Razia Sultan (CE 1205-1240) was the only woman to sit on the throne of Delhi, having been named successor by her father, Iltutmish. Razia’s reign was a short one, since she had to battle a powerful clique of nobility at the court in Delhi, as well as external enemies. She was eventually defeated in battle and forced to flee, eventually dying in Kaithal, near Karnal.
One would have expected Razia’s tomb, given that she was a Sultan, to be more impressive—and more close to where she had ruled (which would have been around the Mehrauli area). However, possibly because of the proximity of the tomb of the Sufi mystic Turkman Bayabani (the graves of holy people being believed to confer blessings on the area around them), she was buried here, fairly far to the north of where she ruled from.
The tomb itself is unimpressive: instead of a domed roof (or any sort of roof), there is just a small walled enclosure with two cenotaphs, both made of random rubble masonry—no ornamentation, nothing to indicate that this is the last resting place of a Sultan. One grave is Razia’s, the other is unidentified but local legend has it that this is the grave of Razia’s sister Sazia. Beside the cenotaphs, to one side, is a small mosque which has been built fairly recently. If you’re entering the mosque area, make sure you remove your footwear.
Getting to Razia’s Tomb is a little convoluted, but the locals are well aware of where it is, and how to get there: remember to ask for Bulbulikhana, which is the exact name of the neighbourhood where the tomb stands.