Epigraphic survey on the mausoleum of Muḥammad Šarīf Ḫān at Ghazni (Afghanistan)

Abstract

The mausoleum of Muḥammad Šarīf Ḫān is a rare surviving example of monumental family burial in Ghazni (Afghanistan). It hosts six marble tombs which date back to the end of the 10th/16th-beginning 11th/17th century and display a coherent epigraphic program. This paper gathers together and compares for the first time the Arabic epitaphs engraved on the tombs with the aim of better investigating the chronology and patronage of the monument. In the attempt to retrace the kinship among the deceased, it also cross‑examines epigraphic data and coeval historical sources and allows the identification of the eponym of the mausoleum as a high‑ranking dignitary among Mughal nobility.