The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-06-28
The Tai Mallal.

India boasts of the tallest mountain
in the world, the most beautiful building
and the finest echo in the world, the
| tallest column in the world, and the
| largest church in the world, which are
at Delhi. OF course the all-absorbing
| object of interest to tourists is the Ia
Mahal. The Tai is undoubtedly the
| greatest architectural wonder in the
world to-day. The main quadrangle,
| 1000 by 1850 feet, is red sandstone,
| finely carved and trimmed with marble.
Upon entering the quadrangle by the
main entrance from the preliminary
court without, the visitor finds himself
in charming garden, laid out with
| trees, shrubs, flowers, fountains, etc,
all in keeping with the memorial nature
| of the place. Looking down on ave-
nues of dark, beautiful expresses, he
sees that miracle of beauty, the Tai,
with its pure white walls, inlaid with
every kind of Oriental gems, and its
| great marble dome towering to
supernal heights. 1t rests upon marble
platform 3l3 feet square and about
twenty feet high, which in turn rests
upon red sandstone platform 964 feet
| by 329 in dimensions. At each end of
| the sandstone platform are mosques,
| themselves rare works of art.
The Tai was built by Shah Jehan as
tomb for his favorite begun, Mumtaz
Mahal. This woman was evidently a
great Indian beauty, if one may Judge
from her photograph. Her name, Mum
| taz, was abbreviated into Taz, and this
has become corrupted into the present
form, Tai. The work of construction
was begun in 1880, and continued for
twenty-five years, during which time
| 10000 laborers were constantly em-
| plOyed. Its cost in American money
would be over S15,000,O00. The fol
lowing inscription, translated from the
sarcophagus in which the remains of
| Shah Jehan now repose beside those Of
his beloved queen, contains good deal
of information, so that it is worth quot
inc entire:
The magnificent tomb of the King,
luhabitant of the two paradises, Rizwan
and Khuld, the most sublime sitter on
the throne llleayn (the starry heaven, J
dweller in Ferdos Paradise,) Shah
Jehan Padishah-i-Gazi; peace to his re-
mains-heaven is for him. + 4
From this transitory world eternity has
marched him off to the next. Among
the workers who came from divers
countries to assist by the building of
the Tai We're the head master, lisa
Muhammad, whose salary was l, 900
rupees month; the illuminatOr Amar-
nund Khan, an inhabitant of Jhiraz,
also l,OOOrupees a month. Another Mas
fer Nj qSnn Mn m, Il Hnnif Dn
dad, also 1000 amOnth. A great many
workmen were employed from Turkey,
Persia, Delhi, Cuttack and Punjab, who
received salaries ranging from 100 to
800 rupees a month. 1t must be re-
membered that that this was in q
country where wages vary from three
to six rupees month
1.-The white marble came from Jey-
pore, in Rajpootana; the yellow from
the banks of the Nerbudda. A square
yard OF the latter cost forty rupees. The
black marble came from place called
Charkoh, and cost ninety rupees per
square yard. The crystal came from
China-570 rupees per square yard.
The jasper from the Punjab. The cor
nelian from Bagdad. The turquois
from Thibet. The agate from Yemen.
The lapislazuli from Ceylon-1, 1856 ru-
pees per square yard. The coral from
Arabia and the Red Sea. The garnets
from Bundelcund. The diamonds
from Pannah, in Bundelcund. The
plum-pudding stone from Paisilmcre
The rock spar from the Nerbudda
The lodestone from Gwalior. The
onyx from Persia. The chalcedony
from Villait. The amethyst from
Persia. The sapphires from Lnnka
(Ceylon). And the red sandstone, of
which $4,000 car loads were used,
from Fettehpore Skin. Many other
stones were also used in the inlaying of
the flowers which have no name in our
language. Most of these were received
in lieu of tribute from different Nations
under the Emperor's rule, or were
made presents by the different rajahs
and nawabs, voluntarily or otherwise. "
This illustration serves also to give
some idea of the tlorid and extravaganza
literary style so common among east
ern nations. 1t might seem that such
an inscription is out of place on such q
tomb, but as it is in the native charac-
tiers, it never bothers tourists much
The immense amount of work involved
in bringing the materials together can
scarcely be imagined, especiallyin bring
ing the marble from Jeypore, 100 miles
distant, and the sandstone from Petteh-
pore. 1t must be remembered that that
was in the pre-railroad days. There
has been some debate as to where the
diamonds were, At present none are
to be discovered. They may have been
inlaid in some of the flowers, and have
been picked out by Asiatic and Euro
pean vandals at the different times
when Agra has been "taken. agra
Cor. 50. Paul Pioneer Press.