Forgotten craftsmen who built Taj Mahal

The dome was built by Ismail Khan, an Ottoman Turk, it does not resemble Roman domes at all, they look pretty original the closest domes they resemble in my opinion are Volga Tatar Domes for example in Kazan which was later reproduced in Moscow.

Edited by Bulldog - 04-Nov-2006 at 15:40

Originally posted by Zagros Everything you stated makes absolute sense and it is almost certain to be true. However, I have to disagree on one point, these domes bear no resemblence to Byzantine and Roman domes, other than that they are domes.  They are a different innovation. Their method of construction is different I don't believe that they used cement int eh same way to support the trscture, and the insides of these domes are honeycombed to support the weight.   Their origins are Sassanid domes which resemble them to a much greater extent than Roman ones.

Ah thanks, I learned something today.

Originally posted by Vedam Yes the Taj Mahal is an Islamic Mausoleum, no question, but its not correct to say that it is foreign to Hindu construction completely. The Mughals had been in India for a few centuries and so naturally assimilated Hindu culture. Mughal architecture from Akbar to Shah Jahan's time is a blend of Islamic/hindu elements.  Shah Jahans mother and his father Jahangir's Mother were Hindu Rajputs, so obviously Rajput architecture was going to influence the Mughals. The "chattris" on either side of the Taj Mahal Dome is an element of Hindu style of Architecture. Chattris actually means in sanskrit "umbrella".

I don't disagree. That's the beauty of Mughal architecture, that it combines classical Persian forms with local Hindu elements making it unique.

Also with regards to your point about Domes, well they may not have been part of Hindu Architecture but were definitely used In Indian Buddhist design in the Stupas that held Buddhist relics. My point is that Domes did exist in India from around the second century BC.

Stupas weren't true domes though, they were either carved out of rock or partially or completely filled in mounds.  The outside shape is similar, but structurally it's very different. 

Originally posted by AP Singh [QUOTE=Vivek Sharma] Taj mahal was not built by Shah Jahan. It was an old palace complex, belonging to the King of Jaipur and just modified by Shah Jahan.html Hi Vivek, King of Jaipur was salve king of Mughals. Hence every thing which the Raja of Jai Pur had belonged to his overlords, the Mughals. He was also given the Alwar which was ruled by Bad Gujjars earlier and Ranthambor to rule which was ruled by Gujjars of Chauhan gotra earlier. It does not mean that both these places belong to him but he was ruling these places on behalf of his overlords, the Mughals. The actual site was where Taj Mahal is made is Shiva tepmle and big garden made by Gujjars Partihar Emperor Samrat Mihir Bhoj Mahan. There are many places in India like Delhi founded by Gujjar Tanwars and was named Mihirawli (Meharauli) and Bhopal (Founded by Gujjar parmars named after him as Bhoj Pal. Both the Tanwars and Parmars were his fuedatory kings and have done so please their overlord, the Gujjar Samrat Mihir Bhoj Mahan. About tajmahal Here is the authentic details of my claim. [http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/modern/godbole_taj2 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 : 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 fifth 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.

You can't foribly convert a building Vivek.

It is very possibly that the site of the Taj Mahal was once the site of a previous building. This doesn't mean that the later building is 'nicked' from the earlier one. Things get built on top of other things. There is, according to APSinghs post, 1000 years between Raja Bhoj's gardens and the Taj. I ask you Vivek, how many building last 1000 years? Very few. How many buildings are built on land that had a building on it 1000 years ago? Much more!

I would appreciate if you gave credit where credit's due instead of trying to claim everything for your own ethnic group.

Originally posted by Omar al Hashim You can't foribly convert a building Vivek.It is very possibly that the site of the Taj Mahal was once the site of a previous building. This doesn't mean that the later building is 'nicked' from the earlier one. Things get built on top of other things. There is, according to APSinghs post, 1000 years between Raja Bhoj's gardens and the Taj. I ask you Vivek, how many building last 1000 years? Very few. How many buildings are built on land that had a building on it 1000 years ago? Much more!I would appreciate if you gave credit where credit's due instead of trying to claim everything for your own ethnic group.

Hi Omar,
Before writing anything here I do a lot of reaseach and take a lot of pain to write the truth and gather lot of evidences in support of my claim.

There was a extensive research work done and a report was prepared based on findings and the facts were prepared by the BBC in thi sregard and I have the pictures taken by them with me to prove that it was a shiva temple but unfortunately I am not able to cut and paste those pictures here.These pictures are sent to me by a friend and are in JPG format. These reports shows that it was a refurbishing work done on the existing Shiva Temple. In these pictures certain things were hidden by the newly created wall but certain things like the OM! written by engraved flowers are still present.

I also have the pictures taken by NASA of a bridge constructed by Rama between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka to attack the Ravana.There are other temples also which are more than 1000 years old which still do exist.

Sahajahan has built one memorial at Burhan Pur where Mumtaz Mahal died and buried which is nothing compared to even the Lodi tombs built by Lodi Sultan in Delhi.Logically he should have selected Burhan Pur to build a memorial but unfortunately there was no building available in Burhan Pur where he could have erected the Memorial without doing much work.Also as written by Vedam there is no Vedic architecture used at the memorial erected at Burhan pur where the Mumtaj was buried.

The kingdom of Gurjar Samrat Mihir Bhoj Mahan, who built the Shiva Temple and the big Garden at Agra was much bigger than the Mughals and the size of his army as stated by Abu Ziad an arab scholar was 80 Lakhs. The size of the Mughal army at the time of Akbar was only 40 Lakhs. Moreover Mihir Bhoj Mahan sucessfully kept away the Muslim invaders from Sindh Border, Wiped out the race of Huns in India and got them assimilated among the Gujjars, extended his kingdom to Dhaka in the east and Kerals in the South by completely wiping out the Palas and Rashtrakutas.

    
    
    

Edited by AP Singh - 06-Nov-2006 at 05:57

It was just an excuse for him to annexe that temple palace complex.

Originally posted by Vivek Sharma It was just an excuse for him to annexe that temple palace complex.

Hi vivek,
You know how akbar died? Though it look strange that when the Raja of Jaipur was his slave king he really did not need any excuse but these Mughals were diplomatic.

Col Todd. has written that Akbar wanted to get rid off Raja jai Singh of Jaipur who served him all through his life. So he got prepared two Pans (I dont know the english word for it), one with poison for Jai Singh, his brother in law, but by mistake Akber himself ate the pan which was mixed with poison and died. In this case also there was no need for him to get him killed in this manner but he wanted to ramain a good person in history books and at the same time wanted to get rid of Jai Singh by dubious means.
    

Originally posted by AP Singh Before writing anything here I do a lot of reaseach and take a lot of pain to write the truth and gather lot of evidences in support of my claim.    .Also as written by Vedam there is no Vedic architecture used at the memorial erected at Burhan pur where the Mumtaj was buried.

the Tejo Mahalaya complex was a temple - palace complex around the centuries old temple of Agreshwar Mahadev, the ruling diety of Agra. It's use as a palace also, explainst a lot of the architecture elements.