This mausoleum or Tomb was built between 1753 to 1754 by Nawab Shuja Ud Daulah of Awadh as a tribute to his father’s memory. Mirza Muqeem Abul Mansur Khan who was entitled as Safdarjung father of Nawab Shuja Ud Daulah, was the Governor of Awadh Province and later he was appointed as Prime Minister during the reign of Mughal Emperor Mohammad Shah from 1719 to 1748.
This monument is accessible through an ornamental painted gateway on the east. This double storeyed gateway has several apartments, a court yard and a mosque. The enclosure wall with channels over them to carry water to different pavilions has a series of recessed arches on the interior and octagonal towers on the four corners. It has multi chambered pavilions namely Moti Mahal (Pearl Palace) Badshah-Pasand (Kings favourite) and Jangli Mahal (Sylvan Palace) on the north, south and west respectively.
The garden is divided into four squares by side pathways and tanks which are again divided into smaller squares and pathways, on the Char Bagh Pattern.
The double storeyed mausoleum built with red and buff sandstones relieved by marble stands in the centre of a garden and rises from a high platform. The platform has a number of cells beneath it. The structure has a central chamber surrounded by eight apartments around it. The corners of the tomb are occupied by polygonal towers and the bulbous dome rises from a sixteen sided drum.
The marble and red sandstone for this structure was removed from the tomb of Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khana. This has been described as the last shimmer of the Mughal architecture.
It’s a Protected Monument of National Importance and it’s a very popular tourist attraction located in central Delhi.