TAJ MAHAL AND THE GREAT BRITISH CONSPIRACY : Part I

By
V.S. Godbole
PREFACE
Prof. P N Oak of New Delhi, put forward a theory in 1965 that the Taj Mahal was not
a mausoleum built by Shahjahan but a Rajput Palace. In 1968 he found a confession to
that eect in Shahjahans ocial chronicle Badshahnama and in 1974 he came across
Aurangzebs letter of 1652 {the year when Taj Mahal is supposed to have been just com-
pleted} complaining that Taj Mahal was leaking all over. In 1978 I read his extended book
The Taj Mahal is a Temple Palace. Over the next two years I went through all the ref-
erences and was convinced of his assertion. My paper Taj Mahal: Simple Analysis of a
Great Deception was appreciated by some prominent European scholars in 1980.
Dr. V V Bedekar of Thane, India started a historical quarterly named itihas patrika in
March 1982. He published my paper on Taj Mahal in the rst issue of the quarterly. He
also published my extended paper as a booklet in March 1986.
In 1981 my research went deeper. I asked myself, Were the British scholars just a third
neutral party who were misled by the prolonged misuse of Hindu buildings as Mosques
and Tombs and were not cunning enough to see through chauvinistic Muslim claims ?
Or did they know the truth about Taj Mahal and other monuments all along but had, for
political reasons, vowed to hide the truth ?
By the end of 1981 I prepared an eighty page dossier on the subject. When I placed the
information in a chronological order I was surprised at my ndings. There was a British
conspiracy of suppression of truth about Taj Mahal and other monuments over the last
200 years. The main personalities involved either knew each other and/or referred to
works of each other. As the time passed by new information came to light which con-
rmed my ndings. Some important, contemporary events were added to give the readers
a better picture of the times. These may be ignored if reader is not familiar with them.
The Chronology was serialized in the itihas patrika during September 1983 and Septem-
ber 1985. It is now being made available as a thesis, with some modications and additions
to the original series.
My Architect friends M/s Paithankar and Pradhan suggested improvements to presenta-
tion and checked my typing meticulously. My wife Mrs Vinita and my daughters Vaidehi
and Varsha supported me throughout. Dr. Bedekar has made this publication possible.
I am grateful to them all.
10
th
January, 1994
V.S.Godbole
14 Turnberry Walk
Bedford, MK 41 8 AZ,UK
1
CONTENTS
Part Period And Main Event Pages
I 1784 to 1853: Rise of the British Power in India 1 to 27
II 1854 to 1875: Aftermath of the Indian War of Independence 28 to 51
III 1876 to 1885: Rise of Lokamanya Tilak 52 to 73
IV 1886 to 1906: High noon of the British Raj 74 to 100
V 1907 to 1921: Age of Revolutionaries and Civil Disobedience 101 to 127
VI 1922 to 1948: India wins freedom 128 to 158
VII 1949 to 1984: Post Indian Independence 159 to 202
VIII 1784 to 1984: Two hundred years in retrospect 203 to 265
IX The Great British Conspiracy 266 to 298
2
PART-I
1784 to 1853: RISE OF THE BRITISH POWER IN INDIA
1784: On 15 January, Asiatic Society of Bengal was founded in Calcutta by 30 ocers
of the East India Company. Sir William Jones was the President for rst ten years.
1785: Charles Wilkins translates Bhagvad Geeta into English.
1786: Thomas Daniell and his nephew William Daniell, two English painters visited
India at the request of the East India Company. They made several paintings and
sketches of various scenes of daily life in India and of objects of interest such as
temples. They visited Taj Mahal in January 1789. After visiting many other places
they returned to England in 1794.
1787: Charles Wilkins translates Hitopadesha from Sanskrit into English.
1788: Lt-Col William Henry Sleeman was born. He is well known for his book,
Rambles and Recollections of an Indian, Ocial published in 1844.
1789: The French Revolution.
1790: Sir William Jones translates, Shakuntala the famous drama by Kalidas, from
Sanskrit into English. The Calcutta edition was followed by two London editions
within the space of three years.
1794: November/December : Thomas Twining, an eighteen year old employee of
the {English} East India Company visited Taj Mahal, Agra and Delhi. {Sir William
Jones, the second Englishman who learnt Sanskrit, Mahadaji Shinde and Anandibai
of Peshwa family die.}
1795: Thomas and William Daniell published Oriental Scenery - 24 views taken
in 1789-90. Plate no. XVIII shows the principal gate leading to the Taje Mahl.
The description reads, The Taje Mahl is a mausoleum of white marble built by
the Emperor Shahjehan in the year 1631, for his favourite Queen {but no name is
given}.....The Emperor also lies interred here
1801: The book Oriental Scenery contained only two minor views of Taj Mahal.
Daniells were probably criticised for not showing the mausoleum in greater detail.
They therefore published two good views and a plan of Taj Mahal in the booklet
Views of the Taje Mahel at the city of Agra in Hindoostan taken in 1789. The plan
shows minute details of the Taj complex and the Tajganj market on the south side of
Taj. The main question is - who prepared it ? Daniells were painters and had neither
the time nor skills for preparing the plan. It has been drawn to a scale which seems
to be 5 1/2 inches to 1000 foot {R.F 1/2185}
On the plan Daniells name various structures. They also give the following informa-
tion :
River Jumna 500 Guz in width. A Guz is 2 ft 9 inches. The breadth of the river is
3
not in proportion to the scale.
A marble platform 19 ft high on which is erected the Taje Mahel.
The so called Jawab is described as A building corresponding in general form with
the Mosque. The word Jawab is not used. In the booklet accompanying the plan
we nd :
1. p3
1
, This majestic edice stands on the Southern bank of the River Jumna,
and was erected by the Emperor Shah Jahan as a Mausoleum for his favourite
wife Mumtaza Zamani. ..... Stretched on an immense basement 40 feet high
and 900 in length. ...
2. p4, ... the dimensions of which ( i.e. whole complex ) are about 3000 feet in
length, and 900 in width, and its whole area is enclosed by a strong wall.
3. p5, ... The building on the right with three marble domes is a Mosque; the one
on the left, though similar in its general form, diers in its internal arrangement
and decorations, having been appropriated to the accommodation of visitors of
distinction ..
4. p7, This Mausoleum was begun to be built in the fth year of the Emperor Shah
Jehan and the whole completed in sixteen years four months and twenty one
days, at the expense of 9,815,426 Rupees 13 Annas 3 paisa. The Emperor it is
said, intended also to have erected a Mausoleum of corresponding magnicence
for himself on the opposite side of the river, which is more than a quarter of a
mile wide, and to have connected them by a bridge of white marble. ...
5. Moreover, in the plan, in place of the tomb of Satiunnisa Khanum we see the
tomb of Futtehporee and in place of the tomb of Sarhani Begum we see the
tomb of Akabarabadee. {This is also conrmed by Fanny Parks. See events of
{1850} This raises the question. How did the historians decide that these tombs
belong to Satiunnisa Khanum {South-West corner} and Sarhani Begum ?
{South-East corner}}
6. Historian Yadunath Sarkar tells us, ......Akbar made it a rule that the concu-
bines of the Mughal Emperors shall be named after the places of their birth
or the towns in which they were admitted to the harem. Hence, we have ladies
surnamed Akbarabadi, Fat epuri, Aurangabadi and Udaipuri..... {Ref : Anec-
dotes of Aurangzeb and Other Historical Essays by Yadunath Sarkar, published
by M.C.Sarkar & Sons, 1912, page 46}
7. About 150 ft north of the above two tombs, we see apartments for female atten-
dants to Ladies of Rank and surrounding these apartments are several pawn
{i.e. paan} bazars. What is their purpose in a tomb ?
1803: A treaty was signed at Bassein between the East India Company and the
Maratha Peshwa Bajirao II. The English capture Agra from Shinde {Scindia}.
1
Archaeological Survey of India Report for the year 1936-37, p 3
4
1808: James Fergusson, son of an Ayrshire doctor, and Sir Henry Miers Elliot were
born. Fergusson became a pioneer of History of Architecture. Elliot became famous
for his works History of India as told by its own historians.
1809: Sleeman arrives at Calcutta to join the Army of the East India Company.
1810: Captain Taylor of the East India Company carries out some repairs to Taj
Mahal.
1811: The ninth edition of the English translation of Taverniers Travels in India was
published. {22nd edition of the original book in French was published in 1810}.
The title of the rst edition, published in 1677 is - The Six Voyages Through Turkey
etc. In the rst edition, in part II - Travels in India, Tavernier says on page 50, ....of
all the Monuments that are to be seen at Agra, that of the Wife of Cha-jehan is
the most magnicent; {Note : Tavernier does not give her name.} He causd it to
be set up on purpose near the Tasimacan, to which all Strangers must come, {so}
that they should admire it. {Shahjahan, a grief-stricken emperor, wanted to make
an exhibition of his sorrow !} The Tasimacan is a great Bazar, or Market-place,
composd of six great Courts, all encompassed with Porticos; under which there
are Warehouses for Merchants; and where there is a prodigious quantity of Calicuts
vended. The Monument of this Begum, {Who?} or Sultaness, stands on the East-side
of the City upon the River-side, in a great place enclosed with Walls. .....You enter into
this place through a large Portal: and presently upon the left hand you espy a fair
Gallery, that looks towards Mecca ; wherein there are three or four Niches, wherein
the Mufti comes at certain hours to pray....On the top there is a Cupola
2
, little less
magnicent than that of Val de Grace in Paris; it is coverd within and without with
black Marble, the middle being of Brick. {Note : Taverniers information is quite
correct. The dome is made up of 13 ft 6 inches or 4.12 metre thick brickwork, the
marble is 6 inches or 150 mm thick and is used as a lining only.
1813: Memoir of the War in India by Major Thorn was published. He describes the
Tauje Mahal on pages 197 to 203. He says,
2
Report on Repairs to Taj Mahal, Agra by the Indian Water-proong Company 1943, p 6} Under this
Cupola is an empty Tomb, for the Begum is interrd under the Arch of the lowest Platform. The same
change of Ceremonies which is observed under ground, is observed above. For they change the Tapestries,
Candles and other Ornaments at several times and there are always Mollahs attending to pray. I saw the
beginning and completing of this great work, that cost two and twenty years labour, and twenty thousand
men always at work; so that you cannot conceive but that the Expense must be excessive . Cha-jehan
had begun to raise his own Monument on the other side of the River; but the Wars with his Son, broke
o that design, nor did Aurangzeb, now reigning, ever take any care to nish it. There is a Eunuch who
commands two thousand men, that is en trusted to guard not only the Sepulcher of the Begum, but also
the Tasimacan. {Note : Tavernier is obviously writing before 1666. Shahjahan died on 22 January 1666
in internment in the Red Fort of Agra and was buried in Taj} When you come to Agra from the Dehly,
you meet a great Bazar; near to which there is a Garden, where the King Jehanguire, Father of Cha-jehan
lies interrd. {Note : This is utterly wrong. Jehangir died in October 1627 and is interred near Lahore,
some 400 miles away. Tavernier was a French jewel merchant. He made seven voyages to India in the 17
th
century.}
5
1. p 198 ......The ascent to the Tauje from the garden is by a noble ight of marble
steps leading to an extensive terrace about 60 ft high and 400 ft square in the
centre of which stands the mausoleum.
2. p 200 ....The tomb of the emperor has an inscription in Persian but that of his
partner, has one in the Hindoostanee language.
3. p 202 .....The door at the grand entrance was originally of jasper, but this valuable
relic has been taken away by the barbarous Jauts, who also plundered the place
of as many precious stones as they could easily pick out. .......This celebrated
work which was begun within a few months after the death of the sultana,
took 11 years in building and as many more were occupied in adding to its
ornaments. {i.e. it took 11+11 = 22 years as told by Tavernier.}
4. p 203 .....the whole of which ( costly stones ) were placed under the direction
of the most able artists and occupied the labour of 20000 persons. The mere
expense of the workmanship amounted to no less than a sum of 96 lacs of
rupee, about = A 31 million. For the protection of the place and to keep it in
order, a company of artillery and a battalion of infantry were constantly kept
on the spot. {All this for the protection of a mausoleum ? and that too of a
beloved wife of a benevolent king ?}. .....It was the intention of Shah Jahan
to have erected a similar structure for himself on the other side of the river
opposite to the Tauje Mahal; and which was to have been joined to it by a
magnicent bridge of marble; but though the ground was enclosed, and some
progress was made in the foundation of the building, the design was frustrated
by the clouds of rebellion ......The name of the amiable woman was Arjummed
Banoo which according to oriental usage was altered on her elevation {elevation
to what ?} to that of Moorutaz Zumanee, signifying the paragon of the age, but
afterwards this also was changed to Nourjehan or the light of the world. {Note
: Nourjehan was the step mother of Shahjahan, not his wife.} {Our comments
: Major Thorn visited Taj Mahal in 1803-04 when the English captured Agra.
He repeats all the information given in Taverniers book, but does not say so.
Almost all the visitors from this time onwards have done the same. The word
Taj Mahal is mentioned for the rst time in Major Thorns book.}
British missionaries were allowed to spread Christianity in India under the rule of
East India Company.
1814: Sleeman becomes a Lieutenant in Bengal Army. Alexander Cunningham was
born. He reached the rank of Major-General in the Army of the East India Company.
He was in charge of the Archaeological Survey of India during 1860-65 and 1870-85.
1814-16: East India Company at war with Nepal.
1817: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the Muslim separatist was born. History of India by
James Mill was published.
1818: The English defeat Maratha Peshwa Bajirao II
6
1823: Max Muller was born in Dessau, Germany. He became a famous professor
of Sanskrit at All Souls College, Oxford.
1824-26: First Anglo-Burmese War. Arakan and Tenasserim provinces were annexed
by the East India Company.
1825: H.G.Keene, younger and Dadabhai Naoroji were born. Keene joined the
Indian Civil Service in 1847. Naoroji was aectionately called The Grand Old Man
of Indian Politics, by Indians. December - Col. Hodgson of the Bengal Army arrives
at Agra for measuring various dimensions of the Taj Mahal and other buildings and
determine the relationship between the Guz and the Inch.
1826: Berniers travels in the mogul empire was translated by Irving Brock. { editions
1891 and 1914}. Bernier was a French Physician who travelled in India during 1659-
67. On page 272 we nd A LETTER TO MONSIEUR DE LA MOTHE VAYER;
AND DETAILS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE GREAT MOGULS COURT AND OF THE
MANNERS AND GENIUS OF THE PEOPLE OF INDIA. ( The letter extends to page
340 ), Written at Delhi the 1
st
of July 1663.
Bernier says,
1. pp 333/4 .. The Dutch have a malt factory in Agra, in which they generally keep
four or ve persons.... I do not believe the Dutch will follow the example of the
English and abandon their factory at Agra.
2. p 334 I shall nish this letter with a description of the two wonderful mau-
soleums, which constitute the chief superiority of Agra over Delhi. One was
erected by Jehan-Guire in honour of his father Acbar; and Shah-Jehan raised
the other to the memory of his wife Taje-Mahil, that extra-ordinary and cele-
brated beauty......
3. p 336 The last time I visited Taje Mahils mausoleum, I was in the company of
a French merchant. ....
4. p 337 This walk or terrace is wide enough to admit six coaches abreast; it is
paved with large and hard square stones, raised about eight French feet above
the garden; and divided the whole length by a canal faced with hewn stone and
ornamented with fountains placed at certain intervals. After advancing twenty-
ve or thirty paces on this terrace, it is worth while to turn round and view the
back ..., Resuming the walk along the main terrace you see before you at a
distance a large dome, in which is sepulchre and to the right and left of that
dome on a lower surface you observe several garden walks covered with trees
and many parterres full of owers.
5. pp 337/8 When at the end of the principal walk or terrace besides the dome
that faces you, are discovered two large pavilions, one to the right, another to
the left; both built with the same kind of stone, consequently of the same red
colour as the rst pavilion .... I shall not stop to speak of the interior ornaments
of the two pavilions, because they scarcely dier in regard to the walls, ceiling,
or pavement from the dome which I am going to describe. ... From the middle
7
of this space you have a good view of the building which contain the tomb, and
which we are now to examine.
6. p 338 This building is a vast dome of white marble nearly of the same height
as the Val De Grace of Paris and encircled by a number of turrets, also of white
marble, descending the one below the other in regular succession. The whole
fabric is supported by four great arches, three of which are quite open and the
other closed up by the wall of apartment with a gallery attached to it. There the
Koran is continually read with apparent devotion in respectful memory of Taje
Mahil by certain moolahs kept in the mausoleum for that purpose. The centre
of every arch is adorned with white marble slabs whereon are inscribed large
Arabian characters in black marble. ... Every where are seen the jasper and
hyacinth and or jade, as well as other stones similar to those that enrich the
walls of the Grand Dukes chapel at Florence, and several more of great value
and rarity, set in an endless variety of modes. .... Even the squares of white
and black marble which compose the pavement are inlaid with these precious
stones in the most beautiful and delicate manner imaginable.
7. p 339 Under the dome is a small chamber, wherein is enclosed the tomb of
Taje-Mahil. It is opened with much ceremony once in a year and once only,
and as no Christian is admitted within lest its sanctity should be profaned, I have
not seen the interior, but I understand that nothing can be conceived more rich
and magnicent.
8. p 340 It only remains to draw your attention to a walk or terrace, nearly ve
and twenty paces in breadth and rather more in height, which runs from the
dome to the extremity of the gardens. From this terrace are seen the Jumna
owing below a large expanse of luxuriant gardens - a part of the city of Agra
- the fortress - and all the ne residences of the omrahs erected on the banks
of the river. {Note: The book was rst published in French in 1670, second
edition in 1671. Four editions were published in Amsterdam between 1672 and
1710, ve in Lay Haye between 1671 and 1725, one in Frankfurt in 1672-3, one
in Milan in 1675. English translations were published in London in 1671, 1672,
1676 and 1684}.
Sleeman was promoted to Captain.
1828: Narrative of a Journey Through the Upper Province of India by Rt.Rev.Reginald
Heber; Lord Bishop of Calcutta, was published. In volume I pages 589-90 he tells
us: January 13, 1824....I went to see the celebrated Tage Mahal.....The surrounding
garden, which as well as the Tage itself is kept in excellent order by Government
... The Tage contains, as usual a central hall in which enclosed within a screen of
elaborate tracery are the tombs of Begum Noor-Jehan Shahjahans beloved wife,
to whom it was erected and by her side of the unfortunate Emperor himself.......The
Jumna washes one side of the garden and there are some remains of a bridge, which
was designed by Shahjahan with the intention, as the story goes, to build a second
Tage of equal beauty for his own separate place of internment on the opposite side
of the river.
8
Lord Bentinck was appointed Governor General of India (till 1835).
1829: Indians were allowed to join the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
1830: Taj Mahal was mentioned for the rst time under AGRA in the 7th edition of
Encyclopaedia Britannica {E.B.} The information on Taj Mahal as given in Bishop
Hebers book of 1828 is repeated. {First edition of E.B. was published in 1768.}
1831: Taj Mahal was put on sale as a scrap by the Governor General Lord Bentinck.
{News item in the newspaper John Bull of Calcutta of 26th July 1831}. The highest
bid received was for 1.5 lakhs of rupees or about = 315,000 at 1831 prices.
1832: Journal of a Tour in India by Captain G.C.Mundy was published. He made some
tours in India as an A.D.C. to Lord Combermere, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian
Army. He describes Taj Mahal on pages 54 to 57. He says :- 8 January 1828.....In the
evening we visited the far famed Taj, a mausoleum erected by the Great Emperor
Shah Jahan over the remains of his favourite and beautiful wife Arjemund Banu
or as she was surnamed Mumtaza Zemani. ......In many places the more valuable
pebbles have been fraudently extracted, an act of sacrilegious brigandage imputed
to the Jats who had possession of Agra for some time, and carried o to their capital
Bhurtpore many of the extravagant bequest which Shah Jahan left to his favour ite
city. Amongst other plunder they bore away, Sampson like, the brazen gates of the
citadel of immense value which are supposed to be still buried in Bhurtpore, as we
failed to discover them on our warlike visit to that fortress in 1826. {In other words,
the English would have liked to take away those valuables themselves to England.}
The dome of the Taj is about 250 ft high and is as well as the 4 minarets at the
angles of terrace, entirely built of the most snowy marble. It was a work of 20 years
and 14 days {Mundy invents these gures} and cost Shah Jahan the sum of 750,000
livres and although it is said the king compelled his conquered foes {Who ?} to send
marble and stone to the spot unpaid for. Had Shah Jahan lived long enough, he
intended to erect a similar sepulchre for himself on the opposite bank of the river,
and to connect the two buildings by a bridge {Note : Livre was a French unit of
money.}
On page 71 Mundy says, ...It is the custom among the Mohammedans to bury the
body below and have two tombs in the story above.
1833: Tours in Upper India by Major Archer, late A.D.C. to Lord Combermere was
published. In volume I he says :
1. p 56 .....January 7, 1828. Marched to Etimadpoor...... Agra is seen from this
place.....The Taje looks well at this distance.
2. p 57 January 8 ....Before crossing the river, visited a garden called the Ram-
baug, built by Noor Jehan the favourite wife of Shah Jehan.
3. p 59 ......Crossed the river Jumna by a bridge of boats ...On each side were
fragments of fallen masonry, showing the ruins of a once vast and ourishing
city.
9
4. p 60 ... Shah Jehan was the great patron of architecture of his time; the new
town of Delhi and the Taje were also built by him.
5. p 69 ....Visited the Taje, the cemetery of Shah Jehan and his favourite wife
Noor-Jehan (the light of the world)
- Alexander Cunningham arrives at Calcutta as a lieutenant in the Royal Engi-
neers. His brother Joseph was also joined the army of the East India Company.
Their father the Scots poet Allan Cunningham, had enlisted the help of his old
friend Walter Scott in procuring commissions for both his boys. - Christian mis-
sionaries from all over the world were allowed to spread Christianity in India
under the rule of the East India Company.
1834: Macaulay arrives in India as the Law Member of the Governor Generals
Council (till 1838)
- Coorg was annexed by the East India Company.
1835: English becomes the ocial language in India under the rule of the East India
Company.
- James Fergusson the pioneer of History of Architecture arrives at Calcutta for his
business activities.
- Fanny Parks visits Taj Mahal ( January ). She was wife of a British customs ocer
stationed at Prayag.
1836: Macaulay wrote to his mother on 12th October ... Our English Schools are
ourishing wonderfully. In a single town of Hoogly, 1400 boys are learning English.
The eect of this education is prodigious.....It is my rm belief that if our plan of
education is followed up, there would not be a single idolater in Bengal in 30 years
hence...... {Ref : The Indian War of Independence 1857 by Veer Savarkar.}
Lt. Col. W.H. Sleeman visits Taj Mahal. Alexander Cunningham works as an A.D.C.
to Governor General Lord Aukland (till 1840 ).
1837: Queen Victoria comes to throne in Britain. Cunningham carries out archaeo-
logical excavations at Sanchi. During the famine relief work, the British authorities
demolished the remains of old palaces upstream of Taj Mahal and even blasted out
the foundation to construct Strand Road.
1838-39: James Fergusson visits various caves in India and makes sketches of the
rock cut temples.
1839: Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab dies. English were busy for next 10 years
trying to capture his kingdom.
Photography was invented.
1840: James Fergusson was elected Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland.
1841: History of India by Mountstuart Elphinstone was published {Elphinstone was
the Resident in Poona : 1811-1818, then Deccan Commissioner and later on Gover-
nor of Bombay : 1819-1827.} Taj Mahal is described on page 602. This book was
10
later prescribed as a standard textbook for the examination of the ICS and in the
universities in India.
- Justice M.G. Ranade, a moderate leader was born.
1842: Alexander Cunningham, Lieutenant in the Bengal Engineers, writes to Col
Sykes, one of the Directors of the East India Company, ..... ( such explorations )
would be an undertaking of vast importance to the Indian Government politically,
and to the British public religiously. To the rst body it would show that India had
generally been divided into numerous petty chiefships, which had invariably been
the case upon every successful invasion; while, whenever she had been under one
ruler, she had always repelled foreign conquest with determined resolution. To the
other body it would show that Brahmanism, instead of being an unchanged and
unchangeable religion which had subsisted for ages, was of comparatively modern
origin and had been constantly receiving additions and alterations; facts which prove
that the establishment of the Christian religion in India must ultimately succeed...
{Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume VII of 1843.
The letter was written from Aligarh on 15th September 1842 and read at the society
on 3rd December 1842. William Henry Sykes (1790-1872 ) served in India with the
East India Company. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the company in
1840, became deputy chairman in 1855, chairman in 1856. Member of Parliament,
President of Royal Asiatic Society, 1858}.
Abu Imam, a Pakistani Muslim historian comments, ... Buddhism and its archae-
ology was therefore to be studied for the cause of promoting Christianity. For a
systematic study of Buddhism, however, the rst requisite was a survey at Govern-
ment cost. {Alexander Cunningham and Indian Archaeology by Abu Imam, 1966.
pp 40-41}
Archaeology is not therefore, the innocent looking diggings and preservation of old
buildings. It does have political implications and as it remained in the hands of the
British for too long, that created a havoc in India.
1843: Memoir on the length of the Illahee Guz or Imperial Land Measure of Hin-
dostan, a paper by Col.J.A.Hodgson of Bengal Native Infantry, late Surveyor-General
of India was published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain
and Ireland. ( Volume VII of 1843 ).
1. On page 50 he says, .....In Taj Mahal I also procured from the Darogha { atten-
dant}, a Persian manuscript, compiled by him, purporting to give the dimensions
of several parts of the Taj in the guz measure; I measured many parts men-
tioned, but they gave discordant results; and in my report to the government, I
observed that these operations were of no value. The manuscript was evidently
the fabrication of an impostor.
2. p 51 .... Being, then, in possession of this valuable description of the imperial
buildings at Agra, I went there in December 1825, ..... for the purpose of making
measurements of the three buildings, and a plan of the Taj ( scale 40 ft to an
inch ), which was eected under my superintendence ..... My object, of course,
11
was knowing from the Shah Jehan Nama the lengths of dierent parts of the
buildings therein described, in the Illahee guz to nd their length in English
measure; and from the average of the whole to attempt to determine the length
of the guz in inches and decimal parts.
3. pp 52/3 ... This part is in the marble kursi or platform, in the centre of which
the mausoleum stands, as will be seen in the plan. .... The height of the walls
which supports the platform is 18 feet: they are cased with white marble, as is
the entire mausoleum, both inside and out.
4. p 54 Here, Hodgson gives measurements of various parts of Taj Mahal, includ-
ing square rooms at the four cardinal points in the cenotaph.
5. p 56 c. Description of the Taj and Masjids referred to in page 51. ...the mosque
and its counterparts, the mihman-khana {i.e. guest house}, as well as the six
octagonal pavilions of four stories high, ... compose a most harmonious whole.
Models of the mausoleum and its platform, and the four minarets, have been
exhibited in England. .... It is known that it is entirely cased with white marble,
within and without. ..........It must be remembered that this is not a temple but
a tomb.....
6. On pp 57-63 Hodgson gives some Extracts from the Shahjehan Nama, by Muh-
mmad Salah Kumbo.
7. pp 58/60 Remarks on the Mausoleum at Taj Ganj. (This means that Taj Ganj
existed before the mausoleum) His Majesty, in the fth year of his reign,
thought upon causing to be erected the Rauzah, .....had it planned near the
Jumna, which river runs to the north of it. Its foundation was laid from whence
water springs, and architects built of stone and mortar, making it strong and
level with the bank; ... {False. the red sandstone is used for lining only, the
construction is of brick.} .... a pinnacle in height 15 guz, made of pure gold,
which glitters like sun, has been xed on its very summit. ... {At the end of his
paper Hodgson concludes that 1 guz = 31.456 inches. Therefore 15 Guz =39.32
ft} On the four cardinal points there are four square rooms of two oors,
each is 6 dirra square, consisting of 4 seats, each of which 4 1/2 dirra long, a
tanhasa before every square room, and a pesh-tak, 16 dirra long, and 25 in
height. In the four corners there are four octagonal rooms of three stories,
the diameter of each 10 dirra, containing 8 nishemans, the uppermost story of
these places being octagonal dalans or halls, with arched roofs; on the three
sides of these houses are pesh-taks on the outside, each 7 dirra long, 4 ditto
broad, and 10 ditto high. To the eastward of the mausoleum, opposite to the
Masjid, a mihman khana has been constructed, in all respects similar to the
Mosque, except that the peculiarity of the arch, and the darsan of the place of
prayer is left out. In a footnote, Hodgson says that the mihman khana was for
the accommodation of visitors who pay their devotion at the opposite mosque.
8. p 61 In the side of this market-place pleasant serais were constructed, each
in length and breadth 160 guz, containing an inclosure of 160 cells. Further on
another chauk 150 long by 100 broad occurs, in the midst of which a bazar,
12
and two other serais near it are built, where a great variety of piece goods and
dierent sorts of property from foreign countries are bought and sold; besides
these buildings, a great number of merchants have erected numerous houses
and habitations of pakka work, so much so that the place has become a large
city, by name Moomtazabad. All these royal buildings had taken twelve years to
nish under superintendence of Mukrumut Khan and Mir Abdul Karim, and
their cost amounted to fty lacs of rupees..... The paper is accompanied by a
survey map of the Taj Mahal, scale 80 ft to 1 inch. Why Hodgson waited for 15
years to submit the paper, after having made the survey, is a mystery.
- Sind was annexed by the East India Company.
1844: Rambles and Recollections of an Indian Ocial by Lt.Col W.H. Sleeman was
published. In Volume II page 27 he tells us that he visited Taj Mahal on 1 January
1836. Opposite page 28 are some pictures. They are : The Taj Mahul or Tomb of
Noor Mahal wife of Shah Jahan.
1. Photo of an engrave - normal view of Taj but without the water channel.
2. The Taj Mahul. This shows the two basement stories under the main terrace.
3. The Taj Mahul. Similar to 2 above but the two basement stories are not clearly
visible. It is taken from a dierent angle and shows part of upstream palace
wall.
4. The Taj from the river - It shows the two basement stories and two doors in
the lowest story, for entry.
5. Marble screen of the tomb in the Taj.
6. Gateway of the Taj.
Sleeman tells us,
1. p 31 .....Mumtaz died in giving birth to a daughter.......Before she died, she
made two requests - rst that Shahjahan should not marry again after her
death, second, that he should build for her the tomb which he promised to
perpetuate her name .....Both her dying requests were granted. {Note : This
is utter nonsense. Mumtaz was in pain for 30 hours. Moreover, her surviving
daughters Jahan-Ara and Roshan-Ara were 18 and 16 years old respectively.
Would she ask Shahajahan to promise to nd them suitable husbands or would
she ask for a beautiful tomb to be built for her ?} Her tomb was commenced
upon immediately.
2. p 32 ........Tavernier saw this building commenced and nished; and tells that
it occupied twenty thousand men for twenty-two years. The mausoleum itself
and all the buildings that appertain to it cost 3,17,48,026, three crore, seventeen
lakhs, forty eight thousand and twenty-six rupees, or 3,174,802 pounds sterling;
- three million one hundred and seventy-four thousand eight hundred and two!
{Note : Tavernier does not give any gures of cost. Sleeman does not say where
the gure comes from.}
13
3. pp 32/33 ... That on the left or west side, is the only one that can be used as
a mosque or church; because the faces of the audience, and those of all men
at their prayers, must be turned towards the tomb of their prophet to the west.
The pulpit is always against the dead wall at the back, and the audience face
towards it, standing with their backs to the open front of the building. The
church on the east side is used for the accommodation of visitors, or for any
secular purpose; and was built merely as a Jowab ( answer ) to the real one.
4. p 34 ....This magnicent building and the palaces at Agra and Delhi were, I be-
lieve, designed by Austin de Bordeux, a Frenchman of great talent and merit....He
was called by the natives Oostan Eesau, Nadir-ol-Asur. ....
5. p 35 He had nished the palace at Delhi, and the mausoleum and palace of Agra;
when he was sent by the Emperor to settle some aairs of great importance at
Goa. He died at Cochin on his way back; and is supposed to have been poisoned
by the Portuguese ........ ....Shah Jehan had commenced his own tomb on the
opposite side of the Jumna; and both were to have been united by a bridge.
The death of Austin de Bordeux, and the wars between his {Shahjahans} sons
that followed, prevented the completion of these magnicent works. {Note :
Sleeman just repeats what Tavernier says and adds his own fantasy about Austin
de Bordeux.}
6. p 36 .....We went all over the palace in the fort, a very magnicent building con-
structed by Shah Jehan within fortications raised by his grandfather Akabar.
....The Marquis of Hastings, when Governor-General of India, broke up one of
the most beautiful marble baths of this palace to send home to George IV of
England, then Prince Regent, and the rest of the marble of the suite of apart-
ments from which it had been taken, with all its exquisite fret-work and mosaic,
was afterwards sold by auction, on ac count of our government, by order of the
then Governor-General, Lord W Bentinck. Had these things fetched the price
expected, it is probable that the whole of the palace, and even the Taj itself,
would have been pulled down, and sold in the same manner ....
- Handbook of British India by J.H.Stocequeter was published. {Taj Mahal on
page 230}
- Archaeological History of the Ruins of Delhi by Syed Ahmed Khan was pub-
lished. For this work he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of
London in 1864.
1845 Travels in India by a German Captain Leopold von Orlich was published. He
describes Taj Mahal in Volume II pages 44-49. He says :
1. p 44 ....My rst excursion was to the Tauje Mahal or the Diamond of Seraglios,
the most beautiful edice in India. It is situated a mile to the south of the city,
close to the Jumna and was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan, in honour of his
beloved cons ort Mumtaz Mahal.
2. p 45 .....We rode along the bank of the river by a road made during the famine
in 1838 and passed the ruins in which the nobles resided during the reign of
14
Akbar the Great. Here are walls so colossal and solid that they are preserved in
spite of all the violence which they have suered. We saw pieces ten feet thick
united by a cement which nothing but gunpowder can break up.
3. p 47 ....We do not know who was the architect of this building of magic beauty,
but there is much reason to suppose that an Italian was placed by Shahjahan at
the head of the undertaking and was loaded by him with great honours. {What
honours ? and which buildings did this mysterious Italian Architect design and
supervise before being entrusted with Taj Mahal ? Capt. Orlich does not even
hazard a guess. Every historian has ducked this simple question ever since.}
...Perhaps he was one of those who are buried in the Catholic Cemetery, and
who according to the date on the tombstone, lived there at that time . {All
wishful thinking. No names on the tombstones ? No inscriptions saying that
this person was entrusted with the building of a mausoleum of Shah Jahans
wife ?}
11 years were employed in building it and as many more were required for
nishing the ornamental parts. {i.e 11+11= 22 years as told by Tavernier.}
The Emperor Shah Jahan intended to build a similar sepulchre called Mathob
Baug, for himself, on the opposite side of the Jumna and to connect both by
a splendid marble bridge. He had already commenced the building, ruins of
which are still to be seen, when a rebellion broke out and he was deposed at an
advanced age by his son, Aurangzeb. His remains are deposited near those of
his consort, in an equally costly and beautiful marble sarcophagus. {Note : The
original book in German was translated into English by H.E. Lloyd, who refers
to the kind and valuable assistance of Col. Sykes, a Director of the East India
Company and a personal friend. Captain Orlich was an ocer in the German
Army. As there was peace in Europe, he thought of ghting with the British
in the Afghan War. He approached the Kaiser, who wrote to Queen Victoria.
She made the necessary arrangements. Captain Orlich arrived at Bombay on
8 August 1842, by that time the Afghan war was over. He then toured India and
was honoured by Governor General Lord Ellenborough. The word of such a
man would be taken as true by the later day readers. But he just repeats what
he read in Taverniers book. See events of 1811.}
Travels in Kashmir and the Punjab by Baron Von Hugel was published.
1846: The rst Anglo-Sikh War. Sir H M Elliot printed the rst volume of his Sup-
plement to the Glossary of Indian Terms.
1847: H G Keene joins the Indian Civil Service. Sir H.M.Elliot becomes Secretary to
Government of India in the Foreign Department. Max Muller joins All Saints College,
Oxford as a lecturer. Picturesque Illustrations Ancient Architecture in Hindoostan by
James Fergusson was published. Joseph Cunningham was appointed political agent
in Bhopal
1848: Lord Dalhousie, was appointed Governor General of India. {till 1856}. Satara
State was annexed by Dalhousie. H.G.Keene becomes President of the Archaeolog-
15
ical Society of Agra {till 1882}. S.N Banerjee, a moderate leader from Bengal was
born.
1849: Second Anglo-Sikh War. Alexander Cunningham was involved in the ghting.
Punjab was annexed by Dalhousie. Sir H M Eliot published the rst volume of his
Bibliographical Index to the Historians of Mohammadan India
1850: Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque by Fanny Parks was
published. ( Reprint by Oxford University Press 1975 ) Her husband was a customs
ocer at Prayag ( Allahabad ). She travelled extensively in North India during her
stay of 24 years. She visited Taj Mahal in January / February 1835.
On page 220 of volume I she says,
1. .....From the Calcutta John Bull; July 26th 1831. The Governor-general has
sold the beautiful piece of architecture, called the Mootee Musjid, at Agra, for
125,000 rupees ( about = 312,500 ) and it is now being pulled down! The Taj
has also been oered for sale! but the price required has not obtained. Two
lacs, however, have been oered for it. Should the Taj be pulled down, it is
rumoured that disturbances may take place amongst the natives.
2. Fanny Parks remarks, If this be true, is it not shameful ? ..... By what authority
does the Governor-general oer the Taj for sale.... It is impossible the Court
of Directors can sanction the sale of the tomb for the sake of its marble and
gems...
3. In chapter XXX she describes the monument in detail. She says, 1835, January.
I have seen the The Taj Mahul. ......The dome of the Taj, like all domes erected
by Muhammadans, is egg-shaped, a form greatly admired, the dome in Hindu
architecture is always semicircular ; and it is dicult to determine to which style
building should be awarded the palm of beauty.
4. This magnicent monument was raised by Shahjahan to the memory of his
favourite Sultana Arzumund Banoo, on whom, when he ascended the throne,
he bestowed the title of Momtaza Zumani ( the most Exalted of the age )
5. On the death of Shahjahan, his grandson Alumgeer placed his cenotaph in
the Taj, on the right hand, and close to that of Arzumund Banoo.......{ Note :
Alumgeer was the title assumed by Aurangzeb, who was the son of Shahjahan
and not his grandson.}.....Formerly a screen of silver and gold surrounded it; but
when Alumgeer erected the tomb of Shahjahan by the side of that of the Sul-
tana, he removed the screen of gold and silver, and replaced it by an octagonal
marble screen. {But why ? Fanny Parks does not say.}
6. ...The crypt is square ......The small door by which you enter was formerly of
solid silver; it is now formed of rough planks of mango wood.
7. It is customary with Musulmans to erect the cenotaph in an apartment over
the sarcophagus, as may be seen in all the tombs of their celebrated men. {But
why in India only ?}
16
8. Sultana Arzumund Banoo died on 18th July 1631.....To express his respect for
her memory, the emperor raised this tomb, which cost in building the amazing
sum of = 3750,000 sterling. {Fanny Parks does not say how she obtained this
gure. In 1832 Capt. M undy quoted a gure of 750,000 livres.}
9. ....but we have no record of her beauty, nor have reason to suppose that she was
beautiful. She was the niece of one of the most celebrated women - Noor-jahan.
Many people seeing the beauty of the building confuse the two persons, and
bestow in their ima ginations the beauty of the aunt on the niece.
10. {In the cenotaph chamber} There was also a chandelier of agate and another of
silver; these were carried o by the Jat Suruj Mal, who came from the Deccan
and despoiled Agra. {Note : The Jats did not come from the Deccan; Agra is a
part of Jat terr itory.}
11. It was the intention of Shahjehan to have erected a mausoleum for himself,
exactly similar to the Taj on the opposite side of the river and the two buildings
were to have been united by a bridge of marble across the Jumna. The idea
was magnicent; but the death of Shahjahan took place in 1666, while he was
a prisoner...
12. The stones were prepared on the opposite side of the Jumna, and were carried
o by the Burtpoor Rajah and a building at Deeg has been formed of those
stones. A part of the foundation of the second Taj is still standing, just opposite
the Taj Mahul..... {Note : Unfortunately, for all these visitors, one corner tower
of the so called second Taj stands even today, complete with the pinnacle; just
compare it with the Taj towers and the stupidity of the legend becomes obvious.
There is no comparison between the two towers. Moreover, why would one start
the second Taj by building a corner tower rst and not the main building ?}
13. The Kalun Darwaza or great gateway, is a ne building; the four large and
twenty-two similar domes over the top of the arched entrance are of white
marble; the gateway is of red granite, ornamented with white marble, inlaid
with precious stones.
14. From the second story is a ne view of the Taj itself, to which it is directly
opposite.......There are four rooms in this gateway in which strangers, who are
visitors, sometimes live during the hot weather.
15. Feb 1st ... All the buildings in the gardens on the right are tted up for the
reception of visitors, if strangers; they are too cold at this time of the year, or I
would take up my abode in one of the beautiful burj ( turrets ) next to the river.
{Note : Why are these rooms never shown to the visitors ?}
16. The two jamma khanas are beautiful buildings, on each side of the tomb, of
red stone....One of them is a masjid ....one of the burj near the masjid contains
a ne baoli ( well )....The four burj at each corner of the enclosure are of the
most beautiful architecture. ..... From the one {i.e. one burj} generally, used
as residence by visitors to the tomb, the view of the Taj, the gardens, the river,
and the Fort of Agra beyond, is very ne.
17
17. Beyond the Great Gate, but still within the enclosure of the outer wall of the
Taj, are the tombs of two begams, erected by Shahjahan. The sarcophagus
over the remains of the Fathipooree Begam is of white marble .... On the other
side the enclosure, to correspond with this tomb, is that of the Akbarabadee
Begam...... Can you imagine anything so detestable ? European ladies and
gentlemen have the band to play on the marble terrace, and dance quadrilles in
front of the tomb!....
THE KALUN DARWAZA:
.....At the end of this fountain-adorned avenue, you ascend a hidden staircase
of twenty solid blocks of marble....the interior of Taj, which is an octagon, sur-
mounted by a dome seventy feet in diameter. {The diameter is in fact 58 ft.}
GROUND PLAN OF THE TOMB OF THE TAJ:
........Strangers, when visiting the Taj, are so much occupied in viewing the cen-
tre apartment, which contains the tombs, that they often omit visiting the eight
rooms that surround that central apartment; four of which a re square and four
of octagonal form; {But what is their purpose ?} on the upper oor are eight
rooms of a similar description. {Once again, what is the purpose of the upper
oor ?} The ground plan annexed I copied from an original plan, shown to me
at the tomb. {There is a name in Persian of the person who prepared the plan.
It shows the cenotaph and chambers around it, above the marble terrace, but
no staircase to the upper oor.}
It covers an area of two hundred feet square, upon a terrace of white marble,
about twenty ft above the one of stone, and three hundred ft square. At each
angle is a minaret upon an octagonal base, eighty feet in circumference; the
bottom of the shaft is twenty feet diameter, so that I should think the minarets
are at least one hundred and fty feet high.....The whole extent of the lower
terrace is, I should say, full nine hundred feet; the pavement is inlaid with black
and white marble.
18. The Taj was twelve years in building; two lakhs per annum were allowed to
keep it in order and support the establishment of priests and servants. It is
situated on the western bank of the Jumna, three miles from the town of Agra;
it is nineteen yards sq uare; and the dome about seventy feet in diameter.........It
is impossible to estimate the cost; the most valuable materials were furnished
by subadars of provinces. {Fanny Parks now makes up her own story.}
19. Tavernier, who saw this building commenced and nished, asserts that it oc-
cupied twenty thousand men for twenty-two years. The mausoleum itself, and
all the buildings that pertain to it, cost 3,17,48026 rupees; or = 33,174,802.
.....Colonel Sleeman, in his Rambles of an Indian Ocial remarks, - This
magnicent building, and the palaces at Agra and Delhi, were, I believe, designed
by Austin de Bordeux, a Frenchman of great talent and merit... - Alexander
Cunningham carries out Archaeological excavations in Sanchi.
1852 : Second Anglo-Burmese War.
1853 : 8th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica mentions Taj Mahal in volume II
18
p 244, under AGRA. It tells us, ....The name of this distinguished personage was
Arjammed Banoo, which according to oriental usage, was changed on her elevation
{elevation to what ?} to that of Mumtazee Zumanee signifying the paragon of the
age.
Nagpur State was annexed by Dalhousie.
Bombay-Thana railway was opened.
Sir Henry.M.Elliot dies. His Historical works were published 14 years later. See
events of 1867.
Bayard Taylor, an American gentleman visits Taj Mahal.
19
Summary of Events and Explanatory Notes:
1. Politics: The East India Company was trying to get control of whole of India. The pe-
riod from 1784 to 1853 is full of their various wars, with the Marathas, the Burmese,
the Gorkhas and the Sikhs. The insatiable, rapacious lust for plunder and loot of the
English, made Chengiz Khan and Nadir Shah look like cowboys. They even wanted
to demolish the Taj Mahal! Their crooked methods, audacity to break unilaterally
their own promises, assurances and treaties, racist, arrogant and contemptuous be-
haviour, was soon to result in the eruption of the Great Revolt of 1857.
2. Archaeology: Major General Cunningham was aware of the enormous political
importance of Archaeological Survey of India, way back in 1842. Was it just a coin-
cidence that he was made in charge of that department when it was started in 1860
? Even a Pakistani Muslim Abu Imam recognized in 1966 that Cunningham wanted
to use Archaeology for promoting Christianity in India.
3. Indian History: As the East India Company conquered various territories their o-
cers wrote history of those territories. It was the victors writing about the vanquished.
Here are some examples :
1818 Maratha Peshwa Bajirao II was defeated by the East India Company.
1824 A Memoir of Central India by Major General Malcolm was published.
1826 History of the Marathas by Capt Grant Du was published.
1829-32 Anals and Antiquities of Rajasthan by Lt Col James Todd was published.
1843 Sind was annexed by Lord Dalhousie.
1851 History of Sind was written by Lt R F Burton of Bombay Army.
1849 Punjab was annexed by Lord Dalhousie. History of Sikhs was written by Joseph
Cunningham, brother of Major General Alexander Cunningham.
4. British attitude: Macaulay made it quite clear that English system of education was
a means of spreading Christianity in India.
5. Evidence ignored/set aside:
5.1 Tavernier said, He {Shahjahan} caused it to be set up on purpose near the
Tasimacan, to which all Strangers must come, {so} that they should admire it, the
Tasimacan is a great Bazar, or Market-place. Why should a King erect a mau-
soleum near a busy / noisy place like a Bazar or Market ?
5.2 Name of the lady of the Taj: Tavernier the contemporary traveller of 1666 and
Daniells ( 1795 ) do not give the name of the lady at all. Bishop Heber ( 1828 ) and
Major Archer ( 1833 ) say that the lady was Noor-Jehan, when in fact she was Shah-
jahans step-mother. Major Thorn says the lady was Arjumand Banoo, whose name
was changed rst to Moorutaz Zumanee and later to Nourjehan. Capt Mundy says
the lady was Arjumand Banu. Fanny Parks says her name was Arjumand Banoo,
it was later changed to Mumtazee Zemani. Sleeman calls her Mumtaz.
5.3 Col. Hodgson, told us in 1843 that: The Persian manuscript in the possession
of the custodians of Taj Mahal was the fabrication of an impostor. But the same
manuscript has been used as an evidence by many authors! Even in 1825 the so
20
called Jawab was used for accommodation of visitors. It seems that he was also
aware of the true nature of Taj Mahal. That is why he says, when viewing this
monument it must be remembered that it is not a temple but a tomb. He also refers
to Mausoleum at Taj Ganj as mentioned in Shah Jahan Nama of Muhmmad
Salah Kumbo. The term clearly implied that Taj Ganj existed before the death of
the lady. It was not built as a township for workers. His vital remarks have been
ignored with the connivance of the historians.
5.4 Taje Mahal It is curious to note that all the visitors who had been in India for a
short time, use the term Taje Mahal. Thomas and William Daniells ( 1795 ), Major
Thorn ( 1813 ), Bishop Heber ( 1828 ), Major Archer ( 1833 ), Captain Von Orlich (
1845 ) This is quite contrary to their attitude to the pronunciation of Indian words,
even today. Taje Mahal could easily have been the corruption of Tejo-Mahalaya as
Prof Oak suggests.
5.5 Fanny Parks had noted 8 rooms around the cenotaph, and an upper oor with
similar 8 rooms. Hodgson also noted an upper oor.
5.6 Both Fanny Parks and Hodgson have noted Baoli Burj. It has no relevance in a
mausoleum.
5.7 Tavernier has stated that main dome is constructed of brickwork. ( marble is
used for lining only ). Hodgson had noted this fact.
5.8 Fanny Parks said, It is customary with Musalmans to erect the cenotaph in an
apartment over the sarcophagus, as may be seen in all the tombs of their celebrated
men. Captain Mundy ( 1832 ) has noted Mohammedans burying bodies on ground
oor and erecting cenotaphs on rst oor. Why should this tradition arise in India
only ?
5.9 Fanny Parks said that various rooms inside the Taj were used by visitors to stay.
Why were they built ? There are plenty of rooms outside the Taj in the courtyard.
5.10 Army for protection of Taj Tavernier said - There is a Eunuch who commands
two thousand men, that is entrusted to guard not only the sepulchre of the Begum,
but also the Tasimacan. Major Thorn said - For the protection of the place and to
keep it in order, a company of artillery and a battalion of infantry were constantly
kept on the spot. But why was this protection necessary for the tomb of beloved
wife of this popular emperor who ruled like a father and whose reign was said to
be golden and peaceful ?
6. New evidence emerges: There were palaces between Agra Red Fort and Taj Mahal.
Ruins of these palaces were noted by Major Archer (1833) and Capt Von Orlich (
1845 )
7. Blunders of Travellers: Tavernier said that Jahangirs tomb was in Agra, on the way
from Delhy when in fact he is buried in Lahore. Tavernier gives extensive family
history of the Mughals.
8. Travellers Accounts: The travellers accounts are nothing but mere repetition of
what they read in Taverniers book. But only Col. Sleeman and Fanny Parks refer
to him. As these visitors came from the high society, their accounts were taken as
true by others.
21
9. How the legend grew:
9.1 20,000 men worked for 22 years. It seems quite clear that the travellers had read
Taverniers book before visiting Taj Mahal, but only Sleeman and Fanny Parks were
honest enough to say so. Others just repeat the story told by Tavernier as if it were
an established fact. Some modify the story to suit their thinking : Major Thorn says,
This celebrated work...took 11 years in building and as many more were occupied
in adding to its ornaments. i.e. it took 11 + 11 = 22 years as Tavernier says. Capt
Von Orlich repeats what Major Thorn said.
9.2 Tavernier tells us of the legend of the second Taj or Shahjahans intended tomb
on the other side of the river. Major Thorn said in 1813 - Shahjahans intended tomb
was to have been joined to Taj Mahal by a magnicent bridge of marble. Others
have followed the leader. Bishop Heber ( 1828 ), Captain Godfry Mundy ( 1832 ), Col
Sleeman ( 1836 ), just say that the two tombs were to have been joined by a bridge.
Captain Von Orlich ( 1845 ) and Fanny Parks ( 1850 ) say the two tombs were to have
been joined by a marble bridge. Bishop Heber said that there were some remains
of a bridge. Capt Von Orlich said that Shahjahans own tomb was called Mathob
Baug.
9.3 Deathbed request of the lady: Col Sleeman said in 1844 - Before she ( Mumtaz
) died she made two requests...second that he should build for her the tomb...to
perpetuate her name. Both her dying requests were granted.
9.4 The gures of cost like the legend , are purely imaginary. Major Thorn says Rs
96 lakhs or = 3 1,000,000. Captain Mundy says 750,000 livres or = 3 56,250 Col.
Sleeman says Rs 3,17,48,026 or = 3 3,174,802. Fanny Parks is not sure. Once she
quotes a gure of = 3 750,000 but towards the end of the chapter on Taj Mahal
she repeats Sleemans gure of 33,174,802.
9.5 Tavernier mentions no architect. Again all the names are purely ctitious. Col.
Sleeman says, I believe it was designed by the Frenchman Austin de Bordeaux.
Captain Von Orlich says, There is much reason to suppose that an Italian was placed
at the head of the undertaking Fanny Parks repeats what Col. Sleeman says. They
all ducked the basic question : What buildings did this mysterious Architect design
and supervise before being invited to build the Taj Mahal ?
9.6 False accusations : (Looting by the Jats) Major Thorn said in 1813 - The doors
at the grand entrance was originally of Jasper, but this valuable relic has been taken
away by the barbarous Jats, who also plundered the place of as many precious stones
as they could easily pick out. Capt Mundy said in 1832 - In many places the more
valuable pebbles have been fraudently extracted, an act of sacrilegious brigandage
imputed to the Jats who.... ...carried o the brazen gates of the citadel of immense
value. Fanny Parks said in 1850 - {In the cenotaph chamber} there was also a
chandelier of agate and another of silver, these were carried o by the Jat Suraj
Mal. It is interesting to note, however, that Tavernier the contemporary traveller,
does not mention any silver doors or golden railings etc. He notes the large cotton
market in Tascimacan and throughout his book he talks about nothing but money,
money, money.
10. A Mystery: Fanny Parks says, Formerly a screen of silver and gold surrounded
22
it; but when Alumgeer erected the tomb of Shahjahan by the side of that of the
Sultana, he removed the screen of gold and silver, and replaced it by an octagonal
marble screen. Badshahnama was not published till 1867! Only in 1896 Latif tells
these details. How did Fanny Parks learn about the screen in 1850 ?
23
TAJ MAHAL AND THE GREAT BRITISH CONSPIRACY : Part II
By
V.S. Godbole
PART II
1854 to 1875 AFTERMATH OF THE INDIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
1854: Nagpur state was annexed by Lord Dalhousie. Max Muller becomes a full
Professor.
1855: Illustrated Handbook of Architecture, being a concise and proper account
of the dierent styles of architecture prevailing in all ages and countries by James
Fergusson was published. He begins his handbook with Indian Architecture and tells
us :
BOOK I : INDIA
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTORY
1. p 2 In all the older British settlements in India all architectural remains
have nearly disappeared; and very little has been done to elucidate those
which remain.
CHAPTER VIII - JAINA ARCHITECTURE
1. p 78 It would be a curious subject of speculation to nd out whether the
Buddhists ever built domes..... It still appears probable that the Buddhists
never constructed, or knew of, a true dome of any sort..... no one of the caves
or rock cut temples of any sort show any tendency even to this architectural
form.......in no one instance, ... is there a semblance of a stone roof of any
kind, nor even of an arch, either horizontally constructed or on the radiating
principle; much less of a dome, which is a far more complicated thing to
construct than a mere arch. I think therefore, it must be admitted that they
were ignorant of the form.
2. pp 80-81 In the Bengal provinces several of these Jaina temples have been
converted into mosques, constituting some of the few remains of more an-
cient times that the bigotry of the Moslems have spared to us.....The process
by which conversion of a Jaina temple to a Moslem mosque was eected
will be easily understood by referring to the plan of that of Vimala Sah,
on Mount Abu (woodcut 43, p. 70) .....Thus, without a single new column
or carved stone being required, they obtained a mosque which, for conve-
nience and beauty, was unsurpassed by anything they afterwards erected
from their own designs.
{Note : So, conversions of Hindu temples into mosques is accepted by Fer-
gusson. Exactly when the Muslims started to build from their own design,
Fergusson does not say. How can he ? Even the 17th century European
travellers have noted forcible conversions of temples into mosques.}
24
BOOK II
CHAPTER I - SOUTHERN HINDU ARCHITECTURE
1. pp 104-05 This new style is found in the buildings erected under the in-
uence of the Mahometans, and adopts, to a certain extent some of more
prominent forms of their architecture {Note : From now on Fergusson is
possessed by this mysterious inuence of the Mahometans.}
2. When the Mahometans rst conquered India they imitated in their earlier
mosques not only the details, but even the forms of the Hindu architects...
{This in itself implies that there were no Muslim architects} .....In process
of time a complete reaction took place and in their secular buildings at
least, though scarcely ever in their temples, the Hindus began to adopt the
arcades and vaults of their antagonist. {Fine. But where were the Muslim
architects who would have taught the Hindu architects, how to construct
arches and vaults ? There were none.} .....In the south of India one of the
most pleasing specimens of this style is a portion of the palace of Madura.
{This happens to be the area which was not ruled by Muslims except for a
very short period}
CHAPTER II - NORTHERN HINDU STYLES
1. p 107 In Northern India, with few exceptions to be shortly noticed, there are
no genuine Hindu buildings at all earlier than the time of the Mahometan
conquest. {Note: Fergusson is shamelessly suggesting that Hindus started
building after the Mahometan conquests. The buildings were there. But
they were either destroyed in successive Muslim raids, or when the in-
vaders decided to stay in India, they converted Hindu temples into tombs
and mosques, Fergusson could not stomach this truth...Mahmud of Gazni
has recorded in 1020 A.D. that he destroyed more than 1000 temples in
Mathura, the greater number of them in marble. Alberuni who accompa-
nied Mahmud of Gazni has praised Hindu Ghats, which needed knowledge
of underwater construction.}
2. p 116 Many of the Jains {monuments were} converted for the most part
into mosques, though perfectly easy to be recognised.
MIXED HINDU STYLE
During the existence of the earlier Pathan dynasties of India, the bigotry
of the Mahometans did not admit of the Hindu erecting temples of any pre-
tension in the great cities over which they had obtained the dominion...with
the benecent and tolerant reign of the Great Akbar (1556-1605), a new era
dawned for his oppressed subjects .... while his own buildings show a strong
tendency to the Hindu style, the Hindus, under his encouragement, erected
edices which display an even greater admixture of the Mahometan forms
of architecture. {But where were the Muslim Architects and what are the
Mahometan forms of architecture ?}
BOOK IX CHAPTER IV - INDIA : SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE
25
1. p 418 Fergusson reiterates his fantastic theory of Muslims taking down
Hindu temples piece by piece and re-erecting the same. He says : .....all
show the same system of taking down and rearranging the materials on a
dierent plan.....The same is true of the domes, all which, being honestly
and rmly tted, would suer no damage from the process of removal.....
2. pp 420-1 Besides this, a roof is by no means an essential part of a mosque;
a wall facing Mecca is all that is required, and frequently in India is all that
is built, though sometimes an enclosure is added in front of it to protect the
worshippers from interruption. Roofed colonnades are of course not only
convenient but ornamental accomplishments, yet far from being indispens-
able.
The history of this mosque ( near Qutb Minar ), as told in its construction,
is as curious as anything about it. It seems the Afghan conquerors had a
tolerably distinct idea that pointed arches were the true form of architec-
tural openings; {and yet on page 414 Fergusson also says... Afghanistan
was a Buddhist country for so long ! So, where did they get the idea that
pointed arches were the true form of architectural openings ?} but being
without science sucient to construct them, they left the Hindu architects
and builders to follow their own devices {in other words there were no
Muslim Architects.}
...The date of all these buildings is known with sucient exactness from the
inscriptions that cover them. {This was the beginning of the great blunder.
All such dates show the time of capture, conversion and beginning of mis-
use and not of construction.}
TOMBS :
3. p 432 the great architectural peculiarity of the Tartar or Mongolian races
is their tomb-building propensity, ....Nowhere is this more forcibly illustrated
than in India. {Why in India ?}
The tombs of the Turks or Pathans {Pathans were not Turks} are less
splendid than those of the Moguls; but nevertheless the whole series is sin-
gularly interesting, the tombs being far more numerous than the mosques.
Generally speaking, also, they are more artistic in design, and frequently not
only larger but more splendidly decorated than the buildings exclusively de-
voted to prayer......
The usual process for the erection of these structures is for the king or
noble who intends to provide himself a tomb {but history tells us of no such
persons !} to enclose a garden outside the city walls, generally with high
crenellated walls { Why does a tomb need high crenellated walls ?} and
with one or more splendid gateways; and in the centre of this he erects a
square or octagonal building, crowned by a dome, and in the more splendid
examples with smaller and dome-roofed apartments on four of the sides or
angles, the four being devoted to entrances..........During the lifetime of the
founder the central building is called a Barrah Durrie, or festal hall, and is
26
so used as place of recreation and feasting by him and his friends.
At his death its destination is changed - the founders remains are interred
beneath the central dome. Sometimes his favourite wife lies beside him;
but more generally his family and relations are buried beneath the collat-
eral domes. When once used as a place of burial, its vaults never again
resound with festive mirth... ...Perfect silence now takes the place of festiv-
ity and mirth.
{Note : All wild fantasy. But as Fergusson was the pioneer in the eld of His-
tory of Architecture all such blunders went unquestioned. History does not
support any of Fergussons assumptions. Most of the tombs bear no names.
Later day chauvinistic descendants have put up some plates. But even these
simply say Tomb of so and so Almost all the tombs have cenotaphs and so
called real grave chambers. Shiva temples are built in two stories and when
these were converted into tombs there had to be two tombs. Fergusson fails
to notice them.}
Taje Mahal is described on pages 436-438. He says :
1. p 436 The typical example of the tombs of this race is the celebrated
Taje Mahal - the tomb which Shah Jehan erected at Agra, to contain the
remains of his favourite wife Moomtaza Mehal, meaning to erect a more
splendid mausoleum for himself on the opposite side of the river. But this
was not carried into eect..... {Fergusson, like others, simply repeats what
Tavernier wrote but does not say so.} The North-South cross section through
the central edice is produced on page 437, but it does not show the river
Yamuna {Jumna}. In the footnote we are told, The section has been
engraved to a small scale of rather more than 100 ft to 1 inch in order to
bring it into the page. The section shows quite clearly that there are several
chambers around the {so called} real graves {but they have been sealed up}
and that there is at least one storey 17 ft deep below the {so called} real
graves and extending right across the 300 ft width {but also sealed up} It is
amazing that no Architect or Historian has ever wondered about this, nor
asked to see what is there in those chambers.
Fergusson does not say how he obtained the cross-section. It seems that
he did open up the sealed chambers, found something there which would
rock the boat of the usual legend and prove the falsity of Indo-Saracenic
Architecture, sealed up the chambers again and vowed never to say a word
about it. But he confesses on page 438 ...When used as a Barrah Durrie,
or pleasure palace, it must always have been the coolest and the loveliest of
garden retreats.......
{Santhal revolt against the rule of the East India Company}
1856: Oudh ( Ayodhya ) state was annexed by Lord Dalhousie. Lokamanya Tilak
was born. Sixty years later, the British quite rightly called him Father of the Indian
Unrest. Universities were established at Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. India in
the 15
th
Century by Major Richard Henry was published by the Hakluyt Society,
27
London. Lt Col Alexander Cunningham was posted to Burma to set up a public
works department.
1857-59: The Indian War of Independence against the rule of the East India Company.
1858: Queen Victorias proclamation. British Crown takes over the administration
of India from the much hated East India Company. The Causes of the Indian Revolt
by Syed Ahmed Khan {in Urdu} was published.
1859: A Visit to India, China and Japan by Bayard Taylor was revised and edited by
G.F.Pardon. Mr Taylor describes Taje Mahal on pages 66- 74. He tells us in
CHAPTER VI. THE TAJE MAHAL
1. p 68 The Taaje Mahal is esteemed the nest work of art in Hindostan.
The name which signies a mausoleum and a palace,......The Taaje Mahal
was erected in the year 1719 by the Emperor Shah Jehan King of the
world a title conferred on him by his father {Shah Jahan died in 1666!} At
this period, the commencement of his reign, he had the misfortune to lose
a beautiful and favourite wife. On her death-bed, he promised to perpetuate
her memory by the nest tomb in the world... .......It is a work inspired by
love and consecrated to beauty. Shah Jehan ... erected it as a mausoleum
over his queen Noor Jehan - The light of the World - whom the same poet
calls Noor Mahal, The Light of the Harem or more properly Palace.
2. p 69 ....ruins of ancient palaces....The entrance is a superb gateway of sand-
stone, inlaid with ornaments and inscriptions from the Koran in white mar-
ble. Outside of this grand portal, however, is a spacious quadrangle of solid
masonry, with an elegant structure intended as a caravansarai, on the oppo-
site side.... Down such a vista ....rises the Taaje.
It is an octagonal building, or rather, a square with the corners truncated,
and each side precisely similar. It stands upon a lofty platform, or pedestal,
with a minaret at each corner, and again, is lifted on a vast terrace of solid
masonry...
....The Taaje is approached by a handsome road, cut through the mounds
left by the ruins of ancient palaces ... The height of the building from its
base to the top of the dome is 262 ft, and of the minarets about 200 ft.
{Mr.Taylor does not tell how he got these dimensions. The correct dimen-
sions are 243 1/2 ft and 162 1/4 ft respectively.} ......Bishop Heber truly said,
The Pathans designed like Titans and nished like jewellers. {This is
absurd ! Shahjahan was a Mughal. Mughals and Pathans were bitter
enemies of each other. The French physician, Bernier conrms this.}
3. p 70 I descended to the vault where the beautiful Noor Jahan is buried.
Shah-Jehan whose ashes are covered by a simple cenotaph....I have even
heard it stated that the Taaje was designed by an Italian architect. One look
at the Taaje ought to assure any intelligent man that this is false nay impos-
sible, from the very nature of the thing. The Taaje is the pure Saracenic in
28
form, proportions, and ornamental designs. If that were not sucient, we
have still the name of the Muslim architect {who ?} sculptured upon the
building. {where ?}
....In the weekly account of the expenditures for the building of the Taaje,
there is a certain sum mentioned as paid to the foreign stone-cutters. who
may either have been Italian, Turkish or Persian.
...Around all the arches of the portals and the windows around the cornice
and the domes, on the walls and in the passages, are inlaid chapters of the
Koran, the letters being exquisitely formed of black marble. It is asserted
that the whole of the Koran is thus inlaid in the Taaje.
.....From the resemblance of this screen and the workmanship of the tomb
to Florentine mosaic, it is supposed by some to have been executed by an
Italian artist; and I have even heard it stated that....
4. p 71 As for the owers, represented in bas-relief on the marble panels, it
has been said that they are not to be found in India. Now these owers, as
near as they can be identied, are the tulip, the iris ( both natives of Persia
), and the lotus... Bishop Heber has declared that he recognised Italian art
in the ornaments of the Taaje....he fell .. into many other glaring errors...
which I have no time to point out. On one side of the Taaje is a mosque
with three domes, of red sandstone, covered with mosaic of white marble.
Now on the opposite side, there is a building precisely similar, but of no use
whatever, except as a balance to the mosque, lest the perfect symmetry of
the whole design should be spoiled. This building is called the Jawab, or
answer......
5. p 72 In comparing these master pieces of architecture with the Moorish
remains in Spain, which resemble them most nearly, I have been struck with
the singular fact, that while, at the central seats of the Moslem empire, art
reached but a comparative degree of development, here, in India and there,
on the opposite and most distant frontiers, it attained rapid and splendid
culmination. {surprise ! surprise !!} The capitals of Caliphs and Sultans -
Bagdad, Cairo, Damascus and Constantinople, - stand far below Agra and
Delhi, Granada and Seville, in point of architecture.....It is not improbable
that the Moorish architects, after the fall of Granada, gradually made their
way to the eastward, and that their art was thus brought to India - or, at
least, modied and improved the art then existing. The conquest of India
by Babur ( grandson of Tamerlane and grandfather of Akbar ), is almost
coeval with the expulsion of the Moors from Granada. {Typical mentality
of Westerners!}
......On the opposite bank of the Jumna there is an immense foundation-
terrace whereon it is said, Shah Jehan intended to erect a tomb for himself,
of equal magnicence but the rebellion of his sons, and his own death,
prevented it...A shekh who takes care of the Taaje, told me, that had the
emperor carried out his design the tombs were to have been joined by a
bridge, with a silver railing on each side. He told me that the Taaje, with
29
its gateways, mosque and other buildings attached, had cost = 95,000,000.
This however, seems quite impossible, when we consider the cheapness of
labour in those days and I believe the real cost is estimated at = 93,000,000
which does not seem exaggerated. { Note : Taylor does not tell us where
he got his gure of 3 million from}. Architectural Illustrations of the Prin-
cipal Mohamedan Buildings of Bijapur by Mr.P.D.Hart was edited by James
Fergusson.
- Matriculation examination of Bombay University takes place for the rst
time.
1860: Among the many lessons the Indian mutiny conveys to the historian, none is
of great importance than the warning that it is possible to have a revolution
3
in which
Brahmins and Sudras, Hindus and Mahomedans, could be united against us and
that it is not safe to suppose that the peace and stability of our dominions, in any great
measure, depends on the continent being inhabited by dierent religious systems for
they mutually understand and respect and take part in each others modes and ways
and doings. The mutiny reminds us that our dominions rests on a thin crust ever
likely to be rent by titanic res and social changes and religious revolutions.
....Our endeavour should be to uphold in full force the separation which ( for us
fortunate ) exists between the dierent religions and races, not to endeavour to amal-
gamate them. Divide et impera should be the principle
4
of Indian Government....
Remarks of Lt.Colonel Coke, Commandant of Moradabad 1860. {Note : Aligarh,
where Muslim separatism started and ourished, is only 30 miles from Moradabad.}
- Viceroy Lord Canning visits Agra.
- An Account of the Loyal Mahomedans of India by Syed Ahmad Khan was pub-
lished.
- After the death of Prof Wilson, Max Muller stands for election to Sanskrit chair at
Oxford University, but fails.
1861: Alexander Cunningham now aged 47 retires from the army with the rank of
Major General. Following his correspondence with Lord Canning, the rst Viceroy,
Archaeological Survey of India ( A.S.I. ) was started. Cunningham was appointed as
an Archaeological Surveyor in December.
- Indian Penal Code comes into operation.
Star of India order was instituted.
- Motilal Nehru and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya were born. Motilal Nehru be-
came a successful lawyer and a moderate political leader. Malaviya founded the
Benares Hindu University.
1862: History of India by Henry Beveridge ( Advocate ) was published. On page 289
of Volume I he says,
3
Ref : Central India During the Rebellion of 1857-58 by Thomas Lowe, MRCS, Medical Ocer to the
Corps of Madras Sappers and Miners.
4
{Ref : Pakistan - Military Rule or Peoples Power by Tariq Ali, Jonathan Cape, London 1970 page 25}
30
1. ...In (Agra) the latter stands conspicuous above all the Taje Mahal, the mau-
soleum of his queen Mumtaz Mahal... On the same page, we nd a picture
of the interior of Taje Mahal at Agra reproduced from Oriental Drawing
5
, East
India House. In the footnote, Beveridge refers to and quotes from Fergussons
Handbook of Architecture ( 1855 ), but does not produce the cross-section and
deletes the vital sentence when used as a Barrah-dari or pleasure palace. ....
In the footnote on pages 289, 290 Beveridge says, ...Tavernier saw this building
begun and nished and tells us that it occupied 20,000 men for twenty two years.
The mausoleum and all the buildings that appertain to it cost Rs 3,17,48,026 or
3,174,802 sterling.
Indian Empire by R.M.Martin was published. Volume 3 contains copy of a painting
of Taj Mahal by Captain R. Elliot. It shows several basement rooms in the so called
mosque and the so called Jawab. These were blocked by British authorities at some
later date. Why ? And why is there no record ? The painting also shows palaces
upstream and downstream of Taj Mahal. As the remains of these palaces were de-
stroyed during the famine works of 1837 the painting must have been made before
1837.
- Alexander Cunningham becomes the Director of A.S.I.
- History of Modern Styles of Architecture, being a sequel to the Handbook of Ar-
chitecture by James Fergusson, was published. {Editions 1873 and 1891 }- 9 De-
cember...James Fergusson delivers a lecture on Architecture at the Royal Engineers
Establishment, Chatham, England.
- First batch of graduates of Bombay University come out. Among them we nd
Justice M G Ranade, R G Bhandarkar and V A Modak.
History written by Mill, Du, Elphinstone and others was a compulsory subject for
the B A Examination from the beginning.
1863 : Viceroy Lord Elgin visits Agra.
1864: Bombay Government decides to give grants even to institutions that made
attendance at the Bible classes compulsory.
- Rock Cut Temples of India ( with 74 photographs ) by J.Fergusson was published.
His address is given as 20 Langham Place, London.
- Syed Ahmed Khan was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland.
1865: Archaeological Survey of India was closed.
Telegraphic connection between India and Britain was completed.
Lala Lajpat Rai, a militant political leader from Punjab and famous historian G.S.Sardesai
were born.
J.Fergusson becomes a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects ( FRIBA )
5
( Ref : Sleemans Rambles and Recollections by an Indian Ocial)
31
1866: Max Muller writes
6
to his wife on 9 December, ...I hope I shall nish
that work, and I feel convinced, though I shall not live to see it, yet this edition
of mine and the translation of the Veda will hereafter tell to a great extent on
the fate of India, and on the growth of millions of souls in that country. It is
the root of their religion, and to show them what that root is, is, I feel sure, the
only way of uprooting all that sprung from it during the last 3000 years....
18 December. J.Fergusson delivers a lecture on The Study of Indian Architecture
at a meeting of the Society of Arts, London.
- Viceroy Lord Lawrence holds a grand Durbar at Agra and also presents a gold
medal to Syed Ahmed Khan for good services and eorts in the cause of education.
( 28 November 1866 ) : - Following books were published :
1. Architecture at Bijapur by Col.M.Taylor ( Notes by J.Fergusson )
2. Architecture at Ahmedabad by Sir T.C.Hope, ICS ( Photographs by Col.Briggs.
Architectural notes by J.Fergusson )
3. Architecture in Dharwar and Mysore by Col.M.Taylor ( Architectural notes
by J.Fergusson )
- Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a moderate leader, was born
1867: History of Architecture of All Countries by J.Fergusson was published. All the
information on Taje Mahal given in his Handbook of Architecture ( 1855 ) is re-
peated. The cross-section through central edice is repeated on page 693 of volume
II. He now tells us that it has been drawn to a scale of 110 ft to 1 inch. Apart from
this, there is no change.
Asiatic Society of Bengal published the Persian text of Lahoris Badshahnama, vol-
ume I. It was edited by two Muslims: Mawalawis Kabir AL-Din Ahmad and Abd Al
Rahim, under the superintendence of Major.W.N.Lees. Volume II was published in
1868.
- Elliot and Dowsons History of India as told by its own Historians, The Muham-
madan Period Vol I, was published in London by Trubner and Co. Other seven
volumes were published over next ten years. In his preface Sir Henry M Elliot states
that he is dealing with the history of only the Mohammedan rule in India. He gives
some examples of how in the 18th and 19th century, Muslims had fabricated various
chronicles. He also concludes that the true picture of Muslim rule was far from what
was generally believed.
It was full of murders and massacres, razing of temples, forcible conversions and
marriages, sensuality and drunkenness. Common people were plunged into the low-
est depths of wretchedness and despondency.
{Prof John Dowson, M R A S, of Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, in his preface
thanks General Cunningham for his important notes, and placing at his disposal his
6
Ref : The life and letters of F Max Muller, edited by his wife, Longman Green and co, London 1902.
p 328
32
Archaeological Survey of India reports.}
- The History of India from the Earliest days by James Talboys Wheeler was
published. ( Taj Mahal on page 156 )
1868: On 16 December Max Muller writes
7
to the Duke of Argyll, Secretary of State
for India, ...India has been conquered once, but India must be conquered again
and that second conquest should be a conquest by education ....The missionaries
have done far more than they themselves seem to be aware of, nay, much of the
work which is theirs they would disclaim. The Christianity of our nineteenth
century will hardly be the Christianity of India. But the ancient religion of
India is doomed - and if Christianity does not step in, whose fault will it be ?
1869: Dr Forbes Watsons Report on the Illustration of the Architecture of India,
etc with Appendices by Fergusson, Cunningham and Colonel Meadows Taylor, was
published.
History of India written by Marshman at the request of the University of Calcutta
was published.
In Volume I page 146 he tells us, ..To him ( Shahjahan ) the country was indebted
for the immaculate Taj Mahal, the mausoleum of his queen {Who? the pride of
India and the admiration of the world...
- Syed Ahmed Khan and his two sons leave Bombay for England on 6th August. At
London he is received by Mr {later Sir} John Kaye - Secretary to the Duke of Argyll,
Secretary of State for India.
Syed Ahmed Khan is awarded Star of India (Class III)
- Suez Canal was completed and opened to trac.
- Mahatma Gandhi was born.
- Travels of Fah Hien and Sung Yum was translated by Samuel Beal.
1869-70: Duke of Edinburgh, 2nd son of Queen Victoria visits India : Dec 1869 to
March 1870. He did visit Agra.
1870: Archaeological Survey of India was restarted. Duke of Argyll, Secretary of
State for India sanctioned Cunninghams appointment, after consultation with Lord
Mayo, Viceroy of India. Cunningham resumes charge, promoted to Director General
of that department, next year.
12 inch to 1 mile map of Agra Cantonment, city and Environs, was published
by the Government of India. It shows the main walls of the Taj Mahal, continuous
beyond the Taj Ganj gate at South and enclosing a large market.
- Bombay-Jubblepoor-Calcutta railway connection was completed.
- Historian Yadunath Sarkar and Chittaranjan Das a political leader from Bengal,
were born.
1871: J.Fergusson was awarded Royal Gold Medal by the RIBA.
Vincent Smith joins the Indian Civil Service.
7
{Ref : The Life and Letters of F.Max Muller, edited by his wife, 1902 volume I pages 357-8}
33
The Indian Musalmans : Are They Bound in conscience to Rebel Against the
Queen ? by Sir.W.W.Hunter was published.
1872: Syed Ahmed Khan replies to Hunters book.
Tilak passes the Matriculation examination.
1872-73: Archaeological Survey of India Report for the Year 1871-72 was prepared
by M/s Beglar ( on Delhi ) and Carllyle (on Agra ) In volume II Mr Carlleyle tells us
:
1. p 4 ... Again as bearing on the other side of the argument I have now to
mention that, on the right bank of the river about three miles above the fort,
there is the site of an ancient garden palace called the garden and palace of Raja
Bhoj! Certain intelligent educated Hindus in Agra say that it is traditionally held
to have been a palace of Raja Bhoj of Malwa of the fth to sixth century; but
at any rate all agree as to the fact that this garden palace of Raja Bhoj was in
existence previous to the Muhammadan conquest of this part of the country. I
am, however, inclined to think that the Raja Bhoj who built this garden palace
at Agra may have been The Bhoja, the successor of Guhila or Sri Gohadit of
Gelhote dynasty of Mewar......
2. On page 67 we nd :
MUMTAZ MAHAL, COMMONLY CALLED THE TAJ MAHAL
It will be unnecessary for me to give either the measurements or a descrip-
tion of this well known and beautiful white marble mausoleum, so famous for
its exquisite mosaics, and noble dome, and lofty graceful minars, as General
Cunningham informed me that he had in his possession a complete ground
plan and sections and all measurements of this building.....
Carllyle describes Taj Mahal in 18 lines and says I cannot presume to say more
on this subject, when I know that General Cunningham has both the materials
at hand, and the ability, coupled with the experience of a practised archaeologist,
to do it so much more justice than it would ever be possible for me to do. {Note
: General Cunningham became Director General of ASI in 1870 and remained
in charge for further 14 years but he never said anything about these sections
and particulars. ASI never produced the said sections. Why ? Why ?? Why ???
What were they hiding ?}
3. Carllyle tells us about some mysterious pillars in Taj Mahal. On pages 124-125
he says, Before concluding this report, it may be well that I should oer a few
remarks in connection with the great square black basaltic pillar which, with the
base and capital of another similar pillar, and a long ponderous block of similar
stone, which probably formed part of the entablature over the pillars, are now
in the grounds of the museum at Agra.
The pillar above referred to, it is well known, once stood in the garden of Taj
Mahal; and while there, for some reason or other now unknown, the shaft of
the pillar used to rock on its base, with a slight touch of the hand, like one of
the logan or rocking stones. Besides the remains of another pillar, and the
34
large block of similar stone, before mentioned, which are in the grounds of the
museum, there are also the remains of a third pillar now placed as gate posts
at the gate of a European residence in the cantonments at Agra.
Now, it is said that these block pillars, when in a perfect state, along with
several others originally stood in a line outside the water-gate of the fort of
Agra, between the fort and the river, but that some of them had fallen down
before the most perfect and complete one of was removed from thence and
placed in the Taj garden.
The pillars were, most certainly, the work of Hindus and they may be either
Jain or Brahmanical, although I myself am inclined to think that they are Jain,
as their shape and style are Jain in character, and I believe that they resemble
the pillars of several ancient Jain colonnades still existing in India.
The only conclusion therefore that I can come to is that these pillars formed
the colonnade to the entrance from the river of some ancient Hindu building
which was probably pulled down and destroyed when the Fort was built; and,
moreover, I believe that.a very massive and elaborately sculptured black marble
Jain image ( of Munisuvratha judging by the tortoise symbol ), which is now at
the Agra Museum must .originally have belonged to the same locality, as I have
heard that it was dug up somewhere near the fort and the river.
- Pathan Kings of Delhi, by Edward Thomas was published.
1873 : A Handbook for visitors to Agra by H G Keene was published. It was enlarged,
rectied and illustrated and founded on Agra Guide by the same author. The Taj
Mahal is described on pages 23 to 36.
The causes of the Indian Revolt {in Urdu} by Syed Ahmed Khan was translated by
Sir Auckland Colvin and Colonel Graham. Sir Colvin, later became the Governor
of U.P and condemned the Indian National Congress as a seditious organisation, in
1888.
- Blochmans translation of Ain-e-Akbari, volume I was published.
- Third edition of Grant Dus History of the Marathas was published.
James Burgess was appointed - Archaeological Reporter of Bombay Presidency. (till
1881 )
1874: Keenes Handbook to Agra ( revised edition ) was published. On pages 14
and 15 he describes Agra City of 1630 {i.e before the death of Mumtaz} as given in
De Laet Joannes Dutch book Empire of the Great Moghul, published in 1631. He
says,
1. ...everyone has been anxious to have immediate access to the river and all have
consequently built their houses on the bank.....On leaving the royal citadel, {i.e
Red Fort} one emerges on a large market, where horses, camels, oxen, and all
kinds of merchandise are sold....... Then follow the palaces of Mirza Abdulla,
Aga Nours, Zehenna Chan, Mirza Chrom, Mahabot Khan, Chan Alem, Radzia
Bartzing, Radzia Mantzing. {The last palace is the same as Taj Mahal. See
events of 1896 and 1925}
35
2. p 24 Opposite this page we nd a plan of the Central Edice. But there are no
dimensions.
3. p 26 In Berniers time this part of the strand was lived by the villas of the
nobility.
THE TAJ is described on pages 27 to 41.
4. p 27 By the river strand is a road made in the famine relief operations of
1838 by which the visitor reaches the Taj Muhul. On the way he passes the
Moghul Court, but now fallen into indistinguishable ruins with the above-named
exception.
5. pp 27/28 There is a reference to Fergussons History of Architecture but no
extract from it. The cross-section of Taj Mahal is also not produced.
6. p 28 Urjumund Banoo Begum called Moomtaz-i-Mahal ... married to the
prince about 1615, died of childbed of the eighth, about 1629 at Boorhanpoor.
7. p 29 Her body was carried like that of our Edwards consort to the metropolis
and laid in a spot in the garden still pointed out close by the Mosque until
the mausoleum was ready for her reception. The legendary account of the
building must here be referred to, authoritative history going no further. It is
said and is very likely said with truth that the Emperor resolved to build in his
dead wifes garden a mausoleum that should surpass in splendour everything
of whose existence he could learn. With this view he sent for plans and models
from every quarter, and studied the designs and descriptions of all the most
celebrated monuments of the kind. Finally, his choice was inuenced by Eesa
Mohumud Eendi, an architect sent him by the Sultan of Turkey, and the
present model adopted ... {There is of course no reference for this fantastic
statement. Keene does not tell us of any buildings designed and supervised by
this Architect prior to being sent to build Taj Mahal. Keene also does not give
us any names of monuments whose designs were studied by Shah Jahan. He
admits that all this was just a legend. Later author simply omitted this caution.}
The collection of the material is said to have occupied the next seventeen years;
but it is not necessary to suppose that no building was in progress all this time.
8. p 30 .... Much fruitless discussion has been waged on this subject; the following
considerations alone are likely to be of use to the general reader. The notion
that the Taj was designed by Italians may be dismissed at once. Nothing was
ever less Italian than the general conception of the building with its simple and
even stier contour.....
9. p 31 The following gures are taken from the Guide to the Taj:- The native
account of the cost of the Taj gives 98,55,476 Rupees as having been given by
the Rajahs and Nawabs. And out of the Emperors private treasury 86,09,760
Rupees which would give in = 91,846,518-6 or nearly two million* There are said
to be two silver doors at the entrance of the Taj, which are stated to have cost
1,27,000 Rupees and were studded with 1,100 nails each having a head made of
a Sonat Rupee, these gates were taken away and melted down by the Jats when
36
they attacked and sacked Agra. ( * Col Anderson in a recent number of the
Calcutta Review states the cost to have been Rs 4,11,43,826. )
10. p 32 The labour was all forced, and very little payment made in cash to the
20,000 workmen who were said to have been employed for 17 years. .... There
was great distress and frightful mortality among then.... The poet describes
them to have cried out :- Have mercy God on our distress. For we die too, with
the Princess.
11. p 32/35 Here Keene gives some extracts from B.Taylors book.
12. pp 35/36 Referring to Bernier, Keene says, "the screen it will be observed is
not mentioned.
13. p 36 Tavernier says I have seen the commencement and the completion of this
great work which employed twenty thousand men daily for twenty two years,
a fact from which some idea of its excessive costiness may be formed. The
scaolding is held to have cost more than the building for not having {enough}
wood they had to make it of brick, as also the centerings of the vaults. Shah
jahan began to make his own sepulchre on the other side of the river, but his
war with his sons interrupted the design, and Aurangzeb, the present ruler, has
not cared to carry it out.
14. p 39 The false Mosque is as ne as the true. It is appropriated to the use of
travellers and parties of pleasure, and it is this no doubt that has given rise to
the often-reported story of wassil and riot desecrating the place of worship
of departed kings.
15. Let it be said, once for all, that this is not, never was, never could be, a place
of worship. It would be certainly more in character if no festivities had ever
disturbed the repose of a place set aside for solemn memories; but as long as
the natives hold constant fairs in the enclosure and throw orange-peel and other
debris about the whole place, it is perhaps somewhat hypercritical to object to a
few Englishmen refreshing themselves within the limits of becoming mirth,in
a remote corner used for no other purpose...... It is in a parterre beneath this
mosque that the enclosure is shown where the remains of the empress rested
while the Taj was being built. " {But what is the basis for this story or the loca-
tion of the spot ?}
In a footnote Keene says, the domes are all of white marble the basements
of the building only are of red stone. {Note :- So, Keene confesses that there
are basements below the 1000 ft by 300 ft terrace. Why did he not ask these
to be opened up ? Keene does not reproduce the cross- section from Fergus-
sons book which shows the basements.} There is no reference Badshahnama,
published in 1867.
1875: The 9th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica was published. Now we are told
that the name of the lady was Mumtaza Mahal. We nd extract from Fergussons
History of Architecture pp 692/694 including the sentence When used as a pleasure
palace, it must have been the coolest and loveliest of garden retreats.
37
We also nd reference to Taverniers Travels ( vol iii, p 94 ) and the magic sentence
20,000 men were incessantly employed on this work during a period of twenty-two
years.
- Sir Syed Ahmad Khan starts a school in Aligarh. 29 April Lord Salisbury, Secretary
of State for India states in British Parliament, We must bleed India, but that
bleeding should be done judiciously. The lancet should be directed to those
parts where the blood is congested
8
...
1875-76 :Edward VII as Prince of Wales visits India {8 Nov 1875 to 13 March 1876},
visits Taj Mahal on 25 January 1876.
8
{Ref : India for Indians and for England, by William Digby 1885 page IX}
38
Summary of Events and Explanatory Notes:
1. Politics and Archaeology:
(a) Politics:
British rulers were taken aback by the Great Indian Revolt of 1857-59. The
Crown took over the administration of India from the hated East India Com-
pany. But the Company rulers remained the same. They decided to separate
Muslims from Hindus. Very soon after the Great Revolt, recruitment to the In-
dian Army was to be drawn disproportionately from the Muslims of North West
Frontier Province
9
and Punjab.
Persons like Syed Ahmed Khan who would keep Muslims away from the free-
dom movement, were patronized. It also became imperative for the British to
keep secret, the true nature of Taj Mahal and other monuments. It had to be
emphasized that they were the works of foreigners. The natives could not have
even thought of building such structures.
(b) Archaeology:
Against this background, Archaeological Survey of India ( ASI ) was started in
1860. It was closed in 1865, restarted in 1870 and has continued ever since. Major
General Sir Alexander Cunningham was in charge of ASI from the beginning
till 1884. He was aware of the enormous political importance of Archaeology
as early as 1842. It is important to note that the appointment of Cunningham in
1870 was sanctioned by the Duke of Argyll, the then Secretary of State for India,
after consultation with Lord Mayos Government of India. It was the unwritten
policy of the Survey to neglect all Hindu emblems of heroism and glory and
keep intact the historical places of Muslim association or dominion.
2. History of Architecture:
James Fergussons Handbook of Architecture came out in 1855. It was a formidable
work indeed. No one had tried to write the history of architecture of all the countries
before. He supplied footnotes for books on architecture of various provinces, by
others. The Royal Institute of British Architects elected him as a Fellow of their
Institute in 1865, and awarded him the Royal Gold Medal in 1871. Unfortunately,
because of all this, his blunders went unquestioned and remained so for more than
a century. We list them as follows :
(a) If a building is used as a mosque or a tomb it must have been built by the Mus-
lims. When that looked silly he proposed that Muslims demolished a Hindu
building piece by piece and re-erected a mosque/tomb from it. He was so ob-
sessed with this hypothesis that he even says, ..thus without a single new column
or carved stone being required they obtained a mosque which for convenience
and beauty was unsurpassed by anything they afterwards erected from their
own designs. But he would not accept the simple fact that Muslims forcibly
9
{Ref : Pakistan or Partition of India by Dr B R Ambedkar, 1946, pp 54-85}
39
occupied Hindu buildings and misused them as tombs and mosques. In addi-
tion, he does not say, exactly when, the Muslims started to build from their own
design.
(b) Hindus did not build arches and domes. And yet he says on p 418, ....all show the
same system of taking down and rearranging the materials on a dierent plan. ...
The same is true of the domes, all which being honestly and rmly tted, would
suer no damage from the process of removal. Where did the domes come
from ? Moreover even today, taking down and re erecting buildings requires
considerable skill and forethought.
(c) Fergusson however confesses on p 420, Besides this, a roof is by no means
an essential part of a mosque, a wall facing Mecca is all that is required, and
frequently in India is all that is built.......
(d) Fergusson agrees that the Architects were Hindu and NOT Muslim.
(e) Fergusson says on p 432, The architectural peculiarity of the Tartar or Mon-
golian races is their tomb-building propensity...Nowhere is this more forcibly
illustrated than in India. {But why in India ?} ...the tombs being far more
numerous than the mosques {why ? Because there were so many temples
which could be easily converted into tombs. Muslims are buried in India lying
north-south, feet towards the south. The faces are turned towards west. Shiva
Lingum is also laid north-south, the water dripping on it ows to the north.}
(f) Fergusson creates a false impression by using the phrase Mahomedan con-
quest of India
3. British Attitude:
This is best illustrated by Max Muller. In 1868 he wrote to the Duke of Argyll,
Secretary of State for India, ....the ancient religion of India is doomed - and if
Christianity does not step in whose fault will it be ? ....India has been conquered
once, but India must be conquered again and that second conquest should be a
conquest by education... Under such conditions, true Indian history just could not
be explored.
4. British ocial suppression of truth:
Cunningham obtained a complete plan and sections of Taj Mahal in 1871, but these
were never published. {Same thing applies to many other so called mosques and
tombs.} British scholars do not mention this fact even today. They are also silent
about why the British Authorities bricked up several rooms in Taj Mahal, which are
seen in the pre-1837 painting of Captain R Elliot.
5. Evidence ignored:
(a) Taj Mahal Cross-section:
Fergusson produced the North-South cross-section through the central edice
in 1855. This shows quite clearly that there are several chambers around the so
called real graves {but they have been sealed up} and that there is at least one
40
storey 17 ft deep below the so called real graves and extending right across the
300 ft width {but also sealed up}.
Fergusson oers no explanation. We must suspect his motives, especially when
we consider his long stay in India and his association with the ASI for 20 years.
Henry Beveridge, Keene and Encyclopaedia Britannica refer to Fergusson but
do not reproduce the cross-section.
(b) Basements:
In 1874 Keene admits that there are basements under the 1000 ft by 300 ft
platform. He neither oers any explanation nor does he try to explore them.
(c) Taje Mahal:
Despite the attitude of the British to twist the Indian names, Fergusson ( 1855 ),
Bayard Taylor ( 1859 ) and Henry Beveridge (1862 ) use the term Taje Mahal
when it was lot easier to say Taj Mahal.
(d) Palaces on the river bank:
In 1874 Keene referred to De Laet Joannes book {in Dutch} Empire of the
Great Moghul, published in 1631. He says that all the great nobles had built
their houses on the river bank and gives a list of owners of palaces, on leaving
the Red Fort. Raja Mansinghs palace being the last one, which is now Taj
Mahal. Thus the river bank was not barren as successive historians have been
telling us. Ruins of these palaces have been mentioned by Bayard Taylor in
1859.
(e) When used as a Barrah Durrie...:
Unaware of its signicance, Fergusson confessed in 1855, when used as a
Barrah Durrie or pleasure palace, it must have been the coolest and the loveliest
of garden retreats.. Henry Beveridge, Keene and Encyclopaedia Britannica
refer to Fergusson but do not quote the above sentence.
(f) In 1867 Sir H M Elliot warned, true picture of Muslim rule was far from what
was generally believed. It was full of murders and massacres, razing of tem-
ples, forcible conversions and marriages, sensuality and drunkenness. Common
people were plunged into the lowest depths of wretchedness and despondency.
(g) Name of the lady:
Bayard Taylor says - her name was Noor Jehan whom a poet calls Noor Mahal.
Marshman ( 1869 ) gives her no name. Encyclopaedia Britannica ( 1875 ) calls
her Mumtaza Mahal.
(h) Badshshnama:
Persian text of Badshshnama, Shahjahans own ocial chronicle, was pub-
lished by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1867. But nobody studied it let alone
mention it.
(i) Keene informs us in 1874 that according to Tavernier the scaolding is said
to have cost more than the entire work. This information was not generally
known till the 1889 edition of Taverniers Travels by Dr Ball. We can conclude
that Keene read the original French edition of Taverniers book.
41
(j) Use of Jawab:
B. Taylor says in 1859 that the Jawab was of no use whatever. Keene says in
1874 that Jawab was used for the use of travellers and parties of pleasure.
(k) Keene makes a distinction between authoritative history and legendary account
of the building of the Taj.
(l) Keene also tells us for the rst time that Mumtaz died at Burhanpur and not
Agra.
6. Blunders of the travellers:
B Taylor says that Taaje Mahal was created in the year 1719 by Shah Jahan, when
in fact he died in 1666! He also says that ashes of Shah Jahan are covered by a
simple cenotaph.
7. Education and Hindu Leaders:
The rst batch of graduates of Bombay University came out in 1862, Justice M G
Ranade being one of them.Tilak graduated in 1876, G K Gokhale in 1886, Gandhi in
1889. All these leaders were busy for the rest of their lives with political awakening
and struggle for freedom. They had no time for anything else, least of all the History
of Indian Architecture.
8. How the legend grew:
(a) 20,000 men worked for 22 years. Henry Beveridge repeats this sentence and
refers to Tavernier. Keene ( 1874 ) and Encyclopaedia Britannica ( 1875 ) do the
same.
(b) Shahjahans intended tomb:
Fergusson said, Shahjahan...meaning to erect a more splendid mausoleum
for himself on the opposite side of the river. But this was not carried into
eect. It is interesting to note that Fergusson does not refer to Tavernier.
Bayard Taylor said, it is said, Shah Jahan intended to erect a tomb for himself,
of equal magnicence...A Shekh who takes care of the Taaje told me, that had
the emperor carried out his design the tombs were to have been joined by a
bridge, with a silver railing on each side. Keene does repeat this story, but
quotes from Taverniers book.
(c) The Architect:
Bayard Taylor dismisses the story of Italian Architect but fancies that Moorish
Architects may have helped in the construction of Taj Mahal. He also says that
the name of the architect is engraved in stone, but gives no name or location of
engraving, but does not give the location..
(d) Cost:
Bayard Taylor thinks that the cost was 3 million. Henry Beveridge quotes the
gure of 3,174,802 and refers to Sleeman for the gure.
(e) False accusation - Jats looted the silver doors.
Keene said in 1874, ...two silver doors cost Rs 1,27,000 studded with 1100 nails
42
each having a head of a sonat rupee ( these were looted by the Jats ) . Referring
to Bernier Keene says, the screen it will be observed is not mentioned. But
the same logic was not applied to silver doors which were alleged to have been
looted by the Jats.
(f) B Taylor noticed bas-relief on the marble panels. The owers being Iris. But
contrary to his belief it is a well known Indian poisonous ower Dhatura.
43