The searchlight. [volume] (Culbertson, Mont.) 1902-current, 1911-06-09

turns In through the dark red
gateway a mile outside OF the
modern city Of Agra, and at
last catches sight of the famous Tai.
BY common consent the tomb Of Shah
Jehan's loved wife is the goal and
center of Indian travelling.
Nor is this to be wondered at; for
after the last word of praise and ap-
probation of the Tai as a building has
been said. there Is something more,
something greater about II still. That
which weighs heaviest in our estima-
ton and lives longest in our memories
is that side OF 1t which photographs
cannot give. Surely the dullest OF Wis
itors must be impressed by the mere
fact that the Tai stands. as nothing
else in the world stands, for the great
and lasting devotion of a man for
woman. Remember that II was erect
ed In eternal honor OF q woman at
time when women were regarded as
little but the playthings Of their own
ers. and by the disciple of faith
which TO this day denies to woman
the possession of a soul. The story
of the love Of Shah Jehan for Muntaz-
i-Mahal Is one OF the great romances
OF the worlds history.
Muntazi-Mahal was the daughter Of
Asaf Kahn and was married to Shah
Jehan in 1915, IL years before the sue
cession Of her husband to the throne.
Indeed she knew little of the splendors
OF Shah Jehan's court. for In 1929 she
died at Burhanpore. the capital Of the
Deccan Province, and with her the
light went out of the life OF the most
splendid Of all emperors. Crushed
with grief, Shah Jehan determined
that his lost love should have such
a memorial as neither woman no,
man had ever had In the history OF
the world before. So he called to
him one Ustad-Isa. a cunning archi-
tect, and babe him prepare as noble
a design as his Imagination could fur
nish. We do not know very much
about the actual building Of the Tai.
The minarets, which are perhaps the
most criticized details In the struc-
ture, were moved away from the CEN
trail building. and stand, instead, at the
four corners OF the marble plateau,
or plinth. on which the Tai is built.
We know from Tavernier that the
cost Of the scaffolding was as great as
that Of the tomb itself, because there
were at that time no trees near by
from which timber could be obtained
for this purpose. We are told that
Austin de Bordeaux, an absconding
French 1eweler. was called in to orna-
ment its white marble walls with the
famous "pietra dura" work. Tradi-
uon also has 1t that Verroneo, an
Italian, had a hand in the decoration
OF the tomb. But Of the part that
Shah Jehan himself played In this
colossal enterprise We know nothing.
The emperor stated that, apart from
the materials. to which half of Asia
contributed her marbles. the masons
alone were paid the sum Of IS, O0O, 900.
Seventeen years were occupied in the
building. The body Of Muntazi-Mahal
was then placed under the dome in
the place Of honor.
Years afterward. when Shah Jehan |
himself. broken. disappointed and |
dethroned man, came to die as his |
own sons prisoner In the fort he had |
himself built at Agra. they laid his |
body beside that Of his loved mistress.
Not even then did they dare break |
the great tradition Of love that the |
Tai was built to immortalize. Shah |
Jehan's tomb. though larger-as BELTS |
an emperor-is placed on one side of |
Enthusiastically central resting place. |
These tombs, in accordance with east
ern customs, are not the actual rest
Ing places Of the bodies. Muntaz-t
Mahal and Shah Jehan lie In the
crypt underneath. where the relative
positions. as already noted. are faith
fully maintained.
Inside. beneath the marble dome,
there ID. around the tombs Of the two
lovers. an exquisitely beautiful pierced
marble trellis heavily inlaid With pre-
eioas stones. The light II admitted
only through double screens Of white
marble tesllis-wesk q tAs most bsas-