The Mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Durrani is located in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It is one of the most important historical monuments in Kandahar. Ahmad Shah Durrani, who is fondly known as Ahmad Shah Baba, ruled the Durrani Empire from Kandahar between 1747 and 1772.
The graceful octagonal monument stands on a basaltic platform, the plain beige brick exterior decorated with numerous niches of contrasting heights and depths, delicately outlined with yellow and green, green and blue, tile. Tall minarets connected by a floral balustrade top the main body of the monument and behind them yet another set of short minarets atop a series of shallow niches outlined in blue, surround a drum crowned with a dome of glistening blue tile. The soffits of the main arches are cleverly decorated in a honeycomb pattern composed of half circles centered with lapis lazuli and gold to resemble flowers.Nancy Hatch Dupree – An Historical Guide To Afghanistan – The South (Chapter 16)
The exterior decoration seems very spartan once one enters. Here, the eyes are delighted with a sumptuous richness of color and design from the gorgeous Afghan carpets on the marble floor to the brilliantly painted and gilded floral decoration of the dome. The blue-green tile with touches of yellow and brown around the base of the walls is made in Kandahar and is quite distinctive from the tile-work of Herat.Nancy Hatch Dupree – An Historical Guide To Afghanistan – The South (Chapter 16)
On the eight cornices under the corner niches a large inscription in white on lapis blue tile extolls the virtues of Emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani:
The sarcophagus is made of Afghan marble and covered with a gold-embroidered cloth of deep wine velvet. Beside this there is a table holding fine copies of the Quran and a glass cabinet containing a gold-inlaid helmet and gauntlets together with a sceptre inlaid in silver and embellished with a two-headed bird. It is with these that Ahmad Shah Durrani went forth to battle.Nancy Hatch Dupree – An Historical Guide To Afghanistan – The South (Chapter 16)
Within the compound is also the Friday Mosque with the Shrine of the Cloak, which is believed to be worn by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It has switched hands until finally resting here.
Gallery
See also Mausoleum of Timur Shah Durrani
References
External links
Old images of the tomb