Tomb of Anarkali

• 1. Introduction

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  The Tomb of Anarkali stands in Lahore, Pakistan, as one of the earliest Mughal tombs still in existence. It is an octagonal structure dating to either 1599 or 1615, quietly housed within the Punjab Civil Secretariat complex southwest of the Walled City. Today it serves as the Punjab Archives, with public access limited. But the building's story is far more layered than any government records office would suggest. Who was Anarkali? Why does a medieval legend still echo through films and books centuries later? And how did a Mughal tomb end up spending decades as a Protestant church? Those are the threads this documentary will follow.

• 2. A Legend Without Proof

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  Anarkali herself is a figure Western travelers wrote about in contemporary accounts, yet no independent historical confirmation of her existence has ever surfaced. The story passed down is that Mughal Emperor Akbar suspected her of having relations with his son, Prince Saleem, the future Emperor Jehangir. Scholars have treated her story as a mix of speculated hypothesis and literary fictionalization. That fictionalization has taken on a life of its own, appearing repeatedly in movies, books, and dramatized versions of Mughal history. The cenotaph inside the tomb, carved in white marble with the 99 names of Allah, was described by 19th-century historians as "one of the finest pieces of carving in the world." It bears a Persian couplet drawn from the poet Saadi: "Ah! could I behold the face of my beloved once more, I would give thanks unto my Creator until the day of resurrection."

• 3. Building and Architecture

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  The tomb's foundations follow an octagonal plan, with alternating side measurements of 44 feet and 30 feet, and semi-octagonal towers anchoring each corner. A double dome crowns the structure, resting on eight arches that each measure 12 feet 3 inches. That double dome makes this one of the earlier surviving Mughal examples of the form. The large arches along the building's sides were once left open, following typical Mughal practice, but the British sealed them off during their period of occupation. The exterior is covered today in whitewashing, and historical accounts describe the building as once having been surrounded by a garden.

• 4. Centuries of Repurposing

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  During the Sikh Empire, Kharak Singh occupied the tomb. It was then converted into a residence for the wife of General Jean-Baptiste Ventura, a French general employed in the army of Ranjit Singh. British administrators took over next, turning the structure into clerical offices in 1847. Four years later, in 1851, it became the Anglican St. James Church and was eventually regarded as Lahore's "Protestant Cathedral." The original cenotaph was removed when the church conversion took place. When the congregation relocated in 1891 and the church function ended, the cenotaph was returned to the building but placed at the former altar site rather than its original position. The tomb then became the Punjab Record Office before its current role as the Punjab Archives.

• 5. Protection and Memory

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  The Tomb of Anarkali is listed on the Protected Heritage Monuments of the Archaeology Department of Punjab, giving it formal legal shelter against further alteration. Filmmaker Shoaib Mansoor used the tomb as a shooting location for the song "Supreme Ishq," connecting the physical monument to the legend once more. The building sits near the British-era Mall, making it a landmark that has absorbed the imprints of the Mughal, Sikh, and British periods in turn, each leaving a visible mark on its fabric and purpose.