hyst. Twenty
thousand men were employed in the construction, which took seventeen
years to complete. [9] The sarcophagus was originally enclosed by
a fence or screen of gold studded with gems. This was removed in
1642, and replaced by the present exquisite screen of pierced marble
(Plate VII.). The Taj also possessed formerly two wonderful silver
doors. Austin de Bordeaux, a French goldsmith, who was employed by
Shah Jahan in making the celebrated Peacock throne, may possibly
have executed some of this metal-work in the Taj; but there is no
evidence worthy of consideration to support the common Anglo-Indian
belief that he designed or superintended the _pietra dura_, or inlaid
marble decoration of the building, which is entirely of the Persian
school. These silver doors were looted and melted down by the Jats
in 1764.

Besides the lavish expenditure on the building, lakhs of rupees were
spent in providing the richest of Persian silk carpets, golden lamps,
and magnificent candlesticks. A sheet of pearls, valued at several
lakhs, was made to cover the sarcophagus. This was carried off by the
Amir Husein Ali Khan, in 1720, as part of his share of the spoil of
Agra. The total expenditure, according to native accounts, amounted
to nearly 185 lakhs of rupees.

It is said that Shah Jahan had intended to construct a mausoleum for
himself opposite to the Taj, on the other side of the Jumna and to
connect the two by a great bridge. The project was interrupted and
never completed, owing to the usurpation of Aurangzib, shortly after
the foundations were laid.

The Intention of the Taj.

The Taj has been the subject of numberless critical essays, but
many of them have missed the mark entirely, because the writers
have not been sufficiently conversant with the spirit of Eastern
artistic thought. All comparisons with the Parthenon or other
classic buildings are useless. One cannot compare Homer with the
Mahabharata, or Kalidas with Euripides. The Parthenon was a temple
for Pallas Athene, an exquisite casket to contain the jewel. The
Taj is the jewel--the ideal itself. Indian architecture is in much
closer affinity to the great conceptions of the Gothic builders
than it is to anything of classic or Renaissance construction. The
Gothic cathedral, with its sculptured arches and its spires pointing
heavenwards, is a symbol, as most Eastern buildings are symbols. The
Mogul artists, being prevented by the precepts of the Muhammadan