Introduction of the Taj Mahal

Introduction

Settled in Agra, a medium-sized city in modern India, the Taj Mahal is the finest trace that the Mughal Empire left us. It is a large complex comprising three south-north facing parts which are, respectively, the inner courtyard, serving as an antechamber between the terrestrial world, symbolized by the city, and the second part which are the gardens, an image of Paradise on Earth. The third part, to the north is the most sacred and consists of the famous white mausoleum, a mosque (to its right) and the guest pavilion, a replica of the mosque on the left. 

The whole is surrounded by a high, protective wall. The inner courtyard and garden is separated by a door, which is here a large rectangular building, the Darwaza-i rauza. The gardens are perfectly symmetrical. They are cut in 4 by two channels which do not join quite in the center (There is a fountain, right in the center). The north part is raised by 7m, accessed by a staircase or a gentle slope, on the sides.
This short description is only an introduction, the full description is below.

The reasons for building the Taj Mahal

We all know that the Taj Mahal is a proof of a husband's love for his wife. It would be the tomb that the husband built for his deceased wife much younger than him, and his magnifiscense would correspond to the love she had for him. It's a very nice story, but would not it be a legend?
Well no. The Taj Mahal was built for Mumtaz Mahal, the 3rd wife of the 5th Mughal emperor Shah Jahan , who loved him. When she died on June 17, 1631, when she gave birth to her 14th child, she was buried at Burhanpur, where she died. But this tomb was temporary, it was what had decided Shah Jahan who decided, ravaged by grief, to build to his wife a mausoleum as beautiful as was his love for her. He took 22 years to this task and partially ruined the treasure of the Mughals, but the jewel case lived up to his hopes. The Taj Mahal was born. So this story is real.


On the other hand, what is false is the will to build a 2nd Taj Mahal on the other side of the river, black that one, which would have served as tomb to the emperor. This is false, archaeological research has shown traces of construction, the Mehtab Bagh ("Garden of the Moon"), but it is not a 2nd Taj Mahal. Besides, it would have been impossible to build, the finances of the Empire had been emptied by this first construction.

Learn more: Historical context

The construction

The construction of the Taj Mahal took 22 years, from 1631 to 1653. The last 5 years were devoted to the erection of the gardens, the mausoleum and other buildings were finished. It is attributed to Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, but one does not really know the part he took in this work compared to other architects, because it is attested that there were several. The buildings were built in red sandstone, a very common stone in northern India. The mausoleum is also in sandstone, but covered with marble, hence its white color. In fact the builders played on the contrast between red and white, and on white they encrusted black marble for the inscriptions, making it a very successful set.


The construction was made with 20,000 men who alternated on the construction site. Given the mortality that can be imagined at the time, it means that some craftsmen have spent their entire professional career on this site. 

They were helped by 1000 elephants that were used to transport heavy loads. Of course, the workers used precise equipment, but the construction techniques were not really noticed, which means that today we do not have precise ideas on these methods of construction.

The Decorations

There are three types of decoration in the Taj Mahal: Paintings, which are rare, bas-reliefs, mainly in marble - but not that - and pietra dura, which are precious or semi-precious stone inlays on mineral plates, mainly marble.


If there is not much to say about the paintings, bas-reliefs are engraved in large white marble slabs that have been placed down the walls of the mausoleum mainly, but also from the mosque or the pavilion of the guests. Thus the mausoleum is richly decorated with these bas-reliefs, both inside and outside, under the iwans (these large Persian-style porches). The patterns shown are plants, essentially essentially. There are flowers too, but no animals, let alone representations of any human being.


The pietra dura is a technique of lapidary inlay, it was invented and popularized by the Florentines in the sixteenth century, they are master in this art. At the time of the construction of the Taj Mahal Shah Jahan, who had it built, he called on the Florentine craftsmen to work on the monument, which they did. So these decorations are of Italian origin, really. There are a great many in all the corners of the mosaic, on all the walls, on the balustrade behind which, in the main hall, there are the cenotaphs, even on the cenotaphs themselves. 

This technique was also used for black marble inscriptions on the facades of the mausoleum, but also for the gateway to the gardens. These inscriptions recall the duty of piety of every good Muslim, gently for the access door, but more demanding for the facades of the mausoleum.

The visits

Nowadays it is possible to visit the Taj Mahal, but it is a rather recent possibility since it was reserved for the Mughal emperors and their relatives from its construction to the fall of the Mughals. And to all those who were in charge of the maintenance of gardens, buildings. But in the modern era, after independence from India, the visit was organized.

If it is always questionable to find three separate tariffs (one for Indians, one for nationals of neighboring countries, and one for all the others, therefore western and eastern tourists), it must be admitted that the site is a real haven of peace in which the visitor to the impression of being timeless. Proof that the manufacturers have reached their goal, since 400 years later one arrives at the same sensation that at the beginning, and this despite the flood of tourists that pours every day (except Friday) on the site.

The mughals

Who were the Mughals? No, they must not be confused with the Mongols, the people of the North of China from which Genghis Khan was born, conquering the lands of Central Asia. The Mughals form a dynasty created by Bashir in the early sixteenth century on the remains of the sultanate of Delhi. 

 Descendant of Tamerlane, Bâbur came from a Turkish noble family. He set out to conquer his father's kingdom, the throne of the Ferghana, in front of other pretenders, and obtained it. Then, fearing the Uzbeks, he directed the army he had succeeded in forming on the Punjab and eventually conquered Kabul, Lahorre, and then Delhi. His son Humayun continued his work and on his death a new empire was born, spreading all over North India, from Afghanistanist to Bengal. 

His successors further expanded the empire, taking the lands of the South up to the 6th generation, the latter having conquered the territory. From this time the other emperors lost nothing of their influence until the English colonization, during which the dynasty ended.