The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-05-30
THE "a AHA
The WOndrOus Tomb Built by Shah Jehan
for His Favorite Beauty.

The Wondrous Tomb Built by Shah Jehan
for His Favorite Beauty.
Agra Correspondence st. Paul Pioneer Press.
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 allabsorbing
object of interest to tourists is the Tai Mahal.
The Tai is undoubtedly the greatest architeclur-
al wonder in the world to-day. The main quad
rangle. ] 1000 by $50 feet, is red sandstone, fine
ly carved and trimmed with marble. Upon en-
tering the quadrangle by the main entrance from
the preliminary court without, the visitor finds
himself Ill a charming garden, laid out with
trees. shrubs, flowers, fountains, etc. all in
keeping with the memorial nature of the place.
Looking down on avenues 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 it's great marble dome
towering to supernal heights. 1t rests upon a
marble platform 3l3 feet square and about
twenty feet high, which in turn rests upon a red
sandstone platform 964 feet by 800 in dimensions.
At each end of the sandstone platform are
mosques, themselves rare works of art
The Tai was built by Shah Jehan as a tomb
for his favorite begun, Mumtaz Mahal. This
woman was evidently a great Indian beauty, if
one may judge from her photograph. Her
name, MunataZ was abbreviated into TaZ, and
this has become corrupted into the form,
Tai The work of construction was begun in
1880. and continued for twenty-five years, dur
AN5 WAAASh UNIV -VfpNO - N1AO
employed. Its cost in American money would
be over $l5, 900, 900. The following inscription,
translated from the sarcophagus in which the
remains OF Shah Jehan now repose beside those
OF his beloved queen, contains a good deal Of in
formation, so that it is worth quoting entire:
The magnificent tomb of the King, inhabitant of
the two p~aradises. Rizwan and Khuld, the most sub
lime sitter on the throne Illeayn lthe starry heaven,
dweller in Ferdos (Psradisel, Shah Jehan Padishah-i-
Gazi; peace to his r-emains-heaven is for him. x X =
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
were the head master, lisa Muhammad, whose salary
was 1000 rupees a month; the illuninator Amar-
nund Khan, an inhabitant of Jhiraz, also 600 ru-
pees a month; another Master Mason, Muhammad
Hanif, from Bagdsd, also 1000 a month. A great
many worklnen were employed from Turkey, Persia,
Delhi, Cuttack. and the Puniab. who received salaries
ranging from 100 to 500 rupees a month. 1t must
be that this was in a country where wages
vary from three to six rupees a month.
The white marble CAMERON Jeypore, in Rajpootana;
the yellow from the banks of the Nerbudda. Asquare
yard OF tee latter cost forty rupees, The black mar
BILE came from a place called Charkoh, and cost ninety
rupees per square yard. The crystal came from China
$40 rupees per square yard. The jasper from the
Punjab. The carnelian from Bagdad. The %turquois
from Thibet. The agate from Yemen. The lapis-
The coral from Arabia and the Red sea. The garnets
from Bundeleund. The diamonds from Pannah, in
BuDdeicund. The plum-pudding stone from Paisil-
mere. The rock spar from the Nerbudda; The lode
stone from Gwalior. The onyx from Persia. The
ehalcedony from Villait. The amethyst from Persia.
The sapphires from Lunka (Ceylon). And the red
sandstone, of which 1l4,000 carloads 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 ford and eXtravagant literary style so
common among eastern nations. 1t might seem
that such an inscription is out of place on sch
tomb, but as it is in the native characters, IL
never bothers tourists much. The immense
amount of work involvedin bringingthe materials
together can scarcely be imagined, especially in
bringing the marble from Jeypore, 100 miles dis
tant, and the sandstone from Fettehpore. 1t
must be remembered that that was in pre-rail-
road days. There has been some debate as to
where the diamonds were. At present none are
TO be discovered. They may have been iplaid in
some of the flowers, and have been picked out
by Asiatic and European vandals at the differ
ent times when Agra has been taken"