Late Islamic tombstone
- Gallery: Room 43
- Culture: Late Islamic
- Made in: India (west)
- Date: 15thC (circa)
- Object type: tombstone
- Materials: marble
- Museum number: 1840,0302.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
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About this object
Before you is a beautifully carved tombstone from Late Islamic India. This white marble gravestone features a stepped top and intricate carvings on both sides. One side showcases a bulbous mosque lamp and stylized tree-of-life motifs, while the other features two mosque lamps wrapped in baroque scrolls.
The tombstone is richly inscribed with Arabic text in thuluth script, including passages from the Qur’an and the Muslim profession of faith: “There is no god but God and Muhammad is his messenger.” A name, Abu'l-Hassan Ali ibn Uthman, appears in the inscriptions, though the exact date of death remains unclear.
Though believed to have been found in Yemen, it likely originated in Cambay, Gujarat. Cambay was known for crafting marble tombstones, especially during the 13th and 14th centuries. This piece captures both the spiritual and artistic values of its time.
See it in person
Late Islamic tombstone is on display in Room 43 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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