Heroine of the City Legend
Anarkali of Lahore
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A little down south from where The Mall leaves Lower Mall, in the backdrop of Anarkali bazar is an octagonal building with a dome
Plastered in plain white (when I visited back in 2008) it did not appear to be a Mughal era edifice

Tomb of Anarkali, "Pomegranate Bud" of Akbar's darbar within the confines of Punjab Civil Secretariat was an unexpected find
In a place cluttered with archival records there was no grave, but a marble sarcophagus tucked to a side
we, dear reader, will come back to it in a moment

I visited the place having watched Shoaib Mansoor's Supreme Ishq-2 eloquently sung by Shabnam Majeed
The building lost its Mughal grandeur when the British plastered and lime painted it white converting the place into a church
this short clip narrates these transitions overtime

What we know of the legend comes to us from a fascinating stage playwright Imtiaz Ali Taj
Penned in 1922, titled after the heroine's name, the play opens in 1599 Mughal Court of Akabar e Azam
It introduces Maharani Jodha Bai, Shahzada Saleem, Anarkali, Surayya, Dilaram & others

Taj's play was adorned with Anarkali's portrait by Abdur Raḥman Chughtai
Crafted as a miniature painting from Mughal era, in words of Anna Suvorova, "Anarkali is not depicted as a romantic heroine but experienced courtesan with a deceitful smile and an enticing and crafty gaze."

Taj's play was powerful for its plot and characters were adopted by mainstream cinema
K Asif's magnum opus, Mughal e Azam immortalized the story
Here's a touch of genius in cinematizing reflection of Anarkali's love gestures towards Saleem in Shish Mahal, a key point in the play

Equally taking the cake are these enamoring notes of Noor Jahan complementing an eloquent melody of Rasheed Attre
Anwar Kamal's 1958 venture Anarkali was Pakistani Cinema's adaptation of Taj's play
Just when we believe we have known Anarkali well, there comes a twist in the tale

Imtiaz Ali Taj tells us his play is not based on historical facts
He dramatized a legend he had heard since childhood in visualized setting of Mughal court
Where Akbar & Saleem are historical figures, our lead female is fictitious
Whose tomb then stands in Punjab Secretariat!

The historical caveat comes to us from Syed Latif taking keen interest in describing the sarcophagus we talked of in the beginning of this thread
Carved out of single block of pure marble its regarded by Edward Backhouse Eastwick one of the finest pieces of carving in the world

Allah's 99 attributes beautifully carved on top & sides
And then some other inscriptions
First a Persian Couplet
تا قیامت شکرگویم کردگارخویش را
آہ گرمن بازبینم روئے یارخویش را

Only if could I behold the face of my beloved once more
I would thank my God until the day of Judgement

Second: A name signed with an quite an emotion
مجنوں سلیم اکبر
Saleem Akbar, the one enamored in love

and Third: a couple of dates of interest
Hijra 1008 (1599 CE) & 1024 (1615 CE)
(believed to be years when construction commenced and completed)

Putting these puzzle pieces together Latif tells us the same story based on popular legend told by Taj
Salim falling in love with a darbar courtesan Anarkali who got walled up alive by Akbar in 1599
Saleem in her love erected the tomb in 1615 after becoming the king (Jahangir)

What Latif also tells us is that during conversion of tomb to church the British exhumed remains from the grave and re-interred under a side tower
Our story of mythical origins now has a real tomb and a body, a couplet of love as epitaph signed by a real Prince with actual dates

If Anarkali existed why chronicles of Akbar & Jahangir omitted her
Why a love affair, a commonplace occurrence with Mughal princes was so harshly punished
William Finch a Portuguese trader of indigo was in Lahore in 1611 when Anarkali's tomb was under construction
He tells a tale

What Finch heard as popular legend was that Anarkali, mother of Prince Danyal was Akbar's wife on whom Prince Saleem made advances
This invited Emperor's wrath and the woman was walled up alive
The story from a contemporary comes to us with a shocking theme, incest, whoa!!

Finch's version retold by few other travelers is contested on two counts
Anarkali is reported as mother of Prince Daniyal, Saleem's half brother
She died in 1596 three years before 'sarcophagus date'
A love affair between a prince with a woman 15 years older seems extra-ordinary

Muhammad Baqir in "Lahore, Past and Present" states that Anarkali was the name of a pomegranate garden in the area
It was later that tomb for one of Jahangir's wives Sahib e Jamal was built
Abul Fazal mentions Saleem married Sahib e Jamal in 1596 & this was not his first marriage

For our prince the affection expressed in Persian couplet for one out of 20 wives in royal harem does not fit well
Anna Suvorova goes further in saying that poetic signatures "Majnu Saleem" in addressing a wedded royal queen was inappropriate in 17th century Mughal India

We now turn our attention to Majid Sheikh, a learned source on Lahore, who tells:
One Nadira Begum, a Turkmen girl, kaneez in Akbar's harem rose in emperor's liking for her interest in poetry, literature & music
Her beauty got her the title of Anarkali (pomegranate in full bloom)

It was the year 1599 when emperor was away in Deccan, that Nadira Begum a.k.a Anarkali fell ill and died before Akbar's return to Lahore
The king upon his return ordered a tomb and a befitting garden to be built on her grave and so the entire area came to be known as Anarkali

Now for the mystery of the marble sarcophagus:
Drawing on a comparison on marble blocks and carvings in the tombs of Jahangir and Asif Khan (brother in law of Shah Jahan), Majid Sheikh concludes that the marble sarcophagus was installed not by Akbar or Jahangir but Shah Jahan

In a tomb inside Punjab Secretariat, tucked under a side tower rests in eternal sleep our heroine of the city legend Anarkali
Beloved of Akbar or Jahangir we don't know, what we do know is that her death broke her lover leading him to compose that heart wrenching couplet ...

تا قیامت شکرگویم کردگارخویش را
آہ گرمن بازبینم روئے یارخویش را

Only if could I behold the face of my beloved once more
I would thank my God until the day of Judgement

***links to full videos for the clips posted in this thread***
Supreme Ishq 2:
Piyar kiya tou darna keya - Mughal e Azam:
Sada hun apnay piyar ki - Anarkali: