Najaf Khan Tomb

In a city where you are more likely to run into a 14th century tomb than a good coffee shop, it is quite normal that you haven`t heard about Najaf Khan`s Tomb. What is surprising is how this tomb of a man who was one of the most important people of his time, has remained hidden in public view and from public consciousness.


Mirza Najaf Khan Baloch (1723-1782) was a soldier and adventurer in the court of the later Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. Originally from Balochistan (now in ...

In a city where you are more likely to run into a 14th century tomb than a good coffee shop, it is quite normal that you haven’t heard about Najaf Khan’s Tomb. What is surprising is how this tomb of a man who was one of the most important people of his time, has remained hidden in public view and from public consciousness.

Mirza Najaf Khan Baloch (1723–1782) was a soldier and adventurer in the court of the later Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. Originally from Balochistan (now in Pakistan), Najaf Khan came to India seeking fame and fortune, around 1740. He was an experienced politician and had his sister married to the Nawab of Awadh. Through this connection, he rose to the position of the deputy Wazir (prime minister) of Awadh.

He led the forces of Awadh in the Battle of Buxar (1764). Although the Awadh army was crushed by the soldiers of the East India Company, Najaf Khan showed extraordinary bravery. He then moved to Delhi and was put in charge of the Mughal army. He presided over an army of approximately 90,000 soldiers and around 250 pieces of artillery. He employed French mercenaries to train the soldiers in European styles of warfare.

It was a time when the Mughal power in the north was waning and the company forces were getting stronger around Calcutta. Such was the impact of Najaf Khan’s fortitude that within six years of Najaf Khan’s death in 1782, the Mughal army had ceased to exist.
Set in the centre of a large enclosure, the monument comes as a fresh breath of air in the otherwise crowded Lodi Colony. Najaf Khan’s Tomb lies right next to the Safdarjung Flyover, around a kilometer each from Safdarjung’s Tomb and Lodhi Gardens (two of Delhi’s busiest tourist attractions) and the hyperactive INA Market. In spite of this prominent location, it has faded largely from public memory. The Archaeological Survey of India, however, does a fantastic job in maintaining the monument.

The mausoleum has bastions on each of its four corners and is entered through a projecting arched entrance on its eastern side. From here, a vaulted passage leads to the central grave chamber. The tomb’s two marble cenotaphs are inscribed and belong to Najaf Khan and his daughter, Fatima. The real graves are in one of the two chambers within of the platform on which the tomb stands. Although the original tomb building would have been much more ornate, befitting a man of his stature, all that remains are the graves and the plinth on which the rest of the building once rested.

Najaf Khan once maintained a garrison of soldiers in a small village on the southwestern outskirts of Delhi in order to repel threats from the Sikhs and the Rohillas. It was named Najafgarh after him. Today, people refer to the Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag who hails from the village, as ‘the nawab of Najafgarh’. But history does tell us otherwise.