When construction of Taj Mahal was completed?

In the previous article, it has been mentioned that the name of the Queen, in whose memory the Taj Mahal is being said to have been erected, was Arjumand Banu. She was married to Shahjahan in 1612 and died at Burhanpur in 1631 (or 1630) A.D. and within 18 years of her married life she gave birth to 14 children. In fact, she died while she was delivering her 14th child. According to Badshahnama, she was buried temporarily at Burhanpur and in the same year her body was brought from Burhanpur to Agra. So it was not possible for Shah Jahan to begin the so called construction of the Taj Mahal before 1631. According to the French traveler Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the said construction continued for 22 years and hence the construction has been presumably completed not before 1653 AD.

Regarding this account of Tavernier, Dr V S Godbole says, "These figures come from a book Travels in India by J B Tavernier, a French jewel merchant. He was a great adventurer who made six voyages to India in the days of Shivaji (1638 to 1668). Tavernier says," I witnessed the commencement and completion of this monument (Taj Mahal) on which 20,000 men worked incessantly for 22 years." [1]

Dr Godbole also says, "In 1889 Dr Ball translated the original French book (Travels in India by J B Tavernier) into English, corrected some mistakes in earlier translation and provided extensive footnotes. He also studied Tavernier's movements thoroughly and provided details of his six voyages. From this it is clear that Tavernier came to Agra only twice - in the winter of 1640-41 and in 1665." [1] So, it was not possible for Tavernier to see either the beginning, or the finishing of the construction of Taj Mahal. It therefore appears that his claim of seeing the beginning and end of the construction of Taj Mahal, is baseless and untrue.

History tells us that, in 1658, Aurangzeb had imprisoned his father Shahjahan in the Fort of Agra and occupied the throne. So, when Tavernier visited Agra for the second time, Aurangzeb was the emperor. While commenting on this aspect, Dr Godbole says, "No historian claims that Aurangzeb completed Taj Mahal. So, Tavernier could not have seen the completion of Taj Mahal either." [1] This also makes one doubtful about other narrations of Tavernier that says that, Shahjahan engaged 20,000 workers who laboured for 22 years to erect the edifice which is now known as Taj Mahal.

Last update : 12-09-2009 22:33

Keywords : Distortion of Indian History for Muslim Appeasement: Part 6b, Radhasya Brahamcahri

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