Rauza

Rauza, Rouza, Roza (Urdu: روضة, Bengali: রৌজা, Hindi: रौज़ा) is a Perso-Arabic term used in Middle East and Indian subcontinent which means shrine or tomb.[1][2][3] It is also known as mazār, maqbara or dargah.[4]

The word rauza is derived through Persian from the Arabic rawdah (روضة rawḍah) meaning garden, but extended to tomb surrounded by garden as at Agra and Aurangabad.[5] Abdul Hamid Lahauri, the author of the Badshahnama, the official history of Shah Jahan's reign, calls Taj Mahal rauza-i munawwara (Perso-Arabic: روضه منواره rawdah-i munawwarah), meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb in a garden.[2]

  1. ^ Steingass, Francis Joseph (1992). A comprehensive Persian-English dictionary including the Arabic words and phrases to be met with in Persian literature; being Johnson and Richardson's Persian, Arabic and English dictionary ; revised, enlarged and entirely reconstructed (3. Repr. ed.). New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. p. 595. ISBN 9788120606708. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  2. ^ a b Tillotson, Giles (2008). Taj Mahal. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 14. ISBN 9780674063655. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  3. ^ Becker, James (2010). The messiah secret. London: Bantam. p. 474. ISBN 9781407055800. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  4. ^ D'Rozario, P. S. (1837). A Dictionary of the Principal Languages Spoken in the Bengal Presidency: Viz. English, Bángálí, and Hindústání. In the Roman Character. G. Woollaston. p. 316. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  5. ^ Ward, Philip (1998). Gujarat, Daman, Diu : a travel guide. New Delhi: Orient Longman Ltd. p. 31. ISBN 9788125013839. Retrieved 9 February 2014.