Hoshang Shah’s Tomb

Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh


Reputed to be India’s oldest marble mausoleum, this imposing tomb is crowned with a tiny crescent thought to have been imported from Persia or Mesopotamia. Light filters into the echoing, domed interior through stone jalis (carved lattice screens), intended to cast an appropriately subdued light on the tombs. An inscription records Shah Jahan sending his architects – including Ustad Hamid, who worked on the Taj Mahal – here in 1659 to pay their respects to the tomb’s builders of two centuries before.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh attractions

1. Jama Masjid

0.06 MILES

Entered by a flight of steps leading to a 17m-high domed porch, this disused red-stone mosque dominates Mandu village centre. Hoshang Shah begun its…

2. Village Group

0.09 MILES

This group, straddling the main road in the centre of the village, comprises three grand edifices constructed in the 15th-century by the Ghuri and Khilji…

3. Saturday Haat

0.09 MILES

This colourful weekly haat (market), behind the Jama Masjid, is similar to ones held in many central Indian areas with a tribal population. Adivasis …

5. Ashrafi Mahal

0.15 MILES

The Ashrafi Mahal was built as a madrasa (Islamic college) by Hoshang Shah between 1405 and 1422. It was a quadrangle with rows of cells and arcaded…

6. Jain Temple

0.18 MILES

Entered through a kaleidoscopic potpourri of a gate, this complex is a splash of kitsch among the Islamic monuments. The temples feature marble, silver…

7. Lohani Caves

0.28 MILES

Local guides seem unsure just how old these rock-cut chambers are, but they may have been the residences of Shaivite sadhus in pre-Muslim times. Some…

8. Royal Enclave

0.44 MILES

The Royal Enclave is the largest group of monuments, with several beautiful buildings from the 15th- and 16th-century Ghuri and Khilji dynasties set near…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "india/madhya-pradesh-and-chhattisgarh/mandu/attractions/hoshang-shah-s-tomb/a/poi-sig/1322095/356382",
      "destination": "Madhya-Pradesh-&-Chhattisgarh",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "India",
      "region": "Madhya-Pradesh-&-Chhattisgarh",
      "position": "superzone"
    }