THE MOGHUL EMPIRE
The constructor of Taj
Mahal, Chah Jahan, was the fifth moghul emperor.
The moghul empire has
it’s beginnings in the times of the great moghul emperor Genghis Khan who, in
13th century, conquered Asia and half of Europe until Hungary, spreading terror
and destruction. The first moghul emperor, Babar, descended from Genghis Khan
by his mother side. But from his father side he descended Timur Lang, who also
spreaded terror on Asia and conquered Delhi in 1398. Later, in 16th century,
Babar becomes Padisha (or Emperor), in the sequence of a battle where he
defeated the afghan sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, in 1526, so beginning the
Moghul Empire, which dominated until 1858. The word Moghul is the hindu version
of Mongol.
The first three moghul
emperors were :
Zahir-al-din Babar
(1483-1530)
Muhammad Humayun
(1508-1556)
Jalal-ud-din
Muhammad Akbar (1542-1605).
Babar conquered great part
of the North of India.
Babar’s son, Humayun,
lost the throne during 15 years before reconquering it with the help of
Persia’s Shah.
Akbar, son of Humayun,
considered a great emperor, the greatest moghul emperor, changed the capital
from Delhi to Agra (originally Akbarabad), where he constructed the Fort of Agra,
near the River Jamuna.
Later he constructed another capital in Fatehpur-Sikri, about 30 kilometres from Agra, intended to become a symbol of the best capital having been integrated in the buildings the hindu characteristic elements : a crossbar laid over pillars, with transepts carved. Remember that Akbar was of moslem origin and that the elements that so well characterize the moslem constructions are the arcs and cupolas. His intention would be to integrate himself in hindu atmosphere.
Akbar was considered a tolerant
ruler with all religions, unlike their
descendants.
He was a multifaced
man, both warrior and administrator, having interests in diversified matters.
Curiously, he got a great library, despite he was unread, but he liked they
read for him.
He was contemporaneous
of Queen Elizabeth I of England and consolidated the moghul dinasty in an
enormous region in all North of India and till Afghanistan.
They say that Akbar had
a great passion by a portuguese woman and that it was by their interception
that was resolved a problem with Portugal about its possessions in Daman and
Baçaim, against who Akbar sent his troops, received by Portuguese cannons in
ships anchored there. What is sure is that Akbar suggested a treaty of peace in
1572.
The fourth moghul
emperor, son of Akbar, was Jahangir (1569-1627). This sovereign received
the first embassador of England and was a great lover of the arts, painting in
particular.
The reign of Shah
Jahan (1592-1666), son of Jahangir, was of great richness, luxury and opulence. There has been constructed many palaces, in
Red Fort in Agra and in Delhi. In the court of the Emperor reigned comfort and
opulence. In the religious aspect, Jahan, Moslem, distinguished from tolerant
Akbar, ordering the destruction of enormous quantity of hindu temples. In the
military field, he enlarged the empire by conquest of territories in the
south. This attempt of enlarging the
empire in the south was prosecuted by his successor.
Among all his riches,
perhaps the most precious has been his beloved wife Arjuman Banu. Arjuman was
promised to him in marriage when he was 15 years old and got married in May
1612 when she was 19. During all their common life a strong union made them
inseparable. He entitled her Mumtaz Mahal, the Prefered (or Ornament) of the
Palace and she gave him 14 children. It was during the labour to her last
daughter that Mumtaz died, aged 39 years, in June 1631. A great grief seized
Chah and they say the number of his white hairs rapidly increased.
The Taj Mahal
The emperor decided the
construction of a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz and acquired from Rajah
Jey Singh a land near river Jamuna, for its construction. The land stays near Agra,
in actual Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The very emperor undertake the
supervision of all details of the achievement. The project selected was from
persian Ustad Ahmad. There are talks too of french architect Agostinho, from
Bordeaux. The cupola is from turkish architect Ismail Khan and was decorated by
Jerónimo Verroneo from Venice. The construction began in 1631 and prolonged for
22 years, until 1653. There worked in the achievement 20 000 workers.
The building of the
mausoleum, in pinked white marble, dazzle by their forms and tonalities. A special
aspect is its cupola in form of bulb. This kind of cupola only existed in wood on
top of the great central mosque in Damascus. In the time of Timur Lang, the mosque burned completely in January
1401 when the Tartars conquered Damascus. Timur Lang, that was a great
protector of arts and architecture, ordered the copy of the cupola in Samarkand,
in actual Uzbekistan, for his tomb (the mausoleum of Timur Lang), the Gur-e-Mir.
The style of the cupola spreaded since then.
Beyond the mausoleum
itself, there exist in the local two other buildings similar to one another
(one of them is a mosque) and gardens with water fountains, which reflects the Taj
Mahal. The whole creates an imponent serenity ambience of extreme beauty, where
doesn’t exist superfluous elements, a paradise on earth. With this masterpiece,
one of the wonders of the world and the greatest work of art of the moghuls,
Chah has made persist, as he wished, the memory of his beloved Mumtaz.
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