The Secret Of The TaJ Mahal - Part 6

Continued From: http://theforgottenempiresofindia.blogspot.ca/2016/02/the-secret-of-taj-mahal-part-5.html

We return to the Taj Mahal complex, armed with fresh set of information. As we wander through the complex, our eyes now start to notice details which were at first hidden. Apart from the main building, the complex also contains stables, cowsheds, guest houses, and a drum house. Why does a tomb require stables, cowshed and drum house? We can expect to see stables, cowshed and drum house in a temple or a palace but not in a tomb. When we enter through the Western Gate, we see many rooms on either side of the road making the Taj Complex more suitable to be a residential complex than a tomb. We also notice eleven kalash (pinnacles) above the South Gate. Could it be that the Taj was originally built as a Shiva temple with one kalash for each of the eleven Rudras? 

Most people assume that the Taj is an Islamic building because of its domed roof. The ancient kingdoms of India have sported domed roofs on many of their buildings. Similar type of domed roof can be found in many temples across India. The kings of the Vijayanagar kingdom had incorporated such roofs in their buildings around the city. Moreover, the Taj dome is carved in the shape of lotus petals. The lotus flower is the symbol of Hinduism and not of Islam. 

The central dome of the Taj sports a beautiful pinnacle. To the untrained eye, the pinnacle appears in the form of a crescent moon but, closer inspection makes it very clear that it is the sculpture of a Hindu kalash (water pot) topped with a coconut and mango leaves. The pinnacles on top of the Mosques sport a C- shaped crescent and do not look like the pinnacle of the Taj. 

The Taj mahal is also surrounded on four corners by what looks to be minarets. Why should a tomb have minarets? The purpose of a minaret is to call the faithful to prayer. Why aren’t any minaret located at the Mosque inside the Taj complex? Minarets usually rise from the shoulder of the mosque and are taller than the mosque. The so called minarets around the Taj are shorter than the Taj. They look more like watch towers part of a palace than minarets. 

 The octagonal structure of the Taj and the octagonal cupolas in the four towers around the Taj give it a Hindu aura. The number 8 is sacred for Hindus who worship the guardians of the eight direction whereas, 8 has no significance in Islam. Also, why does the mosque face East? The mosques are supposed to be oriented so that they face Holy Mecca. Were the builders unable to distinguish between East and West? 

The first thing we notice is a recess above the entrance. It is customary to place an idol of Lord Ganesha in the recess. We are further surprised to see a large well inside the building. The windows of the various rooms open into the well. It must have been very comfortable in the summer time because of the air cooled by the water. The well goes down seven storey down to reach the water table. It must have been convenient for the people living in the rooms on all the seven storey which open into the well to draw water from their rooms.

The decorations of flower pots on the walls are typical Rajput designs called Ghulab Dhani. Please see similar design in the attached photo of the Deeg Palace of Bharatpur , Rajasthan. Where do the many secret stairways which are walled up lead? What are in the secret rooms which have been blocked by a crudely built brick wall?

 Continued On:

The Secret Of The TaJ Mahal - Part 5

Continued From: http://theforgottenempiresofindia.blogspot.ca/2016/02/the-secret-of-taj-mahal-part-4.html

Photo Source: Wikipedia.org

Shahjahan’s rule is portrayed by historians as the “golden age” in India. The symbol of this golden age is the “Taj” before which we stand admiring its marvelous architecture. Even three hundred years ago, the cost to build such a monument must have been astronomical. In order to divert funds towards the construction of such monuments requires a good economy and a period of peace and quiet in the country. Was the age of Shahjahan really a glorious period in history?

The historians who witnessed Shahjahan’s rule, aver that he was a bigoted potentate.  The Padshanama gives references to the orders given by him to destroy Hindu temples in Varanasi. 75 Hindu Temples were demolished per the command of Shahajahan. He also had the Churches built by the Europeans in Agra and Lahore destroyed.   Every single year of his rule was spent in a major battle. Why would an emperor involved in military campaigns every year of his reign, spare funds for the construction of a mausoleum?

The period of his reign was also marked by the famines in the Deccan and Gujarat. According to the chronicles, bones from dead bodies was pounded with fluor and sold in the market. The number of dead was so high that the streets and highways were covered with corpses. As with any famine, the misery of the people was further augmented by plague and pestilence! This was also the period when the slave trade boomed in India. According to the Wikipedia, "Under Shah Jahan peasants were compelled to sell their women and  children to meet their revenue requirements...The peasants were carried off to various markets and fairs to be sold with their poor unhappy wives carrying their small children crying and lamenting. According to Qaznivi, Shah Jahan had decreed they should be sold to Muslim lords." (Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_India).  It is heartbreaking to even imagine the conditions of the peasants who on had to fight the famine or lose their family to the emperor to be sold in slave markets around the world. What kind of emperor would make money by selling his people that too during a famine instead of offering them monetary support?

The chronicles also reveal Shahjahan as a psychopath who derived perverse pleasure when he watched people die. The Akbarnama tells us that Akbar felt horrified when he learnt that his son Jahangir and grandson Shahjahan enjoyed to see people being flayed alive. Manucci narrates about an incident in which a kotwal was sentenced to death. The man was ordered to be bitten by a cobra. Shahjahan enquired how long the man had to live. The courtiers informed him that it would take an hour for the venom to kill the man. Shahjahan sat down on his throne and watched the man die. Another time, he had a slave beaten to death while he watched because the slave had given betel to the nobles. The pages of the chronicles are filled with the horrific deeds perpetrated by the emperor. His greed for hoarding money, also made him continue the practice of his ancestors by confiscating the property of his nobles after their death and by allowing the family of the nobles to suffer in poverty. According to the royal decree, the emperor was the heir of any wealthy person who died in the kingdom.

Continued On:http://theforgottenempiresofindia.blogspot.ca/2016/02/the-secret-of-taj-mahal-part-6.html

The Secret Of The TaJ Mahal - Part 4

Continued From: http://theforgottenempiresofindia.blogspot.ca/2016/02/the-secret-of-taj-mahal-part-3.html

Did Shahjahan really love his wife Arjumad Banu Begum? Like other Mughal Emperor, Shahjahan had many wives and concubines. His obsession with women make it hard to believe that he loved Arjumad Banu Begum exclusively. Our investigative study of the travelogues of Europeans who visited Agra and especially the notes provided by Bernier who stayed in the palace as the Physician shock us! The pages are filled with scandals; they go even as far as to hint at the incest committed by Shahjahan with his daughter Jahanara Begum!  Bernier narrates two anecdotes in his book to reveal the envious nature of Shahjahan when he learnt that his daughter was seeing someone else. Jahan reacted not like a concerned father but more as a jealous beau.

Jahanara like other women of the Mughal Harem was cooped up in the seraglio. She regularly sneaked in a young man into her quarters. Her tryst with the young man couldn’t be hidden from the other women or the eunuchs who guarded the harem. The news about the young man reached Shahjahan’s ears. With the intention of catching the young man in Jahanara’s room, Shahjahan entered her rooms at an unexpected hour. The young man having no place to conceal himself, snuck into a large bath tub. The emperor found the culprit in the tub, ordered the tub to be heated till the young man perished inside it right in front of Jahanara’s eyes.

The princess moved on with her life and after a period, found another attachment. She fell in love with a Stewart called Nazer Khan who was a Persian by birth. Nazer Khan was a nobleman. Jahanara’s uncle proposed that a match be arranged between her and Nazer Khan. Shahjahan gladdened everyone present at court by offering betel to Nazer Khan to indicate that he had accepted the match but, the unsuspecting youth perished from eating the poisoned betel offered by Shahjahan! The emperor’s excuse for not finding a suitable husband for his daughter, 'a gardener has every right to taste the fruit he has planted’!

Shahjahan wreaked vengeance on the Portuguese for their failure to support him against his father, the Emperor Jahangir. Shahjahan destroyed the Portuguese settlement at Hugli. He captured many of the residents as slaves. The fairest of the captured women were all sent to his harem. Manucci highlights the immoral character of Shahjahan in his book. Manucci states that, ‘for, not contenting himself with the women that he had in his palaces, he forfeited the respect of the nobles at his court by intrigues with their wives’. Manucci mentions Shahjahan’s affair with the wives of Jafar Khan and Khalil Khan. Manucci further says that, ‘Shahjahan did not spare the wife of his brother-in-law, Xaahisn Can (Shaistah Khan), though it was by a trick, for she would not consent.’ The relationship of Shahjahan with the wives of his nobles was well known in Agra that the people would refer to these women as the breakfast or lunch of Shahjahan. Manucci also narrates about a mirrored room constructed by Shahjahan so that he may obscenely observe the women who served him. The chronicles also mention about the eight day fair held by Shahjahan every year on the palace grounds to which only women were admitted. The object of these fairs was for the king to select the women who captured his fancy for the royal harem.

The character of Shahjahan revealed by his own biography the Padshanama and from the chronicles of European traveler do not show him as a sensitive husband but, more as a womanizing despot. 

Continued On: http://theforgottenempiresofindia.blogspot.ca/2016/02/the-secret-of-taj-mahal-part-5.html