The precinct is located on the right bank of the River Jhelum in the vicinity of Zaina Kadal. The enclosure is said to have been built on the ruins of a Hindu site dating back to the 4th or 5th Century A.D. The precinct is divided by a broad stone pathway into two parts culminating at the doorway leading into the walled premises of Mazar-i-Salateen. To the right of the path along the northeastern corner of the mazar lies the domed tomb of Sultan Zain-ul-Abideen’s mother commonly known as Budshah’s Dumath. Opposite the tomb, along the northwestern corner of the mazar, lies the grave of Emperor Humayun’s uncle, Mirza Haider, beneath a mulberry tree. The forecourt of the precinct in between the entrance gateway and the walls of the Mazar-i-Salateen is filled with the graves of many prominent Kashmiri poets and nobles. The whole premise is enclosed within a massive stone wall, originally with a rigged coping. The entrance to the site is through a trifoliate arched gateway dating back to the original Hindu Period1.
The overall architectural character of the precinct is a synthesis between Central Asia, Persian and local architectural influences. The whole precinct has been declared a protected site and is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India2.
1 Shehar-i-Kashmir, Cultural Resource Mapping of Srinagar City (2004-05), Volume 1 (J&K: Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage, J&K Chapter, 2010), 232.
2 Shehar-i-Kashmir, Cultural Resource Mapping of Srinagar City (2004-05), Volume 1 (J&K: Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage, J&K Chapter, 2010), 232.