Building Details of Taj Mahal
Chief Builders
Despite several controversies that claim that the Taj Mahal was designed by an
Italian Geronimo Veroneo, or a French silversmith Austin de Bordeaux, the first
real evidence of the architect's identity emerged in the 1930s when a seventeenth
century manuscript called the Diwan-i-Muhandis was found to mention the Taj Mahal.
This manuscript contains a collection of several poems written by Luft
Allah, including several verses in which he describes his father, Ustad Ahmad
from Lahore, as the architect of the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort at Delhi. Ahmad
was a Persian engineer-astrologer.
Luft Allah also states that Shah
Jehan conferred upon his father the title "Nadir al-Asr" (the Wonder
of the Age); unfortunately court histories do not corroborate this claim. Other
sources record that Ustad Ahmad was one of the architects of the Red Fort.
Further evidence has been found of other large projects undertaken by Ustad
Ahmad, strengthening the plausibility of his son's claim. It is interesting to
note that Ustad Ahmad had a number of aliases : Ustad Khan Effendi, Ustad Mohammed,
Isa Khan, Isa Effendi and a number of permutations of the name - fictional amalgam
of Muslim sounding names, most likely the invention of latter-day British guidebook
writers.
It must be emphasised that the design of the Taj Mahal cannot
be ascribed to any single master-mind. The Taj is the culmination of an evolutionary
process. It is the perfected stage in the development of Mughal architecture.
The names of many of the builders who participated in the construction of the
Taj in different capacities have come down to us through Persian sources.
A project as ambitious as the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal demanded talent from many
quarters. From turkey came Ismail Khan a designer of hemispheres and the a builder
of domes. Qazim Khan, a native of Lahore travelled to Agra to cast the solid gold
finial that crowned the Turkish master's dome.
Chiranjilal, a local
lapidary from Delhi was chosen as the chief sculptor and mosaicist. Amanat Khan
from Shiraz was the chief calligrapher, and this fact is attested on the Taj gateway
where his name has been inscribed at the end of the inscription.
Muhammad
Hanif was the Supervisor of masons, while Mir Abdul Karim and Mukkarimat Khan
of Shiraz handled finances and the management of daily production. Sculptors from
Bukhara, calligraphers from Syria and Persia, inlayers from South India, stonecutters
from Baluchistan, a man who specialised in building turrets, another who carved
only marble flowers - thirty seven men in all formed the creative nucleus, and
to this core was added a labour force of twenty thousand workers recruited from
across North India.
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MORE ABOUT BUILDING DETAILS OF TAJ MAHAL
··» Taj
Mahal Agra —› Taj Mahal Location
—› Taj
Mahal Story —› History
of Taj Mahal —› Taj
Mahal Architecture —›
Garden of Taj Mahal —›
Mumtaz Mahal —›
Building of Taj Mahal —›
Actual Tomb of Taj Mahal —›
Excursions of Taj Mahal —›
How to Reach Taj Mahal —›
Mosque of Taj Mahal —›
Inside The Taj Mahal —›
Pictures of Taj Mahal
