete understanding of the profound historical relationships between the different parts of the area. This fully reflects the principles and the concepts put forward by the 2011 “UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape”, an innovative text that calls for an integrated approach in heritage conservation.

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In this respect, the original World Heritage nomination, limited to the Humayun Tomb itself, looks today in need of a reconsideration in order to fully reflect all the heritage values present in the area, now clearly and visibly brought back to our attention by the careful and integral restoration operation conducted by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in the past two decades.

The approach to conservation promoted by the AKTC in several countries stands out in the world of conservation for the strong integration of technical and design excellence, a long term and sustainable management process, and a constant attention to the social and economic impacts of the conservation initiative.

The first aspect, the technical excellence, has found a clear demonstration in the restoration of the gardens and later of the structure of the Humayun’s Tomb complex, as well as in the rehabilitation of the Sundar Nursery area, which includes elements of contemporary design.

This long due restoration process has allowed not only to correct the impacts of previous interventions incompatible with modern conservation standards, but also to rediscover many fine architectural elements that had been overseen in the course of century-long maintenance and restoration interventions. This has allowed the revival of traditional skills and recognition of building crafts that still survive in India and constitute an invaluable resource for heritage conservation.

Master craftsmen, such as these stone carvers, used traditional materials, tools and building crafts while repairing or replacing damaged stones to match the craftsmanship of their 16th-century ancestors.

Following these interventions, the overall quality of the monumental area has been raised to a higher standard, thus providing a model for future interventions on monuments in India and other countries.

These important achievements would not have been possible without the support of the Tata Trusts and many other national and international partners, and without the full collaboration of the Archaeological Survey of India and other Indian authorities and their commitment to the long-term preservation of the area under an innovative management model, the non-profit Public Private Partnership agreement (PPP) that the Aga Khan Trust for Culture has experimented in other parts of the world and now established as a basic working method for its intervention.

The economic sustainability of the conservation process is seen in this framework as an element as important as the conservation work itself: indeed, without a clear and long-term commitment of the national authorities, it would be impossible to ensure the necessary maintenance effort and the constant care required by monuments of this importance.

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Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

But certainly what characterizes the approach of the Aga Khan Historic Cities Program is the great attention given to the social impacts of the investment. The intervention in the Nizamuddin area is indeed marked by the attention to the social needs. Besides important rehabilitation works, such as the one of the 14th-century Baoli or of the Chaunsath Khambha, an intensive social program has been implemented, aimed at training workers, reviving traditional skills,

Humayun’s Tomb South Elevation.

The Tomb, when built in the 16th century, had no precedent—anywhere in the world—in scale, grandeur, symmetry and order. Its design later inspired not only the Taj Mahal but also monumental structures in Persia.

improving public health and sanitation, local schools and urban services.

Showing in a concrete form that conservation is a tool for sustainable development is perhaps the most significant achievement of this project. Until recently, cultural heritage was not seen by the international policy-makers and donors as an area of investment but UNESCO has spent considerable efforts in the past decade to change this view and to advocate the role of culture in the International Development Agenda and in the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals. Projects of this quality and of this impact are the best demonstration that investment in cultural heritage is a powerful tool to reinforce social cohesion and to provide economic opportunities to the local communities.

This publication presents the main achievements of this important project and intends to serve as a record of the project with the goal to promote and replicate in other parts of India and in other regions of the world its conservation philosophy, its institutional and managerial approach and its attachment to the social and human aspect of heritage conservation.

Foreword

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PREFACE

A major conservation effort of a World Heritage Site is of interest to conservation professionals but also to decision makers, corporate donors, scholars, students, civil society and interested intelligentsia. This publication thus aims to inform the interested audience of the conservation process and philosophy followed in the decade-long effort at Humayun’s Tomb.

Conservation action needs to be based on exhaustive research, architectural documentation, understanding the structure’s significance, building typology and age, condition assessment of the structure, availability of funds, available craftsmen and building craft skills, known previous state of the monument, peer reviews of a written conservation plan, amongst many similar factors.

Conservation of archaeological sites dating from a thousand years ago would require different efforts than a site dating from only a few centuries ago.

Similarly a site with complicated Buddhist, Christian or Hindu iconography cannot be treated in a manner similar to a medieval Islamic site where ornamentation is limited to repetitive geometric or floral patterns.

Dr Francesco Bandarin reviews proposed works at the World Heritage Site with the ASI-AKTC project team.

Though the same conservation solutions will rarely be appropriate at two sites, yet the decision-making process to arrive at the most appropriate conservation plan is similar for diverse heritage sites. It is thus hoped that the availability of this publication will enable a greater understanding of conservation decisionmaking and enable similar initiatives in India.

The conservation effort undertaken at Humayun’s Tomb was a result of partnership between the Archaeological Survey of India, Tata Trusts and Aga Khan Trust for Culture and has no precedence in terms of scale and scope in Independent India. It has also been India’s first ever privately funded and implemented conservation programme at any of our national monuments. This publication thus fulfils an important responsibility of the partner agencies to inform the public.

previous pages

Set amidst an enclosed garden, a literal reflection of the description of Paradise in the Holy Quran, the Tomb is a synthesis of Timurid and Indian architectural elements in perfect harmony.

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In keeping with guidelines for World Heritage Sites, the conservation effort at Humayun’s Tomb has primarily aimed at ensuring long-term preservation while maintaining authenticity and integrity of the site. This has required a careful

dismantling of inappropriate modern materials used here in earlier repairs and employment of master craftsmen who use traditional materials, tools and craft skills to match the work of the 16th-century builders.

For historic sites in an urban setting, conservation effort needs to be coupled with development objectives in keeping with UNESCO’s recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape. The 2007 MoU that allowed AKTC to undertake the conservation effort also had the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Central Public Works Department as signatories. This allowed the conservation effort to be coupled with initiatives in improving health, education and sanitation infrastructure, amongst other interventions, at the adjacent Nizamuddin Basti.

The 67-acre Sundar Nursery, part of the Buffer Zone of the World Heritage Site, has been sensitively landscaped to serve as a city park.

Conservation of Humayun’s Tomb and attached sites has led to a significant increase in visitor numbers, an expansion of the World Heritage Site boundaries, enhanced visitor experience, instilling a sense of pride and economic opportunities for local residents, and created 200,000 mandays of employment for craftsmen—thus demonstrating the potential of conservation works fulfilling several government objectives. This publication lists the key factors that have contributed to this success—from employing a multi-disciplinary team and hosting over 45 independent reviews to involving craftsmen in the decision-making process.

It has been demonstrated that conservation of our nations built heritage can thus be leveraged to fulfil development and economic objectives. For this to have a significant impact, conservation action needs to become more mainstream and civil society involvement through public–private partnerships —to ensure our monuments and sites receive both the required funding and expertise and conservation action aids in meeting development goals.

left

India is fortunate that several building craft traditions have survived for centuries. However, the craft of Mughal glazed-tile making had to be revived for the conservation effort at Humayun’s Tomb.

For seven years now, youth from Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti have worked to prepare handmade tiles that match the Mughal tiles in every respect.

right

Craftsmen carefully clean 20th-century lime-wash layers to reveal 16th-century painted surfaces on the rim of the domed ceiling of the Tomb’s entrance chamber.

Preface

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1

SITE’S HISTORY AND WORLD HERITAGE DESIGNATION

I

n AD 1530, Nasiruddin Muhammad Humayun succeeded his father Emperor Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur to become the second Mughal Emperor of India. He was unable to consolidate his empire due to the constant battles

with his brothers and finally with the Afghan Sher Shah Sur, which led to his ouster from the country in AD 1543. With the support he received from the Shah Tahmasp of Persia, Humayun was able to once again establish the Mughal Empire in India 12 years later. However, Humayun’s second term as Emperor lasted barely a year as he fell to his death, in AD 1556, from the steep steps of a pavilion within the Fort at Delhi.

Upon Humayun’s sudden death, his son Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar inherited the Mughal throne at the age of 14. Though very young, Akbar earnestly took on the responsibility of consolidating the empire and building the infrastructure, forging alliances and establishing pluralistic principles of governance that served as a firm foundation for the Mughal Empire. Akbar’s empire at its zenith covered large parts of present-day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The architectural legacy of the Mughals is significant and the building of Humayun’s Tomb was the first and one of the greatest architectural achievements of Akbar’s era. Almost seven years after Humayun’s death, Akbar could devote the finances required to build a monumental mausoleum for his father. When built, Humayun’s Tomb was grander than any tomb built anywhere in the Islamic world and had no precedent in terms of scale, garden

Less than a year after reclaiming the Delhi throne, Mughal Emperor Humayun fell to his death on the steps of an octagonal structure he had built within the ‘Old Fort’.

Watercolour illustration by: Himanish Das

setting, floor plans, design, proportion and materials used.

facing page The domed octagonal tomb chamber has a height equivalent to a seven-storey modern building. Emperor Humayun’s marble cenotaph was originally covered with a wooden tent and his books and belongings were kept here until at least a century after the construction of the mausoleum.

Site’s History and World Heritage Designation

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The large octagonal canopies on the roof corners, the chamfered building edges at three levels as well as the octagonal tombs marking the four corners create a distinct diagonal axis for the mausoleum that extends from the cenotaph to the edge of the enclosed garden.

There is little doubt that in building the mausoleum Akbar aimed to establish the glory and grandeur the Mughal dynasty aspired to. Akbar employed a Persian architect, Sayyid Muhammad Ghiyas, whose father had worked for Babur to build the earliest Mughal gardens in Agra. For this monument, Ghiyas worked with Indian craftsmen and materials while using motifs from many of the Persian buildings Humayun would have admired while in exile. Architectural historian Ebba Koch, who has been studying Mughal architecture for 40 years, believes, ‘With the first major building enterprise of Akbar’s period, the tomb of his father at Delhi, Mughal architecture came into its own’.

With 69 ‘tomb chambers’ on the ground level, Humayun’s Tomb seems to have been designed as a mausoleum for the Mughal dynasty. Even though Akbar was later buried in a monumental tomb in Sikandra, another 160 graves including those of seven of the later Mughal emperors are also found at Humayun’s Tomb.

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Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

AD 1231 Sultan Garhi

AD 1325 Ghiyas ud din Tughlaq’s Tomb

AD 1434 Muhammad Saiyyad’s Tomb

AD 1518 Sikander Lodhi’s Tomb

AD 1547 Isa Khan’s Tomb

Its monumental scale, use of both Indian and Central Asian Timurid architectural elements, use of red sandstone and white marble—both imported to Delhi in such great quantities, a unique floor plan, the garden setting designed as a literal translation of Quranic description of paradise, among other factors, makes Humayun’s Tomb a unique undertaking. This first of the grand Mughal mausoleums served as an inspiration and precursor to the Taj Mahal, the most iconic of all Mughal structures. On account of the above factors, Humayun’s Tomb was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.

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AD 1572 Humayun’s Tomb

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The scale of Humayun’s Tomb dwarfed earlier mausoleums of Delhi

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Principal floor plans of Humayun’s Tomb (left) and Taj Mahal (right).

Shah Jahan, Humayun’s great grandson, only slightly simplified the intricate, geometric and symmetrical floor plan used for the Humayun’s Tomb for the Taj Mahal.

Taj Mahal mausoleum plan published with kind permission of © Ebba Koch.

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Site’s History and World Heritage Designation

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Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

Locating the Mausoleum Among the most revered Sufi preachers, already venerated across India 300 years before the arrival of the Mughals on account of his teachings of pluralism and peace, was the 14th-century saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, whose tomb or dargah stands in the area named after him along the banks of the river Yamuna.

Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, on defeating Ibrahim Lodi in the first battle of Panipat in AD 1526 had first visited the Dargah and only thereafter inspected the treasury he had won. Humayun too is recorded to have visited the Dargah and, later, Emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan also made regular visits.

As it is considered auspicious to be buried near the final resting space of the revered Sufi saint, Akbar would have chosen to build his father’s tomb in close proximity to the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, as were several other tombs built in the neighbourhood during the early Mughal reign. Significantly, Humayun’s Tomb was built abutting an earlier Tughlaq era (14 century) th

structure believed to have served as the saint’s meditation chamber or chillah and located on the banks of River Yamuna.

Though proximity to the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya seems to have

In India, for centuries it has been considered auspicious to be buried near a saint’s grave and thus since AD 1325 when Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya was buried here, there has been seven centuries of tomb building. Of these, Humayun’s Tomb is the most prominent.

been the principal reason for choosing the location for Humayun’s Tomb, the Mughal builders building on a never-before-seen scale factored in several other considerations in choosing the location for the mausoleum.

An estimated 3,60,000 tonne of local Delhi quartzite was required for the tomb, its enclosure walls, gateways and pavilions. In addition, over 3,500 tonne of sandstone and white marble, brought from 300-km away, were used in the construction. Locating the tomb on the banks of River Yamuna and along the

facing page Within a few hundred metres of the Nizamuddin Dargah, stood over a 100 medieval monuments, some have been lost to rapid urbanization and many are today dwarfed by modern buildings.

Photo by John Edward Sache, 1860s.

Site’s History and World Heritage Designation

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The Humayun’s Tomb is part of an ensemble of 16th- and early 17th-century garden tombs. Conservation works undertaken on ten of these garden-tombs since 2007 have led to UNESCO now including them within the expanded World Heritage Site of Humayun’s garden-tomb.

Watercolour illustration by: Himanish Das

Grand Trunk Road made it easy to transport such huge quantities of building material from the distant places in Rajasthan such as Tantpur, Bansi Paharpur and Dholpur districts (for red sandstone) and Makrana (for white marble).

Recent resistivity surveys conducted within the garden enclosure have revealed that although Humayun’s Tomb is built on the river bank, it was built upon a rocky outcrop. Nineteenth-century maps of Delhi too indicate hilly formations along the Yamuna in the area south of Humayun’s Tomb—now lost under the urban sprawl. The Mughal builders clearly understood that this would provide additional stability and protection during earthquakes, much needed as Delhi falls within a high-risk seismic zone.

Humayun’s Tomb was built at the southern edge of Humayun’s city, Dinpanah, only 1.5-km south of the citadel today known as Purana Qila. This would have allowed Akbar, during his frequent visits to Delhi, to inspect the ongoing construction while staying at the Purana Qila.

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Tomb in the Mughal Era The patrons of India’s monumental heritage, such as Emperor Akbar for Humayun’s Tomb, provided these with revenue sources to ensure that constant repairs were carried out, often by resident craftsmen families.

Regular donations and grants of large estates were the norm to ensure a constant supply of funding, for example, through the sale of agricultural produce. It is well known that when in Delhi, the Mughal Emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan paid frequent visits to the tomb of Humayun and to the dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya—both seemingly equally venerated by the Mughals. During such visits, generous grants were given to the keepers of the mausoleums who would have included the craftsmen and gardeners entrusted with its maintenance.

In the 16th–17th centuries, several additional garden tombs were built abutting Humayun’s Tomb, including that of Humayun’s son-in-law Mirza Muzzafar Husain to the immediate north; tomb of Akbar’s minister, commander and famed poet Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan to the south; Afsarwala Tomb and Bu Halima’s Tomb; as well as structures today known as Lakkarwala Burj, Sundar Burj, Sundarwala Mahal, among others. All of these on account of being contemporary to Humayun’s tomb as well of similar function are proposed to be included within the expanded boundaries of the UNESCO designated World Heritage Site.

Although with the decline of the Mughal Empire, the maintenance of the mausoleum, associated structures and gardens also declined significantly, it continued to be used as a family tomb by the later Mughals. Shah Jahan’s favourite son, Dara Shikoh, was buried here, as were the later Mughal rulers— Muhammad Azam Shah, Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi-ud-Daulah, Rafi-ud-Darajat, Ahmad Shah and Alamgir II. Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahanara

Emperor Humayun’s mausoleum, referred to as the ‘holy shrine of His Majesty Jannat Ashiyani’ by the Mughals, seems to have been built as family tomb and over 160 members of the Mughal family, including seven rulers, were buried here. The mausoleum is thus also referred to as the ‘Dormitory of the Mughals’.

and the Mughal Emperors Mirza Jahangir and Muhammed Shah Rangila were buried in the adjacent Nizamuddin Dargah complex.

Site’s History and World Heritage Designation

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Humayun’s Tomb in the Mughal era

Construction completed.

Emperor Akbar visits the mausoleum (Abul Fazl, Akbar Nama Vol. 2) 1570 Construction of tomb commences with the appointment of Mirak Sayyid Ghiyas and his son Sayyid Muhammad, of Persian descent, who had previously worked in Herat and Bukhara and were well versed with Timurid architecture 1562

Muhammad Sultan, son of Roshan Koka, one of Humayun’s followers, buried here to the north-west of the Emperor’s grave (Husain, Record of all Quranic and non historical Epigraphs on the Protected Monuments in the Province of Delhi) 1571

20th January 1556

Death of Emperor Humayun (Badauni, Muntakhab ut Tawarikh, Vol. 2) 1592–93

1571–early 1600s

Humayun’s two daughters and the sister of Hajji Begum buried in the tomb (Husain, Record of all Quranic and non Historical Epigraphs on the Protected Monuments in the Province of Delhi)

Emperor Akbar makes nine official visits to the tomb including a trip in 1598 by boat along the river Yamuna

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1567

1586-87

Hajji Begum, Humayun’s wife, returns from a pilgrimage to Mecca and is put in charge of maintenance of the tomb by Akbar (Abul Fazl, Akbar Nama Vol. 2)

Nur-ud-din Muhammad Tarkhan appointed

by Akbar as the mutawalli of the grave (Badauni, Muntakhab ut Tawarikh Vol. 3)

1707 Death of Azam Shah, son of Aurangzeb, and his sons Bedar Shah and Walajah and their burial in the tomb complex (Sourced from “The Tomb of Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Humayun” Glenn Lowry, 1982, unpublished thesis) 1709 Death of Kam Bakh, son of Aurangzeb, and his son Bariqullah interred at the tomb

1611 Description of the interior of the tomb by William Finch: The sepulchre of Hamaraon (Humayun) is in a large room spread with rich carpets, the tomb itself covered with a pure white sheet, a rich semiane (canopy/tent) overhead, and in front certain books on small tressels, by which stand his sword, tucke and shoes

1713 Emperor Jahandar Shah killed and later buried in one of the vaults 1719 Emperor Farrukhsiyar killed and buried here 1759 Alamgir II buried in one of the corner rooms

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Death of Dara Shikoh and subsequent burial in the complex (Khafi Khan, Muntakhab ul Lubab)

Sangi Begam, daughter of Alamgir II, buried on the eastern side of the plinth, between the mausoleum and the edge of the platform (Husain, Record of all Quranic and non Historical Epigraphs on the Protected Monuments in the Province of Delhi)

1828 Major Archer visits the tomb and described the inner dome as being “enriched with gilding and enamel; from the centre a tassel of gold lace once depended”

1619–1620 Emperor Jahangir visits the tomb (Jahangir, Tuzuk I Jahangiri Vol. 2)

1825 Bishop Heber visiting the tomb notes that the gardens were used by the poor to cultivate wheat (Bishop Heber in Northern India: Selection from Heber’s Journal)

1857 Last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah and his sons flee to Humayun’s Tomb from where they are captured by Major William Hodson, marking the end of the Mughal rule

Site’s History and World Heritage Designation

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Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

British-era interventions Patronage required for maintaining the garden-tomb of Humayun was no longer available with the decline of the Mughal Empire. Sketches and photographs from the 19th century indicate that the gardens were taken over for agriculture while the mausoleum itself shows significant signs of deterioration and plunder.

Due to the interest generated in the site among the British residents of Delhi following the capture of the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah Zafar, from here in 1857, the first British intervention happened in the 1860s. The western half of the garden enclosure was altered according to a British layout, with the Mughal tanks and water channels filled in and replaced with circular pathways and the Mughal orchards replaced with flower beds as seen in English country homes.

The Archaeological Survey of India, established by the British government in 1861, was among the earliest government conservation agencies established anywhere in the world, pre-dating the establishment of similar agencies in the United Kingdom. As such, early conservation philosophy and practice was experimented with at significant Indian sites, among which was the Humayun’s Tomb complex.

Architectural elements such as the parapet lattice screens and the white marble inlay were largely lost by the 20th century when Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, personally oversaw a major conservation effort in the gardens and structures. At this time, the ASI also restored the Mughal-era garden layout

top and above

Following the decline of the Mughal Empire, for almost two centuries the enclosed garden was used to grow vegetables and grain.

by removing the earth in-fill from the channels and tanks and dismantling the 19th-century interventions. Since agriculture had continued on parts of the garden, the bullock carts had damaged the plaster channels and in 1905 under the Viceroy’s instructions the channels and tanks were lined with sandstone edging.

In the 1920s, villagers now residing in the abutting Isa Khan’s garden tomb enclosure and that of Bu Halima, standing at the western end of the Humayun’s Tomb complex, were made to vacate with due compensation paid. If these villagers had not vacated then, Isa Khan’s tomb would, no doubt, today have been dwarfed by modern structures as has occurred around other monuments standing within Nizamuddin Basti and other urban villages of Delhi. Visitor access to Humayun’s Tomb has since the 1960s been through the west, and the principal southern gateway has remained closed since the building of the residential neighbourhood of Nizamuddin East.

facing page top

This most realistic and accurate of the 19th-century paintings reveals the Mughal use of the red-white contrast as a principal design feature of the mausoleum.

The glazed tiles on canopies provide a dash of striking blue with the white marble dome in the background.

Photo credit: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1907.206

below

This photograph from AD 1849, one of the earliest taken in the Indian subcontinent, is significant as it shows the water channel and tank that were later removed in 1860s.

Photo credit: Canadian Centre for Architecture 27

Humayun’s Tomb, 1880. For a brief period at the end of the 19th century, portions of the garden were taken over by dense trees.

The ASI, since its formation, employed archaeologists who together with engineers of the Public Works Department were entrusted with the care of our nation’s monuments—a responsibility which until the 19th century had been the preserve of traditional craftsmen. With archaeologists and engineers not familiar with traditional building and repair techniques, during this period, modern building materials, such as cement, were utilized in the repairs of monuments

facing page

built with traditional materials, such as lime mortar. Thus, centuries of traditional

top

Following the arrest of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar from Humayun’s Tomb in 1857, the garden layout of the western half was changed to an English layout—the large square tanks replaced by circular flower beds and the channels and smaller tanks simply filled up.

knowledge and a deep understanding of traditional building techniques

below

India and led to one of the largest human migrations in the world. Thousands

The garden-tomb served as a refugee camp following Independence and India’s partition. The thousands who lived here with meagre resources used the Mughal era doors as firewood.

Photo credit: Photo Division, PIB.

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Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

were replaced with modern 20th-century interventions, which unfortunately resulted in significantly accelerated deterioration and disfiguring of the historic architectural character of the structures.

Independence from British rule in 1947 was accompanied by the Partition of of temporary refugee camps were set up both in India and Pakistan including one at Humayun’s tomb-garden. Facing severe winter or lack of firewood for cooking, the refugees burnt the wooden doors installed in the stairways, principal tomb chamber and the ground level chambers.

Site’s History and World Heritage Designation

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Humayun’s Tomb, AD 1890.

Humayun’s Tomb, AD 1907-08.

By the late 19th century, due to continuous

In the first decade of the 20th century the

neglect, the tomb ended up in a ruinous

Mughal layout of the garden was restored

condition. Archival images indicate that the

and sandstone edging was added to the

missing sandstone lattice screens of the

plaster channels.

parapet and the marble inlay were restored under orders from Viceroy Lord Curzon.

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Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

Humayun’s Tomb, AD 1923-24.

Humayun’s Tomb, AD 1995-96.

In 1920 villagers residing within the garden

The ICOMOS report of 1993 was critical

enclosures of Isa Khan’s Tomb and Bu Halima’s

of the state of the garden. As such, the

Tomb were brought out and relocated.

UNESCO World Heritage Site status was bestowed on the ASI’s assurance that the enclosed garden would be restored.

Site’s History and World Heritage Designation

31

32

Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

Conservation architect Ratish Nanda has led the multi-disciplinary AKTC team implementing the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative since the project’s inception in 2006. Prior to this, he was responsible at AKTC for the Bagh-e-Babur restoration and the Humayun’s Tomb garden restoration.

ARCHITECTURE RETHINKING CONSERVATION

Humayun’s Tomb Conservation

168 pages, 245 photographs, 27 illustrations and 18 drawings with a DVD 8.66 x 11” (220 x 280 mm), pb ISBN: 978-81-89995-96-6 (Mapin) ISBN: 978-1-935677-53-6 (Grantha) ₹1295 | $35 | £27 2017 • World Rights

forthcoming titles

Rethinking Conservation Series Mughal Tilework A Craft Revival Lime Mortar A Traditional Building Craft Stone Craftsmanship Conservation and Possibilities

Printed in India

Aga Khan Trust for Culture Ratish Nanda with inputs from Rajpal Singh and Archana Saad Akhtar

Nizamuddin Urban Heritage Zone Planning

Aga Khan Trust for Culture www.akdn.org/AKTC

Mapin Publishing www.mapinpub.com

“This is a model project, and I would like to stress ‘model project’... a way of organising people, expertise, skills, and money, to produce a quality of result for a place which is very complex, very important historically, one which is on the World Heritage List, and one where decisions must recognise a variety of interests. I’m able to write of being inspired. Inspired by the qualities of the World Heritage Site brought to life...”

Prof. Herb Stovel, Director, ICCROM & ICOMOS World Heritage Advisor