Khawaja Mahmud

            The high dome of this mausoleum is to the west of Begampura on the road to Shalimar.  Accrding to Kitab-I-Rizwani, Khwaja Mahmud, alias Hazrat Eshan, was a native of Bukhara.  He received his education in the royal college, and became an accomplished scholar.  The fame of his piety and devotion reached far and wide, and he made thousands of disciples in heart, Cabul and Candahar.  He came to Kashmir in Akbar’s time, and Jahangir, his successor, took him to Agra.  In the time of Shah Jahan he lived at Lahroe.  That emperor, on his accession to the throne, presented him with a lakh of gold takas, with which he laid out a fine garden. 

The present mausoleum was built by him in his own life-time.  Wazir Khan, the minister of Shah Jahan, held him in great esteem, and it is said his prayer cured Nur Jahan of dangerous illness.  During the viceroyalty of Nawab Khan Bahadur Khan, who lived at begam pura, the mausoleum was in the height of its popularity.  The Ulemas assembled here every week, and bread was distributed to the poor and needy, each man getting a rupee in cash besides.  Tasbi Khanas, or housed of worship, and the now forsaken mosques were resorted to be multitudes of people who performed prayers in them, but during the ascendancy of the Sikhs all these institutions were neglected.  The pulpit from which Khwaja Mahmud used to preach in the mosque, still exists.  He was a contemporary of Mian Mir and used to hold religions discourses with him.