Ustad Ahmad Lahauri

Ahmad Lahori
Occupation Architect
Buildings Red Fort

Ustad Ahmad Lahauri (Persian: استاد احمد لاهوری‎‎), also spelled as 'Ahmad Lahori' was a Persian architect.[1][2] He is said to have been chief architect of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, built between 1632 and 1648 during the ruling period of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Its architecture is widely considered to be a 'wonder of the world' and the scholar Rabindranath Tagore described it as 'a tear on the face of eternity'.[3]

Life

Ahmad Lahauri is believed to be Principal architect of The Taj Mahal.

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 new magnificent buildings, holding daily meetings with his architects and supervisors. The court chronicler Lahouri, writes that Shah Jahan would make "appropriate alterations to whatever the skilful architects had designed after considerable thought and would ask the architects competent questions."[4]

In writings by Lahauri's son Lutfullah Muhandis, two architects are mentioned by name; Ustad Ahmad Lahauri[5][6] and Mir Abd-ul Karim.[7] Ustad Ahmad Lahauri had laid the foundations of the Red Fort at Delhi (built between 1638 and 1648). Mir Abd-ul Karim had been the favourite architect of the previous emperor Jahangir and is mentioned as a supervisor, together with Makramat Khan,[7] for the construction of the Taj Mahal.[8]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Hugh Honour, John Fleming (2005). A World History of Art. Laurence King Publishing. p. 541. ISBN 978-1856694513. a Persian who later ....
  2. ↑ Janin, Hunt (2006). The Pursuit of Learning in the Islamic World, 610-2003. p. 124. ISBN 978-0786429042. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. ↑ https://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Archit/TajM.html, Architecture of Taj Mahal on ucla.edu website, Retrieved 9 May 2016
  4. ↑ Koch, p.89
  5. ↑ UNESCO advisory body evaluation, Ahmad Lahori, architect of the emperor, Retrieved 9 May 2016
  6. ↑ Begley and Desai (1989), p.65
  7. 1 2 Asher, p.212
  8. ↑ Dunkeld, Malcolm (Ed) (June 2007). "Construction history society newsletter" (PDF). Chartered Institute of Building. Retrieved 2007-07-23.

References

  • Asher, Catherine Ella Blanshard (1992) [2003]. The New Cambridge History of India, Vol I:4 - Architecture of Mughal India (Hardback) (First published 1992, reprinted 2001,2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 368. ISBN 0-521-26728-5. 
  • Begley, Wayne (March 1979). "The myth of the Taj-Mahal and a new theory of its symbolic meaning". Art Bulletin. The Art Bulletin, Vol. 61, No. 1. 61 (1): 7–37. doi:10.2307/3049862. JSTOR 3049862. 
  • Begley, Wayne E.; Desai, Z.A. (1989) [1989]. Taj Mahal - The Illumined Tomb (Hardback). University of Washington Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-295-96944-2. 
  • Begley, Wayne E. (1983). Grabar, Oleg, ed. "Four Mughal Caravanserais Built during the Reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan" (pdf). Muqarnas Volume I: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture. Yale University Press (Newhaven). pp. 167–180. Retrieved 2007-07-24. 
  • Koch, Ebba (2006) [Aug 2006]. The Complete Taj Mahal: And the Riverfront Gardens of Agra (Hardback) (First ed.). Thames & Hudson Ltd. pp. 288 pages. ISBN 0-500-34209-1. 

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