The Peacock Throne, called Takht-e Tâvus (Persian: تخت طاووس) in Persian, is the name originally given to a Mughal throne of India, which was later adopted and used to describe the thrones of the Persian emperors from Nader Shah Afshari and erroneously to Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi whose throne was a reconstruction of the Achemenid throne.
Contents |
The name comes from the shape of a throne, having the figures of two peacocks standing behind it, their tails being expanded and the whole so inlaid with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, pearls and other precious stones of appropriate colors as to represent life, created for the Mughal Badshah Shah Jahan of India in the 17th century, which was in his imperial capital Delhi's Public audience hall, the Diwan-i-Am. Shah Jahan had the famous Koh-i-noor diamond placed in this throne.
The French jeweller Tavernier, who saw Delhi in 1665, described the throne as of the shape of a bed (a "takhteh" or platform), 6 ft. by 4 ft., supported by four golden feet, 20 to 25 in. high, from the bars above which rose twelve columns to support the canopy; the bars were decorated with crosses of rubies and emeralds, and also with diamonds and pearls. In all there were 108 large rubies on the throne, and 116 emeralds, but many of the latter had flaws. The twelve columns supporting the canopy were decorated with rows of splendid pearls, and Tavernier considered these to be the most valuable part of the throne. Estimates of its value varied between Rs. 40 million (Bernier) and Rs. 100 million (Tavernier).
Nader Shah invaded the Mughal Empire in 1738, and returned to Persia in 1739 with the original Peacock Throne as well as many other treasures taken from the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah.
According to an article by the Sunday Tribune,
After Nader Shah was assassinated in 1747, the original Peacock Throne disappeared from the records, stolen or dismantled in the chaos that ensued. Rumors were generated claiming that the throne was given to the Ottoman Sultan.[2] However, later Iranian thrones were erroneously referred to as Peacock Thrones, although they resemble a chair rather than a platform. An example of such a throne is the Naderi throne, built in 1812 for Fath Ali Shah Qajar. Another Iranian throne, built in 1836 for Mohammad Shah Qajar, is in fact in the shape of platform and sports legs that uncannily resemble the Indian Mughal paintings of the original Peacock Throne, and may indeed incorporate parts of the original throne. This throne, however, was known at the Takht-i Khurshid of the "Sun Throne" (after a radiant sun disk affixed to it headboard). In time, this throne has come to commandeer the name of the legendary the Peacock Throne, although only the legs and some other unspecified parts may belong to the original throne.
Although the Qajars referred to their throne as Peacock throne, the Pahlavi throne was a reconstruction of the Achemenid throne. Since then, the term Peacock Throne has consistently been misused to refer to the throne of the Pahlavi monarchy.
The Peacock Throne is a flexible English term. It is also a rhetorical trope. Depending on context, the Peacock Throne can be construed as a metonymy, which is a rhetorical device for an allusion relying on proximity or correspondence, as for example referring to actions of the Mughal ruler or the shah or as "actions of the throne." The throne is also understood as a synecdoche, which is related to metonymy and metaphor in suggesting a play on words by identifying a closely related conceptualization, e.g.,
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||