Tomb of Mahmud Begada, Sarkhej Roza, Ahmedabad.

Tomb of Mahmud Begada is a mausoleum located in the village of Makarba, Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, India.

Sultan Mahmud Begada or Mahmud Shah I (r. 25 May 1458 – 23 November 1511), was the most prominent Sultan of Gujarat Sultanate. Raised to the throne at young age, he successfully captured Pavagadh and Junagadh forts in battles which gave him his name Begada. He established Champaner as the capital.

Sultan Mahmud Begada was fond of Sarkhej and expanded this complex greatly. He dug a large Sarkhej lake, surrounded it with cut stone steps, built on its south-west corner a splendid palace, and finally, opposite to the Ganj Baksh's tomb, raised a mausoleum for himself and his family, where he, his son Muzaffar Shah II and his queen Rajbai are buried.

Across the courtyard on the left are two mausoleums with a connecting porch, the east mausoleum containing the tombs of Mahmud Begada, and of his son Saltan Muzaffar II, and the west, the tomb of Rajabai, Muzaffar's queen. There is a courtyard, covering more than an acre of ground, surrounded by cloisters, with a mosque only slightly smaller than the Jama mosque. The want of minarets and the shallowness of its caves rather mar the outside effect. But inside 'it is the perfection of simple grace unrivaled in India except by the Moti mosque at Agra.'

Picture Credit: Parth Vaghela