PeriodIndex

Francis Tanfield was a member of a gentry family long settled at Gayton, Northamptonshire. The Tanfields held land in the county from at least the 14th century, and like many such families, maintained their position through estate management and service in local administration. Francis died in 1558, and his monument in St Mary’s Church was probably commissioned by his widow soon afterwards.

This tomb to Humayun was commissioned in about 1570, by either his wife Haji Begam or his son Akbar the Great, and built at a cost of 1.5 million rupees. It is thought to be the first garden tomb on the Indian subcontinent, and the first example of the monumental style of architecture, that would become associated with the Mughal Empire, that reached its high point with the building of the Taj Mahal.

 

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