The Question of the Taj Mahal By P. S. Bhat and A. L. Athawale
The Question of the Taj Mahal
By P. S. Bhat and A. L. Athawale
(from the Itihas Patrika, Vol. 5, pp 98-111, 1985)
ABSTRACT
This paper deals with the Taj Mahal, the magnificent marble edifice on the banks of the river Jamuna, in the southern part of Agra city. It is generally believed by historians and laymen alike that the building was erected as a mausoleum by the 5th generation Mogul Emperor Shah
Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, and that the period of its construction was 1631-53 AD.
The basis of these claims has been questioned by Shri P. N. Oak in his book "The Taj Mahal is a Temple Palace." The substance of Shri Oak's thesis is that the edifice was originally built as a temple in the 12th century AD, and was subsequently used as a palace by the alien aggressors. The building again fell into the hands of the Rajput kings during the period of Humayun, and was put to use as a palace by Raja Man Singh of Jaipur. And that it was finally commandeered by Shah Jahan from Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur, and was converted into a mausoleum.
The controversy assumes importance as it questions some of the basic premises of mediaeval Indian archeology. This paper attempts to place in perspective some of the pertinent questions that arise on the subject.
I HISTORY
1. INTRODUCTION
The legend of the Taj Mahal tells us that it was built by Shah Jahan (1628-1658 AD), the fifth generation Mogul Emperor, as a mausoleum to his wife Mumtaz Mahal. And that 20,000 men worked incessantly for 22 years to complete the magnificent marble edifice.
Mumtaz died in 1631 AD, at Barhanpur where she was buried and a mausoleum was erected. Six months later her body was shifted to Agra to be buried in what is known as the Temporary Grave--which is demarcated and can be seen even today--a few meters to the southwest of the Taj Mahal. And subsequently her body was laid to rest inside the Taj Mahal.
The main supporting pieces of the above thesis are cited from the following documents, which will be discussed in detail in the course of this paper.
i) The Badshahnama1, an important court journal of Shah Jahan, written by Mulla Abdul Hamid Lahori.
ii) The firmans (court orders) of Shah Jahan to Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur2, pertaining to the
acquisition of marble from the Makrana quarries in Rajasthan.
iii) Travelogue of Peter Mundy3, an employee of the East India Company, who visited Agra between 1631-1633 AD.
iiii) Travelogue of J. B. Tavernier4, a French merchant who visited India five times between 1638-1668 AD.
The Taj Mahal is a seven storeyed edifice with its plinth at the level of the riverbed. The court yard in front of the building corresponds to the third storey of the edifice. The entire skeleton of the edifice is made of red stone, the top four floors being plastered with marble. It measures a height of 243 ½ ft (whereas the Qutb Minar of Delhi is only 238 ft). The marble platform (4th storey) on which the central edifice is standing has a floor area of 328 ft x 328 ft, and has four marble minarets at its corners. The marble superstructure covers an area of 187 ft x 187 ft with 33 ft chambers cut off at each corner. It has a huge central dome with an inner diameter of 58 ft and a wall thickness of 14 ft -- surrounded by four smaller copulas with a diameter of 26'8".
The central edifice is flanked with two identical red-stone buildings--the one on the western side is a mosque and the other a community hall--each having three domes. Facing the main building at the other end of the courtyard is the Main Gateway, which is a four-storeyed edifice covering a floor area of 140 ft x 110 ft. Midway between the Gateway and the marble edifice, there are two identical double-storeyed buildings, placed on either side of the courtyard known as the "Nagar Khanas" (Drum Houses). The courtyard covers a net area of 1460 ft x 100 ft.
Outside the Main Gateway is the Great courtyard, which covers an additional area of 430 ft x 1000 ft, having rows of redstone constructions, at present used as shops. Thus, the Taj Complex covers a net area of 1890 ft x 1000 ft, which is roughly equal to half the area of the Red Fort of Agra. The whole complex is perfectly symmetrical about the North-South axis, the two halves forming mirror images of each other to minutest details.
It must have been a challenging project both architecturally and financially, so much so that it made both Shah Jahan and his wife immortal. But it is surprising that in none of the hitherto known court papers of Shah Jahan--there are several of them--there is any record of the date of its commencement or of its completion, or the total period of its construction or the details of expenditure. (There is a brief remark in the Badshahnama that the expenditure incurred upon the building was Rs. 40 lakhs. And the present estimate of 20,000 workers and 22 years are based upon the writings of Tavernier, which shall be examined later.) Besides, several details of traditional Hindu symbolism can be located at various places in the Taj Complex. Therefore, it is a pertinent question whether
Shah Jahan himself built the edifice, or he converted an existing building into a mausoleum.
2. Court Papers
Badshahnama, one of the most important court journals of Shah Jahan, deals with the burial of Mumtaz in two pages of its first volume (pp.403-404). A line by line translation of these pages was provided by Sri P. N. Oak5 in his book published in 1966. The following passages are quoted from that source.
(On) "Friday--15th Jamadi-ul Awwal, the sacred dead body of the traveller to the kingdom of Holiness, hazrat Mumtaz-ul Zamani--who was buried temporarily.... was brought to the capital Akbarabad (Agra)...
The site covered with magnificent lush garden, to the south of that great city and amidst which (garden) the building known as the palace of Raja Mansingh, at present owned by Raja Jaisingh (Pesh az ein Manzil-e Rajan Mansingh bood Wadaree Waqt ba Raja Jaisingh), grandson (of Mansingh) was selected for the burial of the queen whose abode is in heaven.
"Although Raja Jaisingh valued it greatly as his ancestral heritage and property, yet would have been agreeable to part with it gratis for the Emperor Shahjahan. (Still) out of sheer scrupulousness so essential in the matters of bereavement and religious sanctity, in exchange of that grand place, he was granted a piece of government land (Dar' awaz aan aali Manzil-e az khalisa-e sharifah badoo marahmat farmoodand) after the arrival of the dead body in that great city on 15th Jamadul Soniya.
"Next year that illustrious body of the heavenly queen was laid to rest. The officials of the capital, according to the royal orders of the day, under the sky-high lofty mausoleum hid the pious lady from the eyes of the world, and the edifice so majestic and with a dome, and so lofty in its stature, is a memorial to the courage of sky-dimensions of the king--and a strength so mighty in resolution so firm--the foundation was laid and geomatricians of farsight and architects of talent incurred an expenditure of Rs. 40 lakhs (chihal lakh roopiah) on this building."
Normally, the above quoted passages would need no further commentary. It is explicitly stated that the "palace of Raja Mansingh was selected for the burial of the queen". That it is no ordinary building is obvious as Raja Jaisingh "valued it greatly as his ancestral heritage and property". And piece of government land was given in exchange of that great palace (aali manzil). The transaction was clinched only after the arrival of the dead body in Agra (which explains the presence of the Temporary Grave). The body was finally buried in the "sky-high lofty mausoleum" the following year (probably soon after the palace was suitably modified). And the subsequent decorations and calligraphical work upon the building cost Rs. 40 lakhs.
What then is the basis of the claim that Shah Jahan built the edifice? In the last paragraph quoted above, there occurs a phrase, "...foundation was laid..." Some historians interpret it to mean that Shah Jahan laid the foundation of a new edifice--the Taj Mahal, and the support to this view is drawn from the Persian line quoted in the third paragraph dealing with the transaction. It is interpreted as a grand palace being granted to Raja Jai Singh in exchange of the land for building the mausoleum.
From the clear and explicit reference to Raja Man Singh's palace, and the absence of any details about the duration and efforts involved in building the gigantic edifice, the operative phrase, "foundation was laid" can also be viewed as a figurative reference to the initiation of alterations in the edifice. However, the controversy makes it necessary to examine the issue more carefully.
The confusion can be resolved only by examining all other evidences including the architecture of the edifice. The details of architecture--the bulbous dome and the minarets being Mogul characteristics, etc.--are examined in the second part of this paper; but it is relevant to examine one particular aspect of the architecture at this stage.
As mentioned earlier, the Taj Mahal is a multi-storeyed edifice with its plinth at the level of the riverbed. The entire skeleton of the edifice is of brick and red-stone, with the superstructure standing upon the red-stone terrace being plastered with marble. In Mogul tombs it is customary to have two graves: the real grave containing the dead body in the basement of the building, and a well decorated cenotaph meant for the public eye on the upper floor. In the Taj Mahal the real grave is on the third storey of the edifice and the decorated cenotaph is on the fourth.
The basement floor is now completely sealed; but the floor immediately below the real grave has long corridor running East-West on the northern part of the edifice, which can be entered at either end by means of staircases from the red-stone terrace. The corridor is 5'8" wide and about 322 ft long and opens into 22 rooms (between the corridor and the river side wall) of sizes ranging from 11 ft x 20 ft, to 22 ft x 20 ft. These rooms had windows opening to the riverside, but all of them are permanently sealed with brick and mortar from inside and with red-stone slabs having floral decorations from outside. On the other side of the corridor there are at least three entrances opening to the South, which are crudely sealed with brick and mortar. The staircases to the corridor from the floor above were detected in 1900 AD.
If the edifice was originally constructed for the purpose of a tomb, of what utility were these underground chambers conceived? And then why were they sealed subsequently? Or, was it that the edifice was originally constructed for an altogether different purpose?
Badshahnama (vol I, p. 384) records the date of Mumtaz's death at Barhanpur as the 17th Zi-it Quada 1040 AH (20th June, 1631). The passages quoted above mentions the date of arrival of the dead body at Agra as the 15th Jamad-ul Sanya 1041 AH (8th Jan., 1632).
But the date of final burial of Mumtaz inside the Taj Mahal is not precisely recorded, except that it was done the following year.
That it was done certainly before the 25th February, 1633 becomes obvious from the writings of Peter Mundy (see Section 5), who finally left Agra on the date but has recorded that he had seen a rail of gold around the tomb of Mumtaz.
A completed mausoleum at Barhanpur indicates that the idea of a sepulcher in Agra must have occurred to Shah Jahan at least a few months after the death of Mumtaz. And the burial inside the Taj was complete with costly decorations and the tourists were allowed to visit by February, 1633. Even if one were to accept that the burial was done when the building was still under construction, it is unlikely that the cenotaph on the 4th storey would be decorated with gold, etc., unless the three lower floors of the edifice were complete.
How does it compare with the supposed period of construction of the Taj Mahal, 1631-53 AD? Is it plausible that beginning with the selection of the architects and building plan, the lower three floors of the edifice would be raised upon the riverbed within the span of a year?
Therefore, the translations quoted above regarding the acquisition of Raja Man Singh's palace seem to be the correct interpretation of the Badshahnama. However, there is another aspect of the question which needs to be examined. Could it be that the marble superstructure upon the red-stone terrace was erected by Shah Jahan himself?
3. Aurangzeb's Letter
In the year 1652 AD, Aurangzeb assumed charge as the Governor of Deccan. On his way, he visited Agra and inspected the Taj Mahal. In his letter written from Dholpur6, he wrote about the badly needed repairs to the Taj Mahal. Excerpts from the translation of the letter provided by M. S. Vats are quoted below:
"The dome of the holy tomb leaked in two places towards the north during the rainy season and so also the fair semi-domed arches, many of the galleries on the second storey, the four smaller domes, the four northern compartments and seven arched underground chambers which have developed cracks. During the rains last year the terrace over the main dome also leaked in two or three places. It has been repaired, but it remains to be seen during the ensuing rainy season how far the operations prove successful. The domes of the Mosque and the Jama'at Khana leaked during the rains...
"The master builders are of the opinion that if the roof of the second storey is reopened and dismantled and treated afresh with concrete, over which half a yard of mortar grout is laid the semi-domed arches, the galleries and the smaller domes will probably become watertight, but they are unable to suggest any measures of repairs to the main dome..."
The letter is eloquent enough. In 1652 AD, the dome of the holy tomb, the fair semi-domed arches, the four smaller domes and the domes of the Mosque and the Jama'at Khana all had developed serious defects. How does it compare with the supposed period of its construction 1631-53 AD?
And do the master builders of Shah Jahan who were "unable to suggest any measures of repairs to the main dome" appear to be the original architects of the edifice? Does it mean that the statement of Badshahnama, "Next year that illustrious body... was laid to rest... under the sky-high lofty mausoleum... with a dome" is literally true?
4. The Firmans
There are records of three firmans by Shah Jahan to Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur pertaining to the acquisition of marble2. These firmans are cited as a conclusive proof of the claim that it was Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal.
i) dated 9 Rajab, 1041 Hijra (Jan 21, 1632)
"As a great number of carts are required for transportation of marble needed for constructing building (at the capital), a firman was previously sent to you (to procure them). It is again desired of you, that as many carts on hire be arranged as possible in the earliest time, as has already been written to you, and be dispatched to Makrana for expediting the transport of marble to the capital. Every assistance be given to Allahood who has been deputed to arrange the transportation of marble to Akbarabad. Account (of expenditure on carts) along with the previous account of amount allocated for the purchase of marble be submitted (to the mutsaddi in charge of payment).
ii) dated 4 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1043 Al Hijra (Sept. 9, 1632)
"Mulkshah has been deputed to Amber (Amer) to bring marble from the new mines (of Makrana). It is commended that carts on hire be arranged for transportation of marble and Mulkshah be assisted to purchase as much marble as he may desire to have. The purchase price of marble and cartage shall be paid by him from the treasury. Every other assistance be given to him to procure and bring marble and sculptors to the capital expeditiously."
iii) dated 7 Saffer, 1047 Al Hijra (June 21, 1637)
"We hear that your men detain the stone-cutters of the region at Amber and Rajnagar. This creates shortage of stone-cutters (miners) at Makrana and the work (of procuring marble) suffers. Hence it is desired of you that no stone-cutter be detained at Amber and Rajnagar and all of them who are available be sent to the mutsaddis of Makrana."
The firmans conclusively prove that Shah Jahan did acquire marble from the Makrana quarries. But does it also prove that he was the original builder of the Taj Mahal?
The marble walls of the cenotaph chamber, the border of the door arches and the top border of the entire edifice are replete with Koranic inscriptions which can be attributed only to Shah Jahan, even if he was not the builder of the edifice. It is said that fourteen chapters of Holy Koran are inscribed on the walls of the Taj Mahal. In addition, there is commendable amount of inlay-work and flower carving in the Taj Mahal. All these would require considerable amount of fresh marble.
The body of Mumtaz arrived at Agra and was buried in a temporary grave on the 8th of January, 1632. In the firman written barely a fortnight later, Shah Jahan refers to a previous letter and orders Jai Singh to arrange for the transportation of marble "in the earliest time". That is, the acquisition of marble had begun at about the same time when the body was shifted to Agra. As noted earlier, the lower two floors (and all the other buildings in the Taj Complex) are completely of brick and red stone. Even the skeleton of the marble superstructure is made of brick--for example, the Central dome has a wall thickness of 14 ft, of which only 6 inches on either side is of marble and the rest of 13 ft is of brick. Therefore, if the edifice were to be raised from the foundation onward--not to speak of the selection of architects and building plan, etc.--it is unlikely that the work involving marble would have begun so soon. (It is noteworthy that a completed mausoleum at Barhanpur indicates that the idea of a sepulcher in Agra must have occurred to Shah Jahan only a few months after the death of Mumtaz.) Therefore, it is only reasonable to attribute the acquisition of marble to the alterations in an already existing edifice--the palace of Raja Man Singh.
5. Peter Mundy
He was an employee of the East India Company, and visited Agra three times between 1631 and 1633. His last visit was between 22nd Dec, 1632 and 25th Feb, 1633. He has noted in his Travelogue (pp. 208-213):
"Places of note (in and about Agra) are castle, King Akbar's tombe, Moholl's tombe, garden and bazare...
"The king is now building a sepulchre for his late deceased queen Taje Maholl... There is already about her tombe a rail of gold... the building is begun and goes on with excessive labor and cost, prosecuted with extraordinary diligence, gold and silver esteemed common metal and marble but ordinary stones..."
Mundy uses two phrases, "The king is now building a sepulchre..." and "The building is begun..." which can be understood as Shah Jahan was actually erecting an edifice.
But he also states that the Taj Mahal was already a centre of tourist attraction (in 1632-33 AD) comparable with Akbar's tomb and the fort. The cenotaph on the fourth storey was complete with a gold railing around it, and the tourists were allowed to visit the grave. "The building is begun", declares Peter Mundy, and the work in progress had much to do with "gold and silver... and marble". Was it the erection of the edifice or was it calligraphy and decorations?
6. J. B. Tavernier
Great importance is attached to Tavernier's (a French merchant) records about the Taj Mahal, as he was an impartial foreigner. His writings form the most important basis of the claim that Shah Jahan was the original builder of the Taj Mahal. He visited India five times between 1638-1668 AD. Excerpts from his Travelogue (Book I, pp. 110-111):
"I witnessed the commencement and accomplishment of the great work on which they expended 22 years during which 20,000 men worked incessantly...
"It is said that the scaffolding alone cost more than the entire work, because, for want of wood, they had all to be made of brick as well as the support of the arches."
Tavernier made his first appearance in Agra in the winter of 1640-41 AD (Dr. Ball's Introduction, p. xiv) nearly a decade after the death of Mumtaz and makes the claim that he was an eye-witness to the commencement of the Taj Mahal. In the light of the discussion so far, it is superfluous to comment upon this part of the claim. But was he a witness to the completion of the building?
The marble walls of the cenotaph chamber are full of Koranic inscriptions8, which ends with the name of the calligrapher and the dates "...written by the insignificant being Amanat Khan Shirazi in the year 1048 Hijri and the 12th year of His Majesty's reign." (i.e, 1639 AD)
That is, the calligraphical work was complete at least a year before Tavernier first visited Agra. Therefore, if at all he had seen any work going on in the building, it can only be the last stages of decorations, not to speak of the erection of the edifice.
He then makes the other important claim that 20,000 men worked incessantly for 22 years to complete the building. This statement seems to the be the basis of the claim that the building was constructed between 1631-53 AD, though, obviously, it does not tally with his claim about its commencement. Nor does the supposed date of completion (1653 AD) tally with Tavernier's claim of seeing it completed. It is true that he visited India during 1651-55; but he did not visit Agra during that trip. His route, according to V. Ball, was Masulipttam-Madras-Gandekot-Golconda-Surat-Ahmedabad-Surat-Ahmedabad-Golconda-Surat. It is probable, as noted earlier, that he had seen the decorative work completed in the Taj during his first visit to Agra in 1640-41 AD. However, the validity
of his claim can be more conclusively examined by comparing it with the expenditure incurred upon the building (Rs. 40 lakhs) as claimed in the Badshahnama.
If the above amount is assumed to have been spent purely upon the labour charges to the exclusion of material costs, then the average salary of a worker comes out to be three-quarters of a rupee per month. Obviously, the lowest paid worker would be getting only a small fraction of this amount. Compare it with Tavernier's own account (Book I, p. 46) of contemporary labour charges "...you pay each attendant for everything only 4 rupees a month, but up to 5 rupees when the journey is long."
Surprisingly, he then goes on to quote a rumour, that the brick scaffolding alone had cost more than the entire work! Is this claim reliable? Can the cost of brick scaffolding be more than that of the marble edifice? If at all it is true, then the "entire work" can only mean the alterations in the building and not the erection of it.
That is, the claims of Tavernier regarding the commencement of the edifice, the duration of the work and the labour involved are unreliable; but the rumour he quoted appears to be closer to truth.
7. Other Records
(i) Havell9 quotes a Persian manuscript having the name of several chief craftsmen working in the Taj Mahal as drawing monthly salaries ranging from Rs. 200/- to Rs. 1000/-. The name of the chief calligrapher (Amanat Khan Shirazi) listed in the manuscript is also inscribed inside the cenotaph chamber (Section 6). And, therefore, the manuscript seems to be authentic (Table 1).
It lists the names of a chief architect (Ustad Isa), a dome expert (Ismail Khan Rumi), two pinnacle experts, four calligraphers, four inlay workers, five flower carvers, six master masons, etc. The net salary of 20 of these craftsmen exceeds Rs. one lakh per year. It further weakens the claim of Tavernier, since it reduces the average salary of the rest of 20,000 workers to less than half the amount calculated above.
It is also noteworthy that the chief architect (Ustad Isa), the chief mason (Muhammad Hanief) and the chief calligrapher (Amanat Khan Shirazi)--each was drawing the highest salary of Rs. 1000/- per month. If the chief architect were the one who conceived and designed the Taj Mahal, it is unlikely that he would be treated at par with the chief mason and the calligrapher. Note also the fact that among the names listed, the architect and the dome expert are vastly outnumbered by the masons, calligraphers, flower-carvers and inlay workers.
(ii) Fray Sebastion Manrique10, a Portugese traveller who also visited Agra at about the same time (winter of 1640-41) as Tavernier did. Excerpts from his Travelogue:
"On this building as well as other works, 1000 men were usually engaged as overseers, officials and workmen; of these many were occupied in laying out ingenious gardens, others planting shady groves and ornamental avenues; while the rest were making roads and those receptacles for the crystal water, without which their labour could not be carried out.
"The architect of these works was a Venetian, by the name Geronimo Veroneo, who had come to this part in a Portugese ship and died in the city of Lahore just before I reached it... Fame, the swift conveyor of good and evil news, had spread the story that the Emperor summoned him and informed him that he desired to erect a great and sumptuous tomb to his dead wife, and he was required to draw up some design for this, for the Emperor's inspection... The architect Veroneo carried out this order... He (Shah Jahan) told Veroneo to spend 3 crores of rupees, that is 300 lakhs, and to inform him it was expended."
Manrique quotes a prevalent story about the architect Veroneo (who died before the arrival of Manrique) and the expenditure of Rs. 3 crores. But this seems to be a boneless legend, since it is enormously at variance with the Persian manuscript (which records the name of Ustad Isa as the chief architect) and the official account of expenditure (Rs. 40 lakhs) as recorded in the Badshahnama.
But Manrique seems to be an eye-witness for the work inside the Taj Complex, since he is very specific about the nature of the work in the gardens. He does not say anything about the work upon the edifice, which also tallies well with the inscription inside the cenotaph chamber that the calligraphical work was complete by 1639 AD.
He mentions the number of workers to be around 1,000. This is significantly different from the claim of Tavernier; but it tallies well with the expenditure upon the building, as stated in the Badshahnama. If it is assumed that a thousand workers worked in the Taj Complex for a decade since 1632 AD, making allowance for the salaries of the chief craftsmen mentioned in the Persian manuscript, the average salary of the rest of 1000 workers comes out to be Rs. 25/- per month. Compared with the contemporary labour charges, this claim appears to be more reasonable than that of Tavernier. (The actual number of workers would certainly be fluctuating and their average number over the decade could be substantially lower than what Manrique had seen in 1641.)
TABLE - 1
Taj Mahal - Details of Monthly Salaries
(From a Persian Manuscript placed in the National Library, Calcutta, as quoted by E. B. Havell, pp. 31-33)
1. Ustad Isa (Agra/Shiraz) Chief Architect Rs. 1,000
2. Ismail Khan Rumi (Rum) Dome Expert Rs. 500
3. Muhammad Sharif (Samarkhan) Pinnacle Expert Rs. 500
4. Kasim Khan (Lahore) Pinnacle Experts Rs. 295
5. Muhammad Hanief (Khandahar) Master Mason Rs. 1,000
6. Muhammad Sayyid (Multan) Master Mason Rs. 590
7. Abu Torah (Multan) Master Mason Rs. 500
8. - - - (Delhi) Master Mason Rs. 400
9. - - - (Delhi) Master Mason Rs. 375
10. - - - (Delhi) Master Mason Rs. 375
11. Amanat Khan Shirazi (Shiraz) Calligrapher Rs. 1,000
12. Qadar Zaman Calligrapher Rs. 800
13. Muhammad Khan (Bagdad) Calligrapher Rs. 500
14. Raushan Khan (Syria) Calligrapher Rs. 300
15. Chiranji Lal (Kanauj) Inlay Worker Rs. 800
16. Chhoti Lal (Kanauj) Inlay Worker Rs. 380
17. Mannu Lal (Kanauj) Inlay Worker Rs. 200
18. Manuhar Singh (Kanauj) Inlay Worker Rs. 200
19. Ata Muhammad (Bokhara) Flower Carver Rs. 500
20. Shaker Muhammad (Bokhara) Flower Carver Rs. 400
21. Banuhar Flower Carver - - -
22. Shah Mal Flower Carver - - -
23. Zorawar Flower Carver - - -
24. Pira (Delhi) Carpenter - - -
25. Ram Lal Kashmiri (Kashmir) Garden Expert - - -
8. Age of the Taj Mahal
Modern techniques of archaeometry are used to determine the approximate age of historical buildings with reasonable accuracy. Marvin Mills11 of New York reports about the Carbon-14 dating of the Taj Mahal: "Another item of evidence concerning the alleged date of the Taj is adduced from a radiocarbon date from a piece of wood from a door on the north facade of the Jumuna River's bank. The sample was tested by Dr. Even Williams, director of the Brooklyn College Radiocarbon Laboratory. The date came to 1359 AD with a spread of 89 years on either side and 67% probability, Masca corrected."
That is, it can be said with 67% certainty that the particular door was made during the period 1270-1448 AD. However, the radio-carbon dating of a single door is not a conclusive evidence about the age of the building for two reasons; the sample itself might be contaminated. And that there is a possibility of the door being a subsequent replacement of the original one in the ancient edifice. Therefore, to arrive at a conclusion, more such samples need to be examined.
To sum up: The statement of Badshahnama about the acquisition of Raja Man Singh's palace for the burial of the queen is clear and explicit. The numerous underground chambers and Aurangzeb's exhaustive list of defects in all the three major buildings, including all the five domes of the marble edifice give the distinct impression that the
edifice was already ancient and was built for an altogether different purpose. The statement of Peter Mundy that the cenotaph (which is on the fourth storey of the edifice) was complete with costly decorations in 1632-33 AD, and that the Taj Mahal was already a centre of tourist attraction, only support the above claim. The radio carbon test result, though not conclusive about the date, makes the above conclusion more emphatic.
The work upon the building might have started in 1632 AD and must have lasted as the inscription inside the cenotaph chamber indicates--for nearly a decade. The records of Tavernier regarding the date of commencement, total duration of work and labour involved are not reliable.
The firmans, if viewed in isolation, can mean that Shah Jahan was actually erecting the marble superstructure. But in the light of other evidences, the acquisition of marble could only be for the purpose of alterations in the edifice. The Persian manuscript listing the names of several craftsmen and their salaries, and the rumour quoted by Tavernier, further support this thesis.
It may be relevant to discuss another pertinent point at this stage. Usually the court historians do not spare an opportunity to indulge in needless hyperboles to enhance the glory of their paymasters. But in the 1600 pages of Badshahnama, only two pages deal with the burial of Mumtaz and only one paragraph can be construed as dealing with the construction of the Taj Mahal. If Shah Jahan were to undertake so challenging a project like the Taj Mahal, does it not merit greater attention in the Badshahnama than the single paragraph quoted above? And that the date of Mumtaz's burial more than a casual reference?
II - ARCHITECTURE
The discussion upon the historical evidences raises many pertinent questions regarding the architecture of the building. Does the edifice look like a palace or like a Mogul tomb? Is not the dome--the bulbous dome--a characteristic of Mogul architecture? Do the minarets and the single pointed arch not have religious significance in Islamic architecture? The discussion upon the Taj Mahal cannot be complete unless one finds satisfactory answers to the above questions.
Many historians (Havell, Batley, Kenoyer, Hunter, etc.), from time to time, have pointed out that the architecture of the Taj Mahal is not in the traditions of Saracenic style but resembles that of a Hindu temple. But this view has largely gone unnoticed primarily because it runs against the grain of some of the accepted premises of Indo-Saracenic architecture.
The single pointed door arch had great religious significance in Saracenic architecture as it represents the one and the only God of Islam. Such arches are commonly seen in the Islamic architecture of Bagdad and surrounding places, and hence it is generally believed that the single pointed arch and the arcuate style (as against the trabeate style) of
constructing it are exclusive innovations or Saracenic architecture. And that it arrived at India as a resultant contribution of Afghan invasion at the close of the 12th century.
It is also generally believed that the bulbous dome seen in the Taj Mahal, migrated to India from Samarkhand, subsequent to the establishment of Mogul dynasty by Babur in the 16th century. There are significant differences between the Arab domes seen in Bagdad and Egypt and the dome of Taj Mahal, the bulbous dome of Samarkhand forming the link between the two. Since the arcuate style of constructing the arches and domes is believed to be exclusively of Saracenic origin, it is also believed that the bulbous dome originated outside India.
These premises were originally propounded by the well-known British historian James Fergusson12 who conducted the pioneer work in the field of Indian archaeology for nearly five decades from around 1835 AD. His assumptions--widely accepted today--preclude the question of the Taj Mahal being a Hindu construction. However, the historical evidences discussed so far, call for a thorough examination of the architecture of the edifice, notwithstanding the assumptions.
9. The Arch And The Dome
It is not necessary here to go into the debate whether the single pointed arch (and the arcuate style of constructing it) was exclusively of Saracenic origin. Even if it were so, it was well assimilated into the Hindu architecture by the middle of the 14th century. In the latter half of the 14th century the rulers of Vijayanagara (1346-1563 AD) in South India employed the single pointed arch in their construction. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume that it was used in the Hindu architecture of North India several decades earlier. This tallies well with the approximate period of construction of the Taj Mahal, as suggested by the radio-carbon dating (i.e. 1359 AD).
However, the assumption that the bulbous dome originated in Samarkhand requires a closer examination. The initiation and development of medieval architecture of Samarkhand is attributed to Timurlung (1394-1404 AD), the 6th generation predecessor of Emperor Babur. He invaded India in 1398 AD and after sacking Delhi and surrounding cities, carried off a large number of architects and other craftsman as captive labour to build his capital Samarkhand. A passage from his autobiography (Malfuzat-i-Timuri) would be illustrative:
"I ordered that all the artisans and clever mechanics who were masters of their respective crafts should be picked out from among the prisoners and set aside, and accordingly some thousands of craftsmen were selected to await my command. All these I distributed among the princes and amirs who were present, or who were engaged officially in other parts of my dominions. I had determined to build a Masjid-i-Jami in Samarkhand, the seat of my empire, which should be without a rival in my country; so I ordered that all builders and stone masons should be set apart for my own especial service."13
It is important to note that the approximate period of construction of the Taj Mahal is around 1359 AD, whereas Timurlung invaded India in 1398 AD. Could it be that the bulbous dome was prevalent in India during that period and migrated to Samarkhand through the captive architects?
There are several important points which need to be considered in favour of the above conjecture:
(i) Similar buildings of the same period: There are several (more than a hundred) Jaina temples in the sacred mounts of Sonagarh (Bundelkhand) and Muktagiri (Berar) which contain the bulbous domes as well as the single pointed arches. Fergusson (p.62) attributes these temples to the 16th and 17th centuries, but it is important to note his uncertainty about their true antiquity: "So far as can be made out most of these temples date from 16th and 17th centuries, though a few of them may be older. Their original foundation may be earlier, but of that we know nothing, no one having yet enlightened us on the subject, nor explained how and when this hill became a sacred mount.
In fact, Fergusson here uses his own assumption (about the origin of the bulbous dome) as the touchstone to determine the period of the superstructure though he could not reconcile their foundations to the same period.
(ii) The Lotus Canopy: various kinds of domes were used in the ancient temples of Mount Abu, Girnar, Udayapur, Mylass, Carla, etc., some of them as old as the 4th century AD. All types of domes in these temples are topped with an inverted lotus flower, its stem forming the pinnacle of the building. The bulbous domes of Sonagarh and Muktagiri also contain the lotus canopy. And every single dome in the Taj Campus contains a similar lotus canopy. Havell (pp.23-26) traces the constituent elements of the Taj dome to the Hindu Shilpa Shastra, and the lotus canopy to the 'Mahapadma' in the 'stupi' (pinnacle) of the 'vimana' type of temple dome.
It is noteworthy that the lotus is a sacred flower of the Hindus associated with their gods and goddesses, whereas it does not seem to have any special significance in Islamic culture, and the Saracenic architecture of Samarkhan, Persia, Bagdad and Egypt do not contain the lotus canopy over the dome. Even the Humayun's tomb, widely believed to be the prototype of the Taj, does not contain the lotus canopy.
In this regard, it is necessary to clarify another point. There are many Hindu religious symbols seen in the Taj Mahal, which are often attributed to the religious tolerance of Shah Jahan, under whom the Hindu craftsmen enjoyed considerable freedom. But the Persian manuscript (Section 7) lists the names of Ustad Isa and Ismail Khan Rumi as the chief architect and the dome expert respectively. There is some ambiguity about the nativity of Ustad Isa (as to whether he was a citizen of Agra or of Shiraz), but the dome expert, as the name suggests, was from Rum which means the area around Bagdad and Mesopotamia. Is it plausible that the dome expert from the heartland of Islam, built the dome according to the Shilpa Shastra with a lotus canopy?
(Incidently, what was this dome expert doing in the Taj Mahal? He was drawing a stately salary of Rs. 500/- per month, and if Aurangzeb's letter (Section 3) is to be believed, he did not even carry out the badly needed repairs to any of the five domes of the marble edifice!)
(iii) Arrangement of Domes: In architecture, even minor details normally embody certain meaning, and it would be more so in the case of gigantic domes which form the most important aspect of such buildings. Do the arrangements of numerous domes in the Taj Complex have any special significance?
A well-known authority on Indian architecture E. B. Havell (pp.22-23) points out: "... the arrangement of the roofing of the mausoleum itself consists of five domes... this structural arrangement is not Saracenic, but essentially Hindu. It is known in Hindu architecture as the pancharatna, the shrine of the five jewels, or the five-headed lingam of Siva... A typical example of it is found in one of the small shrines of Chandi Sewa at Prambanam in Java, which has an arrangement of domes strikingly similar to that of the Taj." (According to Sir Stanford Raffles, the Chandi Sewa temple was completed in 1098 AD.)
In front of the marble edifice, at the other end of the courtyard is the main Gateway which contains 22 mini-domes arranged on top of two parallel walls--one facing the Taj Mahal and the other facing the outer southern gate. (According to the legend, it represents the 22 years it took to build the Taj Mahal. The legend has its origin in the records of Tavernier, which is already examined in an earlier section, and is found baseless.)
It is noteworthy that the two rows of mini-domes are separated by more than 100 ft. (The floor area of the main Gateway is 140 ft x 110 ft.) And that the number derives its significance from the Ekadasa Rudra (Eleven forms of Siva?).
The central edifice is flanked with two identical buildings, each having three huge domes. Could it be that they derive their significance from the Trinity of the Hindus? There seems to be no special significance attached to the number of domes in Saracenic architecture. In India there are mediaeval mosques which can be classified as having one, three, five, ten, eleven or even fifteen domes. However, the triple domed version seems to be a distinct Indian contribution to Saracenic architecture as such buildings are scarcely seen outside India.
(iv) The Direction of the Mosque: Normally mosques are built facing the Holy Mecca, the direction in which the faithful is commanded to turn while he prays. But the mosque inside the Taj Complex is facing the cardinal West instead of the Holy City. Marvin Mills10 of New York states: "... by the ninth century, they (Muslims) were able to calculate the direction of Mecca within two degrees from any city... the mosque that is part of the Taj complex faces due West whereas Mecca from Agra is 14 degrees 55 minutes south of West."
Therefore, the fact that the Taj Mahal contains the bulbous dome, in itself is not sufficient to attribute its authorship to Shah Jahan. On the other hand, the fact that the domes having lotus canopy needed repairs in 1662 AD, the arrangement of the dome in the marble edifice, the main gateway and the adjacent buildings and also the direction of the mosque give rise to speculation that the bulbous dome was part of temple architecture. The temples of Muktagiri and Sonagarh further substantiates this conjecture, indicating the possibility of the bulbous dome existing in India before the Mogul invasion in the 16th century.
10 The Minarets
In the mediaeval architecture of Persia and Bagdad, the minaret had a functional utility--to give call for the prayer to the faithful--in a mosque. Several of the mediaeval mosques in Gujarat do contain such minarets. But in the northern Gangetic plain, during the first four centuries of Pathan architecture, the minaret was not part of the building, with the sole exception of the mosque of Ajmer. (The mosque of Ajmer was one of the two earliest buildings built by the invading Afghans, and subsequently its minarets fell off due to the faulty construction.) Says Fergusson (pp.219-20): "...minarets...so far as I know, were not attached to mosques during the so-called Pathan period. The call to prayer was made from the roof; and except the first rude attempt at Ajmer, I do not know an instance of a minaret built solely for such a purpose, though they were, as we know, universal in Egypt and elsewhere long before this time, and were considered nearly indispensable in the buildings of the Mughals very shortly afterwards."
However, the style and the purpose of the minarets of the Taj Mahal appear to be quite different from those of the Saracenic architecture of Persia or Bagdad for two reasons:
(i) The marble edifice, which is a mausoleum, has four minarets at its corners, whereas the adjacent mosque for which a minaret would have been of functional utility does not have any.
(ii) In pure Saracenic architecture, the minaret normally rises from the shoulder of the edifice to well-above the dome. In the case of the Taj Mahal, they stand separated from the edifice and are shorter than the domes.
Therefore, the purpose of the minarets is not functional but decorative, and the inspiration behind them is not Saracenic.
In fact, the "era of minarets" seems to have begun with Shah Jahan himself. Among the buildings of his predecessors, only one--the southern gateway to Sikandara (Akbar's tomb) in Agra--contains four marble minarets. But there is good reason to believe that those are subsequent additions (probably by Shah Jahan himself) and not part of original design. Apart from the contrast of the marble minarets standing on top of red-stone gateway, to quote Satish Grover1 "the location of the minarets over the parapets flanking
the main entrance, is to say the least unusual and a clear case of fortuitous addition rather than comprehensive design. These minarets were certainly built either as experiments before erecting those at the Taj or immediately thereafter--more probably the latter."
Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that the minarets of the Taj Mahal were not inspired by the Saracenic architecture; but on the other hand, it is from the Taj Mahal that the subsequent Mogul architecture adopted the concept of decorative minarets.
11. Hindu Symbolism
In addition to the lotus canopy over the dome, there are many other symbolic and sculptural details in the Taj Mahal which are quite appropriate in a Siva temple.14 Some of them are quoted below:
(i) Recess above the entrance: In the southern entrance to the outer precincts of the Taj Complex (i.e., the Taj Gunj gate facing the main gateway), above the door arch, there is a small arched recess. It is customary in Hindu Forts (for example, the Nagardhan Fort, Nagpur) to place an idol of Lord Ganesa in a similar recess above the main entrance. Could it be that the recess above the Taj entrance also contained a similar idol, which was subsequently removed by the iconoclastic invaders?
(ii) The Rajput Welcome Signs: The walls of the main gateway and the "kitchen" in the great courtyard are marked with typical Rajput welcome signs, such as the "gulab-dani" (rose-water cans) and "ilaichi-dani" (cardamon pots). The Rajput palaces at Deeg (Bharatpur) and Jaipur also contain similar welcome signs.
(iii) Ganesa Torana: On the main gateway, the entire border at waist-height is decorated with what is called the "Ganesa Torana" (the elephant trunk and the crown can be clearly identified). It is noteworthy that animate decorations are taboo in Islam.
(iv) Other sculptural details: Upon the marble walls of the central edifice, there are sculptural details of flowers in the shape of OM and bell flowers which is of great significance in the worship of Lord Shiva.
(v) The pinnacle: On top of the central dome of the Taj Mahal, there is a copper pinnacle which measures a height of 32' 5 ½". On the eastern red-stone courtyard, in front of the community hall, there is a figure of the pinnacle inlaid in black marble which measures a length of only 30' 6".
There is reason to believe that the copper pinnacle is not the original one. The Shahjahannama of Muhammad Salah Kumbo mentions that the pinnacle was pure gold15. But by 1873-74 it was already of copper and when it was taken down for regilding, the words "Joseph Taylor" were found engraved on the copper16. Captain
Taylor was the British official who carried out the repairs to the Taj Mahal in 1810 AD. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the original gold pinnacle was removed by either Joseph Taylor or his predecessors. The discrepancy between the lengths of the pinnacle and its figure in the courtyard supports this conclusion. However, because of the similarity between the copper pinnacle and its figure in the courtyard, it can be assumed that the original shape remains unaltered.
The end of the pinnacle branches into a trident, its central tongue extending farther than that of the other two. On closer observation, the central tongue appears to be in the shape of a "Kalasha" (water pot) topped with two bent mango leaves and a coconut. This is a sacred Hindu motif. Could it be that the trident pinnacle was symbolic of the deity Lord Shiva worshipped inside?
The symbols listed above are directly Hindu and some of them--the animate decorations such as the cobra twins and Ganesha--"torana" are toboo in Islam. It is likely that these details, not being very obvious, are only those that have survived the alterations in the building.
An alternate explanation attributes the Hindu symbolism to the benevolent religious tolerance of Shah Jahan, under whom the Hindu craftsmen enjoyed complete freedom to express their talent in their own traditional style. However, regarding his religious tolerance, his own court journal Badshahnama has an altogether different commentary to make: "It has been brought to the notice of His Majesty that during the late region many idol temples had begun, but remained unfinished at Benaras, the great stronghold of infidelity. The infidels were now desirous of completing them. His Majesty, the defender of the faith, gave orders that at Benaras and throughout all his dominions at every place, all temples should be cast down. It was now reported from the province of Allahabad that 76 temples had been destroyed in the district of Benaras."17
12. General Layout And Plan
(i) Numerous rooms in the edifice: It has been discussed in an earlier section that there are two floors below the real grave containing numerous rooms. Obviously, these rooms did not have any utility in a mausoleum, and their presence is not explicable unless it is accepted to be an ancient edifice built for an altogether different purpose. They do not appear to have been living rooms, but were they meant for storing provisions and other materials of a vast temple complex?
(ii) The Nagar Khanas: Midway between the main gateway and the marble edifice, on either side of the courtyard, there are two identical buildings known as the "Nagar-khanas" (Drum Houses).
Is it plausible that Shah Jahan, who was very "scrupulous...in the matters of bereavement and religious sanctity" (Section 2) built these drum houses? Music is taboo in Islam--there is a mosque nearby. And a mausoleum is certainly not a place for festivity!
On the other hand, drums are important accompaniments in the worship of Lord Shiva.
(iii) The Gow-Shala: within the precincts of the Taj Mahal, to the east of the Main Gateway, at the extreme end of the courtyard, there is a cow-shed known as the "Gow-Shala". What could have been the purpose of a cow-shed in a mausoleum? Or was it part of the temple complex?
It is possible that it was not part of the original plan--as it disturbs the symmetry of the complex--but because of its Sanskrit name, the "Gow-Shala" appears to have been introduced by the Hindu rulers, who were using the edifice as a palace or temple.
To Sum Up: The arrangement of the domes, the lotus canopy, the trident pinnacle, the numerous rooms in the building, the direction of the mosque and its triple domes, the "Gow-shala", the "Nagar-khanas," and the surviving Hindu symbolism indicate that it was originally built as a temple complex. The purpose of the minarets is not functional but decorative, and the inspiration behind them does not appear to be Saracenic. The graves and the Koranic inscriptions upon the marble wall, of course, should be attributed to Shah Jahan.
The whole argument about the Taj Mahal being a Mogul construction hinges solely upon the assumption about the origin of the bulbous dome, which certainly is debatable. Havell had emphatically asserted (pp.1-38) that the prototype of bulbous dome existed in the Buddhist stupa and the carvings of Ajanta several centuries before the Mogul invasion. He did not question the claim of Shah Jahan building the Taj Mahal, but asserted that from purely architectural considerations, the inspiration behind the edifice was neither Arab, nor Persian, nor European but Indian--"more Indian than St. Paul's cathedral and Westminster Abbey are English". (p. 13)
III--SUM TOTAL
The discussion on the historical evidence indicates that the Taj Mahal was already ancient at the time of Shah Jahan. And the discussion upon the architecture leads to the conclusion that the general layout of the Taj Complex resembles a Shiva temple. The whole thesis of Shah Jahan himself building the edifice rests upon the premise that the bulbous dome originated in Samarkhand and migrated to India after the advent of Babur.
The discussion cannot be complete unless we examine two other questions: What is the plausibility of Shah Jahan constructing the edifice, and how did the legend come to be?
There is universal agreement about the architectural splendour and grandeur of the Taj Mahal. It was conceived by an inspired mind which knew the meaning of beauty, and it signifies the culmination of a mature style in architecture. It is a testimony to the peace and prosperity of its period.
The Moguls were rich in wealth and taste and seem to have had the leisure to undertake a project of this kind. But what about its style? Does it appear to be in the tradition of the style developed and perfected by the successive rulers of Mogul dynasty? Listen to James Fergusson (pp. 307-308): "It would be difficult to point out in the whole history of architecture any change so sudden as that which took place between the style of Akbar and that of his grandson Shah Jahan--nor any contrast so great as that between the manly vigour and exuberant originality of the first, as compared with the extreme but almost effeminate elegance of the second. Certainly when the same people, following the same religion, built temples and palaces in the same locality, nothing of the sort ever occurred in any country whose history is known to us."
It should be remembered that Fergusson was the pioneer in the field of Indian archeaology and was the first--and considered the most authoritative--historian to propound that the bulbous dome originated in Samarkhand. But at the same time he found that the difference between the styles of Akbar and Shah Jahan so unique, that it was the only one of its kind in the human history. Having said this, he does not discuss the possibility of some of those buildings belonging to an altogether different era, but a few pages later (p. 316) makes a brief but startling remark about the Taj Mahal, "When used as a Baradhari, or pleasure palace, it must always have been the coolest and loveliest of garden retreats, and now that it is sacred to the dead it is the most graceful and the most impressive of the sepulchres of the world."
That is, the version of the Badshahnama as quoted at the beginning of this essay--that Shah Jahan had acquired a palace for the burial of his queen--was known to Fergusson during the middle of the 19th century. (The above statement occurs repeatedly in his books published in 1855, 1867 and 1876.) He also found its style too uniquely different to reconcile with that of Shah Jahan's immediate predecessors. And yet, the doyen of Indian archaeology glossed over the issue of its antiquity and attributed it to Shah Jahan! Why then did Fergusson not question the claim--if at all there was any single cogent claim at the time--and thereby perpetuate the legend of Shah Jahan himself building the Taj Mahal?
The legend had originated at the time of Shah Jahan himself--as both Tavernier and Manrique testify, though their versions do not match with each other--and drew powerful support from the writings of Fergusson save the above quoted sentence. The above sentence not only appears in all the three major publications of Fergusson (1867 and 1876), but also was quoted in the 9th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica (1875)--where it remained until the 11th edition in 1910--and also in "Murray's Handbook (for travellers) to India and Ceylon" (1891). In 1896, Syad Muhammad Latif19 wrote that the building "was originally a palace of Raja Man Singh but now it was the property of his grandson Raja Jai Singh. His Majesty gave the Raja a lofty edifice from the Khalsa estate
in exchange of this building; and the spot was used for the mausoleum of the deceased empress."
Meanwhile the legend also grew, as can be made out from the numerous writings of the period though the details pertaining to the construction of the edifice, such as the identity of the architect, expenditure, duration of construction, etc., did not go beyond vague conjectures. In 1905, Moin-ud-din Ahmed20 quoted from Badshahnama (Vol. II, pp. 325-6) that the gold railing around the tomb "was made under the supervision of Bebadal Khan, Master of king's kitchen". But the identity of the architect of the edifice remained unsolved. The 22 basement rooms were detected in 1900 AD, and Moin-ud-din Ahmed discussed them in his book (pp. 35-36) and stated that, "The real object of building them remains a mystery."
In fact, by the turn of the century, the legend had grown so powerful that it made all the evidences to the contrary appear irrelevant. Even though the discovery of the sealed underground chambers was a powerful reason to re-examine the legend carefully, the 11th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica (1910) chose to omit the above statement of Fergusson from its columns--apparently because of its incongruity with the powerful legend. It mentioned the name of Ustad Isa as the Chief architect. By 1913, E. B. Havell, while emphatically asserting that the architecture of the edifice is Hindu, and not Saracenic, does not at all discuss the possibility of Shah Jahan acquiring the edifice. By 1931, the letter of Aurangzeb discussing the serious defects in the Taj Mahal was published ("Marakka-i-Akbarabad" by Said Ahmed, 1931), which was translated by M. S. Vats of Archaeological Survey of India in 1945. But the legend survived the publication.
To revert back to Fergusson, why did he not question the legend, though he had very good reason to do so? Obviously, he was labouring under the burden of his own assumption that the bulbous dome was a resultant contribution of Mogul invasion upon India during the 16th century. In this respect, his own uncertainty about the antiquity of the temples of Sonagarh and Muktagiri [Section 9 (i)] is also quite significant. Fergusson himself recorded (p. 286) this uncertainty and inconclusiveness, while discussing the basis of his assumption:
"It is probable that very considerable light will yet be throne upon the origin of the style which the Moguls introduced into India, from an examination of the buildings erected at Samakhand by Timur, a hundred years before Babar's time (A.D. 1393-1404). Now that the city is in the hands of Russians, it is accessible to Europeans. Its buildings have been drawn and photographed, but not yet described so as to be available for scientific purposes..."
Therefore, it can be said with certainty that the legend of Shah Jahan building the Taj Mahal rests purely upon the erroneous assumption about the origin of the bulbous dome. (In fairness, Shah Jahan himself never claimed that he built the Taj Mahal.) And that the architecture of the Taj Mahal, to put it in the words of Havell, "more Indian than St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey are English."
What then is the true age of the Taj Mahal?
Though it was put to use as a palace, its architecture is not that of a residential mansion, but of a temple. Obviously, it was converted into a palace, and Raja Man Singh was not the one to effect the conversion. It is not unreasonable to speculate that the edifice acquired his name due to his pre-eminent position in the Mogul Court and his fairly long occupation of the building. The fact that the edifice required elaborate repairs in 1652 AD, also indicates that it belonged to a period earlier to Raja Man Singh. The radio-carbon dating--though not conclusive about the date--further reinforces the possibility of the Taj Mahal being a couple of centuries older than Shah Jahan. However, a conclusive dating can be done only by several radio-carbon tests of different samples from the edifice. And it is almost certain that the sealed underground chambers would reveal enough evidence about the original purpose and the true age of the edifice. The historical antecedents of the building can be traced only by considerable diligent study of the documents pertaining to several centuries prior to Shah Jahan.
However, if radio-carbon test result quoted above can be treated as a pointer, it raises certain important questions regarding Indian archaeology.
i) Was the bulbous dome an exclusive innovation of Indian architecture, and migrated to Samakhand through the architects taken captive by Timurlung?
ii) If the architecture style could produce so fine a piece as the Taj Mahal in the 14th century, how long ago did the style originate? Is it true, as Havell has asserted, that the bulbous dome had its origin in the Buddhist stupas and the carvings of Ajanta (which was at least a thousand years before the initial Afgan invasion)? If so, it brings us face to face with the other assumptions of Fergusson that the single pointed arch and the arcuate style of constructing the arches and domes--the Taj Mahal answer to both these characteristics--have arrived at India only during the 13th century AD after the initial Afgan invasion.
Thus, the question of antiquity of the Taj Mahal has powerful bearing upon the study of Indian archaeology. It raises certain pertinent questions about the origin, development, influence and classification of one of the important streams of mediaeval architecture. And since an architectural style carries with it the stamp of the contemporary epoch, the above questions have bearing upon the study of Indian history as well. Therefore, it calls for a thorough re-examination of the Mogul architecture--particularly that of Shah Jahan, which Fergusson found it so difficult to reconcile with the style of that period.
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By P. S. Bhat and A. L. Athawale
(from the Itihas Patrika, Vol. 5, pp 98-111, 1985)
ABSTRACT
This paper deals with the Taj Mahal, the magnificent marble edifice on the banks of the river Jamuna, in the southern part of Agra city. It is generally believed by historians and laymen alike that the building was erected as a mausoleum by the 5th generation Mogul Emperor Shah
Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, and that the period of its construction was 1631-53 AD.
The basis of these claims has been questioned by Shri P. N. Oak in his book "The Taj Mahal is a Temple Palace." The substance of Shri Oak's thesis is that the edifice was originally built as a temple in the 12th century AD, and was subsequently used as a palace by the alien aggressors. The building again fell into the hands of the Rajput kings during the period of Humayun, and was put to use as a palace by Raja Man Singh of Jaipur. And that it was finally commandeered by Shah Jahan from Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur, and was converted into a mausoleum.
The controversy assumes importance as it questions some of the basic premises of mediaeval Indian archeology. This paper attempts to place in perspective some of the pertinent questions that arise on the subject.
I HISTORY
1. INTRODUCTION
The legend of the Taj Mahal tells us that it was built by Shah Jahan (1628-1658 AD), the fifth generation Mogul Emperor, as a mausoleum to his wife Mumtaz Mahal. And that 20,000 men worked incessantly for 22 years to complete the magnificent marble edifice.
Mumtaz died in 1631 AD, at Barhanpur where she was buried and a mausoleum was erected. Six months later her body was shifted to Agra to be buried in what is known as the Temporary Grave--which is demarcated and can be seen even today--a few meters to the southwest of the Taj Mahal. And subsequently her body was laid to rest inside the Taj Mahal.
The main supporting pieces of the above thesis are cited from the following documents, which will be discussed in detail in the course of this paper.
i) The Badshahnama1, an important court journal of Shah Jahan, written by Mulla Abdul Hamid Lahori.
ii) The firmans (court orders) of Shah Jahan to Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur2, pertaining to the
acquisition of marble from the Makrana quarries in Rajasthan.
iii) Travelogue of Peter Mundy3, an employee of the East India Company, who visited Agra between 1631-1633 AD.
iiii) Travelogue of J. B. Tavernier4, a French merchant who visited India five times between 1638-1668 AD.
The Taj Mahal is a seven storeyed edifice with its plinth at the level of the riverbed. The court yard in front of the building corresponds to the third storey of the edifice. The entire skeleton of the edifice is made of red stone, the top four floors being plastered with marble. It measures a height of 243 ½ ft (whereas the Qutb Minar of Delhi is only 238 ft). The marble platform (4th storey) on which the central edifice is standing has a floor area of 328 ft x 328 ft, and has four marble minarets at its corners. The marble superstructure covers an area of 187 ft x 187 ft with 33 ft chambers cut off at each corner. It has a huge central dome with an inner diameter of 58 ft and a wall thickness of 14 ft -- surrounded by four smaller copulas with a diameter of 26'8".
The central edifice is flanked with two identical red-stone buildings--the one on the western side is a mosque and the other a community hall--each having three domes. Facing the main building at the other end of the courtyard is the Main Gateway, which is a four-storeyed edifice covering a floor area of 140 ft x 110 ft. Midway between the Gateway and the marble edifice, there are two identical double-storeyed buildings, placed on either side of the courtyard known as the "Nagar Khanas" (Drum Houses). The courtyard covers a net area of 1460 ft x 100 ft.
Outside the Main Gateway is the Great courtyard, which covers an additional area of 430 ft x 1000 ft, having rows of redstone constructions, at present used as shops. Thus, the Taj Complex covers a net area of 1890 ft x 1000 ft, which is roughly equal to half the area of the Red Fort of Agra. The whole complex is perfectly symmetrical about the North-South axis, the two halves forming mirror images of each other to minutest details.
It must have been a challenging project both architecturally and financially, so much so that it made both Shah Jahan and his wife immortal. But it is surprising that in none of the hitherto known court papers of Shah Jahan--there are several of them--there is any record of the date of its commencement or of its completion, or the total period of its construction or the details of expenditure. (There is a brief remark in the Badshahnama that the expenditure incurred upon the building was Rs. 40 lakhs. And the present estimate of 20,000 workers and 22 years are based upon the writings of Tavernier, which shall be examined later.) Besides, several details of traditional Hindu symbolism can be located at various places in the Taj Complex. Therefore, it is a pertinent question whether
Shah Jahan himself built the edifice, or he converted an existing building into a mausoleum.
2. Court Papers
Badshahnama, one of the most important court journals of Shah Jahan, deals with the burial of Mumtaz in two pages of its first volume (pp.403-404). A line by line translation of these pages was provided by Sri P. N. Oak5 in his book published in 1966. The following passages are quoted from that source.
(On) "Friday--15th Jamadi-ul Awwal, the sacred dead body of the traveller to the kingdom of Holiness, hazrat Mumtaz-ul Zamani--who was buried temporarily.... was brought to the capital Akbarabad (Agra)...
The site covered with magnificent lush garden, to the south of that great city and amidst which (garden) the building known as the palace of Raja Mansingh, at present owned by Raja Jaisingh (Pesh az ein Manzil-e Rajan Mansingh bood Wadaree Waqt ba Raja Jaisingh), grandson (of Mansingh) was selected for the burial of the queen whose abode is in heaven.
"Although Raja Jaisingh valued it greatly as his ancestral heritage and property, yet would have been agreeable to part with it gratis for the Emperor Shahjahan. (Still) out of sheer scrupulousness so essential in the matters of bereavement and religious sanctity, in exchange of that grand place, he was granted a piece of government land (Dar' awaz aan aali Manzil-e az khalisa-e sharifah badoo marahmat farmoodand) after the arrival of the dead body in that great city on 15th Jamadul Soniya.
"Next year that illustrious body of the heavenly queen was laid to rest. The officials of the capital, according to the royal orders of the day, under the sky-high lofty mausoleum hid the pious lady from the eyes of the world, and the edifice so majestic and with a dome, and so lofty in its stature, is a memorial to the courage of sky-dimensions of the king--and a strength so mighty in resolution so firm--the foundation was laid and geomatricians of farsight and architects of talent incurred an expenditure of Rs. 40 lakhs (chihal lakh roopiah) on this building."
Normally, the above quoted passages would need no further commentary. It is explicitly stated that the "palace of Raja Mansingh was selected for the burial of the queen". That it is no ordinary building is obvious as Raja Jaisingh "valued it greatly as his ancestral heritage and property". And piece of government land was given in exchange of that great palace (aali manzil). The transaction was clinched only after the arrival of the dead body in Agra (which explains the presence of the Temporary Grave). The body was finally buried in the "sky-high lofty mausoleum" the following year (probably soon after the palace was suitably modified). And the subsequent decorations and calligraphical work upon the building cost Rs. 40 lakhs.
What then is the basis of the claim that Shah Jahan built the edifice? In the last paragraph quoted above, there occurs a phrase, "...foundation was laid..." Some historians interpret it to mean that Shah Jahan laid the foundation of a new edifice--the Taj Mahal, and the support to this view is drawn from the Persian line quoted in the third paragraph dealing with the transaction. It is interpreted as a grand palace being granted to Raja Jai Singh in exchange of the land for building the mausoleum.
From the clear and explicit reference to Raja Man Singh's palace, and the absence of any details about the duration and efforts involved in building the gigantic edifice, the operative phrase, "foundation was laid" can also be viewed as a figurative reference to the initiation of alterations in the edifice. However, the controversy makes it necessary to examine the issue more carefully.
The confusion can be resolved only by examining all other evidences including the architecture of the edifice. The details of architecture--the bulbous dome and the minarets being Mogul characteristics, etc.--are examined in the second part of this paper; but it is relevant to examine one particular aspect of the architecture at this stage.
As mentioned earlier, the Taj Mahal is a multi-storeyed edifice with its plinth at the level of the riverbed. The entire skeleton of the edifice is of brick and red-stone, with the superstructure standing upon the red-stone terrace being plastered with marble. In Mogul tombs it is customary to have two graves: the real grave containing the dead body in the basement of the building, and a well decorated cenotaph meant for the public eye on the upper floor. In the Taj Mahal the real grave is on the third storey of the edifice and the decorated cenotaph is on the fourth.
The basement floor is now completely sealed; but the floor immediately below the real grave has long corridor running East-West on the northern part of the edifice, which can be entered at either end by means of staircases from the red-stone terrace. The corridor is 5'8" wide and about 322 ft long and opens into 22 rooms (between the corridor and the river side wall) of sizes ranging from 11 ft x 20 ft, to 22 ft x 20 ft. These rooms had windows opening to the riverside, but all of them are permanently sealed with brick and mortar from inside and with red-stone slabs having floral decorations from outside. On the other side of the corridor there are at least three entrances opening to the South, which are crudely sealed with brick and mortar. The staircases to the corridor from the floor above were detected in 1900 AD.
If the edifice was originally constructed for the purpose of a tomb, of what utility were these underground chambers conceived? And then why were they sealed subsequently? Or, was it that the edifice was originally constructed for an altogether different purpose?
Badshahnama (vol I, p. 384) records the date of Mumtaz's death at Barhanpur as the 17th Zi-it Quada 1040 AH (20th June, 1631). The passages quoted above mentions the date of arrival of the dead body at Agra as the 15th Jamad-ul Sanya 1041 AH (8th Jan., 1632).
But the date of final burial of Mumtaz inside the Taj Mahal is not precisely recorded, except that it was done the following year.
That it was done certainly before the 25th February, 1633 becomes obvious from the writings of Peter Mundy (see Section 5), who finally left Agra on the date but has recorded that he had seen a rail of gold around the tomb of Mumtaz.
A completed mausoleum at Barhanpur indicates that the idea of a sepulcher in Agra must have occurred to Shah Jahan at least a few months after the death of Mumtaz. And the burial inside the Taj was complete with costly decorations and the tourists were allowed to visit by February, 1633. Even if one were to accept that the burial was done when the building was still under construction, it is unlikely that the cenotaph on the 4th storey would be decorated with gold, etc., unless the three lower floors of the edifice were complete.
How does it compare with the supposed period of construction of the Taj Mahal, 1631-53 AD? Is it plausible that beginning with the selection of the architects and building plan, the lower three floors of the edifice would be raised upon the riverbed within the span of a year?
Therefore, the translations quoted above regarding the acquisition of Raja Man Singh's palace seem to be the correct interpretation of the Badshahnama. However, there is another aspect of the question which needs to be examined. Could it be that the marble superstructure upon the red-stone terrace was erected by Shah Jahan himself?
3. Aurangzeb's Letter
In the year 1652 AD, Aurangzeb assumed charge as the Governor of Deccan. On his way, he visited Agra and inspected the Taj Mahal. In his letter written from Dholpur6, he wrote about the badly needed repairs to the Taj Mahal. Excerpts from the translation of the letter provided by M. S. Vats are quoted below:
"The dome of the holy tomb leaked in two places towards the north during the rainy season and so also the fair semi-domed arches, many of the galleries on the second storey, the four smaller domes, the four northern compartments and seven arched underground chambers which have developed cracks. During the rains last year the terrace over the main dome also leaked in two or three places. It has been repaired, but it remains to be seen during the ensuing rainy season how far the operations prove successful. The domes of the Mosque and the Jama'at Khana leaked during the rains...
"The master builders are of the opinion that if the roof of the second storey is reopened and dismantled and treated afresh with concrete, over which half a yard of mortar grout is laid the semi-domed arches, the galleries and the smaller domes will probably become watertight, but they are unable to suggest any measures of repairs to the main dome..."
The letter is eloquent enough. In 1652 AD, the dome of the holy tomb, the fair semi-domed arches, the four smaller domes and the domes of the Mosque and the Jama'at Khana all had developed serious defects. How does it compare with the supposed period of its construction 1631-53 AD?
And do the master builders of Shah Jahan who were "unable to suggest any measures of repairs to the main dome" appear to be the original architects of the edifice? Does it mean that the statement of Badshahnama, "Next year that illustrious body... was laid to rest... under the sky-high lofty mausoleum... with a dome" is literally true?
4. The Firmans
There are records of three firmans by Shah Jahan to Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur pertaining to the acquisition of marble2. These firmans are cited as a conclusive proof of the claim that it was Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal.
i) dated 9 Rajab, 1041 Hijra (Jan 21, 1632)
"As a great number of carts are required for transportation of marble needed for constructing building (at the capital), a firman was previously sent to you (to procure them). It is again desired of you, that as many carts on hire be arranged as possible in the earliest time, as has already been written to you, and be dispatched to Makrana for expediting the transport of marble to the capital. Every assistance be given to Allahood who has been deputed to arrange the transportation of marble to Akbarabad. Account (of expenditure on carts) along with the previous account of amount allocated for the purchase of marble be submitted (to the mutsaddi in charge of payment).
ii) dated 4 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1043 Al Hijra (Sept. 9, 1632)
"Mulkshah has been deputed to Amber (Amer) to bring marble from the new mines (of Makrana). It is commended that carts on hire be arranged for transportation of marble and Mulkshah be assisted to purchase as much marble as he may desire to have. The purchase price of marble and cartage shall be paid by him from the treasury. Every other assistance be given to him to procure and bring marble and sculptors to the capital expeditiously."
iii) dated 7 Saffer, 1047 Al Hijra (June 21, 1637)
"We hear that your men detain the stone-cutters of the region at Amber and Rajnagar. This creates shortage of stone-cutters (miners) at Makrana and the work (of procuring marble) suffers. Hence it is desired of you that no stone-cutter be detained at Amber and Rajnagar and all of them who are available be sent to the mutsaddis of Makrana."
The firmans conclusively prove that Shah Jahan did acquire marble from the Makrana quarries. But does it also prove that he was the original builder of the Taj Mahal?
The marble walls of the cenotaph chamber, the border of the door arches and the top border of the entire edifice are replete with Koranic inscriptions which can be attributed only to Shah Jahan, even if he was not the builder of the edifice. It is said that fourteen chapters of Holy Koran are inscribed on the walls of the Taj Mahal. In addition, there is commendable amount of inlay-work and flower carving in the Taj Mahal. All these would require considerable amount of fresh marble.
The body of Mumtaz arrived at Agra and was buried in a temporary grave on the 8th of January, 1632. In the firman written barely a fortnight later, Shah Jahan refers to a previous letter and orders Jai Singh to arrange for the transportation of marble "in the earliest time". That is, the acquisition of marble had begun at about the same time when the body was shifted to Agra. As noted earlier, the lower two floors (and all the other buildings in the Taj Complex) are completely of brick and red stone. Even the skeleton of the marble superstructure is made of brick--for example, the Central dome has a wall thickness of 14 ft, of which only 6 inches on either side is of marble and the rest of 13 ft is of brick. Therefore, if the edifice were to be raised from the foundation onward--not to speak of the selection of architects and building plan, etc.--it is unlikely that the work involving marble would have begun so soon. (It is noteworthy that a completed mausoleum at Barhanpur indicates that the idea of a sepulcher in Agra must have occurred to Shah Jahan only a few months after the death of Mumtaz.) Therefore, it is only reasonable to attribute the acquisition of marble to the alterations in an already existing edifice--the palace of Raja Man Singh.
5. Peter Mundy
He was an employee of the East India Company, and visited Agra three times between 1631 and 1633. His last visit was between 22nd Dec, 1632 and 25th Feb, 1633. He has noted in his Travelogue (pp. 208-213):
"Places of note (in and about Agra) are castle, King Akbar's tombe, Moholl's tombe, garden and bazare...
"The king is now building a sepulchre for his late deceased queen Taje Maholl... There is already about her tombe a rail of gold... the building is begun and goes on with excessive labor and cost, prosecuted with extraordinary diligence, gold and silver esteemed common metal and marble but ordinary stones..."
Mundy uses two phrases, "The king is now building a sepulchre..." and "The building is begun..." which can be understood as Shah Jahan was actually erecting an edifice.
But he also states that the Taj Mahal was already a centre of tourist attraction (in 1632-33 AD) comparable with Akbar's tomb and the fort. The cenotaph on the fourth storey was complete with a gold railing around it, and the tourists were allowed to visit the grave. "The building is begun", declares Peter Mundy, and the work in progress had much to do with "gold and silver... and marble". Was it the erection of the edifice or was it calligraphy and decorations?
6. J. B. Tavernier
Great importance is attached to Tavernier's (a French merchant) records about the Taj Mahal, as he was an impartial foreigner. His writings form the most important basis of the claim that Shah Jahan was the original builder of the Taj Mahal. He visited India five times between 1638-1668 AD. Excerpts from his Travelogue (Book I, pp. 110-111):
"I witnessed the commencement and accomplishment of the great work on which they expended 22 years during which 20,000 men worked incessantly...
"It is said that the scaffolding alone cost more than the entire work, because, for want of wood, they had all to be made of brick as well as the support of the arches."
Tavernier made his first appearance in Agra in the winter of 1640-41 AD (Dr. Ball's Introduction, p. xiv) nearly a decade after the death of Mumtaz and makes the claim that he was an eye-witness to the commencement of the Taj Mahal. In the light of the discussion so far, it is superfluous to comment upon this part of the claim. But was he a witness to the completion of the building?
The marble walls of the cenotaph chamber are full of Koranic inscriptions8, which ends with the name of the calligrapher and the dates "...written by the insignificant being Amanat Khan Shirazi in the year 1048 Hijri and the 12th year of His Majesty's reign." (i.e, 1639 AD)
That is, the calligraphical work was complete at least a year before Tavernier first visited Agra. Therefore, if at all he had seen any work going on in the building, it can only be the last stages of decorations, not to speak of the erection of the edifice.
He then makes the other important claim that 20,000 men worked incessantly for 22 years to complete the building. This statement seems to the be the basis of the claim that the building was constructed between 1631-53 AD, though, obviously, it does not tally with his claim about its commencement. Nor does the supposed date of completion (1653 AD) tally with Tavernier's claim of seeing it completed. It is true that he visited India during 1651-55; but he did not visit Agra during that trip. His route, according to V. Ball, was Masulipttam-Madras-Gandekot-Golconda-Surat-Ahmedabad-Surat-Ahmedabad-Golconda-Surat. It is probable, as noted earlier, that he had seen the decorative work completed in the Taj during his first visit to Agra in 1640-41 AD. However, the validity
of his claim can be more conclusively examined by comparing it with the expenditure incurred upon the building (Rs. 40 lakhs) as claimed in the Badshahnama.
If the above amount is assumed to have been spent purely upon the labour charges to the exclusion of material costs, then the average salary of a worker comes out to be three-quarters of a rupee per month. Obviously, the lowest paid worker would be getting only a small fraction of this amount. Compare it with Tavernier's own account (Book I, p. 46) of contemporary labour charges "...you pay each attendant for everything only 4 rupees a month, but up to 5 rupees when the journey is long."
Surprisingly, he then goes on to quote a rumour, that the brick scaffolding alone had cost more than the entire work! Is this claim reliable? Can the cost of brick scaffolding be more than that of the marble edifice? If at all it is true, then the "entire work" can only mean the alterations in the building and not the erection of it.
That is, the claims of Tavernier regarding the commencement of the edifice, the duration of the work and the labour involved are unreliable; but the rumour he quoted appears to be closer to truth.
7. Other Records
(i) Havell9 quotes a Persian manuscript having the name of several chief craftsmen working in the Taj Mahal as drawing monthly salaries ranging from Rs. 200/- to Rs. 1000/-. The name of the chief calligrapher (Amanat Khan Shirazi) listed in the manuscript is also inscribed inside the cenotaph chamber (Section 6). And, therefore, the manuscript seems to be authentic (Table 1).
It lists the names of a chief architect (Ustad Isa), a dome expert (Ismail Khan Rumi), two pinnacle experts, four calligraphers, four inlay workers, five flower carvers, six master masons, etc. The net salary of 20 of these craftsmen exceeds Rs. one lakh per year. It further weakens the claim of Tavernier, since it reduces the average salary of the rest of 20,000 workers to less than half the amount calculated above.
It is also noteworthy that the chief architect (Ustad Isa), the chief mason (Muhammad Hanief) and the chief calligrapher (Amanat Khan Shirazi)--each was drawing the highest salary of Rs. 1000/- per month. If the chief architect were the one who conceived and designed the Taj Mahal, it is unlikely that he would be treated at par with the chief mason and the calligrapher. Note also the fact that among the names listed, the architect and the dome expert are vastly outnumbered by the masons, calligraphers, flower-carvers and inlay workers.
(ii) Fray Sebastion Manrique10, a Portugese traveller who also visited Agra at about the same time (winter of 1640-41) as Tavernier did. Excerpts from his Travelogue:
"On this building as well as other works, 1000 men were usually engaged as overseers, officials and workmen; of these many were occupied in laying out ingenious gardens, others planting shady groves and ornamental avenues; while the rest were making roads and those receptacles for the crystal water, without which their labour could not be carried out.
"The architect of these works was a Venetian, by the name Geronimo Veroneo, who had come to this part in a Portugese ship and died in the city of Lahore just before I reached it... Fame, the swift conveyor of good and evil news, had spread the story that the Emperor summoned him and informed him that he desired to erect a great and sumptuous tomb to his dead wife, and he was required to draw up some design for this, for the Emperor's inspection... The architect Veroneo carried out this order... He (Shah Jahan) told Veroneo to spend 3 crores of rupees, that is 300 lakhs, and to inform him it was expended."
Manrique quotes a prevalent story about the architect Veroneo (who died before the arrival of Manrique) and the expenditure of Rs. 3 crores. But this seems to be a boneless legend, since it is enormously at variance with the Persian manuscript (which records the name of Ustad Isa as the chief architect) and the official account of expenditure (Rs. 40 lakhs) as recorded in the Badshahnama.
But Manrique seems to be an eye-witness for the work inside the Taj Complex, since he is very specific about the nature of the work in the gardens. He does not say anything about the work upon the edifice, which also tallies well with the inscription inside the cenotaph chamber that the calligraphical work was complete by 1639 AD.
He mentions the number of workers to be around 1,000. This is significantly different from the claim of Tavernier; but it tallies well with the expenditure upon the building, as stated in the Badshahnama. If it is assumed that a thousand workers worked in the Taj Complex for a decade since 1632 AD, making allowance for the salaries of the chief craftsmen mentioned in the Persian manuscript, the average salary of the rest of 1000 workers comes out to be Rs. 25/- per month. Compared with the contemporary labour charges, this claim appears to be more reasonable than that of Tavernier. (The actual number of workers would certainly be fluctuating and their average number over the decade could be substantially lower than what Manrique had seen in 1641.)
TABLE - 1
Taj Mahal - Details of Monthly Salaries
(From a Persian Manuscript placed in the National Library, Calcutta, as quoted by E. B. Havell, pp. 31-33)
1. Ustad Isa (Agra/Shiraz) Chief Architect Rs. 1,000
2. Ismail Khan Rumi (Rum) Dome Expert Rs. 500
3. Muhammad Sharif (Samarkhan) Pinnacle Expert Rs. 500
4. Kasim Khan (Lahore) Pinnacle Experts Rs. 295
5. Muhammad Hanief (Khandahar) Master Mason Rs. 1,000
6. Muhammad Sayyid (Multan) Master Mason Rs. 590
7. Abu Torah (Multan) Master Mason Rs. 500
8. - - - (Delhi) Master Mason Rs. 400
9. - - - (Delhi) Master Mason Rs. 375
10. - - - (Delhi) Master Mason Rs. 375
11. Amanat Khan Shirazi (Shiraz) Calligrapher Rs. 1,000
12. Qadar Zaman Calligrapher Rs. 800
13. Muhammad Khan (Bagdad) Calligrapher Rs. 500
14. Raushan Khan (Syria) Calligrapher Rs. 300
15. Chiranji Lal (Kanauj) Inlay Worker Rs. 800
16. Chhoti Lal (Kanauj) Inlay Worker Rs. 380
17. Mannu Lal (Kanauj) Inlay Worker Rs. 200
18. Manuhar Singh (Kanauj) Inlay Worker Rs. 200
19. Ata Muhammad (Bokhara) Flower Carver Rs. 500
20. Shaker Muhammad (Bokhara) Flower Carver Rs. 400
21. Banuhar Flower Carver - - -
22. Shah Mal Flower Carver - - -
23. Zorawar Flower Carver - - -
24. Pira (Delhi) Carpenter - - -
25. Ram Lal Kashmiri (Kashmir) Garden Expert - - -
8. Age of the Taj Mahal
Modern techniques of archaeometry are used to determine the approximate age of historical buildings with reasonable accuracy. Marvin Mills11 of New York reports about the Carbon-14 dating of the Taj Mahal: "Another item of evidence concerning the alleged date of the Taj is adduced from a radiocarbon date from a piece of wood from a door on the north facade of the Jumuna River's bank. The sample was tested by Dr. Even Williams, director of the Brooklyn College Radiocarbon Laboratory. The date came to 1359 AD with a spread of 89 years on either side and 67% probability, Masca corrected."
That is, it can be said with 67% certainty that the particular door was made during the period 1270-1448 AD. However, the radio-carbon dating of a single door is not a conclusive evidence about the age of the building for two reasons; the sample itself might be contaminated. And that there is a possibility of the door being a subsequent replacement of the original one in the ancient edifice. Therefore, to arrive at a conclusion, more such samples need to be examined.
To sum up: The statement of Badshahnama about the acquisition of Raja Man Singh's palace for the burial of the queen is clear and explicit. The numerous underground chambers and Aurangzeb's exhaustive list of defects in all the three major buildings, including all the five domes of the marble edifice give the distinct impression that the
edifice was already ancient and was built for an altogether different purpose. The statement of Peter Mundy that the cenotaph (which is on the fourth storey of the edifice) was complete with costly decorations in 1632-33 AD, and that the Taj Mahal was already a centre of tourist attraction, only support the above claim. The radio carbon test result, though not conclusive about the date, makes the above conclusion more emphatic.
The work upon the building might have started in 1632 AD and must have lasted as the inscription inside the cenotaph chamber indicates--for nearly a decade. The records of Tavernier regarding the date of commencement, total duration of work and labour involved are not reliable.
The firmans, if viewed in isolation, can mean that Shah Jahan was actually erecting the marble superstructure. But in the light of other evidences, the acquisition of marble could only be for the purpose of alterations in the edifice. The Persian manuscript listing the names of several craftsmen and their salaries, and the rumour quoted by Tavernier, further support this thesis.
It may be relevant to discuss another pertinent point at this stage. Usually the court historians do not spare an opportunity to indulge in needless hyperboles to enhance the glory of their paymasters. But in the 1600 pages of Badshahnama, only two pages deal with the burial of Mumtaz and only one paragraph can be construed as dealing with the construction of the Taj Mahal. If Shah Jahan were to undertake so challenging a project like the Taj Mahal, does it not merit greater attention in the Badshahnama than the single paragraph quoted above? And that the date of Mumtaz's burial more than a casual reference?
II - ARCHITECTURE
The discussion upon the historical evidences raises many pertinent questions regarding the architecture of the building. Does the edifice look like a palace or like a Mogul tomb? Is not the dome--the bulbous dome--a characteristic of Mogul architecture? Do the minarets and the single pointed arch not have religious significance in Islamic architecture? The discussion upon the Taj Mahal cannot be complete unless one finds satisfactory answers to the above questions.
Many historians (Havell, Batley, Kenoyer, Hunter, etc.), from time to time, have pointed out that the architecture of the Taj Mahal is not in the traditions of Saracenic style but resembles that of a Hindu temple. But this view has largely gone unnoticed primarily because it runs against the grain of some of the accepted premises of Indo-Saracenic architecture.
The single pointed door arch had great religious significance in Saracenic architecture as it represents the one and the only God of Islam. Such arches are commonly seen in the Islamic architecture of Bagdad and surrounding places, and hence it is generally believed that the single pointed arch and the arcuate style (as against the trabeate style) of
constructing it are exclusive innovations or Saracenic architecture. And that it arrived at India as a resultant contribution of Afghan invasion at the close of the 12th century.
It is also generally believed that the bulbous dome seen in the Taj Mahal, migrated to India from Samarkhand, subsequent to the establishment of Mogul dynasty by Babur in the 16th century. There are significant differences between the Arab domes seen in Bagdad and Egypt and the dome of Taj Mahal, the bulbous dome of Samarkhand forming the link between the two. Since the arcuate style of constructing the arches and domes is believed to be exclusively of Saracenic origin, it is also believed that the bulbous dome originated outside India.
These premises were originally propounded by the well-known British historian James Fergusson12 who conducted the pioneer work in the field of Indian archaeology for nearly five decades from around 1835 AD. His assumptions--widely accepted today--preclude the question of the Taj Mahal being a Hindu construction. However, the historical evidences discussed so far, call for a thorough examination of the architecture of the edifice, notwithstanding the assumptions.
9. The Arch And The Dome
It is not necessary here to go into the debate whether the single pointed arch (and the arcuate style of constructing it) was exclusively of Saracenic origin. Even if it were so, it was well assimilated into the Hindu architecture by the middle of the 14th century. In the latter half of the 14th century the rulers of Vijayanagara (1346-1563 AD) in South India employed the single pointed arch in their construction. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume that it was used in the Hindu architecture of North India several decades earlier. This tallies well with the approximate period of construction of the Taj Mahal, as suggested by the radio-carbon dating (i.e. 1359 AD).
However, the assumption that the bulbous dome originated in Samarkhand requires a closer examination. The initiation and development of medieval architecture of Samarkhand is attributed to Timurlung (1394-1404 AD), the 6th generation predecessor of Emperor Babur. He invaded India in 1398 AD and after sacking Delhi and surrounding cities, carried off a large number of architects and other craftsman as captive labour to build his capital Samarkhand. A passage from his autobiography (Malfuzat-i-Timuri) would be illustrative:
"I ordered that all the artisans and clever mechanics who were masters of their respective crafts should be picked out from among the prisoners and set aside, and accordingly some thousands of craftsmen were selected to await my command. All these I distributed among the princes and amirs who were present, or who were engaged officially in other parts of my dominions. I had determined to build a Masjid-i-Jami in Samarkhand, the seat of my empire, which should be without a rival in my country; so I ordered that all builders and stone masons should be set apart for my own especial service."13
It is important to note that the approximate period of construction of the Taj Mahal is around 1359 AD, whereas Timurlung invaded India in 1398 AD. Could it be that the bulbous dome was prevalent in India during that period and migrated to Samarkhand through the captive architects?
There are several important points which need to be considered in favour of the above conjecture:
(i) Similar buildings of the same period: There are several (more than a hundred) Jaina temples in the sacred mounts of Sonagarh (Bundelkhand) and Muktagiri (Berar) which contain the bulbous domes as well as the single pointed arches. Fergusson (p.62) attributes these temples to the 16th and 17th centuries, but it is important to note his uncertainty about their true antiquity: "So far as can be made out most of these temples date from 16th and 17th centuries, though a few of them may be older. Their original foundation may be earlier, but of that we know nothing, no one having yet enlightened us on the subject, nor explained how and when this hill became a sacred mount.
In fact, Fergusson here uses his own assumption (about the origin of the bulbous dome) as the touchstone to determine the period of the superstructure though he could not reconcile their foundations to the same period.
(ii) The Lotus Canopy: various kinds of domes were used in the ancient temples of Mount Abu, Girnar, Udayapur, Mylass, Carla, etc., some of them as old as the 4th century AD. All types of domes in these temples are topped with an inverted lotus flower, its stem forming the pinnacle of the building. The bulbous domes of Sonagarh and Muktagiri also contain the lotus canopy. And every single dome in the Taj Campus contains a similar lotus canopy. Havell (pp.23-26) traces the constituent elements of the Taj dome to the Hindu Shilpa Shastra, and the lotus canopy to the 'Mahapadma' in the 'stupi' (pinnacle) of the 'vimana' type of temple dome.
It is noteworthy that the lotus is a sacred flower of the Hindus associated with their gods and goddesses, whereas it does not seem to have any special significance in Islamic culture, and the Saracenic architecture of Samarkhan, Persia, Bagdad and Egypt do not contain the lotus canopy over the dome. Even the Humayun's tomb, widely believed to be the prototype of the Taj, does not contain the lotus canopy.
In this regard, it is necessary to clarify another point. There are many Hindu religious symbols seen in the Taj Mahal, which are often attributed to the religious tolerance of Shah Jahan, under whom the Hindu craftsmen enjoyed considerable freedom. But the Persian manuscript (Section 7) lists the names of Ustad Isa and Ismail Khan Rumi as the chief architect and the dome expert respectively. There is some ambiguity about the nativity of Ustad Isa (as to whether he was a citizen of Agra or of Shiraz), but the dome expert, as the name suggests, was from Rum which means the area around Bagdad and Mesopotamia. Is it plausible that the dome expert from the heartland of Islam, built the dome according to the Shilpa Shastra with a lotus canopy?
(Incidently, what was this dome expert doing in the Taj Mahal? He was drawing a stately salary of Rs. 500/- per month, and if Aurangzeb's letter (Section 3) is to be believed, he did not even carry out the badly needed repairs to any of the five domes of the marble edifice!)
(iii) Arrangement of Domes: In architecture, even minor details normally embody certain meaning, and it would be more so in the case of gigantic domes which form the most important aspect of such buildings. Do the arrangements of numerous domes in the Taj Complex have any special significance?
A well-known authority on Indian architecture E. B. Havell (pp.22-23) points out: "... the arrangement of the roofing of the mausoleum itself consists of five domes... this structural arrangement is not Saracenic, but essentially Hindu. It is known in Hindu architecture as the pancharatna, the shrine of the five jewels, or the five-headed lingam of Siva... A typical example of it is found in one of the small shrines of Chandi Sewa at Prambanam in Java, which has an arrangement of domes strikingly similar to that of the Taj." (According to Sir Stanford Raffles, the Chandi Sewa temple was completed in 1098 AD.)
In front of the marble edifice, at the other end of the courtyard is the main Gateway which contains 22 mini-domes arranged on top of two parallel walls--one facing the Taj Mahal and the other facing the outer southern gate. (According to the legend, it represents the 22 years it took to build the Taj Mahal. The legend has its origin in the records of Tavernier, which is already examined in an earlier section, and is found baseless.)
It is noteworthy that the two rows of mini-domes are separated by more than 100 ft. (The floor area of the main Gateway is 140 ft x 110 ft.) And that the number derives its significance from the Ekadasa Rudra (Eleven forms of Siva?).
The central edifice is flanked with two identical buildings, each having three huge domes. Could it be that they derive their significance from the Trinity of the Hindus? There seems to be no special significance attached to the number of domes in Saracenic architecture. In India there are mediaeval mosques which can be classified as having one, three, five, ten, eleven or even fifteen domes. However, the triple domed version seems to be a distinct Indian contribution to Saracenic architecture as such buildings are scarcely seen outside India.
(iv) The Direction of the Mosque: Normally mosques are built facing the Holy Mecca, the direction in which the faithful is commanded to turn while he prays. But the mosque inside the Taj Complex is facing the cardinal West instead of the Holy City. Marvin Mills10 of New York states: "... by the ninth century, they (Muslims) were able to calculate the direction of Mecca within two degrees from any city... the mosque that is part of the Taj complex faces due West whereas Mecca from Agra is 14 degrees 55 minutes south of West."
Therefore, the fact that the Taj Mahal contains the bulbous dome, in itself is not sufficient to attribute its authorship to Shah Jahan. On the other hand, the fact that the domes having lotus canopy needed repairs in 1662 AD, the arrangement of the dome in the marble edifice, the main gateway and the adjacent buildings and also the direction of the mosque give rise to speculation that the bulbous dome was part of temple architecture. The temples of Muktagiri and Sonagarh further substantiates this conjecture, indicating the possibility of the bulbous dome existing in India before the Mogul invasion in the 16th century.
10 The Minarets
In the mediaeval architecture of Persia and Bagdad, the minaret had a functional utility--to give call for the prayer to the faithful--in a mosque. Several of the mediaeval mosques in Gujarat do contain such minarets. But in the northern Gangetic plain, during the first four centuries of Pathan architecture, the minaret was not part of the building, with the sole exception of the mosque of Ajmer. (The mosque of Ajmer was one of the two earliest buildings built by the invading Afghans, and subsequently its minarets fell off due to the faulty construction.) Says Fergusson (pp.219-20): "...minarets...so far as I know, were not attached to mosques during the so-called Pathan period. The call to prayer was made from the roof; and except the first rude attempt at Ajmer, I do not know an instance of a minaret built solely for such a purpose, though they were, as we know, universal in Egypt and elsewhere long before this time, and were considered nearly indispensable in the buildings of the Mughals very shortly afterwards."
However, the style and the purpose of the minarets of the Taj Mahal appear to be quite different from those of the Saracenic architecture of Persia or Bagdad for two reasons:
(i) The marble edifice, which is a mausoleum, has four minarets at its corners, whereas the adjacent mosque for which a minaret would have been of functional utility does not have any.
(ii) In pure Saracenic architecture, the minaret normally rises from the shoulder of the edifice to well-above the dome. In the case of the Taj Mahal, they stand separated from the edifice and are shorter than the domes.
Therefore, the purpose of the minarets is not functional but decorative, and the inspiration behind them is not Saracenic.
In fact, the "era of minarets" seems to have begun with Shah Jahan himself. Among the buildings of his predecessors, only one--the southern gateway to Sikandara (Akbar's tomb) in Agra--contains four marble minarets. But there is good reason to believe that those are subsequent additions (probably by Shah Jahan himself) and not part of original design. Apart from the contrast of the marble minarets standing on top of red-stone gateway, to quote Satish Grover1 "the location of the minarets over the parapets flanking
the main entrance, is to say the least unusual and a clear case of fortuitous addition rather than comprehensive design. These minarets were certainly built either as experiments before erecting those at the Taj or immediately thereafter--more probably the latter."
Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that the minarets of the Taj Mahal were not inspired by the Saracenic architecture; but on the other hand, it is from the Taj Mahal that the subsequent Mogul architecture adopted the concept of decorative minarets.
11. Hindu Symbolism
In addition to the lotus canopy over the dome, there are many other symbolic and sculptural details in the Taj Mahal which are quite appropriate in a Siva temple.14 Some of them are quoted below:
(i) Recess above the entrance: In the southern entrance to the outer precincts of the Taj Complex (i.e., the Taj Gunj gate facing the main gateway), above the door arch, there is a small arched recess. It is customary in Hindu Forts (for example, the Nagardhan Fort, Nagpur) to place an idol of Lord Ganesa in a similar recess above the main entrance. Could it be that the recess above the Taj entrance also contained a similar idol, which was subsequently removed by the iconoclastic invaders?
(ii) The Rajput Welcome Signs: The walls of the main gateway and the "kitchen" in the great courtyard are marked with typical Rajput welcome signs, such as the "gulab-dani" (rose-water cans) and "ilaichi-dani" (cardamon pots). The Rajput palaces at Deeg (Bharatpur) and Jaipur also contain similar welcome signs.
(iii) Ganesa Torana: On the main gateway, the entire border at waist-height is decorated with what is called the "Ganesa Torana" (the elephant trunk and the crown can be clearly identified). It is noteworthy that animate decorations are taboo in Islam.
(iv) Other sculptural details: Upon the marble walls of the central edifice, there are sculptural details of flowers in the shape of OM and bell flowers which is of great significance in the worship of Lord Shiva.
(v) The pinnacle: On top of the central dome of the Taj Mahal, there is a copper pinnacle which measures a height of 32' 5 ½". On the eastern red-stone courtyard, in front of the community hall, there is a figure of the pinnacle inlaid in black marble which measures a length of only 30' 6".
There is reason to believe that the copper pinnacle is not the original one. The Shahjahannama of Muhammad Salah Kumbo mentions that the pinnacle was pure gold15. But by 1873-74 it was already of copper and when it was taken down for regilding, the words "Joseph Taylor" were found engraved on the copper16. Captain
Taylor was the British official who carried out the repairs to the Taj Mahal in 1810 AD. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the original gold pinnacle was removed by either Joseph Taylor or his predecessors. The discrepancy between the lengths of the pinnacle and its figure in the courtyard supports this conclusion. However, because of the similarity between the copper pinnacle and its figure in the courtyard, it can be assumed that the original shape remains unaltered.
The end of the pinnacle branches into a trident, its central tongue extending farther than that of the other two. On closer observation, the central tongue appears to be in the shape of a "Kalasha" (water pot) topped with two bent mango leaves and a coconut. This is a sacred Hindu motif. Could it be that the trident pinnacle was symbolic of the deity Lord Shiva worshipped inside?
The symbols listed above are directly Hindu and some of them--the animate decorations such as the cobra twins and Ganesha--"torana" are toboo in Islam. It is likely that these details, not being very obvious, are only those that have survived the alterations in the building.
An alternate explanation attributes the Hindu symbolism to the benevolent religious tolerance of Shah Jahan, under whom the Hindu craftsmen enjoyed complete freedom to express their talent in their own traditional style. However, regarding his religious tolerance, his own court journal Badshahnama has an altogether different commentary to make: "It has been brought to the notice of His Majesty that during the late region many idol temples had begun, but remained unfinished at Benaras, the great stronghold of infidelity. The infidels were now desirous of completing them. His Majesty, the defender of the faith, gave orders that at Benaras and throughout all his dominions at every place, all temples should be cast down. It was now reported from the province of Allahabad that 76 temples had been destroyed in the district of Benaras."17
12. General Layout And Plan
(i) Numerous rooms in the edifice: It has been discussed in an earlier section that there are two floors below the real grave containing numerous rooms. Obviously, these rooms did not have any utility in a mausoleum, and their presence is not explicable unless it is accepted to be an ancient edifice built for an altogether different purpose. They do not appear to have been living rooms, but were they meant for storing provisions and other materials of a vast temple complex?
(ii) The Nagar Khanas: Midway between the main gateway and the marble edifice, on either side of the courtyard, there are two identical buildings known as the "Nagar-khanas" (Drum Houses).
Is it plausible that Shah Jahan, who was very "scrupulous...in the matters of bereavement and religious sanctity" (Section 2) built these drum houses? Music is taboo in Islam--there is a mosque nearby. And a mausoleum is certainly not a place for festivity!
On the other hand, drums are important accompaniments in the worship of Lord Shiva.
(iii) The Gow-Shala: within the precincts of the Taj Mahal, to the east of the Main Gateway, at the extreme end of the courtyard, there is a cow-shed known as the "Gow-Shala". What could have been the purpose of a cow-shed in a mausoleum? Or was it part of the temple complex?
It is possible that it was not part of the original plan--as it disturbs the symmetry of the complex--but because of its Sanskrit name, the "Gow-Shala" appears to have been introduced by the Hindu rulers, who were using the edifice as a palace or temple.
To Sum Up: The arrangement of the domes, the lotus canopy, the trident pinnacle, the numerous rooms in the building, the direction of the mosque and its triple domes, the "Gow-shala", the "Nagar-khanas," and the surviving Hindu symbolism indicate that it was originally built as a temple complex. The purpose of the minarets is not functional but decorative, and the inspiration behind them does not appear to be Saracenic. The graves and the Koranic inscriptions upon the marble wall, of course, should be attributed to Shah Jahan.
The whole argument about the Taj Mahal being a Mogul construction hinges solely upon the assumption about the origin of the bulbous dome, which certainly is debatable. Havell had emphatically asserted (pp.1-38) that the prototype of bulbous dome existed in the Buddhist stupa and the carvings of Ajanta several centuries before the Mogul invasion. He did not question the claim of Shah Jahan building the Taj Mahal, but asserted that from purely architectural considerations, the inspiration behind the edifice was neither Arab, nor Persian, nor European but Indian--"more Indian than St. Paul's cathedral and Westminster Abbey are English". (p. 13)
III--SUM TOTAL
The discussion on the historical evidence indicates that the Taj Mahal was already ancient at the time of Shah Jahan. And the discussion upon the architecture leads to the conclusion that the general layout of the Taj Complex resembles a Shiva temple. The whole thesis of Shah Jahan himself building the edifice rests upon the premise that the bulbous dome originated in Samarkhand and migrated to India after the advent of Babur.
The discussion cannot be complete unless we examine two other questions: What is the plausibility of Shah Jahan constructing the edifice, and how did the legend come to be?
There is universal agreement about the architectural splendour and grandeur of the Taj Mahal. It was conceived by an inspired mind which knew the meaning of beauty, and it signifies the culmination of a mature style in architecture. It is a testimony to the peace and prosperity of its period.
The Moguls were rich in wealth and taste and seem to have had the leisure to undertake a project of this kind. But what about its style? Does it appear to be in the tradition of the style developed and perfected by the successive rulers of Mogul dynasty? Listen to James Fergusson (pp. 307-308): "It would be difficult to point out in the whole history of architecture any change so sudden as that which took place between the style of Akbar and that of his grandson Shah Jahan--nor any contrast so great as that between the manly vigour and exuberant originality of the first, as compared with the extreme but almost effeminate elegance of the second. Certainly when the same people, following the same religion, built temples and palaces in the same locality, nothing of the sort ever occurred in any country whose history is known to us."
It should be remembered that Fergusson was the pioneer in the field of Indian archeaology and was the first--and considered the most authoritative--historian to propound that the bulbous dome originated in Samarkhand. But at the same time he found that the difference between the styles of Akbar and Shah Jahan so unique, that it was the only one of its kind in the human history. Having said this, he does not discuss the possibility of some of those buildings belonging to an altogether different era, but a few pages later (p. 316) makes a brief but startling remark about the Taj Mahal, "When used as a Baradhari, or pleasure palace, it must always have been the coolest and loveliest of garden retreats, and now that it is sacred to the dead it is the most graceful and the most impressive of the sepulchres of the world."
That is, the version of the Badshahnama as quoted at the beginning of this essay--that Shah Jahan had acquired a palace for the burial of his queen--was known to Fergusson during the middle of the 19th century. (The above statement occurs repeatedly in his books published in 1855, 1867 and 1876.) He also found its style too uniquely different to reconcile with that of Shah Jahan's immediate predecessors. And yet, the doyen of Indian archaeology glossed over the issue of its antiquity and attributed it to Shah Jahan! Why then did Fergusson not question the claim--if at all there was any single cogent claim at the time--and thereby perpetuate the legend of Shah Jahan himself building the Taj Mahal?
The legend had originated at the time of Shah Jahan himself--as both Tavernier and Manrique testify, though their versions do not match with each other--and drew powerful support from the writings of Fergusson save the above quoted sentence. The above sentence not only appears in all the three major publications of Fergusson (1867 and 1876), but also was quoted in the 9th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica (1875)--where it remained until the 11th edition in 1910--and also in "Murray's Handbook (for travellers) to India and Ceylon" (1891). In 1896, Syad Muhammad Latif19 wrote that the building "was originally a palace of Raja Man Singh but now it was the property of his grandson Raja Jai Singh. His Majesty gave the Raja a lofty edifice from the Khalsa estate
in exchange of this building; and the spot was used for the mausoleum of the deceased empress."
Meanwhile the legend also grew, as can be made out from the numerous writings of the period though the details pertaining to the construction of the edifice, such as the identity of the architect, expenditure, duration of construction, etc., did not go beyond vague conjectures. In 1905, Moin-ud-din Ahmed20 quoted from Badshahnama (Vol. II, pp. 325-6) that the gold railing around the tomb "was made under the supervision of Bebadal Khan, Master of king's kitchen". But the identity of the architect of the edifice remained unsolved. The 22 basement rooms were detected in 1900 AD, and Moin-ud-din Ahmed discussed them in his book (pp. 35-36) and stated that, "The real object of building them remains a mystery."
In fact, by the turn of the century, the legend had grown so powerful that it made all the evidences to the contrary appear irrelevant. Even though the discovery of the sealed underground chambers was a powerful reason to re-examine the legend carefully, the 11th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica (1910) chose to omit the above statement of Fergusson from its columns--apparently because of its incongruity with the powerful legend. It mentioned the name of Ustad Isa as the Chief architect. By 1913, E. B. Havell, while emphatically asserting that the architecture of the edifice is Hindu, and not Saracenic, does not at all discuss the possibility of Shah Jahan acquiring the edifice. By 1931, the letter of Aurangzeb discussing the serious defects in the Taj Mahal was published ("Marakka-i-Akbarabad" by Said Ahmed, 1931), which was translated by M. S. Vats of Archaeological Survey of India in 1945. But the legend survived the publication.
To revert back to Fergusson, why did he not question the legend, though he had very good reason to do so? Obviously, he was labouring under the burden of his own assumption that the bulbous dome was a resultant contribution of Mogul invasion upon India during the 16th century. In this respect, his own uncertainty about the antiquity of the temples of Sonagarh and Muktagiri [Section 9 (i)] is also quite significant. Fergusson himself recorded (p. 286) this uncertainty and inconclusiveness, while discussing the basis of his assumption:
"It is probable that very considerable light will yet be throne upon the origin of the style which the Moguls introduced into India, from an examination of the buildings erected at Samakhand by Timur, a hundred years before Babar's time (A.D. 1393-1404). Now that the city is in the hands of Russians, it is accessible to Europeans. Its buildings have been drawn and photographed, but not yet described so as to be available for scientific purposes..."
Therefore, it can be said with certainty that the legend of Shah Jahan building the Taj Mahal rests purely upon the erroneous assumption about the origin of the bulbous dome. (In fairness, Shah Jahan himself never claimed that he built the Taj Mahal.) And that the architecture of the Taj Mahal, to put it in the words of Havell, "more Indian than St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey are English."
What then is the true age of the Taj Mahal?
Though it was put to use as a palace, its architecture is not that of a residential mansion, but of a temple. Obviously, it was converted into a palace, and Raja Man Singh was not the one to effect the conversion. It is not unreasonable to speculate that the edifice acquired his name due to his pre-eminent position in the Mogul Court and his fairly long occupation of the building. The fact that the edifice required elaborate repairs in 1652 AD, also indicates that it belonged to a period earlier to Raja Man Singh. The radio-carbon dating--though not conclusive about the date--further reinforces the possibility of the Taj Mahal being a couple of centuries older than Shah Jahan. However, a conclusive dating can be done only by several radio-carbon tests of different samples from the edifice. And it is almost certain that the sealed underground chambers would reveal enough evidence about the original purpose and the true age of the edifice. The historical antecedents of the building can be traced only by considerable diligent study of the documents pertaining to several centuries prior to Shah Jahan.
However, if radio-carbon test result quoted above can be treated as a pointer, it raises certain important questions regarding Indian archaeology.
i) Was the bulbous dome an exclusive innovation of Indian architecture, and migrated to Samakhand through the architects taken captive by Timurlung?
ii) If the architecture style could produce so fine a piece as the Taj Mahal in the 14th century, how long ago did the style originate? Is it true, as Havell has asserted, that the bulbous dome had its origin in the Buddhist stupas and the carvings of Ajanta (which was at least a thousand years before the initial Afgan invasion)? If so, it brings us face to face with the other assumptions of Fergusson that the single pointed arch and the arcuate style of constructing the arches and domes--the Taj Mahal answer to both these characteristics--have arrived at India only during the 13th century AD after the initial Afgan invasion.
Thus, the question of antiquity of the Taj Mahal has powerful bearing upon the study of Indian archaeology. It raises certain pertinent questions about the origin, development, influence and classification of one of the important streams of mediaeval architecture. And since an architectural style carries with it the stamp of the contemporary epoch, the above questions have bearing upon the study of Indian history as well. Therefore, it calls for a thorough re-examination of the Mogul architecture--particularly that of Shah Jahan, which Fergusson found it so difficult to reconcile with the style of that period.
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BILL GATES: THE ROAD AHEAD
BILL GATES: THE ROAD AHEAD
Chapter 1. The First Part of the Road.
I wrote my first program for a computer when I
was thirteen years old. A program tells a
computer to do something. My program told the
computer to play a game. This computer was
very big and very slow. It didn't even have a
computer screen. But I thought it was
wonderful. I was just a kid, but the computer
did everything I told it to do. And even today,
that's what I love about computers. When I
write a good program, it always works perfectly,
every time.
kid (ам.) - ребенок;
The computer was our toy. We grew up with it.
And when we grew up, we brought our toy with
us. Now the computer is in our homes and in
our offices [' fisiz]. It has changed our lives
[laivz] and it is changing them again, because
now the computers are coming together to
make a new system. In this system, computers
all over the world are beginning to work
together. Our computers will be our telephones,
our post office, our library, and our banks.
library ['laibr ri] -
библиотека;
When we talk about this new system, we call it
the Internet. This book will try to answer
questions about the future of the Internet –
what it will be like, and how we will use it.
Sometimes when we talk about the future of the
Internet, we call it the "Information Highway".
* * *
The Information Highway, when it comes, is
going to bring new ways of doing things. New
ways are strange, and sometimes people worry
about them, but they are also exciting. I'm very
happy that I will be a part of this strange new
time.
worry ['w ri] -
беспокоиться;
I've felt this happiness and excitement before.
After I wrote that first program at the age of
thirteen, my friend Paul [p :l] Allen and I spent
a lot of time using computers. Back then
computers were very expensive. It cost forty
dollars an hour to use one. We made some of
our money during the summers, when we
worked for computer companies.
excitement - волнение;
age [ei ] - возраст;
cost - стоил;
My friend Paul knew a lot more about the
machines than I did. I was more interested in
the programs. But I learnt from him. One day in
1972, when I was sixteen and he was nineteen,
he showed me something that he was reading.
It was about a company called Intel that had a
new microprocessor [,maikr u'pr uses ] chip.
learnt [l :nt] - учился;
A microprocessor chip is the part of the
computer that thinks. This new one wasn't very
smart, but we wanted to see if we could write a
program for it. In the end, we made a program
for it, but we didn't make much money from it.
The next microprocessor from Intel came out in
the spring of 1974. It was much smarter than
the earlier one. When we read about it, I told
Paul that the days of the big computers were
finished.
But it was another new idea that excited us
more. In December of that year, we saw a
picture of the Altair 8800. The Altair was a
microcomputer (a small computer) with the new
Intel microprocessor chip. When we saw that,
we thought "Oh no! People are going to write
real programs for this chip!" I was sure of this,
and I wanted to be part of it.
It took us five weeks of hard work, but in the
end we did it. We had a program for the Altair
and we had something more. We had the
world's first company that wrote programs for
microcomputers. In time we named it
"Microsoft."
Starting a company isn't easy. Sometimes it
means that you can't do other things that you
like. I loved college. I liked having
conversations and sharing ideas with so many
smart people. But I knew that I had to choose.
That spring, Paul decided to leave his job and I
decided to leave college. I was nineteen years
old.
Chapter 2. Beginnings.
To understand the future, it helps to look at
the past.
More then a hundred and fifty years ago, a
British man named Charles Babbage had an
idea about a machine that could work with
numbers. He wanted to make a machine
that could follow different orders to do
different jobs. Today, we call this sort of
machine a computer, and we call the orders
software. Software is a group of rules that
you can give to a machine to tell it how to
do something. Computer programs are
software.
order - приказ;
rule [ru:l] - правило;
For the next hundred years, people worked
on Babbage's idea. Finally, in the 1940th,
they built the first computer. The United
States and Great Britain worked on it
together during the war, and the work was
secret. Three of the most important men
who helped to build it were Alan Turing,
Claude [kl :d] Shannon and John Von
Neumann [f n 'n im n].
Even before the war, Claude Shannon was
interested in "thinking" machines. He
showed how small switches could be the
computer's alphabet. In this system, a
switch that was off meant "true" and a
switch that was on meant "not true". This
simple system is called the binary system,
and computers still use it today.
John Von Neumann, an American born in
Hungary, added something just as
important. He had an idea about how
computers could use a memory in powerful
ways. As soon as this was possible, the
modern computer was born.
add - добавить;
It is not always possible for a computer to
keep all its information in its memory
without changing it. Often the computer has
to make the information smaller so that its
memory can hold more of it at one time.
Many times it does this before it moves the
information to another computer.
keep - хранить;
without - без;
Each year we'll be moving more data. Data
is another word for information. Almost all
of the data that we get today in different
ways will come through our computer, and
the computer will send it to different
machines around the house. If the computer
gets a voice message, for example, the
telephone will ring. If the message comes as
a picture or pictures – as a movie, for
example – it will show up on the computer
screen. There will probably be other kinds of
information, too, but we can't know yet
what it will be, because the future is always
full of surprises.
ring - звонить;
movie ['mu:vi] - (ам.) фильм;
probably - наверно;
kind [kaind] - вид;
yet - еще;
There are no surprises in the past, but there
are lessons. Companies that put their
money into the Information Highway will try
not to make the same mistakes that other
computer companies have made during the
last twenty years. In the past, they spent
too much time working on the machine and
not enough time on the software.
When we started Microsoft, we worked with
MITS, the company that built the Altair
8800. By 1977, other companies – Apple,
Commodore and Radio Shack – were also
making small computers, and we sold them
our software. Our software was an
important part of these computers, because
users could write their programs for it, too.
But users were doing another thing with our
software, too; they were stealing it. One
person bought it and then shared it with
many other computer users by making
copies of the software. Sadly, this stealing
of software has not disappeared.
share (with) - делиться (с);
disappear [,dis 'pi ] -
исчезать;
Even with this problem, we were still selling
a lot of software, and not only to American
companies. By 1979, almost half of our
business was coming from Japan.
In 1979, Paul and I moved Microsoft to a
town near Seattle [si tl], Washington. The
company was growing. Microsoft was doing
so well because we made only software,
never computers. The computer companies
came to us for the programs. And because
almost all of them bought their software
from us, our programming language,
Microsoft BASIC, was the most important
computer programming language.
Computers and their software are different
from many other things you buy because
they can become more useful. If you buy a
computer because you want to play
computer games, the computer becomes
more useful each time a company makes a
new game.
In the beginning, television was not as
important in our lives as it is today. At first,
there weren't many television shows. But as
companies sold more televisions, there were
more reasons to make more shows, more
reason [ri:zn] - причина;
people wanted to buy televisions.
The same thing happened with compact disc
music machines. When compact disc
machines first arrived in the stores, you
couldn't find many of your favorite singers
or songs on compact discs. But when
enough people began to buy the machines,
music companies had to start making more
discs. Today, when you want to buy music,
you usually buy a compact disc.
favorite - (ам.) любимый;
singer - певец;
song - песня;
These lessons are important for the
computer companies. Companies have to
remember that people want their computers
to do as many different things as possible.
In 1980, two men from IBM came to
Microsoft to talk about personal computers,
smaller computers that people could use at
home or in small businesses. IBM wanted to
have these new computers ready in less
than a year. It also wanted us to make the
software.
IBM idea seemed wonderful. We wanted to
be a part of this. The software system that
we made for them was called MS-DOS. We
gave them a very low price for using it, and
their computers with our software sold very
well. Soon other people began to write
software that built on top of the MS-DOS
system. This was good news for us, because
in this way our system became more useful
for everyone. For a few years, more than
half of all personal computers in business
were IBM computers.
seem - казаться;
low - низкий;
The business we did with IBM was very
important to us, but in 1992, after some
difficulties with different software systems
for new computers, we stopped our work
with them.
Nothing that you sell will do well forever
unless you work on it and make it better.
We made MS-DOS better and better, but in
the end we stopped making it. Instead we
sell Microsoft's Windows software. We are
planning to make a completely new
Windows system every two or three years.
unless - если не;
instead [in'sted] - вместо,
взамен;
completely [k m'pli:tli] -
полностью.
Everyone makes mistakes now and then.
What is important is what you do after these
mistakes. The secret to winning in our
business is change. I believe a company can
stay on top by making the changes at the
right time.
Chapter 3. Some Things Computers Can Do for Us.
When I was a kid, the Ed Sullivan was on
television at eight o'clock on Sunday nights.
You were in front of the television at eight
o'clock or you missed it. And no one wanted
to miss the Ed Sullivan Show.
kid - ребенок;
We decide what we watch, but television
companies decide when we will watch it.
That's the way I watched the Ed Sullivan
Show thirty years ago, and that's the way
most of us will watch the news tonight.
In the early 1980s, the VCR began arrive in
homes. The VCR is a machine that makes a
copy of movies or TV shows so that you can
watch them later or even keep them. Now
you can choose when you want to watch
something.
Talking on the telephone has changed, too.
Before the telephone answering machine,
you came home after work and you didn't
know that someone wanted to speak with
you. Now we can listen to our messages and
call people back when we want to.
In the future there will be television as there
is now, but there will also be television
through the computer. You will be able to
watch anything that has already been on
TV, at any time you want.
Your mail will also arrive in this way, and
the computer will hold it for you until you
are ready to read it.
until - до тех пор, пока
(не);
But the Information Highway won't be just a
television and a mail-box. It will give us
much more. It will help us to learn, to shop,
to look after our money, and to talk with our
family and friends. It won't matter where in
the world they are.
Computer screens will be better than they
are now. Their pictures will be clearer, and
we will be able to use some of them to write
or draw on. Others will work together with
the telephone, and will show us the face of
the people who are calling us.
draw [dr :] - рисовать;
In today's world, people need to work while
travelling. For years we've had the laptop, a
small computer that you carry with you, and
now there are computers that go in your
pocket.
laptop - ноутбук;
These pocket computers carry information,
and they also send letters or play computer
games with you. In a few years' time you
won't keep money in your pockets, because
you'll use your pocket computer to buy
things. It will be your littke bank, and only
you will be able to use it.
One of the problems that people think of
when they hear about the future of the
Internet is "Too much information." They
think that the Internet will be a mountain of
data, and that the mountain will fall on
them. But "too much information" is not a
worry ['w ri] -
беспокоиться;
new problem, and it's not a problem that we
only have with computers. Think about
books for a minute. When you go to a
library, do you worry about reading all the
books there? No, of course not. You know
what you are interested in. You know what
you want to read. And the library system
helps you find it.
The Internet has filters. A filter helps you
choose the information you want.
Tomorrow's filters will be better than
today's. If you are interested in football,
your computer will show you the winners of
the football games first you will ask it about
sports. Of course, you'll have to tell it things
first. The filter will work better if it knows
more about you.
Today's computers are like first-day
workers. You have to give careful orders
about everything. And these computers will
always be first-days workers. They cannot
learn from you.
order - приказ;
A filter that knows a lot about you can
learn. It will remember what you're good at.
It will remember what you like and don't
like. And it will try to help you in other
ways.
be good at - хорошо
разбираться в;
Because filters will learn, they will also
change. When a filter becomes very smart,
we call it an "agent". It will even have a
voice.
Some people don't like the idea of talking to
a computer. "It's too strange," they say. But
we talk to machines already. When your car
or your computer doesn't work, you shout
at it. We shout at things all the time. Now,
instead of shouting, we will be able to talk.
But most of this won't happen for several
years.
instead (of) - вместо;
Building the future Internet – the
Information Highway – will be a big job. The
system will have to work with many
different kinds of computers and other
information machines, too. And it will be
expensive to build. But building it has begun
already. The Internet is a group of
computers that share information. The
Internet is already here, and it is the most
important new idea in the computer
business since the personal computer.
build [bild] - строить;
kind [kaind] - вид;
share - делить(ся);
since [sins] - c; (зд.) со
времен;
The Internet uses the telephone systems.
When I send you a message, it goes from
my computer to the telephone, and then
from there to my Internet company. Then
my company sends it to your Internet
company, and your company sends it to
you.
The Internet is a wonderful system but it
has some problems. One of the most
serious problems is hackers, people who
know a lot about computers and use this to
get into other people's computer systems.
On November 2, 1988, thousands of
computers using the Internet began to slow
down. Many of them just stopped.
Companies lost work hours and money. The
reason for the trouble was a program that a
hacker put into the system several months
before.
reason [ri:zn] - причина;
trouble [tr bl] -
беспокойство;
But most of the time, the Internet works
smoothly. Millions of people are using it
today, and they are happy with it.
smoothly ['smu: li] -
гладко;
Another change for the Internet is coming,
too. Soon you will see movies on your
television or on your computer screen
because you chose them. These movies will
come from cable television companies.
Cable television and telephone companies
will fight to get you as a customer for the offer - предлагать.
things they offer: movies, banking,
shopping, etc.
The personal computer has helped people in
many ways. The Internet will do more; it
will open the doors to most of the world's
information.
Chapter 4. Changes in Information Systems.
What a document? Most people will say that it is
a piece of paper that tells you something. For
more than five hundred years, people have
used ideas and information. This book is a
document.
In fact, a document is anything that tells you
something. The news on television is a
document, too. There will still be paper in
future, but there will also be other ways to keep
and share documents.
The Internet has let millions of people get to
know electronic documents that move from one
computer to another. Because computers can
do more than paper can, these documents often
are more useful to you. The idea of a
"document" will change.
When I was young, I loved the encyclopedia
that my family had. When I wanted to know
about something, I could read about it and look
at pictures of it. I spent a lot of time with the
encyclopedia, and I read a lot of it.
spent - проводить
(время);
Microsoft Encarta is an electronic encyclopedia.
It has a million words but it also has
photographs, movies and music. If you want to
know about Egyptian music, you can hear the
real music while you read about it. You can also
hear what famous people said, or see a movie
that explains how a machine works. No paper
encyclopedia can give you this.
Paper documents aren't the only ones that will
change. The television news will be as long as
you want. If you want more information on
something they're talking about, you will be
able to ask for it.
Already you can share information on the
Internet. You can share ideas, too, by putting
your letters or messages on a bulletin board. An
electronic bulletin board is a place in a system
of computers where people can read or write
messages about something that interests them.
A million people can read what you write, or
maybe no one will. But either way, you've put
your ideas there. And there are bulletin boards
about almost everything on the Internet.
either ['ai ]/['i: ] - и
тот и другой;
Games are another reason people enjoy
computers. Today, most computer games are
on special compact discs. Every player starts
with the same game but he changes it by
choosing what he will do with the game. But as
the Internet grows, people are beginning to play
against other computer users, not just by
themselves.
enjoy [in' i] -
наслаждаться,
получать
удовольствие;
Computers have changed movies, too. It was
computer software that gave us the animals in
Jurassic Park and many exciting parts in other
movies like The Lion King and The Mask.
One of the most interesting ideas in the world of
computers is Virtual Reality. Virtual Reality, or
VR, is a system of pictures and sounds the
computer uses to make a "place". The place
isn't real, but it seems real, and you think
you're in it. You can look to the right and the
left, and the system knows you're turning your
head and it changes the pictures. You see these
"places" through special computer glasses. With
VR, you will be able to learn what it's like to fly
an airplane, drive a car, or maybe go inside a
right - правый;
left - левый;
glasses - очки;
body to see the heart working, all without
getting off a chair in your living room.
Today people use a sort of Virtual Reality in
many different kinds of computer games, but
VR is more than a game. Pilots who are learning
to fly airplanes can use it and can "crash"
safely, for example. Doctors can use it to
practice difficult work.
kind - вид;
crash - авария;
Virtual Reality systems won't just show us
places that we know. There will be wonderful,
unreal words, too. People are already working
to make these interesting, unreal worlds.
Chapter 5. The World of Business.
We are leaving the world of paper
documents, and because of this, business is
changing. The personal computer has
already changed how we work, and now
that computers are talking to each other
business will change even more. The
possibilities are exciting, but people have to
remember that a computer is only a tool. It
can help you with many of your problems,
but those problems won't disappear just
because you have a computer.
now that - ...теперь, когда
...;
tool - инструмент;
disappear - исчезать;
When I was a kid, computers were big
machines and only big businesses used
them. The computers were part of the
reason that these businesses did better than
small ones who used paper and pencil.
kid - ребенок;
pencil - карандаш;
But today, personal computers have
changed all that. Businesses of all sizes use
them, and they help their users to do more
work. size - размер;
Today, people in business share information cost - стоить;
by sending messages and letters, by talking
on the telephone and by meeting people
from other companies around the table. All
of this costs time and money.
At Microsoft, we began to use electronic
mail, letters that travel through computers,
in the early 1980s. E-mail, as everyone calls
it, took the place of paper.
E-mail is easy to use and goes from
computer to computer immediately. At
Microsoft, anyone in the company can send
me messages by e-mail. The e-mail
messages at Microsoft are usually a
sentence or two. The reader gets the
information that he needs but it doesn't
take as long as a telephone conversation. In
the future, e-mail will get better, changing
in ways we haven't thought about yet.
sentence - предложение;
yet - еще;
Telephones will also get better. You will still
hear the other person, but you will also see
them, if the other person wants you to. Or
you will be able to show other pictures
through the same system.
People in business will "meet" without
leaving their offices. I'm sure you've already
seen people using this sort of
communication on new shows on television.
People in different countries talk together
about the same thing, while a reporter in
another place asks them questions.
Businesses will find this system useful
because it works better than telephone
conversations, and it will be cheaper and
quicker than bringing people together from
around the country or around the world.
There is another part of work that is already
changing. In the United States, millions of
people work without going to an office every
day. They do their jobs at home by using
computers, e-mail and fax machines. When
you work somewhere and then send your
work to another place, you are
telecommuting. The people who do this are
telecommuters, and more and more people
will be telecommuting in the future, using
the Internet.
For this new system of telecommuting to
work better, businesses will have to find a
new way of thinking about work time. When
you are in the office, the company pays you
for every hour that you there. When you are
telecommuting from your home, there will
be times when you are looking after the
baby or doing other things. When this
happens, telecommuters will tell their
computer, and the computer will tell the
office that they are not working at this time.
A lot of companies will become smaller,
using telecommuters only when they need
them. Big is not always better in business.
Many telecommuters will work more than
one company. They will put their work
schedules into the computer, and other
businesses will know when they are free to
work for them.
schedule [' edju:l] -
расписание;
Telecommuting will change our lives in
many ways. Many of today's problems are
problems of the city, of too many people
living in the same place because they can
find work there.
Of course, there are good things, too, about
living in the city. There is more to see and
do and the hospitals and schools are bigger
and sometimes better. But when people
choose to live in the city, they live with the
bad so they can have the good.
Over time, as the Internet brings your work tour [tu ] - тур.
to your home, it will also bring many of the
other good things from the city with it:
college lessons, city tours, or conversations
with doctors at hospital far away. It is
possible that when this happens, people will
begin to leave the city. It seems strange,
but this will possibly help the cities, too. If
one person out of ten leaves the city, the
city will have more money to spend on the
other nine people.
Chapter 6. Markets and Money.
When Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of
Nations in 1776, he talked about a world
where every buyer knew every seller's
price, and every seller knew how much to
ask for.
market - рынок;
wealth [wel ] - богатство;
We do not have that world yet. Sometimes
you buy something for $500 and then see it
in another store for $300, and you feel
stupid. It happens with many different
things, but for the same reason. You didn't
have enough information.
The Internet will bring buyers and sellers
together. You will be able to find anything,
using your computer. And as this happens,
the middlemen, the people who sell things
for other people, will have to do more for
both the buyers and sellers to keep their
jobs. both ... and - и ... и;
This idea will frighten a lot of people. But it
will stop frightening most of them when it
becomes part of our lives. We will ask for
more, and get more, from the middlemen.
The travel business is a business of the
middlemen. The people at the travel office
will have to work harder to keep their
business ['biznis];
customers. It will be easy to get travel
information through the Internet, and many
people will start to plan their own travels.
own [ un] - собственный;
On the Internet, lots of people will buy
things straight from the companies that
make them. Because of this, advertising will
change. And when you think that something
you bought isn't very good, or when you
really love it, you'll be able to tell other
customers about it on the electronic bulletin
boards. Before you buy something, you'll be
able to read what other people are saying
about it on the bulletin boards, too.
Of course, you don't have to listen to
everything everyone on a bulletin board
says. Sometimes a few users try too hard to
tell people how they feel. Their messages
become angry. I've seen this happens with
bulletin board, and it kills them.
There's another problem too, with the
bulletin boards. Today, if someone keeps
telephoning you and you don't want to hear
from them, the police and the telephone
company will work together to stop them.
But no one will get angry at the telephone
company. They will get angry at the person
who is telephoning.
It's different with newspapers. If a
newspaper tells lies about you, the
newspaper is in trouble.
The Internet companies are somewhere in
the middle, between newspapers and
telephone companies. They give us
information, but they also bring us
information that they didn't write, like the
messages on a bulletin board. There have
been some problems with the bulletin
boards. Some users have become angry at
what other users have put there. Does this clear - ясный;
mean that the Internet company gets into
trouble? It isn't clear yet.
I think that, in the end, we will put the
information on the Internet into different
groups. In some groups, there will be
information that the company has read, and
changed if necessary. In other groups, the
messages will still come straight from other
Internet users.
necessary ['nesisri] -
необходимо;
But the bulletin board won't be the only
place to find out about things that you want
to buy. Today, you can see people in the
movies drinking one kind of beer or eating
at a restaurant you know. This is a new kind
of advertising. In the movie True Lies,
Arnold Schwarzenegger sees our Windows
program in Arabic on a computer screen.
We paid for that. In the future, when you
see something you like in a movie, you will
be able to ask questions about it or even
buy it through the computer. If there's a
nice hotel in the movie, you'll be able to find
out where it is and how much the rooms
cost. You'll be able to stop the movie while
you do this, and then start it again when
you have finished.
find out - разузнать,
выяснить;
beer - [bi ] пиво;
restaurant ['restr : ];
Another idea that will change shopping has
already started. Levi Strauss & Co is trying
a new system for its jeans. At many of its
stores, you can tell them how big you want
your pants at the stomach and how long
your legs are, and their computer sends
these numbers to their factory. There,
another computer tells the cutting
machines, and they make a perfect pair of
pants, just for you.
Levi Strauss [li'vai st :s];
stomach ['st m k] - живот;
pair [p ] - пара;
In time, it's possible that everyone will have
their personal clothing information in their
computer. It will be easier to buy someone
a present when this happens. You will know size - размер;
that the clothes will be the right size.
You will also be able to tell your computer
about other things you want to buy. Your
computer will tell you when it finds
something interesting. It will also use this to
tell companies about you. This will help both
you and the companies.
Advertising today costs companies a lot of
money. There are some companies – Coca
Cola, for example – who want everyone to
see their advertising. But most companies
want to get their advertising to one group of
people or another. Toy companies want
children, or the parents of young children,
to see their advertising, for example. Car
companies want drivers to see their
advertising. And companies that make
expensive cars want rich drivers to see their
advertising.
When companies know more about you, you
won't have to look at advertising for things
that don't interest you. And the companies
will know that the right people are seeing
the things they sell.
Your computer will tell the companies about
what you're interested in buying. Or what
you're interested in hearing.
Companies that sell music will have new
ways of doing business. You will be able to
pay for a song each time you listen to it. Or
the company will be able to give you a low
price for playing it ten times, or maybe you
will sometimes be able to play some songs
for free. Movie companies will do something
like this, too.
low [l u] - низкий;
price - цена;
maybe - может быть;
There will also be pay-messages. These will
give you money if you look at them. Of
course, most of these won't give you much
quarter ['kw :t ] - 25
центов;
notice ['n utis] - заметить;
probably ['pr b bli] -
money, perhaps a quarter or a dollar. But
when someone wants you to notice them
specially, you will probably get more. These
pay-messages will be another kind of
advertising.
наверно;
Banks will also have to change. There are
about 14,000 banks for personal banking in
the United States. Most people use a bank
near their home or office. But as the
Internet becomes better it won't be very
important to have your bank near you.
There will be electronic banks – computers
to watch your money – and these banks will
be everywhere because they'll be in your
computer, too.
Many companies will have to change when
the Internet arrives. Some old jobs will
disappear but many new ones will take their
places. And buyers and sellers will both win.
disappear - исчезнуть;
both - оба.
Chapter 7. Education in the Future.
Businesses will be different, and schools will
have to change, too.
Howard Gardner from the Harvard Graduated
School of Education says that you have to teach
each child in a different way because people see
the world differently.
graduated school -
аспирантура;
Some teachers are already using the Internet.
Many teachers are already using personal
computers. In Union City, New Jersey, a
telephone company called Bell Atlantic gave 140
computers to students and teachers. These
computers went into the homes and the school.
At home, children used them to do their
homework. Parents used them, too, to talk to
the school about their children.
Electronic documents will help teachers to give
different parts of the same lesson to different
students. All children will learn in the way that
is best for them.
A lot of people don't believe this. They have
heard about computers in the classroom, but
they haven't seen much difference because of
them. There is a simple reason for this: money.
The schools don't have enough money to buy
the right computers. School computers just
aren't strong enough and smart enough to do
the job. But this will change because it has to
change. The computer has to be in the schools
of tomorrow.
simple - простой;
People often ask "Will computers take the place
of teachers?" I can answer them, "No, they
won't!" A computer is a tool that a teacher uses. tool - инструмент;
We've all had teachers who made a difference in
our lives. But when teachers do great work and
give wonderful lessons, they are only helping
their 20 or 30 students. In the future, teacher
will share their work with other schools across
the country, or around the world.
There will be good software programs for the
lessons. When a teacher is talking about the
sun, for example, she'll be able to choose one of
many pictures. She'll have other pictures to
show when students ask questions. After the
lesson, the students will be able to look for
more facts on their computers.
There will be other programs, too, to help the
teachers. For each student, she will have a
special program with information about that
student. Teachers can work better with students
and their parents when they know more about
the students.
Computers can also help with tests, one of
school's most frightening things. Many students
do well - преуспевать;
in general - в общем;
are afraid of tests. A student who doesn't do
well on tests often starts to be frightened of
school in general.
With computers, students will be able to take
tests any time, with or without the teacher.
When they make a mistake, the computer will
help them. Then, when the teacher gives a real
test, the students will have a better idea of
what they know.
Every school will have a wonderful library,
because the Internet will bring millions of books
to the school's computer screens. It will also
bring electronic documents, like the
encyclopedia. Students will be able to ask
questions and get answers about almost
everything.
Some parents aren't happy when they see their
children in front of the computer. "Go read a
book," they say. But they are only thinking of
computer games. In the future, books will be in
the child's computer.
Having all this information isn't the only answer
to the problems that many schools have today.
But it will help. And our schools are the most
important places we have. But there are other
places, too, where people need to learn. People
everywhere will be able to learn from great
teachers, and people of all ages will be able to
"go to school" any time they sit down in front of
their computer.
age [ei ] - возраст;
Chapter 8. A Home for the Future.
Many people believe that computers will
take away the time we spend with our
friends. Some think that we'll become too
comfortable at home and we won't want to
leave it. Some think that when we start
spend - проводить (время);
talking to computers, we'll stop talking to
people. I don't believe this.
In the 1950s, people said that cinemas
would die; television will kill them, they
said. But cinemas are still here. People
aren't always right.
In fact, the Internet will bring many of our
old friends back to us. It will be easier to
keep friends who have moved because we
will be able to write and talk to them more
often and it won't cost as much.
The Internet will help us to make new
friends, too. Many of your conversations will
start on the computer, but soon you will
want to meet.
The Internet will also give you a louder
voice in your town or city. If something is
making you angry, you'll be able to find
other people who feel the same way. Then
you will be able to do something together to
change the problem, and make your town or
city better.
loud [laud] - громкий;
Some parents are afraid of the Internet
because it will be a place where their
children can learn about anything they
want, good or bad. This is a difficult
problem.
*
What comes into the home will be different,
but the home will also be different. We
won't need many of the things we now
have; paper dictionaries and encyclopedias,
CDs, the boxes with old letters and old
photographs. All this will disappear into the
computer. We won't lose them. They will be
safe inside out computers. But we will only
look at them when we choose.
dictionary ['dik nri] -
словарь;
disappear - исчезать;
I'm thinking about of this because I've
recently built a new house. My house is a
house for the future. It is pretty. But most
of all, it is comfortable. It's where my family
and I live.
recently ['ri:sntli] - недавно;
built - страд. прич. от <build -
строить>
My house is made of wood, glass and stone.
It is also made out of software.
glass - стекло;
If you come to visit, you'll probably be
surprised when you come in. Someone will
give you an electronic pin to wear. This pin
tells the house who and where you are. The
house uses this information to give you
what you need. When it's dark outside, the
pin turns on the lights nearest you, and
then turns them off as you walk away from
them. Music moves with you too. If the
house knows your favorite music, it plays it.
The music seems to be everywhere, but in
fact other people in the house hear different
music or no music. If you get a telephone
call, only the nearest telephone rings.
favorite/favourite -
любимый;
Of course, you are also able to tell the
house if you want something. There is a
home control console, a small machine that
turns things on and off around you.
control [k n'tr ul] -
контроль, регулирование;
The pin and the console are new ideas, but
they are in fact like many things we have
today. If you want to go to a movie, you
need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you
can use my car. The car works for you
because you have the keys. My house works
for you because you wear the pin or hold
the console.
ticket - билет;
I believe that ten years from now, most new
homes will have the system that I've put in
my house. The systems will probably even
be bigger and better than the ones I've put
in today.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of
my ideas will work better than others. But I
hope that one day I will stop thinking of
these systems as new, and ask myself
instead, "How did I live without them?"
hope - надеяться;
instead [in'sted] - вместо.
Chapter 9. The Internet "Gold Rush".
In 1994 and early 1995, when there was a lot of
excitement about the Information Highway, it
seemed that almost everyday one company or
another was trying to become part of the plans
to build it, to be the first to offer users video
through cable television, for example, or videotelephone
systems.
It was like an exciting dream – small and large
companies hoped to make a lot of money with
new electronics and ideas on how to build and
run the Highway. Everyone wanted to win. They
didn't see much of a place for the personal
computer in this picture of the future.
Then, later in 1995, people suddenly seemed to
notice the Internet. Communication from one
personal computer to another – from office to
office, home to home or country to country
around the world – was clearly an early move
toward a future Information Highway. The
excitement over building the Highway turned
quickly to excitement over the power that
people already had through their personal
computers on the Internet. It was a welcome
change of thinking for Microsoft, where our
thinking and planning was already for "a
personal computer on every desk and in every
home."
notice - замечать;
clearly - ясно;
toward - к; по
направлению к;
welcome - (зд.)
желанный;
Plans changed fast at every communications,
computer and software company. They dropped
their ideas for the Information Highway and
started to look much more carefully at the
world wide -
всемирный;
web - паутина;
"World Wide Web" of personal computers that
people were already using. Companies quickly
began to make computer hardware and
software specially for the Internet, to give users
new ways of sending and getting information on
almost any subject, of doing business and of
making friends, for example.
hardware - "железо"
(детали компьютера);
Internet software is still becoming better and
more powerful everyday, and in the near future
video and telephone systems will probably run
on it, just as people thought when they were
making plans for the Information Highway years
ago.
The early days of the Internet are like the early
days of the California Gold Rush. People will
make money in surprising ways.
In 1852, about three years after the start of the
Gold Rush, thousands of men hoped to find gold
and get rich quickly. A man named Levi Strauss
opened a store in San Francisco. Twenty years
later, when many people were still dreaming of
finding gold, another man from Nevada offered
Strauss an idea for a new sort of pants, made of
blue "denim." They agreed to go into business
together – and they got reach, but it wasn't
from gold. Since then the Levi Strauss company
has sold more than a billion pairs of blue jeans
all over the world – blue gold, we could say.
denim - грубая
хлопчатобумажная
ткань;
since then - с тех пор;
pair - пара;
Almost everybody will some day share in the
"reaches" of the Internet. It will grow so that
almost everyone in the richer countries of the
world, and large numbers in the poorest
countries, will be users. Microsoft is already
working toward that goal.
toward - к; по
направлению к;
Chapter 10. Moving into the Information Age.
This is an exciting time in the world of
computers and information. It is a beginning.
New things are coming, and new jobs are
coming with them.
I hope for great things from the future, but I
worry a little, too. Workers will have to learn
these new jobs. Countries will become nearer
together, and this will change the way we feel
about neighboring countries. There will be new
problems, but today we can only guess what
they will be.
neighboring - соседний;
guess - (у)гадать;
Sometimes, with everything changing, it seems
that the world will be completely different from
one day to the next. It won't. But we have to be
ready for some changes.
completely -
полностью;
For most people the problem is "Where will my
place be in all this?" They worry about new jobs
and their children's jobs. These are serious
questions. Some jobs will disappear. But these
are the same questions I heard when the
personal computer arrived in the work-place,
and nothing terrible happened then.
Each time a job disappears, the worker who has
that job is free to do something new. This
means people do more work, and that is good
for everyone.
Before we had machines, most people lived or
worked on farms. Today, only a few people in
the United States do this work. The children and
the grandchildren of farmers didn't stop
working; they just found new jobs. In 1990,
more than half the 501 different jobs you could
have were jobs that weren't there in 1940.
Computers frighten almost everyone (everyone
but children) before they learn to use them.
When people spend more time with computers,
they understand them better. You can start by
playing computer games or doing other simple
but - (зд.) кроме;
once - как только;
things. Once you start using them, I think you'll
like them.
The most important users will be today's
children and young people. The Internet is for
the future. To give the children this future, we
have to do two things. We have to get both girls
and boys in front of computers. There are
women in the computer business, but there are
places for many more. We also have to get the
Internet into the schools the lowest price
possible for using it.
both ... and - и ... и.
What will the price of the Internet be? People
worry about that. Because the Internet needs
as many users as it can get, it will not be
expensive.
People are also afraid of sharing too much
personal information. Computers already have a
lot of information about all of us - the telephone
numbers we call, how we did in school or
college, where we work and how much we
make. Today, these facts are in many different
computers. Each computer knows something
about you, but no computer knows everything.
But the Internet will change that because the
computers can all talk to each other. There will
have to be new rules for this information: who
can see it and how they can use it. We will have
to decide on those rules carefully.
•
At the same time, it's important to remember
that computers can also "hide" information. You
can keep your information safe by using a
secret password or number. Computers today
have very good systems for this. Computers of
the future will have almost perfect systems.
Without that password or number, no one will
be able to read what's in your computer. Your
personal information will be safer, in fact, than
ever before.
Yes, there will be problems, but not impossible
ones. There will be mistakes, but we will learn
from them.
Fifty years ago, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a
famous French writer and airplane pilot, was
talking about the airplane, the telephone and
the movies when he said that the best things
people have made are all things that bring
people together.
The Internet will be a road to many places. I've
had an interesting time thinking about some of
these places. And I'm excited to be on that
road.
Chapter 1. The First Part of the Road.
I wrote my first program for a computer when I
was thirteen years old. A program tells a
computer to do something. My program told the
computer to play a game. This computer was
very big and very slow. It didn't even have a
computer screen. But I thought it was
wonderful. I was just a kid, but the computer
did everything I told it to do. And even today,
that's what I love about computers. When I
write a good program, it always works perfectly,
every time.
kid (ам.) - ребенок;
The computer was our toy. We grew up with it.
And when we grew up, we brought our toy with
us. Now the computer is in our homes and in
our offices [' fisiz]. It has changed our lives
[laivz] and it is changing them again, because
now the computers are coming together to
make a new system. In this system, computers
all over the world are beginning to work
together. Our computers will be our telephones,
our post office, our library, and our banks.
library ['laibr ri] -
библиотека;
When we talk about this new system, we call it
the Internet. This book will try to answer
questions about the future of the Internet –
what it will be like, and how we will use it.
Sometimes when we talk about the future of the
Internet, we call it the "Information Highway".
* * *
The Information Highway, when it comes, is
going to bring new ways of doing things. New
ways are strange, and sometimes people worry
about them, but they are also exciting. I'm very
happy that I will be a part of this strange new
time.
worry ['w ri] -
беспокоиться;
I've felt this happiness and excitement before.
After I wrote that first program at the age of
thirteen, my friend Paul [p :l] Allen and I spent
a lot of time using computers. Back then
computers were very expensive. It cost forty
dollars an hour to use one. We made some of
our money during the summers, when we
worked for computer companies.
excitement - волнение;
age [ei ] - возраст;
cost - стоил;
My friend Paul knew a lot more about the
machines than I did. I was more interested in
the programs. But I learnt from him. One day in
1972, when I was sixteen and he was nineteen,
he showed me something that he was reading.
It was about a company called Intel that had a
new microprocessor [,maikr u'pr uses ] chip.
learnt [l :nt] - учился;
A microprocessor chip is the part of the
computer that thinks. This new one wasn't very
smart, but we wanted to see if we could write a
program for it. In the end, we made a program
for it, but we didn't make much money from it.
The next microprocessor from Intel came out in
the spring of 1974. It was much smarter than
the earlier one. When we read about it, I told
Paul that the days of the big computers were
finished.
But it was another new idea that excited us
more. In December of that year, we saw a
picture of the Altair 8800. The Altair was a
microcomputer (a small computer) with the new
Intel microprocessor chip. When we saw that,
we thought "Oh no! People are going to write
real programs for this chip!" I was sure of this,
and I wanted to be part of it.
It took us five weeks of hard work, but in the
end we did it. We had a program for the Altair
and we had something more. We had the
world's first company that wrote programs for
microcomputers. In time we named it
"Microsoft."
Starting a company isn't easy. Sometimes it
means that you can't do other things that you
like. I loved college. I liked having
conversations and sharing ideas with so many
smart people. But I knew that I had to choose.
That spring, Paul decided to leave his job and I
decided to leave college. I was nineteen years
old.
Chapter 2. Beginnings.
To understand the future, it helps to look at
the past.
More then a hundred and fifty years ago, a
British man named Charles Babbage had an
idea about a machine that could work with
numbers. He wanted to make a machine
that could follow different orders to do
different jobs. Today, we call this sort of
machine a computer, and we call the orders
software. Software is a group of rules that
you can give to a machine to tell it how to
do something. Computer programs are
software.
order - приказ;
rule [ru:l] - правило;
For the next hundred years, people worked
on Babbage's idea. Finally, in the 1940th,
they built the first computer. The United
States and Great Britain worked on it
together during the war, and the work was
secret. Three of the most important men
who helped to build it were Alan Turing,
Claude [kl :d] Shannon and John Von
Neumann [f n 'n im n].
Even before the war, Claude Shannon was
interested in "thinking" machines. He
showed how small switches could be the
computer's alphabet. In this system, a
switch that was off meant "true" and a
switch that was on meant "not true". This
simple system is called the binary system,
and computers still use it today.
John Von Neumann, an American born in
Hungary, added something just as
important. He had an idea about how
computers could use a memory in powerful
ways. As soon as this was possible, the
modern computer was born.
add - добавить;
It is not always possible for a computer to
keep all its information in its memory
without changing it. Often the computer has
to make the information smaller so that its
memory can hold more of it at one time.
Many times it does this before it moves the
information to another computer.
keep - хранить;
without - без;
Each year we'll be moving more data. Data
is another word for information. Almost all
of the data that we get today in different
ways will come through our computer, and
the computer will send it to different
machines around the house. If the computer
gets a voice message, for example, the
telephone will ring. If the message comes as
a picture or pictures – as a movie, for
example – it will show up on the computer
screen. There will probably be other kinds of
information, too, but we can't know yet
what it will be, because the future is always
full of surprises.
ring - звонить;
movie ['mu:vi] - (ам.) фильм;
probably - наверно;
kind [kaind] - вид;
yet - еще;
There are no surprises in the past, but there
are lessons. Companies that put their
money into the Information Highway will try
not to make the same mistakes that other
computer companies have made during the
last twenty years. In the past, they spent
too much time working on the machine and
not enough time on the software.
When we started Microsoft, we worked with
MITS, the company that built the Altair
8800. By 1977, other companies – Apple,
Commodore and Radio Shack – were also
making small computers, and we sold them
our software. Our software was an
important part of these computers, because
users could write their programs for it, too.
But users were doing another thing with our
software, too; they were stealing it. One
person bought it and then shared it with
many other computer users by making
copies of the software. Sadly, this stealing
of software has not disappeared.
share (with) - делиться (с);
disappear [,dis 'pi ] -
исчезать;
Even with this problem, we were still selling
a lot of software, and not only to American
companies. By 1979, almost half of our
business was coming from Japan.
In 1979, Paul and I moved Microsoft to a
town near Seattle [si tl], Washington. The
company was growing. Microsoft was doing
so well because we made only software,
never computers. The computer companies
came to us for the programs. And because
almost all of them bought their software
from us, our programming language,
Microsoft BASIC, was the most important
computer programming language.
Computers and their software are different
from many other things you buy because
they can become more useful. If you buy a
computer because you want to play
computer games, the computer becomes
more useful each time a company makes a
new game.
In the beginning, television was not as
important in our lives as it is today. At first,
there weren't many television shows. But as
companies sold more televisions, there were
more reasons to make more shows, more
reason [ri:zn] - причина;
people wanted to buy televisions.
The same thing happened with compact disc
music machines. When compact disc
machines first arrived in the stores, you
couldn't find many of your favorite singers
or songs on compact discs. But when
enough people began to buy the machines,
music companies had to start making more
discs. Today, when you want to buy music,
you usually buy a compact disc.
favorite - (ам.) любимый;
singer - певец;
song - песня;
These lessons are important for the
computer companies. Companies have to
remember that people want their computers
to do as many different things as possible.
In 1980, two men from IBM came to
Microsoft to talk about personal computers,
smaller computers that people could use at
home or in small businesses. IBM wanted to
have these new computers ready in less
than a year. It also wanted us to make the
software.
IBM idea seemed wonderful. We wanted to
be a part of this. The software system that
we made for them was called MS-DOS. We
gave them a very low price for using it, and
their computers with our software sold very
well. Soon other people began to write
software that built on top of the MS-DOS
system. This was good news for us, because
in this way our system became more useful
for everyone. For a few years, more than
half of all personal computers in business
were IBM computers.
seem - казаться;
low - низкий;
The business we did with IBM was very
important to us, but in 1992, after some
difficulties with different software systems
for new computers, we stopped our work
with them.
Nothing that you sell will do well forever
unless you work on it and make it better.
We made MS-DOS better and better, but in
the end we stopped making it. Instead we
sell Microsoft's Windows software. We are
planning to make a completely new
Windows system every two or three years.
unless - если не;
instead [in'sted] - вместо,
взамен;
completely [k m'pli:tli] -
полностью.
Everyone makes mistakes now and then.
What is important is what you do after these
mistakes. The secret to winning in our
business is change. I believe a company can
stay on top by making the changes at the
right time.
Chapter 3. Some Things Computers Can Do for Us.
When I was a kid, the Ed Sullivan was on
television at eight o'clock on Sunday nights.
You were in front of the television at eight
o'clock or you missed it. And no one wanted
to miss the Ed Sullivan Show.
kid - ребенок;
We decide what we watch, but television
companies decide when we will watch it.
That's the way I watched the Ed Sullivan
Show thirty years ago, and that's the way
most of us will watch the news tonight.
In the early 1980s, the VCR began arrive in
homes. The VCR is a machine that makes a
copy of movies or TV shows so that you can
watch them later or even keep them. Now
you can choose when you want to watch
something.
Talking on the telephone has changed, too.
Before the telephone answering machine,
you came home after work and you didn't
know that someone wanted to speak with
you. Now we can listen to our messages and
call people back when we want to.
In the future there will be television as there
is now, but there will also be television
through the computer. You will be able to
watch anything that has already been on
TV, at any time you want.
Your mail will also arrive in this way, and
the computer will hold it for you until you
are ready to read it.
until - до тех пор, пока
(не);
But the Information Highway won't be just a
television and a mail-box. It will give us
much more. It will help us to learn, to shop,
to look after our money, and to talk with our
family and friends. It won't matter where in
the world they are.
Computer screens will be better than they
are now. Their pictures will be clearer, and
we will be able to use some of them to write
or draw on. Others will work together with
the telephone, and will show us the face of
the people who are calling us.
draw [dr :] - рисовать;
In today's world, people need to work while
travelling. For years we've had the laptop, a
small computer that you carry with you, and
now there are computers that go in your
pocket.
laptop - ноутбук;
These pocket computers carry information,
and they also send letters or play computer
games with you. In a few years' time you
won't keep money in your pockets, because
you'll use your pocket computer to buy
things. It will be your littke bank, and only
you will be able to use it.
One of the problems that people think of
when they hear about the future of the
Internet is "Too much information." They
think that the Internet will be a mountain of
data, and that the mountain will fall on
them. But "too much information" is not a
worry ['w ri] -
беспокоиться;
new problem, and it's not a problem that we
only have with computers. Think about
books for a minute. When you go to a
library, do you worry about reading all the
books there? No, of course not. You know
what you are interested in. You know what
you want to read. And the library system
helps you find it.
The Internet has filters. A filter helps you
choose the information you want.
Tomorrow's filters will be better than
today's. If you are interested in football,
your computer will show you the winners of
the football games first you will ask it about
sports. Of course, you'll have to tell it things
first. The filter will work better if it knows
more about you.
Today's computers are like first-day
workers. You have to give careful orders
about everything. And these computers will
always be first-days workers. They cannot
learn from you.
order - приказ;
A filter that knows a lot about you can
learn. It will remember what you're good at.
It will remember what you like and don't
like. And it will try to help you in other
ways.
be good at - хорошо
разбираться в;
Because filters will learn, they will also
change. When a filter becomes very smart,
we call it an "agent". It will even have a
voice.
Some people don't like the idea of talking to
a computer. "It's too strange," they say. But
we talk to machines already. When your car
or your computer doesn't work, you shout
at it. We shout at things all the time. Now,
instead of shouting, we will be able to talk.
But most of this won't happen for several
years.
instead (of) - вместо;
Building the future Internet – the
Information Highway – will be a big job. The
system will have to work with many
different kinds of computers and other
information machines, too. And it will be
expensive to build. But building it has begun
already. The Internet is a group of
computers that share information. The
Internet is already here, and it is the most
important new idea in the computer
business since the personal computer.
build [bild] - строить;
kind [kaind] - вид;
share - делить(ся);
since [sins] - c; (зд.) со
времен;
The Internet uses the telephone systems.
When I send you a message, it goes from
my computer to the telephone, and then
from there to my Internet company. Then
my company sends it to your Internet
company, and your company sends it to
you.
The Internet is a wonderful system but it
has some problems. One of the most
serious problems is hackers, people who
know a lot about computers and use this to
get into other people's computer systems.
On November 2, 1988, thousands of
computers using the Internet began to slow
down. Many of them just stopped.
Companies lost work hours and money. The
reason for the trouble was a program that a
hacker put into the system several months
before.
reason [ri:zn] - причина;
trouble [tr bl] -
беспокойство;
But most of the time, the Internet works
smoothly. Millions of people are using it
today, and they are happy with it.
smoothly ['smu: li] -
гладко;
Another change for the Internet is coming,
too. Soon you will see movies on your
television or on your computer screen
because you chose them. These movies will
come from cable television companies.
Cable television and telephone companies
will fight to get you as a customer for the offer - предлагать.
things they offer: movies, banking,
shopping, etc.
The personal computer has helped people in
many ways. The Internet will do more; it
will open the doors to most of the world's
information.
Chapter 4. Changes in Information Systems.
What a document? Most people will say that it is
a piece of paper that tells you something. For
more than five hundred years, people have
used ideas and information. This book is a
document.
In fact, a document is anything that tells you
something. The news on television is a
document, too. There will still be paper in
future, but there will also be other ways to keep
and share documents.
The Internet has let millions of people get to
know electronic documents that move from one
computer to another. Because computers can
do more than paper can, these documents often
are more useful to you. The idea of a
"document" will change.
When I was young, I loved the encyclopedia
that my family had. When I wanted to know
about something, I could read about it and look
at pictures of it. I spent a lot of time with the
encyclopedia, and I read a lot of it.
spent - проводить
(время);
Microsoft Encarta is an electronic encyclopedia.
It has a million words but it also has
photographs, movies and music. If you want to
know about Egyptian music, you can hear the
real music while you read about it. You can also
hear what famous people said, or see a movie
that explains how a machine works. No paper
encyclopedia can give you this.
Paper documents aren't the only ones that will
change. The television news will be as long as
you want. If you want more information on
something they're talking about, you will be
able to ask for it.
Already you can share information on the
Internet. You can share ideas, too, by putting
your letters or messages on a bulletin board. An
electronic bulletin board is a place in a system
of computers where people can read or write
messages about something that interests them.
A million people can read what you write, or
maybe no one will. But either way, you've put
your ideas there. And there are bulletin boards
about almost everything on the Internet.
either ['ai ]/['i: ] - и
тот и другой;
Games are another reason people enjoy
computers. Today, most computer games are
on special compact discs. Every player starts
with the same game but he changes it by
choosing what he will do with the game. But as
the Internet grows, people are beginning to play
against other computer users, not just by
themselves.
enjoy [in' i] -
наслаждаться,
получать
удовольствие;
Computers have changed movies, too. It was
computer software that gave us the animals in
Jurassic Park and many exciting parts in other
movies like The Lion King and The Mask.
One of the most interesting ideas in the world of
computers is Virtual Reality. Virtual Reality, or
VR, is a system of pictures and sounds the
computer uses to make a "place". The place
isn't real, but it seems real, and you think
you're in it. You can look to the right and the
left, and the system knows you're turning your
head and it changes the pictures. You see these
"places" through special computer glasses. With
VR, you will be able to learn what it's like to fly
an airplane, drive a car, or maybe go inside a
right - правый;
left - левый;
glasses - очки;
body to see the heart working, all without
getting off a chair in your living room.
Today people use a sort of Virtual Reality in
many different kinds of computer games, but
VR is more than a game. Pilots who are learning
to fly airplanes can use it and can "crash"
safely, for example. Doctors can use it to
practice difficult work.
kind - вид;
crash - авария;
Virtual Reality systems won't just show us
places that we know. There will be wonderful,
unreal words, too. People are already working
to make these interesting, unreal worlds.
Chapter 5. The World of Business.
We are leaving the world of paper
documents, and because of this, business is
changing. The personal computer has
already changed how we work, and now
that computers are talking to each other
business will change even more. The
possibilities are exciting, but people have to
remember that a computer is only a tool. It
can help you with many of your problems,
but those problems won't disappear just
because you have a computer.
now that - ...теперь, когда
...;
tool - инструмент;
disappear - исчезать;
When I was a kid, computers were big
machines and only big businesses used
them. The computers were part of the
reason that these businesses did better than
small ones who used paper and pencil.
kid - ребенок;
pencil - карандаш;
But today, personal computers have
changed all that. Businesses of all sizes use
them, and they help their users to do more
work. size - размер;
Today, people in business share information cost - стоить;
by sending messages and letters, by talking
on the telephone and by meeting people
from other companies around the table. All
of this costs time and money.
At Microsoft, we began to use electronic
mail, letters that travel through computers,
in the early 1980s. E-mail, as everyone calls
it, took the place of paper.
E-mail is easy to use and goes from
computer to computer immediately. At
Microsoft, anyone in the company can send
me messages by e-mail. The e-mail
messages at Microsoft are usually a
sentence or two. The reader gets the
information that he needs but it doesn't
take as long as a telephone conversation. In
the future, e-mail will get better, changing
in ways we haven't thought about yet.
sentence - предложение;
yet - еще;
Telephones will also get better. You will still
hear the other person, but you will also see
them, if the other person wants you to. Or
you will be able to show other pictures
through the same system.
People in business will "meet" without
leaving their offices. I'm sure you've already
seen people using this sort of
communication on new shows on television.
People in different countries talk together
about the same thing, while a reporter in
another place asks them questions.
Businesses will find this system useful
because it works better than telephone
conversations, and it will be cheaper and
quicker than bringing people together from
around the country or around the world.
There is another part of work that is already
changing. In the United States, millions of
people work without going to an office every
day. They do their jobs at home by using
computers, e-mail and fax machines. When
you work somewhere and then send your
work to another place, you are
telecommuting. The people who do this are
telecommuters, and more and more people
will be telecommuting in the future, using
the Internet.
For this new system of telecommuting to
work better, businesses will have to find a
new way of thinking about work time. When
you are in the office, the company pays you
for every hour that you there. When you are
telecommuting from your home, there will
be times when you are looking after the
baby or doing other things. When this
happens, telecommuters will tell their
computer, and the computer will tell the
office that they are not working at this time.
A lot of companies will become smaller,
using telecommuters only when they need
them. Big is not always better in business.
Many telecommuters will work more than
one company. They will put their work
schedules into the computer, and other
businesses will know when they are free to
work for them.
schedule [' edju:l] -
расписание;
Telecommuting will change our lives in
many ways. Many of today's problems are
problems of the city, of too many people
living in the same place because they can
find work there.
Of course, there are good things, too, about
living in the city. There is more to see and
do and the hospitals and schools are bigger
and sometimes better. But when people
choose to live in the city, they live with the
bad so they can have the good.
Over time, as the Internet brings your work tour [tu ] - тур.
to your home, it will also bring many of the
other good things from the city with it:
college lessons, city tours, or conversations
with doctors at hospital far away. It is
possible that when this happens, people will
begin to leave the city. It seems strange,
but this will possibly help the cities, too. If
one person out of ten leaves the city, the
city will have more money to spend on the
other nine people.
Chapter 6. Markets and Money.
When Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of
Nations in 1776, he talked about a world
where every buyer knew every seller's
price, and every seller knew how much to
ask for.
market - рынок;
wealth [wel ] - богатство;
We do not have that world yet. Sometimes
you buy something for $500 and then see it
in another store for $300, and you feel
stupid. It happens with many different
things, but for the same reason. You didn't
have enough information.
The Internet will bring buyers and sellers
together. You will be able to find anything,
using your computer. And as this happens,
the middlemen, the people who sell things
for other people, will have to do more for
both the buyers and sellers to keep their
jobs. both ... and - и ... и;
This idea will frighten a lot of people. But it
will stop frightening most of them when it
becomes part of our lives. We will ask for
more, and get more, from the middlemen.
The travel business is a business of the
middlemen. The people at the travel office
will have to work harder to keep their
business ['biznis];
customers. It will be easy to get travel
information through the Internet, and many
people will start to plan their own travels.
own [ un] - собственный;
On the Internet, lots of people will buy
things straight from the companies that
make them. Because of this, advertising will
change. And when you think that something
you bought isn't very good, or when you
really love it, you'll be able to tell other
customers about it on the electronic bulletin
boards. Before you buy something, you'll be
able to read what other people are saying
about it on the bulletin boards, too.
Of course, you don't have to listen to
everything everyone on a bulletin board
says. Sometimes a few users try too hard to
tell people how they feel. Their messages
become angry. I've seen this happens with
bulletin board, and it kills them.
There's another problem too, with the
bulletin boards. Today, if someone keeps
telephoning you and you don't want to hear
from them, the police and the telephone
company will work together to stop them.
But no one will get angry at the telephone
company. They will get angry at the person
who is telephoning.
It's different with newspapers. If a
newspaper tells lies about you, the
newspaper is in trouble.
The Internet companies are somewhere in
the middle, between newspapers and
telephone companies. They give us
information, but they also bring us
information that they didn't write, like the
messages on a bulletin board. There have
been some problems with the bulletin
boards. Some users have become angry at
what other users have put there. Does this clear - ясный;
mean that the Internet company gets into
trouble? It isn't clear yet.
I think that, in the end, we will put the
information on the Internet into different
groups. In some groups, there will be
information that the company has read, and
changed if necessary. In other groups, the
messages will still come straight from other
Internet users.
necessary ['nesisri] -
необходимо;
But the bulletin board won't be the only
place to find out about things that you want
to buy. Today, you can see people in the
movies drinking one kind of beer or eating
at a restaurant you know. This is a new kind
of advertising. In the movie True Lies,
Arnold Schwarzenegger sees our Windows
program in Arabic on a computer screen.
We paid for that. In the future, when you
see something you like in a movie, you will
be able to ask questions about it or even
buy it through the computer. If there's a
nice hotel in the movie, you'll be able to find
out where it is and how much the rooms
cost. You'll be able to stop the movie while
you do this, and then start it again when
you have finished.
find out - разузнать,
выяснить;
beer - [bi ] пиво;
restaurant ['restr : ];
Another idea that will change shopping has
already started. Levi Strauss & Co is trying
a new system for its jeans. At many of its
stores, you can tell them how big you want
your pants at the stomach and how long
your legs are, and their computer sends
these numbers to their factory. There,
another computer tells the cutting
machines, and they make a perfect pair of
pants, just for you.
Levi Strauss [li'vai st :s];
stomach ['st m k] - живот;
pair [p ] - пара;
In time, it's possible that everyone will have
their personal clothing information in their
computer. It will be easier to buy someone
a present when this happens. You will know size - размер;
that the clothes will be the right size.
You will also be able to tell your computer
about other things you want to buy. Your
computer will tell you when it finds
something interesting. It will also use this to
tell companies about you. This will help both
you and the companies.
Advertising today costs companies a lot of
money. There are some companies – Coca
Cola, for example – who want everyone to
see their advertising. But most companies
want to get their advertising to one group of
people or another. Toy companies want
children, or the parents of young children,
to see their advertising, for example. Car
companies want drivers to see their
advertising. And companies that make
expensive cars want rich drivers to see their
advertising.
When companies know more about you, you
won't have to look at advertising for things
that don't interest you. And the companies
will know that the right people are seeing
the things they sell.
Your computer will tell the companies about
what you're interested in buying. Or what
you're interested in hearing.
Companies that sell music will have new
ways of doing business. You will be able to
pay for a song each time you listen to it. Or
the company will be able to give you a low
price for playing it ten times, or maybe you
will sometimes be able to play some songs
for free. Movie companies will do something
like this, too.
low [l u] - низкий;
price - цена;
maybe - может быть;
There will also be pay-messages. These will
give you money if you look at them. Of
course, most of these won't give you much
quarter ['kw :t ] - 25
центов;
notice ['n utis] - заметить;
probably ['pr b bli] -
money, perhaps a quarter or a dollar. But
when someone wants you to notice them
specially, you will probably get more. These
pay-messages will be another kind of
advertising.
наверно;
Banks will also have to change. There are
about 14,000 banks for personal banking in
the United States. Most people use a bank
near their home or office. But as the
Internet becomes better it won't be very
important to have your bank near you.
There will be electronic banks – computers
to watch your money – and these banks will
be everywhere because they'll be in your
computer, too.
Many companies will have to change when
the Internet arrives. Some old jobs will
disappear but many new ones will take their
places. And buyers and sellers will both win.
disappear - исчезнуть;
both - оба.
Chapter 7. Education in the Future.
Businesses will be different, and schools will
have to change, too.
Howard Gardner from the Harvard Graduated
School of Education says that you have to teach
each child in a different way because people see
the world differently.
graduated school -
аспирантура;
Some teachers are already using the Internet.
Many teachers are already using personal
computers. In Union City, New Jersey, a
telephone company called Bell Atlantic gave 140
computers to students and teachers. These
computers went into the homes and the school.
At home, children used them to do their
homework. Parents used them, too, to talk to
the school about their children.
Electronic documents will help teachers to give
different parts of the same lesson to different
students. All children will learn in the way that
is best for them.
A lot of people don't believe this. They have
heard about computers in the classroom, but
they haven't seen much difference because of
them. There is a simple reason for this: money.
The schools don't have enough money to buy
the right computers. School computers just
aren't strong enough and smart enough to do
the job. But this will change because it has to
change. The computer has to be in the schools
of tomorrow.
simple - простой;
People often ask "Will computers take the place
of teachers?" I can answer them, "No, they
won't!" A computer is a tool that a teacher uses. tool - инструмент;
We've all had teachers who made a difference in
our lives. But when teachers do great work and
give wonderful lessons, they are only helping
their 20 or 30 students. In the future, teacher
will share their work with other schools across
the country, or around the world.
There will be good software programs for the
lessons. When a teacher is talking about the
sun, for example, she'll be able to choose one of
many pictures. She'll have other pictures to
show when students ask questions. After the
lesson, the students will be able to look for
more facts on their computers.
There will be other programs, too, to help the
teachers. For each student, she will have a
special program with information about that
student. Teachers can work better with students
and their parents when they know more about
the students.
Computers can also help with tests, one of
school's most frightening things. Many students
do well - преуспевать;
in general - в общем;
are afraid of tests. A student who doesn't do
well on tests often starts to be frightened of
school in general.
With computers, students will be able to take
tests any time, with or without the teacher.
When they make a mistake, the computer will
help them. Then, when the teacher gives a real
test, the students will have a better idea of
what they know.
Every school will have a wonderful library,
because the Internet will bring millions of books
to the school's computer screens. It will also
bring electronic documents, like the
encyclopedia. Students will be able to ask
questions and get answers about almost
everything.
Some parents aren't happy when they see their
children in front of the computer. "Go read a
book," they say. But they are only thinking of
computer games. In the future, books will be in
the child's computer.
Having all this information isn't the only answer
to the problems that many schools have today.
But it will help. And our schools are the most
important places we have. But there are other
places, too, where people need to learn. People
everywhere will be able to learn from great
teachers, and people of all ages will be able to
"go to school" any time they sit down in front of
their computer.
age [ei ] - возраст;
Chapter 8. A Home for the Future.
Many people believe that computers will
take away the time we spend with our
friends. Some think that we'll become too
comfortable at home and we won't want to
leave it. Some think that when we start
spend - проводить (время);
talking to computers, we'll stop talking to
people. I don't believe this.
In the 1950s, people said that cinemas
would die; television will kill them, they
said. But cinemas are still here. People
aren't always right.
In fact, the Internet will bring many of our
old friends back to us. It will be easier to
keep friends who have moved because we
will be able to write and talk to them more
often and it won't cost as much.
The Internet will help us to make new
friends, too. Many of your conversations will
start on the computer, but soon you will
want to meet.
The Internet will also give you a louder
voice in your town or city. If something is
making you angry, you'll be able to find
other people who feel the same way. Then
you will be able to do something together to
change the problem, and make your town or
city better.
loud [laud] - громкий;
Some parents are afraid of the Internet
because it will be a place where their
children can learn about anything they
want, good or bad. This is a difficult
problem.
*
What comes into the home will be different,
but the home will also be different. We
won't need many of the things we now
have; paper dictionaries and encyclopedias,
CDs, the boxes with old letters and old
photographs. All this will disappear into the
computer. We won't lose them. They will be
safe inside out computers. But we will only
look at them when we choose.
dictionary ['dik nri] -
словарь;
disappear - исчезать;
I'm thinking about of this because I've
recently built a new house. My house is a
house for the future. It is pretty. But most
of all, it is comfortable. It's where my family
and I live.
recently ['ri:sntli] - недавно;
built - страд. прич. от <build -
строить>
My house is made of wood, glass and stone.
It is also made out of software.
glass - стекло;
If you come to visit, you'll probably be
surprised when you come in. Someone will
give you an electronic pin to wear. This pin
tells the house who and where you are. The
house uses this information to give you
what you need. When it's dark outside, the
pin turns on the lights nearest you, and
then turns them off as you walk away from
them. Music moves with you too. If the
house knows your favorite music, it plays it.
The music seems to be everywhere, but in
fact other people in the house hear different
music or no music. If you get a telephone
call, only the nearest telephone rings.
favorite/favourite -
любимый;
Of course, you are also able to tell the
house if you want something. There is a
home control console, a small machine that
turns things on and off around you.
control [k n'tr ul] -
контроль, регулирование;
The pin and the console are new ideas, but
they are in fact like many things we have
today. If you want to go to a movie, you
need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you
can use my car. The car works for you
because you have the keys. My house works
for you because you wear the pin or hold
the console.
ticket - билет;
I believe that ten years from now, most new
homes will have the system that I've put in
my house. The systems will probably even
be bigger and better than the ones I've put
in today.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of
my ideas will work better than others. But I
hope that one day I will stop thinking of
these systems as new, and ask myself
instead, "How did I live without them?"
hope - надеяться;
instead [in'sted] - вместо.
Chapter 9. The Internet "Gold Rush".
In 1994 and early 1995, when there was a lot of
excitement about the Information Highway, it
seemed that almost everyday one company or
another was trying to become part of the plans
to build it, to be the first to offer users video
through cable television, for example, or videotelephone
systems.
It was like an exciting dream – small and large
companies hoped to make a lot of money with
new electronics and ideas on how to build and
run the Highway. Everyone wanted to win. They
didn't see much of a place for the personal
computer in this picture of the future.
Then, later in 1995, people suddenly seemed to
notice the Internet. Communication from one
personal computer to another – from office to
office, home to home or country to country
around the world – was clearly an early move
toward a future Information Highway. The
excitement over building the Highway turned
quickly to excitement over the power that
people already had through their personal
computers on the Internet. It was a welcome
change of thinking for Microsoft, where our
thinking and planning was already for "a
personal computer on every desk and in every
home."
notice - замечать;
clearly - ясно;
toward - к; по
направлению к;
welcome - (зд.)
желанный;
Plans changed fast at every communications,
computer and software company. They dropped
their ideas for the Information Highway and
started to look much more carefully at the
world wide -
всемирный;
web - паутина;
"World Wide Web" of personal computers that
people were already using. Companies quickly
began to make computer hardware and
software specially for the Internet, to give users
new ways of sending and getting information on
almost any subject, of doing business and of
making friends, for example.
hardware - "железо"
(детали компьютера);
Internet software is still becoming better and
more powerful everyday, and in the near future
video and telephone systems will probably run
on it, just as people thought when they were
making plans for the Information Highway years
ago.
The early days of the Internet are like the early
days of the California Gold Rush. People will
make money in surprising ways.
In 1852, about three years after the start of the
Gold Rush, thousands of men hoped to find gold
and get rich quickly. A man named Levi Strauss
opened a store in San Francisco. Twenty years
later, when many people were still dreaming of
finding gold, another man from Nevada offered
Strauss an idea for a new sort of pants, made of
blue "denim." They agreed to go into business
together – and they got reach, but it wasn't
from gold. Since then the Levi Strauss company
has sold more than a billion pairs of blue jeans
all over the world – blue gold, we could say.
denim - грубая
хлопчатобумажная
ткань;
since then - с тех пор;
pair - пара;
Almost everybody will some day share in the
"reaches" of the Internet. It will grow so that
almost everyone in the richer countries of the
world, and large numbers in the poorest
countries, will be users. Microsoft is already
working toward that goal.
toward - к; по
направлению к;
Chapter 10. Moving into the Information Age.
This is an exciting time in the world of
computers and information. It is a beginning.
New things are coming, and new jobs are
coming with them.
I hope for great things from the future, but I
worry a little, too. Workers will have to learn
these new jobs. Countries will become nearer
together, and this will change the way we feel
about neighboring countries. There will be new
problems, but today we can only guess what
they will be.
neighboring - соседний;
guess - (у)гадать;
Sometimes, with everything changing, it seems
that the world will be completely different from
one day to the next. It won't. But we have to be
ready for some changes.
completely -
полностью;
For most people the problem is "Where will my
place be in all this?" They worry about new jobs
and their children's jobs. These are serious
questions. Some jobs will disappear. But these
are the same questions I heard when the
personal computer arrived in the work-place,
and nothing terrible happened then.
Each time a job disappears, the worker who has
that job is free to do something new. This
means people do more work, and that is good
for everyone.
Before we had machines, most people lived or
worked on farms. Today, only a few people in
the United States do this work. The children and
the grandchildren of farmers didn't stop
working; they just found new jobs. In 1990,
more than half the 501 different jobs you could
have were jobs that weren't there in 1940.
Computers frighten almost everyone (everyone
but children) before they learn to use them.
When people spend more time with computers,
they understand them better. You can start by
playing computer games or doing other simple
but - (зд.) кроме;
once - как только;
things. Once you start using them, I think you'll
like them.
The most important users will be today's
children and young people. The Internet is for
the future. To give the children this future, we
have to do two things. We have to get both girls
and boys in front of computers. There are
women in the computer business, but there are
places for many more. We also have to get the
Internet into the schools the lowest price
possible for using it.
both ... and - и ... и.
What will the price of the Internet be? People
worry about that. Because the Internet needs
as many users as it can get, it will not be
expensive.
People are also afraid of sharing too much
personal information. Computers already have a
lot of information about all of us - the telephone
numbers we call, how we did in school or
college, where we work and how much we
make. Today, these facts are in many different
computers. Each computer knows something
about you, but no computer knows everything.
But the Internet will change that because the
computers can all talk to each other. There will
have to be new rules for this information: who
can see it and how they can use it. We will have
to decide on those rules carefully.
•
At the same time, it's important to remember
that computers can also "hide" information. You
can keep your information safe by using a
secret password or number. Computers today
have very good systems for this. Computers of
the future will have almost perfect systems.
Without that password or number, no one will
be able to read what's in your computer. Your
personal information will be safer, in fact, than
ever before.
Yes, there will be problems, but not impossible
ones. There will be mistakes, but we will learn
from them.
Fifty years ago, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a
famous French writer and airplane pilot, was
talking about the airplane, the telephone and
the movies when he said that the best things
people have made are all things that bring
people together.
The Internet will be a road to many places. I've
had an interesting time thinking about some of
these places. And I'm excited to be on that
road.
on Wednesday, 20 July 2016
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