THE TAJE MAHAL.
This grand mausoleum, which stands due north and south, on the southern bank of the river Jumna, was built by command of the emperor Shah Jehan for the interment of his favorite sultana Momtaz-mehl, or Montazal Zumani, the “preëminent in the seraglio,” or “paragon of the age,” and at his death his remains were also here deposited, by order of his son Aurungzebe. This building, in point of design and execution, is one of the most extensive, elegant, commodious, and perfect works ever undertaken and finished by one man. To this celebrated architect Shah Jehan gave the title of Zerreer-dust, or “jewel-handed,” to distinguish him from all other artists. It is built entirely of pure white marble, on an immense square platform of the same material, having a lofty minaret of equal beauty at every corner. On each side and behind the imperial mausoleum, is a suite of elegant apartments, also of white marble, highly decorated with colored stones. The tombs and other principal parts of this vast fabric are inlaid with wreaths of flowers and foliage in their natural colors, entirely composed of carnelians, onyxes, verd-antique, lapis lazuli, and a variety of agates, so admirably finished as to have the appearance of an ivory model set with jewels. It was commenced in the fifth year of the reign of the emperor Shah Jehan, and the whole completed in sixteen years, four months, and twenty-one days. It cost ninety-eight lacs, or nine million, eight hundred and fifteen thousand rupees, equal to more than six million dollars, although the price of labor then was, and still continues to be, very reasonable in India.