Remember Me: Asian Mausoleums Edition Quiz

Answer: Mausolus

A satrap was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires. They served as a viceroy to the king but had considerable autonomy.

Halicarnassus was the capital of the Kingdom of Caria situated on the west coast of Asia Minor in what is today Bodrum, Turkey. In 377 BC when Hecatomnus died he left control to his son Mausolus and his sister-wife Artemisia.

It is believed that Mausolus began the building of his own tomb, it was designed and created by Greek architects and sculptures and stood approximately 45 metres (148 feet) high.

It was destroyed by earthquakes between the 12 and 15th centuries. It was also the origin of the name 'mausoleum' for any aboveground tomb.

Answer: Tang

The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built for the emperors of the Ming dynasty. Located about 45 km northwest of Beijing they are known collectively as 'The Thirteen Tombs'.

The famous Qing tombs are found 140 km southwest of Beijing in Hebei Province. They are a huge necropolis that houses four royal mausoleums containing seventy-eight royal members. These include four emperors of the Qing dynasty and their empresses, imperial concubines, princes and princesses as well as other royal servants.

The site reflects the traditional Chinese beliefs about the afterlife and the importance of maintaining harmony between the living and the deceased. Every tomb is surrounded by walls and includes ceremonial halls, spirit ways and decorative gates.

The Ming Dynasty was from 1368-1644 AD lasting for 276 years.
The Qing Dynasty from 1636-1912 AD also lasted 276 years and was the last of the Chinese Dynasties.
The Tangs were much earlier from 618-690 AD and 705-907 AD and were another long dynasty at 274 years.
The Sanjaya Dynasty was from Indonesia, the Wangs are Korean and the Durrani are an Afghanistan Dynasty

Pictures 1 and 3 are at the Qing Tombs and 2 and 4 the Ming Tombs:

1. The Eastern Qing Tombs with Dowager Empress Cixi's Tomb on far left
3. Eastern Qing tombs entrance
2. Ming Tombs Sacred Way North Gate
4. Ming Tombs southern entry to the Sacred Way

Answer: Shia

Sunni Islam is based upon the belief that Muhammad did not appoint a successor and left the choice up to the Muslim community - they elected Abu Bakr and maintain that he was the rightful successor. He and his successors are known as the Rashidun Caliphs. Sunnis represent 85% of the world Muslim population.

Shia Muslims believe that Muhammad had explicitly designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his heir during the Event of Ghadir Khumm and that succession was to be followed by his heirs.

Ali ibn Abi Talib was a close friend and follower of Muhammad and married his daughter Fatima. Their eldest son Hasan became the third leader followed by his brother Husayn and then nine of his descendants.

Husayn and his companions were later killed and martyred in the Battle of Karbala in Iraq in 680 AD by the forces of Caliph Yazid I. A tomb was built on the site which later became a mausoleum and a mosque. Within the structure is also a mass grave of all the 72 martyrs of Karbala.

The tomb of Husayn is one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, outside of Mecca and Medina, and many make pilgrimages to the site. Every year millions of pilgrims visit the city to observe Ashura which marks the commemoration of Husayn's death for all Muslims.

Answer: Vietnam

The Khai Dinh Tomb is known for its distinctive blend of incorporating both traditional Vietnamese and European architectural styles. The exterior has elaborate mosaics, ceramic tiles and sculptures while the interior is adorned with intricate carvings and decorations.

The tomb is situated on a hill, providing panoramic views of the surrounding landscapes. The main building, housing the tomb of Khai Dinh, is reached by climbing a grand staircase with dragon handrails.

Nguyen, sometimes abbreviated as Ng, is the most common surname in Vietnamese people. It is estimated that 30 - 40% of people have it. It can appear in China but it is not common.

Answer: Tamerlane

Timur was born in Transoxiana (modern-day Uzbekistan) in the 1320s. He became the most powerful ruler of the Muslim world by conquering Western, Southern and Central Asia, Caucasus and Southern Russia.

The complex was actually began by Timur himself for his heir but they died prior to him so it became his tomb instead. His sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan are also entombed there. Gur-e Amir is Persian for 'Tomb of the King'.

The Timurid dynasty began with Timur who married Saray Mulk Khanum, a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. Their offspring named themselves Gurkani which is an honorific title meaning son-in-law.

Tamerlane is the Latinised version of 'Timur Lenk.' The Edgar Allan Poe poem follows a fictionalized account of his life.

Answer: Mughal

The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur, a Timurid prince, who was a direct descendant of Timur on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mothers. He was originally from Kabul and missed his home country so chose to be returned there for burial.

His son was Humayun and his tomb is a grand mausoleum located in Delhi. It has a large central dome with red sandstone and white marble. The symmetrical garden layout is reminiscent of the traditional Persian and Timurid influences.

His son was Akbar and his tomb was built by his son in Agra, Utter Pradesh. His tomb is also in deep red sandstone with white marble relief but appears like a negative of his fathers. His favourite wife Mariam-uz-Zamani laid a large garden around his tomb and was later buried there by her son, Jahangir.

Jahangir himself has a large mausoleum built on the banks of the Ravi River across from Lahore, Pakistan. It is famous for its interior design that is extensively embellished with frescoes and marble, and its exterior that is richly decorated with pietra dura, called parchin kari or parchinkari in the Indian Subcontinent, which is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished coloured stones to create images.

Shah Jahan was his son, the fifth Mughal emperor. He is famous for building the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is located on the right bank of the river Yumana in Agra, Utter Pradesh. It is an ivory white marble mausoleum sitting in a 17 hectare complex which also includes a mosque. The emperor himself is also entombed with his wife.

The mausoleums in the pictures follow the orders of the emperors 1) Humayun, 2) Akbar, 3) Jahangir and 4) Shah Jahan.

The Dynasties are as follows:
Mamluk dynasty (1206-1290 AD)
Khalji dynasty (1290-1320 CAD)
Tughlaq dynasty (1321-1414 AD)
Mughal (1526 - 1857AD)

Answer: Sepulchre

The location of Genghis Khan's burial place has been the subject of much speculation and research. It is generally believed that it is near the Mongol sacred mountain of Burkhan Khaldun in the Khentii Mountains.

According to legend, Genghis Khan himself asked to be buried without any markings and that anyone that was connected to his burial were to be killed to protect its whereabouts.

The original mausoleum was built in 1954 by the Chinese government but they were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution that took place between 1966 - 1976. It was rebuilt in the 1980s.

A sepulchre is a burial vault, crypt or small room where human remains are laid to rest so this cannot be one.
A shrine is a place that people visit and treat with respect because it is connected with a dead person or with dead people that they want to remember.
A cenotaph is a memorial placed on a grave where the physical body is not present often used to memorialize or commemorate the deaths of those at rest in another part of the world. Many war memorials are cenotaphs.
A Lords Enclosure is the traditional name the Mongols use to describe a tomb with no body.

Answer: China

Sun Yat-sen, 1866 - 1925, was a Chinese revolutionary who was the first provisional president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Nationalist Party of China. He is unique in that he is revered by both the Nationalist Party in Taiwan and the Communist Party in mainland China.

The Taiwanese still refer to him as the 'Father of the Nation' while the PRC call him the 'Forerunner of the Revolution' for his role in the 1911 revolution where they overthrew the Qing dynasty.

His mausoleum is at the foot of the second peak of Purple Mountain in Nanjing, China. To reach the tomb it is up a 700 metre walkway with 10 white granite platforms and 392 stone steps rising up 70 metres. Pine, cypress and ginkgo trees line the way. The total area is just over 3 square kilometres.

The three wrong answers are still not republics in 2023. Their ruling leaders are:
Japan has Emperors, Brunei is ruled by Sultans and Malaysia have the Yang di-Pertuan Agong which is a king that is elected for a five-year term.

Answer: Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pakistan on 14 August 1947 and then as the Dominion of Pakistan's first governor-general until his death.

Indian Congress and the Muslim League could not work out a way that would allow the entirety of British India to be united as a single state following independence which led to all the parties agreeing to an independent predominantly Hindu India and the creation of a Muslim-majority state of Pakistan.

Pakistan was officially created on 14 August 1947 and Jinnah died at his home in Karachi on 11 September 1948 at 71.

His mausoleum was designed in a 1960s modernist style and was completed in 1971. It is an impressive structure with a large white marble dome and a four-sided tapering minaret at each corner. The architecture reflects a blend of both modern and traditional Islamic styles. It is situated in central Karachi and also contains the tombs of his sister and two early presidents of Pakistan. It is surrounded by a large garden laid out in a semi-Mughal style.

Dayanand Saraswati was a Hindi leader and Siddhartha Gautama was Buddha. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was definitely a Muslim and led Iran to officially become an Islamic republic but that was in 1979 after the Islamic Revolution and he lived until 1983.

Answer: Achaemenid

The Achaemenid Empire, also known as the First Persian Empire, was the ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the largest empire in the world spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres.

Naqsh-e Rustam is an ancient necropolis located about 12 kilometres northwest of Persepolis in Iran. It includes the tombs of Darius I, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I and Darius II all of whom were prominent rulers of the Empire.

The tombs are large cruciform structures, and each one has a carved figure of the respective king above the entrance. The entrance to each tomb is at the centre of each cross, which opens onto a small chamber, where the king lay in a sarcophagus.

In addition to the Achaemenid tombs there are also later Sassanian reliefs at the site and a massive rock relief known as the "Ka'ba-ye Zartosht" - the Cube of Zoroaster.

The Wangchuck Dynasty are from Bhutan, the House of Yamato is the royal family of Japan and the Khmers are from Cambodia.