AN EVALUATION ON THE TAJ MAHAL’S CALLIGRAPHIC ORNAMENTS AND THE SURAHS AND VERSES IN ITS INSCRIPTIONS

Fadime Özler*

ABSTRACT

The Taj Mahal, one of the most monumental mausoleums in the history of the world’s architecture, constitutes a big building complex with its tomb, mosque and guest house in a char bagh garden on the south bank of the Yamuna River in the Agra city of India. Shah Jahan, the founder of the construction and the fifth ruler of Mughal State, built the mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal between the years of 1631 – 1654, and when he died in 1666, he was also buried next to his wife.

The Taj Mahal is an important construction with both its monumental architecture and its decorations. The decorations of the Taj Mahal include floral motifs, geometrical ornaments and calligraphic ornaments. The inscriptions, which constitute the calligraphic ornaments of the Taj Mahal, are an important part of the decoration pattern of the Taj Mahal. The calligraphic ornaments of the Taj Mahal are on the Darwaza-i Rauza (monumental south gate design), the mosque and the tomb. On the Darwaza-i Rauza, they are on the inscription line of the crown gate arch on the south and north. In the mausoleum, on the outer walls, the inscriptions are on the inscription lines of both interior and exterior arches of the iwan-formed crown gates at four directions. On the interior walls, the inscriptions are on the inscription lines of the arches, upper inscription lines surrounding the whole place over these arches, on the ground floor of the tomb, and on the actual tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan downstairs. The inscriptions are on the inscription line surrounding the mihrab arch and in the medallions on the corners of the arches in the mosque. The calligraphic ornaments in the Taj Mahal are written in Arabic; they are in thuluth, naskh, nasta’liq and tughra style, and includes passages from the Quran. The calligraphic ornaments of the Taj Mahal were made by Amanat Khan Shirazi (Abd al-Haqq Shirazi) (Koch, 2005, p. 145). His signature as “Humble Amanat Khan Shirazi” is written in the central hall in the tomb, on the inscription line of the first arch on the left inside and on the upper inscription line surrounding the whole place. The calligraphy decorations of the Taj Mahal were formed by using the technique of inlaid with onyx stone with black color on white marble. There are twenty-two Surahs from the Quran in the Taj Mahal. These Suras are: Sura Fajr, Sura Dhuha, Sura Sharh, Sura Teen, Sura Yaseen, Sura Takweer, Sura Infitar, Sura Inshiqaaq, Sura Bayyinahh, Sura Mulk, Sura Fath, Sura Insaan, Sura Zumar, Sura Fussilat, Sura Mu'min(Ghafır), Sura Mutaffifeen, Sura Baqarah, Sura Hashr, Sura Al Imran, Sura Mu'minun, Sura Shams and  Surah Ikhlaas. There are twenty-five inscriptions in the Taj Mahal, and some of these inscriptions are Zumar, Fussilat and Hashr. They   are repeated twice. The other Suras are written only once and the Suras are fully engraved. Sura Yaseen, which is located on four fronts, occupies the widest place. Sura Mulk, which is located on the upper belt of the arch in the interior, contains the second longest verses.

The Suras in the Taj Mahal are mostly about afterlife, death, heaven, Domesday, and the good news to the believers. There is no encomia in Taj Mahal that praises the deceased person as in other examples. The Masjid Mosque in Agra, which is built by Shah Jahan's daughter in the name of his father during the same period, has many writings praising Shah Jahan and his reign. (Begley, 1978-79). This shows that constituent wants to reflect his own special choice in the tomb and that he is surrendered to the absolute owner of being away from praise by keeping mortality in the foreground. In addition, the preferred Sura and verses remind that the mortality of the life of this world and timeless existence. Nevertheless, it is seen that these inscriptions mostly targeted visitors to the tomb due to the selection of the verses that promise that those who obey the commands and prohibitions of Allah-u Teala will be liberated and heralded with heaven.

The Taj Mahal has been handled in many ways by many researchers to this day and will undoubtedly continue to be handled from now on. Within the scope of the research, information on the places in the Taj Mahal on which calligraphic ornaments are made, calligraphy styles, what surahs from the Quran constituting these ornaments are and their contents will be tried to be given.

Key Words: The Taj Mahal, Abd al-Haqq Shirazi, Calligraphic Ornament, Verse, Thuluth.