Mausoleum of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq
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The city of Tughluqabad (Delhi, India) is connected by a causeway to the southern outpost of a fortification in the shape of a pentagon protecting the Mausoleum of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq. This elevated causeway leads across a former artificial lake and is nowadays pierced by the Merauli-Badarpur road. After passing an old Pipal tree, the complex of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq's tomb is entered by a high gateway made up of red sandstone with a flight of steps.
The actual mausoleum is made up of a single-domed square tomb (about 8 m x8 m) with sloping walls crowned by parapets. In contrast to the walls of the fortification made up of granite, the sides of the mausoleum are faced by smooth red sandstone and inlaid with inscribed panels and arch boders from marble. The edifice is topped by an elegant dome resting on an octagonal drum that is covered with white slabs of marble.
Inside the mausoleum are three graves: The central one belongs to Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq and the other two are believed to be those of his wife and his son and successor Muhammad bin Tughluq. In the north-western bastion of the enclosure wall with its pillared corridors is another octagonal tomb in similar style with a smaller marble dome and inscribed marble and sandstone slabs over its arched doors. According to an inscription over its southern entrance this tomb houses the remains of Zafar Khan. His grave has been at the site prior to the construction of the outpost and was consciously integrated into the design of the mausoleum by Ghiyath al-Din himself.
