08-13-2006, 01:01 AM
A new twist to the history of Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal Design
The Smiths of Agra and Delhi are a remarkable family. Between them they know more about the two Mughal capitals than anyone I know. Besides English they know Urdu, Persian and Hindi. RV Smithâs articles appear in many papers and tell you about quaint places, legends attached to them, and people who lived there. His latest offering is a collection of articles: The Taj: Myth & Reality (Hope India). Among the articles one is by Thomas Smith entitles Who designed the Taj? And the other The Foreign hand in the anatomy of the Taj which examines the claim of an Italian being its architect by Reverend H Hosten. One believes that the original design was made by Ustad Isa; <b>the other gives credit to an Italian Priest Veroneo of Venice who happened to be in Agra when it was being built</b>. I beg to differ with both in as much as I am convinced that later writers, mostly foreigners, could not believe that Indians were capable of building a monument as beautiful as the Taj Mahal. I am sure the original concept was that of Emperor Shah Jahan himself, his role model was the mausoleum of his grandfather, Emperor Humayun in Delhi. He meant it to be the final resting place of his favourite Queen, Arjmand Bano Begum who died giving birth to their 14th child. There is good reason to believe he planned to build another mausoleum for himself across the river. His son Aurangzeb dispensed the idea and buried his father alongside Arjmand Bano.
The Taj Mahal Design
The Smiths of Agra and Delhi are a remarkable family. Between them they know more about the two Mughal capitals than anyone I know. Besides English they know Urdu, Persian and Hindi. RV Smithâs articles appear in many papers and tell you about quaint places, legends attached to them, and people who lived there. His latest offering is a collection of articles: The Taj: Myth & Reality (Hope India). Among the articles one is by Thomas Smith entitles Who designed the Taj? And the other The Foreign hand in the anatomy of the Taj which examines the claim of an Italian being its architect by Reverend H Hosten. One believes that the original design was made by Ustad Isa; <b>the other gives credit to an Italian Priest Veroneo of Venice who happened to be in Agra when it was being built</b>. I beg to differ with both in as much as I am convinced that later writers, mostly foreigners, could not believe that Indians were capable of building a monument as beautiful as the Taj Mahal. I am sure the original concept was that of Emperor Shah Jahan himself, his role model was the mausoleum of his grandfather, Emperor Humayun in Delhi. He meant it to be the final resting place of his favourite Queen, Arjmand Bano Begum who died giving birth to their 14th child. There is good reason to believe he planned to build another mausoleum for himself across the river. His son Aurangzeb dispensed the idea and buried his father alongside Arjmand Bano.