The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.153

v4.c23.s4.153

Particulars of those who took part in the production of this incomparable masterpiece indicate that no effort was spared to obtain the services of specialists in every phase of the work. Several of these were indigenous craftsmen from Delhi, Lahore, Multān and similar art centres of the Mughul empire, while others were drawn from more distant sources, such as a calligraphist from Baghdād and another from Shīrāz, to ensure that all the inscriptions were correctly carved or inlaid; a “flower carver” from Bukhārā; an expert in dome construction, Isma‘īl Khān Rūmi, who by his name may have come from Constantinople; a pinnacle maker from Samarqand, a master-mason from Qandahār, and, lastly, an experienced garden planner. The chief supervisor who co-ordinated the entire work was one Ustād ‘Īsā, “the best designer of his time”, and, according to one account, originally an inhabitant of Shīrāz. It may be noted that while the structural portions seem to have been principally in the hands of Muhammadans, the decoration was mainly the work of Hindu craftsmen, the difficult task of preparing the *pietra dura* specially being entrusted to a group of the latter from Kanauj.