Saturday, September 23, 2006

Taj Mahal - Which Culture Created It?

I found this fascinating alternate explanation of the Taj Mahal's origins via Dissecting Leftism
If you have ever visited the Taj Mahal then your guide probably told you that it was designed by Ustad Isa of Iran, and built by the Moghul Emperor, Shah Jahan, in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Indian children are taught that it was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world.

This story has been challenged by Professor P.N. Oak, author of Taj Mahal: The True Story, who believes that the whole world has been duped. He claims that the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya), worshipped by the Rajputs of Agra city.

In the course of his research, Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace had been usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. Shah Jahan then remodelled the palace into his wife's memorial. In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai Singh for Mumtaz's burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur is said to retain in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for the surrender of the Taj building.

The use of captured temples and mansions as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers. For example, Hamayun, Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions.

Oak's inquiries begin with the name Taj Mahal. He says this term does not occur in any Moghul court papers or chronicles, even after Shah Jahan's time. The term 'Mahal' has never been used for a building in any of the Muslim countries, from Afghanistan to Algeria.
It does seem unlikely that a follower of Islam would use traditional Hindu symbols in his structure. However, I can't claim to be an expert.

Expect to see more about this over the next few years.

Other "Arab" innovations that have been cited as examples of genius are:
  • The Pythagorean theorem - Pythagoras was Greek, not Arabic
  • So-called "Arabic" numerals are, in fact, Indian in origin
  • Algebra - origin is in dispute. Indian claims seem to have some merit
  • Chess - historians agree that it's an Indian game
  • Medicine, astronomy, philosophy - all of these were developed by the Assyrians (Chaldeans and Babylonians), before those people were conquered by the Arabs in the Islamic conquest of the 600's. They were largely Christian peoples before they were forcibly converted.

It's not unusual for cultures to be assimilated when conquered. I think it's important, however, to keep memory of the heritage of the conquered peoples alive, rather than take credit for all they accomplished.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Taj Mahal A Temple? Lies Exposed!!!!



Quite a few years back, I came across a absurd theory that says that Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple .

I dismissed it as just wacky and lunatic as it didn’t have any sound historical basis and the fact that author of that theory is generally regarded by eminent historians as a crackpot, but I realize much to my amazement it seems to have got some kind of following now that it has found virtual legs thanks to the net. People actually believe it!! .



The "theory" was propagated by a so called historian (you will understand why I referred to him as "so called" once you are through with this mail ) named Purushottam Nagesh Oak or P N Oak as he is known . Oak is one of those saffron brigade “historians”,

who tirelessly tried to recast the history and prove that everything in whole world is made by Hindu or Aryan civilization. This is on same lines as Nazi propaganda of Aryans as a “Master Race”. In his other books he tried to prove that the war of Mahabharata involved the whole world, Ka'bah in Makkah was "originally a Shiva temple", the Vatican, Pyramids , Qutb Minar basically every monument of importance that has "non - hindu" origin is a shiva temple or built by hindus . He goes on to say that the name Baghdad is corrupted form of "Bhagwat Nagar", London and Lancashire had hindu origins, South American Mayan civilization is part of Hindu civilization. If you have even flunked history in school you will know that these claims are idiotic and lie.



Oak initially claimed that Taj was a Rajput palace this is was way back in late 70s 80s if I could remember correctly, but now conveniently he is asserting that its a Shiva temple .In his book on “Taj Mahal : the true story “, He claims that the only contemporary evidence for the Taj being built by Shah Jahan lies in some obscure historian Tavernier's book. This is a willful deception. The official chronicles of Shah Jahan's reign, four of them, all mention the building of the Taj after the death of Mumtaz Mahal. Abdul Hamid Lahori, the official court historian, minutely describes the building of the monument from the foundations up. Subsequent Persian histories list the names of artisans employed for the task. It is true that LAND was taken from Jai Singh, but he was compensated for the land with four mansions. The love between Shah Jahan and Mumtaz is also clearly described in the Shahjahannama: about how some of Shah Jahan's hair turned white after her death; how he did not appear in public for a week; how he visited her first grave in Burhanpur and read the opening chapter of the Quran; how he made it a point to visit the Taj every year on her death anniversary.



Historian Akhilesh Mithal, an expert in Indian historical monuments, said there was no truth to Oak’s claims that a temple preceded the Taj.

"There's clear evidence the land to build the Taj was purchased from the Maharajah of Jaipur," Mr. Mithal said. "I've seen a map which clearly shows there was only a garden on the land where the Taj stands. There was no temple."



The arguments made by Oak are on the lines that



-if you “squint” in certain way , the flowers on taj walls would reveal letter “om “ .



if I squint certain way with a definite mindset and agenda I could find the holy cross , the moon or Madonna dancing in everything !



He makes similar claims on certain things in taj’s walls , doors, basement etc , arrogantly assuming that these would have escaped the eyes of countless previous archeologists and historians who have studied Taj for centuries and ignorantly forgetting that Taj Mahal is the “most viewed monument “ in human history ! . So its absolutely baseless to assume that these things couldn’t have been discovered earlier. Four centuries is a very long time.



There are some equally shady claims like how certain elements of "hindu" architecture could appear in a "islamic" building .

this again speaks of oak's ignorance(or his deception) ,he thinks that mughals having spend almost 200+ years would remain protected

from any hindu influence . Shahjahan's mother and grandmother were hindus !. This brand of architecture

comes under "indo-islamic" or "hindu-islamic" class of architecture, a fusion of well "hindu" and "islamic" architectures.

not only this mughal era music or urdu language was born out of these kind of fusions .





Another argument is with origin of the name Taj Mahal , I quote from PN Oak’s book here . He Says

“The unusual explanation of the term Tajmahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal, who is buried in it, is illogical in at least two respects viz., firstly her name was never Mumtaj Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani and secondly one cannot omit the first three letters "Mum" from a woman's name to derive the remainder as the name of the building..Since the lady's name was Mumtaz (ending with 'Z') the name of the building derived from her should have been Taz Mahal, if at all, and not Taj (spelled with a ‘J’) ” The real origin of the name Oak says is “Tejo mahalya” and that what most historians believed is not true .



Truth is “Mumtaz Mahal” was a title Shahjahan conferred on his Queen . This means “Exalted of the Palaces “. Anyone familiar with Mughal history would know that they adopted flattering titles and preferred to be called by those titles. Royal Ego ! . In fact Shahjahan itself is a title meaning “King of worlds”, his original name was Khurram . The fact is Taj mahal was referred initially as Roza –E- Mumtaz Mahal (Tomb of Mumtaz Mahal ).I think anyone familiar with various hindi or urdu dialects and how some people in certain parts of india ,pronounce things like zameen as jameen , saaz as saaj , ,zindagi as jindagi , Gazebo as Gajebo, can see the reason how “Taz” could easily become “Taj” . Infact The yesteryear bollywood heroine “Mumtaz “ is called “Mumtaj “ by some . I am sure even you heard of this , Oak is unaware or chose to ignore simple facts .He doesn’t clearly explains his own claim how the name “tejo mahalya” became “Taj mahal” . How could “Tej” become “Taj” is not explained .



Moreover, if the Taj is believed to be a burial place, how can the term Mahal, i.e., mansion apply to it?"



Duh! Because of the name "mumtaz mahal" or title if u prefer.nobody called it a "palace" it is a masouleum .

it was called "Roza-E-MumTaz Mahal" (Tomb of Mumtaz mahal) in mughal accounts.







-- Some test of Taj mahal’s doors and wall was conducted by someone named “Marvin Miller” of Pratt institute that supposedly proved that it was actually 600 years older . So it couldn’t have been built by ShahJahan .



I have tried to track down the Marvin Miller (sometimes referred to as Marvin Mills) who is supposed to have carbon dated a door from the Taj . I have verified that no Marvin Miller or Marvin Mills is, or ever has been, a member of the faculty of the Pratt Institute. No mention of which lab those tests were conducted or where the reports of these tests are is there in Oak’s book. It’s fair to conclude that this whole test thing is bogus and never happened; if it was PN Oak should make this test results or reports available for public viewing and study by other experts.



The Taj uses an inlay technique called pieta durra, which only came to India with Florentine visitors in the late sixteenth century, so the question of the Taj being built earlier does not arise. Oak cannot decide if the Taj is supposed to be a Rajput Palace, as he first argued, or a Shiva temple, as he now claims. It looks neither like a Hindu temple, nor a Rajput palace, nor a temple palace. No Indian temples or palaces ever had domes or minarets, or symmetrical gardens.



P.N Oak filed a petition with the Supreme Court on July 14 2000, to force a declaration that a Hindu king built Taj Mahal, as has claimed. The court dismissed and reprimanded him with the comments that “…only someone with bees in his bonnets could file such a petition”.

Anonymous said...

It is said that Histroy is written by those who won wars & who hold power
Every body knows Turkish Arab & Mongal barbarians invaded our country, killed our people, women & children, converted them to their Pseudo faith against their will, plundered our riches, looted our vedic heritage, destroyed our temples & converted them into mosques
Along with Tejo Mahalaya we have to probe other buildings like Red Fort, jama masjid, qutabminar, Ajmer mosque,once a hindu temple..

More than Government, Our Media as to probe this things seriously & have to spread this controversy, Let the Whole world Know. I am sure Oneday all you rogue Mos are going to get caught.

Everyone For Photographic evidence go to site www.stephen-knapp.com see the article - was Taj a Vedic temple

Anonymous said...

My Friend Pinto(Muslim Bros) Listen Carefully....

Taj Mahal (From Sanskrit: Tejo Mahalay, "The Great Abode of Tej"), Teja (Jats'1 name of Shiva is Tejaji) + Mahalay (mansion) is a Temple Palace of Lord Shiva located in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal is the finest example of Hindu architecture.
tajmahal.gif
The Taj Mahal (Tejo Mahalay)

Known as one of the Seven Wonders of the world, this magnificent seven storied temple mansion comprises of majestic garden, interior water well, 400 to 500 rooms, 22 apartments, archaded verendahs, terraces, multi stored towers, underground passage, guest rooms, stables, music house, drum chamber, cowsheds, and guard rooms — that necessarily form part of a palace. On the pinnacle of the dome is the Trishul (the trident), red lotus at apex of the entrance, typical Vedic style corridors and the sacred, esoteric letter "AUM" carved on the exterior of the wall of the sanctum sanctorum now occupied by the cenotaphs were of Hindu architecture, built by Hindu craftsmen, with Hindu design. Its marblework is similar to the Amber palace at Jaipur built some six hundred years earlier by Raja Man Singh I in 1592 and completed by Sawai Jai Singh I.

During the Mongul rule, this Shiva temple palace had been usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. Shah Jahan then remodeled the palace into his wife's memorial. In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama (on page 403, Vol. 1), Shah Jahan states that a grand mansion of unique splendor, capped with a dome, (imaarat-e-alishan wagumbaze) in Agra was taken from the Jaipur Maharaja Jaisingh for Mumtaz's burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur is said to retain in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for the surrender of the Taj building.
Historical Account

The Agra city, in which the Taj Mahal is located, is an ancient center of Shiva worship. Its orthodox residents have through ages continued the tradition of worshiping at five Shiva shrines before taking the last meal every night especially during the month of Shravan.

Look
Historical Account
The seizure from the Maharaja of Jaipur
Disfiguring and Tampering by Shah Jahan
Hindu Architecture
The Tejo Mahalaya inscription
European Visitor's and pre-Shahjahan's Accounts
Fabrication of History
Hidden, locked and sealed chambers
Inconsistencies as outlined by P.N.Oak
The name Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal is not a Tomb
Hindu Significance
Patches
Taj Mahal: The True Story
Pictures
The True Architectural Origin of Taj Mahal
Taj builders used Harappan measurement units

To be Continued............

Anonymous said...

Pillars: The four marble pillars at the plinth corners are of the Hindu style. They are used as lamp towers during night and watch towers during the day. Such towers serve to demarcate the holy precincts. Hindu wedding altars and the altar set up for God Satyanarayan worship have pillars raised at the four corners. The Taj Mahal has towers, but no minarets. Hindu towers always start from the floor level, but moghul minarets rise from the shoulder of buildings.

Octagonal shape: The octagonal shape of the Taj Mahal has a special Hindu significance because Hindus alone have special names for the eight directions, and celestial guards assigned to them. The ground plan consists of an octagonal central domed chamber with an inverted lotus crown, surrounded by four small domed chambers. This is the traditional form of Hindu architecture found in the Shilpa shastra (science of architecture). The pinnacle points to the heaven while the foundation signifies to the nether world. Hindu forts, cities, palaces and temples generally have an octagonal layout or some octagonal features so that together with the pinnacle and the foundation they cover all the ten directions in which the king or God holds sway, according to Hindu belief.

Trident pinncle: The Tajmahal has a trident pinncle over the dome. A full scale of the trident pinnacle is inlaid in the red stone courtyard to the east of the Taj. The central shaft of the trident depicts a "Kalash" (sacred pot) holding two bent mango leaves and a coconut. This is a sacred Hindu motif. Identical pinnacles have been seen over Hindu and Buddhist temples in the Himalayan region. Tridents are also depicted against a red lotus background at the apex of the stately marble arched entrances on all four sides of the Taj. People fondly but mistakenly believed all these centuries that the Taj pinnacle depicts a Islamic crescent and star was a lighting conductor installed by the British rulers in India. Contrarily, the pinnacle is a marvel of Hindu metallurgy since the pinnacle made of non-rusting alloy, is also perhaps a lightning deflector. That the pinnacle of the replica is drawn in the eastern courtyard is significant because the east is of special importance to the Hindus, as the direction in which the sun rises. The pinnacle on the dome has the word ‘Allah’ on it after capture. The pinnacle figure on the ground does not have the word Allah.

Gardens: Description of the gardens around the Taj of Shah Jahan's time mention Ketaki, Jai, Jui, Champa, Maulashree, Harshringar and Bel. All these are plants whose flowers or leaves are used in the worship of Hindu deities. Bel leaves are exclusively used in Lord Shiva's worship. A graveyard is planted only with shady trees because the idea of using fruit and flower from plants in a cemetary is abhorrent to human conscience. The presence of Bel and other flower plants in the Taj garden is proof of its having been a Shiva temple before seizure by Shah Jahan.

Anonymous said...

Yamuna river: Hindu temples are often built on river banks and sea beaches. The Taj is one such built on the bank of the Yamuna river — an ideal location for a Shiva temple. When the Taj Mahal was built, it is claimed that the river Yamuna was half a mile away from the structure, but that the river was diverted to flow alongside the Taj Mahal. The truth of the matter is that the moghul regime lacked any civil engineering skill. Hindu palaces, however, always used to be built alongside the river. Behind the Taj Mahal is a well built and paved river bank (known as a Ghat), used by Hindu royalty for the purpose of bathing. The gateways opening to the rear were later closed.

Resemblance of a Palace: There is an underground passage leading from the Taj Mahal to the Agra Fort, indicating its origin as a palace. And there are defensive hillocks (to prevent catapults being launched) as well as a moat to the rear.

Ganesa Torana: On the main gateway, the entire border at waist-height is decorated with what is called the "Ganesa Torana" (the elephant trunk and the crown can be clearly identified). In the southern entrance to the outer precincts of the Taj Complex (i.e., the Taj Gunj gate facing the main gateway), above the door arch, there is a small arched recess. It is customary in Hindu Forts (for example, the Nagardhan Fort, Nagpur) to place an idol of Lord Ganesa in a similar recess above the main entrance. Could it be that the recess above the Taj entrance also contained a similar idol, which was subsequently removed by the iconoclastic invaders?
The Tejo Mahalaya inscription

Sanskrit inscription (known as the Bateshwar inscription) it is currently preserved in the Lucknow museum. It refers to the raising of a "Crystal white Shiva temple so alluring that Lord Shiva once enshrined in it decided never to return to Mount Kailas—his usual abode". This inscription was found within a radius of about 36 miles from the Taj Mahal. The inscription is dated 1155 A.D. and was removed from the Taj Mahal garden at Shah Jahan's orders. Historians and Archaeologists have blundered in terming the inscription the "Bateshwar inscription" when the record doesn't say that it was found by Bateshwar. It ought, in fact, to be called "The Tejo Mahalaya inscription" because it was originally installed in the Taj garden before it was uprooted and cast away at Shah Jahan's command. From this it is clear that the Taj Mahal was built at least 500 years before Shah Jahan.
European Visitor's and pre-Shahjahan's Accounts

Vincent Smith records in his book titled "Akbar the Great Moghul" that "Babur's turbulent life came to an end in his garden palace in Agra in 1630". That palace was none other than the Taj Mahal. Babur's daughter Gulbadan Begum in her chronicle titled ‘Humayun Nama’ refers to the Taj as the Mystic House. Babur himself refers to the Taj in his memoirs as the palace captured by Ibrahim Lodi containing a central octagonal chamber and having pillars on the four sides. All these historical references allude to the Taj 100 years before Shahjahan.



To be continued......

Anonymous said...

Probably there is none who has not been duped at least once in a life time. But can the whole world be duped? This may seem impossible. But in the matter of Indian history the world has been duped in many respects for hundreds of years and still continues to be duped.

During the last few centuries the residents of Agra had to be content with worshiping at only four prominent Shiva temples viz., Balkeshwar, Prithvinath, Manakameshwar and Rajarajeshwar. They had lost track of the fifth Shiva deity which their forefathers worshiped. Apparently the fifth was Agreshwar Mahadev Nagnatheshwar i.e., The Lord Great God of Agra, The Deity of the King of Cobras, consecrated in the Tejo Mahalay (Taj Mahal).

The famous Hindu treatise on architecture titled Vishwakarma Vastushastra mentions the 'Tej-Linga' amongst the Shivalingas i.e., the stone emblems of Lord Shiva, the Hindu deity. Such a Tej Linga was consecrated in the Taj Mahal, hence the term Taj Mahal alias Tejo Mahalay. The other name of the emblem was Agreswar Mahadev and it is important to note that from the word Agreswar, the name of the city of Agra has been derived.

A locality in, nearly 4 km away from Taj Mahal, is called Bateswar and in 1900 A.D., General Cuningham, the then Director of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), conducted an excavation at Bateswar and discovered an edict, now known as the Munj Bateswar Edict and kept at the Lucknow Museum. The epigraph contains 34 verses written in Sanskrit, out of which 25th, 26th and 34th verses are important in the present context. An English translation of the above verses reads:

“He built a marble temple which is the abode of Lord Vishnu and the King bows down to touch His feet” (25).

“The King has built another marble temple which has been dedicated to the Lord Who has the moon as His ornament on His forehead” (26).

“Today, the 5th day of the bright half in the month of Ashwin, the Sunday, in the year 1212 of the Vikram Samvat, the edict is being laid” (34).

Mr. D. J. Kale, a well known archaeologist, has mentioned the said Munj Bateswar Edict in his celebrated work Epigraphica India. On page 124 of the said book, Mr. Kale writes,

“The sais Munj Bateswar Edict was laid by King Paramardidev of the Chandratreya dynasty on Sukla Panchami in the month of Ashwin, in the year 1212 Vikram Samvat (or A.D. 1156). … King Paramardidev built two magnificent temples with white marble, one for Lords Vishnu and the other for Lord Shiva and they were desecrated later on by the Muslim invaders. Perhaps a farsighted man took the edict to a safer place at Bateswar abd buries it beneath the ground”.

To be continued......

Anonymous said...

Perhaps, after the said desecration, the temples were no longer used as religious places and due to this reason Abdul Hamid Lahori mentioned them as palaces, not as temples.

According to the renowned historian Mr. R. C. Majumdar, the other name of the Chandratreya or Chandel King Paramardidev was Paramal and their kingdsom was known as Bundelkhand, a.k.a. Jejakabhukti2.

Today, there are two marble palaces in Agra, one is the Mausoleum of Idmat-ud-Daula, the father of Noorjahan and the other is Taj Mahal, and it is evident from the Munj Bateswar edict that, once upon a time, one of them was the temple of Lord Vishnu and the other was a temple of Lord Shiva. Experts believe that it is the temple of Vishnu that has been made the mausoleum of Idmat-ud-Daula, and the temple of Shiva has been converted into the mausoleum of the queen Arjumand Banu. A few evidences in favour of this conclusion are given below.
The seizure from the Maharaja of Jaipur

The Muslims started their rule over India in 712 A.D. with the invasion of Mohammed Qasem. During their rule they looted and destroyed hundreds of thousands of Hindu temples. Aurangzeb himself destroyed 10,000 Hindu temples during his reign! Some of the larger temples were converted into mosques or other Islamic structures. Ram Janmbhoomi (at Ayodhya) and Mathura Krishna Temple (at Mathura) are just two examples. The most evident of such structures is Taj Mahal.
The Badshahnama -- Documentary evidence from Mogul records showing clearly how the Taj was acquired from Raja Mansingh
The Badshahnama — Documentary evidence from Mogul records showing clearly how the Taj was acquired from Raja Mansingh
Aurangzeb's Letter: Aurangzeb writing to his father Shahjahan within years of completion as to extensive repairs required to the Taj.
Aurangzeb's Letter: Aurangzeb writing to his father Shahjahan within years of completion as to extensive repairs required to the Taj.

An English translation of the contents from line 21 of page 402 to line 41 on page 403 of Badshahnama is given below.
“Friday, 15th Jamadiulawal, the sacred dead body of the traveller to the kingdom of holiness Hazrat Mumtazul Zamani, who was temporarily buried, was brought, accompanied by Prince Mohammad Shah, Suja bahadur, Wazir Khan and Satiunnesa Khanam, who knew the pemperament of the deceased intimately and was well versed in view of that Queen of the Queens used to hold, was brought to the capital Akbarabad (Agra) and an order was issued that very day coins be distributed among the beggers and fakirs. The site covered with a majestic garden, to ther south of the great city (of Agra) and amidst which the building known as the palace of Raja Man Singh, at present owned by Raja Jai asingh, grandson of Man Singh, was selected for the burial of the Queen, whose abode is in heaven. Although Raja Jai Singh valued it greatly as his ancestral heritage and property, yet he agreed to part with it gratis for Emperor Shahjahan, still out of sheer scrupulousness and religious sanctity, he (Jai Singh) was granted Sharifabad in exchange of that grand palace (Ali Manzil). After the arrival of the deadbody in that great city (of Agra), next year that illustrious body of the Queen was laid to rest and the officials of the capital, according to royal order, hid the body of that pious lady from the eyes of the world and the palace so majestic (imarat-e-alishan) and capped with a dome (wa gumbaje) was turned into a sky-high lofty mausoleum”.

To be continued......

Anonymous said...

Aurangzeb's letter to his father, emperor Shah Jahan, is recorded in at least three chronicles titled Aadaab-e-Alamgiri, Yadgarnama, and the Muruqqa-i-Akbarabadi (edited by Said Ahmed, Agra, 1931, page 43, footnote 2). In that letter Aurangzeb records in 1652 A.D itself that the several buildings in the fancied burial place of Mumtaz were seven storeyed and were so old that they were all leaking, while the dome had developed a crack on the northern side. Aurangzeb, therefore, ordered immediate repairs to the buildings at his own expense while recommending to the emperor that more elaborate repairs be carried out later. This is the proof that during Shah Jahan's reign itself that the Taj complex was so old as to need immediate repairs.
Shah Jahan then remodeled the palace into his wife's memorial. The use of captured temples and mansions as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers. For example, Hamayun, Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions. Many rooms in the Taj Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan's time, and are still inaccessible to the public.
The Rajasthan State archives at Bikaner preserve three other firmans addressed by Shah Jahan to the Jaipur's ruler Jaising ordering the latter to supply marble (for Mumtaz's grave and koranic grafts) from his Makranna quarris, and stone cutters. Jaisingh was apparently so enraged at the blatant seizure of the Tajmahal that he refused to oblige Shah Jahan by providing marble for grafting koranic engravings and fake centotaphs for further desecration of the Tajmahal. Jaising looked at Shah Jahan's demand for marble and stone cutters, as an insult added to injury. Therefore, he refused to send any marble and instead detained the stone cutters in his protective custody.
Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra recorded in 1632 (within only a year of Mumtaz's death) that ‘the places of note in and around Agra, included Taj-e-Mahal’s tomb, gardens and bazaars'.He, therefore, confirms that that the Tajmahal had been a noteworthy building even before Shahjahan.
De Laet, a Dutch official has listed Mansingh's palace about a mile from Agra fort, as an outstanding building of pre-shahjahan's time. Shahjahan's court chronicle, the Badshahnama records, Mumtaz's burial in the same Mansingh's palace.

Bernier, a contemporary French visitor has noted that non muslim's were barred entry into the basement (at the time when Shahjahan requisitioned Mansingh's palace) which contained a dazzling light. Obviously, he reffered to the silver doors, gold railing, the gem studded lattice and strings of pearl hanging over Shiva's idol. Shahjahan comandeered the building to grab all the wealth, making Mumtaz's death a convineant pretext.
Johan Albert Mandelslo, who describes life in agra in 1638 (only 7 years after mumtaz's death) in detail (in his ‘Voyages and Travels to West-Indies’, published by John Starkey and John Basset, London), makes no mention of the Tajmahal being under constuction though it is commonly erringly asserted or assumed that the Taj was being built from 1631 to 1653.
Fabrication of History
The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur retains in his secret personal ‘KapadDwara’ collection two orders from Shahjahan dated Dec 18, 1633 (bearing modern nos. R.176 and 177) requestioning the Taj building complex. That was so blatant a usurpation that the then ruler of Jaipur was ashamed to make the document public.
To be continued......

Anonymous said...

That Shah Jahan, far from building the marble Taj, only disfigured it with black lettering is mentioned by the inscriber Amanat Khan Shirazi himself in an inscription on the building. A close scrutiny of the Koranic lettering reveals that they are grafts patched up with bits of variegated stone on an ancient Shiva temple.
Hindu Architecture

The arrangement of the domes, the lotus canopy, the trident pinnacle, the numerous rooms in the building, the direction of the mansion and its triple domes, the "Gow-shala", the "Nagar-khanas," and the surviving Hindu symbolism indicate that it was originally built as a temple complex.

Well known Western authorities on architecture like E. B. Havell, Mrs. Kenoyer and Sir W. W. Hunterhave gone on record to say that the Taj Mahal is built in the Hindu temple style. Havell points out the ground plan of the ancient Hindu Chandi Seva Temple in Java is identical with that of the Taj.
These arches along the eastern side of the plinth are an indication of the row upon row of rooms total 1089 that lie hidden inside the marble plinth.
These arches along the eastern side of the plinth are an indication of the row upon row of rooms total 1089 that lie hidden inside the marble plinth.

Dome: A central dome with cupolas at its four corners is a universal feature of Hindu temples.

The world famous Taj Mahal in Agra is a glaring instance. For all the time, money and energy that people the world over spend in visiting the Taj Mahal they are dished out a concoction. Contrary to what visitors are made to believe the Taj Mahal is not an Islamic mausoleum but an ancient Shiva temple known as Tejo Mahalaya which the 5th generation Mogul emperor Shah Jahan commandeered from the then Maharaja of Jaipur. Therefore the Taj Mahal must be viewed as a temple-palace complex and not as a tomb.

To be continued......

Anonymous said...

"I have tried to track down the Marvin Miller (sometimes referred to as Marvin Mills) who is supposed to have carbon dated a door from the Taj . I have verified that no Marvin Miller or Marvin Mills is, or ever has been, a member of the faculty of the Pratt Institute."

Right! So this book available on amazon must have been written by a non-existent person and as such must be the most unique collectible item in the world :)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Origin-Mosque-Cordoba-Andalusia/dp/0595423256

I am not debating any of your other points, and this person sounds more like a hack, but he does indeed exists irrespective of authenticity of his claims. You might note that the book on amazon talks about carbon-dating of Cordoba mosque in a similar fashion. And the assumption that the person's association with any specific institute means that he officially used the labs of that institute itself, is logically flawed.

Anonymous said...

PN Oak's claim there is nothing about a grave of Mumtaz being buried is a lie. I have read the Badshahnama. It never mentions anything about where she was buried. It only uses her name as Aliya Begum, not Mumtaz ul Zamani mentions her death in 1630, not 1631.

Lies of the Left

This COULD be a lengthy post. But, I'll try to winnow it down to a reasonable length. The CA Parent Bribery 'Scandal' - the 1...