Black Taj

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The Emperor Shah Jahan, also called as the Engineer Emperor, was responsible for the creation of the wondrous Taj Mahal on the banks of the Yamuna river at Agra in India. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum which houses the graves of both - the Emperor and his favourite wife - Mumtaz Mahal.

Jean Baptiste Tavernier, mentions in his book "Le Six Voyages de J. B. Tavernier, Paris, 1676"

"I witnessed the commencement and accomplishment of this great work, on which they have expended twenty-two years, during which twenty thousand men worked incessantly. Shah Jahan began to build his own tomb on the other side of the river but war which he had with his sons interrupted his plan and Aurangzeb who reign at present, is not disposed to complete it".

It has been a debatable point in history, whether the Emperor of the World (Shah Jahan literally means Emperor of the World) would have been able to complete such a mammoth task. But the idea was there in his mind, cannot be debated. It is true though that it had been a Mughal custom to create elaborate mausoleums for themselves. Hence continuing the same lineage, it cannot be disputed that Shah Jahan would surely have thought of his own mausoleum, when he had spent 22 years in the making of the Taj Mahal.

Eminent historians - viz. Percy Brown et. al. have stated that it was the intention of the Emperor to build another Taj Mahal - this one in black marble - on the other side of the Yamuna. Proof of this can be found in the planning of the Mehtab Bagh, which has always been touted as the site of the Black Taj Mahal. The Archeological Survey of India has stated on good authotity that the Mehtab Bagh had been designed in perfect conjunction with the symmetry of the Taj Mahal. Though the ASI is of the view that the Mehtab Bagh (translated to The Moon Garden) was constructed to view the Taj Mahal in light of the full moon. This has been quashed by historians by and large.

Physical evidence within the Taj Mahal also confirms the concept of Black Taj. Historian Percy Brown has pointed this evidence in his book “Indian Architecture (Islamic Period), Taraporewala, Bombay, 1964”

“That it was Shah Jahan’s intention to duplicate the entire scheme of the Taj Mahal by the erection of another mausoleum in black marble to enshrine his own remains, on the opposite bank of the river jamuna, and connect the two by a bridge, seems fairly well established. Tavernier, the French traveler and trader, who visited the Moguls court during the regimes of both Shah Jahan & Aurangzebe definitely stated that the former emperor “began to build his own tomb on the other side of the river but the war which he had with his son interrupted his plans and Aurangzebe, who reigns at present, is not disposed to complete it.” And supplementing this contemporary record is the testimony of the cenotaphs in the Taj Mahal itself, their position with that of the queen in the center, and that of the emperor to one side, seems to signify that the location of the latter was an afterthought brought about because his own separate mausoleum never matured.

Some scholars have described Black Taj as a myth but excavation at Mehtab Bagh (The Moon Garden) [1] and the position of the cenotaph of emperor Shah Jahan which is superimposed on the design of the floor (the only asymmetry in Taj Mahal) strongly gives an indication otherwise.

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Recreation of Black Taj

In present days, an individual, Iftakhar Nadime Khan alias Arshi, is reviving Black Taj…………….

In 1986 he received Uttar Pradesh State Award for his work on white Taj of Thermocol. He also received President Award of India in 1996.

He resolved to make a miniature (2.5 mt. x 2.5 mt.) Black Taj in ebony wood. An action plan was made for this venture, which required a patient and planned working.

Work started on a trial 1mt. x 1mt. Black Taj in ebony, which provided enough practice for the final masterpiece. This 1 mt. x 1 mt. Black Taj took two years and when finally completed emerged as a masterpiece in itself and brought recognition in the form of President Award.

The final phase of mission is underway since August 2001; work started after more research and analysis on 2.5 mt x 2.5 mt Black Taj under the name The Black Taj Project. [2] His work on Black Taj is widely covered by numerous electronic and print media. Some of the link of coverage, [3] [4] [5][6]