Often referred to as the “Baby Taj Mahal”, the tomb of Itimad-ud-daulah is a Mughal mausoleum and often regarded as a copy of the Taj Mahal. This is the first tomb in India made entirely of marble. The tomb was commissioned by Nur Jahan, the wife of Jahangir, for her father Mir Gheyas Beg (later known as Itimad-ud-daulah), who was a minister in the court of Shah Jahan.

The tomb of Itimad-ud-daulah marks the transition from the first phase of the Mughal architecture to the second. This was the first structure to make use of pietra dura and the first to be built on the banks of the Yamuna River. It basically consists of Indo-Islamic architecture, with the use of arched entrances and octagonal shaped towers. If you take a bird’s eye of the Itimad-ud-daulah Tomb, it looks like a jewel box set in a garden. This magnificent mausoleum, built on the banks of Yamuna, was to inspire the construction of one of the wonders of the world “Taj Mahal” in the later years.

This is the burial chamber of Mirza Ghiyas Beg and his better half Asmat Begum. He hailed from Iran and served Akbar. He was the dad of the renowned Nur-Jehan and granddad of Mumtaz-Mahal of the Taj Mahal acclaim. He was made Vazir (Prime Minister) after Nur Jehan’s marriage with Jehangir in 1611. He held the mansab of 7000/7000 and the title: “I’timad-Ud-Daulah” (The Lord financier). He passed on at Agra in 1622, a couple of months after his better half’s demise. Nur Jehan constructed this burial place for her folks somewhere in the range of 1622 and 1628. Her own burial place and that of Jehangir are at Lahore.

The Tomb of I’timad-Ud-Daulah is a magnum opus of the domeless class of Mughal burial places. It is the main structure completed in white marble and denotes the temporary stage from red stone to white marble, from Akbar’s burial place Sikandra to the Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh). It mirrors the character of the cleaned Iranian who untruths covered here, and, more than that, the formal and fancy character of its developer Nur Jehan who governed the Mughal Empire from in the background for a very long time (1611–27).