Adham Khan’s Tomb
North of the Qutab-Mehrauli Road at the entrance of Mehrauli village, along the walls of Lal Kot, is the octagonal tomb of Adham Khan. He was the son of Maham Anga, who was a wet nurse of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Adham Khan was a noblemen and a general in Akbar’s army. However, when he killed Ataga Khan, the husband of Ji Ji Anga, another of Akbar’s wet nurses, he was thrown down from the ramparts of Agra Fort, on Akbar’s orders. Soon, Maham Anga also died, consumed by grief, and Akbar built this tomb for them in 1562.
Surmounted by a dome, the tomb is popularly known as Bhulbhulaiyan, due to its labyrinth where one may lose one’s way in the corridors of the tomb. The tomb is built in Lodi style with a verandah on each side with three openings and that too without the usual eaves below the parapets. It is said that in the early 19th century, the tomb was converted into a residence of an Englishman named Blake of the Bengal Civil Service. Later the tomb was also used or misused as a police station, post office and even a rest house. The tomb was finally vacated and maintained as a monument on the orders of Lord Curzon.
