The Bagga Gumbaz
By LahoreBazaar Published: 01/24/2009
East of begampura is an old building of octagonal form, called the Bagga Gumbaz, or the white tower. The dome, or tower, has been destroyed, but the walls which supported it, stand on a raised platform, in the midst of which is the tomb of yahya Khan, son and successor of Nawab Zakaria Khan, Khan Bahadur. Even the grave has been dug up by the brick-sellers, and, on auther’s visit to the spot, He saw only a hollow with a jal tree grown in it. The tomb is situated in the cultivated lands now belonging to Ilahi Bakhsh, Lambardar of Begampura, which are irrigated by an old and large well south of the tomb. Between this and the tomb of Sharf-un-Nisa (the Saru-wala Maqbara) is an old Baradari in which the cattle of the zemindars are now tethered. When, after the tragedy which ended in the murder of Chand Kour, widow of Maharaja Kharak Singh, Sher Sing came to Lahore at the invitation of Dhian Singh, he first alighted in this Gumbaz, and from this place went to Buddhu-ka-Awa, where he was saluted Maharaja of Punjab by the soldiery. Sher Singh regarded this Gumbaz as fortunate, and was in the habit of coming here. It was his intention to put it in thorough repair, but fortune was fickle, and he himself falling a victim to the Sindhanwalia plot, his wish could not be carried out.
The old Baradari previously alluded to is quite close to the tomb of Syad Rahmatullah on the south-west Bagga gumbaz and Begampura. As the name implies, it has 12 arched entrances, supported by pillars of solid masonry. There is a raised platform in the middle of the building, on which was the tomb of some of the courtiers of Nawab Khan Bahadur, but no traces of it now exist. At the commencement of Maharaja Ranjit Singh reign Sansar Chand of Kangra, whose beautiful daughters the Maharaja had married, laid out a fine garden here. Subsequently, the place was used as a Chaoni, or Cantonment, by the Maharaja, and the Baradari was used by Subha Khan, Commandant. It is now in possession of Zemindars, who use it for agricultural purposes.