Shah Jahan's court histories emphasise his personal involvement in the construction and it is true that, more than any other Mughal emperor, he showed the greatest interest in building, holding daily meetings with his architects and supervisors. The court chronicler Lahouri, writes that Jahan would make "appropriate alterations to whatever the skilful architects designed after many thoughts, and asked competent questions." In writings by Lahauri's son Lutfullah Muhandis, two architects are mentioned by name; Ustad Ahmad Lahauri and Mir Abd-ul Karim. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri had laid the foundations of the Red Fort at Delhi. Mir Abd-ul Karim had been the favourite architect of the previous emperor Jahangir and is mentioned as a supervisor, together with Makramat Khan, of the construction of the Taj Mahal.
Citations
References
- Asher, Catherine Ella Blanshard The New Cambridge History of India, Vol I:4 - Architecture of Mughal India. First published 1992, reprinted 2001,2003, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-26728-5.
- Begley, Wayne (1979). "The myth of the Taj-Mahal and a new theory of its symbolic meaning". Art Bulletin 7–37.
- Begley, Wayne E.; Desai, Z.A. Taj Mahal - The Illumined Tomb. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0295969442.
- Begley, Wayne E.; Grabar, Oleg (Ed.) Four Mughal Caravanserais Built during the Reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Muqarnas Volume I: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture. Yale University Press (Newhaven). Retrieved on 2007-07-24..
- Koch, Ebba The Complete Taj Mahal: And the Riverfront Gardens of Agra. First, Thames & Hudson Ltd. ISBN 0500342091.
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