The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.151

v4.c23.s4.151

All such forms of architectural expression, however, and even those possessing the formal elegance of the royal palaces, take second place when compared with that masterpiece of Mughul architecture, the Tāj Mahall. During the first three years of his reign, Shāh Jahān had already provided in the fort at Āgra a palace for the accommodation of his consort, described in the Shāh-Jahān Nāma as "the Paradise-like buildings of Her exalted chaste Majesty, the Queen of the world, the Begam Sāhiba", and identified as the Khāss Mahall, the most sumptuous of all edifices up to that time. And as during life no building was considered too splendid, so on her death it was fitting that her remains should be enshrined within a monument of matchless beauty. Architects were therefore summoned to prepare designs for a mausoleum which to be worthy of her memory should surpass all others in artistic dignity and stateliness. Of the manner in which the design was obtained and who was responsible for the noble building which eventually matured, there are no direct records. What evidence there is is contradictory. On the one hand, there is the contemporary statement of Father Manrique, who definitely affirms that models were prepared and submitted to the emperor by a certain Geronimo Verroneo, a Venetian, who was residing in the Mughul capital at the time.¹ On the other hand, indigenous documents have been preserved containing a detailed account of those employed on the building, all of whom were Asiatics, with no indication of any European intervention. And as an answer to the Jesuit father’s contention there is the standing testimony of the Tāj Mahall itself, which shows in all its aspects that it was the natural evolution of the style, true to tradition and entirely unaffected by occidental influence. The truth seems to be that Verroneo was invited, as were others, to produce designs, but that prepared by the Mughul master-builders was the one eventually selected.