The first article in the Archaeological Survey of India's 1947 collection of essays entitled "Ancient India" deals with the Taj Mahal.
There is certainly no new startling information. Scholars all know this. However, after school, semi-educated people like me who have not read history will be able to know at least a couple of new details.The first article in "Ancient India" published in 1948 was written by MS Bhatt about
the Taj Mahal. He was then in charge of the Northern Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India. Was in Agra. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has for some time been holding a scaffolding around the dome of the Taj Mahal to preserve the Taj Mahal, and the scaffolding has been a source of annoyance to visitors. He was in charge of building the scaffolding. So he thought he would write a few words.
MS Bhat writes: -
In 1748, four years after the construction was completed, in 1752, Prince Aurangzeb wrote a letter to Emperor Shah Jahan: The Taj Mahal needs to be repaired.
Wroted: - Water is dripping from various places of this holy monument. During the rainy season, water is dripping from the top of the main dome in two places. Cracks were found in four small domed roofs, arches in the four rooms on the north and seven arches on the ground floor. After last year's rain, water is falling from the roof of the verandah in two or three places. They have been repaired, but we have to see what happens next monsoon. Water has also fallen from the domes of mosques and mosques, which have been repaired with waterproofing systems. The chief architect says that if all the top of the small dome next to it is discarded and a new one and a half feet thick spice is poured, no more water will fall from them. However, they are unable to do anything about the leaking of the main dome .
It is not known whether Shah Jahan or Aurangzeb did anything about it. (Original text of this letter has been published in Murakka-i Akbarabad A. Editor Syed Ahmed, Agra (1931) Page (43).
Since MS Bhatt was busy repairing the Taj Mahal when he wrote this article, naturally his writing was about repairing the Taj Mahal. But ordinary people like us don't get much encouragement to just worry about the details of those repairs.
So first of all let's see what MS Bhatt has written about the Taj Mahal. How it was made, when it was made, etc. These, of course, are found in some school textbooks. But maybe not all. Without such discrimination, I handed over the information written by MS Bhatt.
Lying side by side in the Taj Mahal are the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1826-57) and his beloved wife Arjumand Banu Begam, better known as Mamtaz also.
Jahangir's wife Nurjahan's brother Abu-i-Hassan (Abu-I-Hassan) Asaf Khan Asaf Zahi (Asaf Khan Asaf Jahi). His daughter Arjumand Banu Begum. Abu Hassan's father was Itimadu-d-Daula Mirza Ghayath. On Friday, May 10, 1812, 20-year-old Arjumand Banu Begum married Princess Khurram. (Prinnce Khurram). He is later Emperor Shah Jahan. Mumtaz died on 26 June 1831, shortly after the birth of her fourteenth child, Gauhara. At the time of her death she was in Khandes, Burhanpur, In an expedition with the emperor against the rebel Khan Jahan Lodi of the Deccan.
Mumtaz was temporarily buried in a garden in Zainabad, Burhanpur. On 11 December 1831, Mumtaz's body was brought to Agra by order of the emperor. They were brought by Yuvraj Saja, Wazir Khan, and Satiun Nisha Khannam, sister of poet Mirza Talib.
In the meantime Shah Jahan took the Agra garden of Raja Jaysingh of Jaipur in exchange for the equivalent land. It was here on 17 January (1832) that Mumtaz's body was again buried in a domed structure now known as the Baoli. After the construction of the Taj Mahal, Mumtaz's body was laid to rest in the Taj Mahal. When Shah Jahan died on Monday,
February 17, the emperor's body was also buried in the Taj Mahal on the west side of Mumtaz.
There is some disagreement as to who made the original design of this world famous mausoleum. However, it is known from the written documents that Ustad Ahmed of Lahore is the original desginer. He is better known as Ustad Ahmed Lahori.
Lutfulla Mahandi, the second son of Ustad Ahmed, wrote in Mathnaoi (d. 1755-56, i.e. during the reign of Shah Jahan) that Ustad Ahmed was involved in the construction of various palaces during the reign of the emperor, as well as the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid.
Ataullah Rashidi, the eldest son of Ustad Ahmed, wrote Khulastu-i-Hisab (during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan). Writes that his father was the chief architect of Shah Jahan's Mimar-i-Kul.Nurullah, the third son of Ustad Ahmed, was entrusted with the task of carving inscriptions on the Jama Masjid.Lutfulla carved the tomb of his father Ustad Ahmed in Aurangabad, who was the architect of the Taj, Red Fort and Jama Masjid.
With all this information, Ustad Ahmed is considered to be the chief designer of the Taj Mahal. Makramat Khan and Mir Abdul Karim were in charge of the construction of the
mausoleum. The main dome was built by Ismail Khan of Turkey. Abdul Haq, the brother of Shah Jahan's minister Afzal Khan, better known as Amanat Khan of Siraj, was in charge of writing the Arabic script on the Taj Mahal.
Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1631 and was completed in 1648, with a mosque on the west side and a guest house on the east side. In 1653, the main entrance to thesouth was completed and the garden and other garden works.
The white marble used in the Taj Mahal comes from Makrana and Raiwala in Jaipur. The red sandstone comes from Fatehpur Sikri and its surroundings. And colored precious stones come from Persia.
At the direction of Shah Jahan, Mollah Abdul Hamid wrote the entire history of the Lahore Taj Mahal in the Badshahnama. From which it is known that the water level in the ground floor of the foundation of the Taj Mahal was quite high. The foundation is made of lime and stone in that water level. The high altar above the ground is made
of bricks and is covered with marble. Due to its proximity to the river, strong wood logs were often planted under this
foundation in accordance with the traditional practice of Mughal architecture, and now concrete pillars (piers) are pounded.
He does not have an accurate estimate of how much it cost to build the Taj Mahal. An account of Rs 50,000 is available, but it is estimated that the money was spent on the salaries of 20,000 workers and other minor expenses. It is estimated that the price of marble or precious stones is not included in this 50,000 rupees.
Let's go back to the history of the Taj Mahal.
The first reports indicate that the Taj Mahal was repaired by Captain Taylor in 1810 under Colonel Hyde. The outside has been cleaned and repaired. He has replaced some of the broken marble stones, and repaired the mosaics. But the problem is that he has used colored lime instead of colored stones to repair some of the damaged inlays in
the Taj Mahal, which are washed away in the next heavy rains.
About fifty years later, in 1864, Dr. Murray fixed some inlay flowers and replaced some marbles. In 1874, Alexander, the executive engineer of Agra, carried out repairs worth Rs. 80,926. The main work included replacing the fallen pinnacle of the main entrance, repairing the gilt work on the main dome and replacing it with Portland cement, fixing
some of the inlays, and replacing the broken marble. All of this was being repaired with good care, but it was no longer possible to see why such breakdowns were happening again and again, what should be done to prevent it.
In 1938, the Archaeological Survey of India entered the field. They suggest that the two-story roof must be repaired. Appropriate cement should be given to the joints. Broken stones need to be replaced or replaced. The cost was estimated at Rs 52,944.That cost was also approved. But the work did not begin. The then government thought
that this too would be a chore. Better a poor horse than no horse at all. The advisory committee was formed in 1941 according to the official rules. In 1942, five more experts were brought to the committee. The committee set a total of fifteen work schedules. We will not be able to read that huge list after so many years, so there is no need to write.
However, some very significant suggestions can be called.
- You have to write down all the details of all the repair work.
- The roof of the main building should be made waterproof. However, bitumen should not
be applied. - Every time after an earthquake at 104 points you have to see if it is sitting
somewhere. And we have to see if the minarets are tilted. - After removing some stones, it was seen that water was coming out from inside.
For this, you have to remove the stones in the possible places and see if the bottom
brick is damp. - Cement should be applied to the cracked bricks, using the force of gravity. This
means that a little bit of liquid cement has to be given so that it can go down due
to the median. And then you have to keep an eye on whether it cracked again or not. - All metal hooks in contact with the outside weather should be replaced with gunmetal hooks.
- The loose stone of the minaret should be replaced with liquefied lime spice. Afterwards, it
is necessary to make sure that no water enters inside with any spice mixed with lime. - The lime plaster on the inside of the dome has to be removed. Leave the plaster for a few years
to see if there are any cracks. If there is a crack, it should be repaired and liquefied lime
plaster should be applied.
Then as it is, all the recommendations of any committee are never followed. Not again. Only the dome and the drum-like part below was worked. However, even though it is not on the to-do list, the inlets have been re-installed in the drum-like part at the bottom of the dome. The lime plaster of the dome was removed up to ten feet from the drum part. Only the whole of the west (18 feet) was cleared.
All in all, until 1947, the Taj Mahal needed a lot of minor repairs. And they were expensive. However, the Taj Mahal is still in good health. There is nothing to worry about. In 1947, MS Bhatt, one of the country's leading archaeologists, assured us. All the above are the words and written by MS Bhatt.
My words were below.
I only saw the Taj Mahal once. In 2005. it was full moon night. I spent the whole nigh on the balcony of hotel the Taj Mahal. Because even then the security panic did not engulf us.The problems that we read about in the paper at the moment are basically the loss of the whiteness of the marble. At that time I also saw that many marbles are not
white during the day. Numerous small foundries in the city of Agra. Although I read on paper that they have stopped or are happening, in fact I know that by 2012 many small castings used to come to the whole of India from Agra.
Then were the oil refineries that were behind the installation of stubborn political decisions. the evil effect will have to suffer.
Victoria Marble in Kolkata was being cleaned some time ago. Not seen after work. However I was annoyed that I could not take pictures, yet i wish i could in future.
Repair to the Taj Mahal, by M.S.Vats.
Source-
Ancient India. Bulletin of Archaeological Survey of India, Number-1, January 1946
( it took a lot research and study to note down and write all the information's, please support me with an upvote and a comment. pictures are taken from google . Thank you )