Talking to Dawn on Thursday, Archaeology Department (North Circle) officials expressed their inability to take action against the encroachers, who they said, had obtained a stay order from court. They added that they had been facing the similar sort of difficulty in securing the land encroached by grabbers around other historic monuments.
The archaeology officials alleged that the Antiquity Act, 1975, was violated by none other than President Gen Ziaul Haq, who allotted two marlas of land on the premises of their department’s former chowkidar’s tomb. “What can we do in such a situation?” they asked.
The tomb of Dai Anga, vet nurse of Mughal emperor Shahjehan, is in a shambles. The tomb and three other monuments of the Mughal period located in its surroundings are being looked after by the only watchman, who could not be blamed for not preventing encroachment, they said. The other three monuments in the vicinity are Buddo’s Tomb, Sarvwala Maqbra and Hazrat Eissan’s Tomb.
The real name of the Dai Anga was Zaibunnisa. She was the wife of Murad Khan, a magistrate of Bikaner during the reign of Jehangir. She had a son Muhammad Rashid Khan, who was known as one of the best archers of his times. Rashid was killed in an action with Dara Shikoh. The tomb was built in 1671, and inscription on it was written by calligraphist Muhammad Saleh.
Octagonal in shape, the mausoleum has a large dome in the centre and four rectangular towers, one at each corner. Its inner walls, which were decorated with an enamelled pottery and had inscriptions of the Quranic verses, have been ravaged by time.
The mausoleum has a central tomb chamber with eight rooms around it. Its roof bears a low-pitched dome on a high neck and square kiosk at each corner supported by slender brick pillars.
There are two graves, one of the Dai Anga and the other of Shahjehan’s daughter Sultan Begum, here. The graves are shabby looking with many bricks fallen apart. The tomb’s structure is fast decaying, as wide holes in walls can be seen from a distance. The mini tombs can collapse any moment.
The original cenotaph of marble was removed by the Sikhs. The mausoleum was originally surrounded by Gulabi Bagh or the Garden of Rosewater. Although the garden no longer exists, its splendid arched entrance adorned with glazed tiles still stands.
On the gateway to the Gulabi Bagh, a few people, who have hardly any idea of the tomb’s historic significance, can be seen playing cards. Similarly, young boys used to play cricket on the tomb’s premises. The worst of all is the fact that one of the tomb’s side is being used to dump waste.
When contacted, Shalamar Garden Project Director Maqsood Ahmad said the department had released meagre funds for the repairs and maintenance of the monuments on the Shalamar belt. He said even the Shalamar Bagh was short of chowkidars and gardeners.
Mr Ahmad, who is also a senior architect, claimed that the structure of the Dai Anga was strong enough, and had no immediate threat of collapsing.
