The cost of taj Mahal was 41,848,426 Rupees, 7 Annas and 6 Magpies. The annas and peas are Indian currencies, as shown below.
If we know this figure, it is because lists of artisans have been drawn up to follow exactly these costs. These lists were lost but they reappeared, they had a Persian origin. There is a series of about forty artisans with their origins and their monthly wages for the completion of a given job, it was the documents of follow-up of the finances held by Muhammad Handif who was Mir Imarat. This title was that of the general manager, coordinator of the entire construction and in charge of advanced work, the payment of workers, the purchase of raw materials. In fact, he was responsible for a bit of everything on the job site.
It is thanks to him that one has information on the price that cost the Taj Mahal.
Units of measurement
Already, units of measurement are important. Here we will talk about Rupees (Rs), the current Indian currency, and "tola". A tola is a unit of weight equivalent to 11.33 grams, it was used during the Middle Ages in India. It is a Vedic unit of measure whose name comes from Sanskrit. The gold tola was 15 Rs in the 16th century, when the Taj Mahal was built.
There is also the Anna, which is a unit of money of India worth 1/4 rupees, the Pais, which is worth 4 Anna and the Pie, which is worth 4 Pais.
Breakdown of works
For its construction, the Taj Mahal was cut into several slices whose realization was given to different people. So it allows to have the cost, element by element.
- Marble base (Chhakka) and the 4 minarets: 5 177 674 rupees, 7 annas and 6 magpies
- 2 main graves: 5,345,361 Rupees and 10 annas
- Mausoleum marble balustrade: 468,855 Rupees, 2 annas and 10 magpies
There were 50 slices of work thus scheduled.
Origin of money
The funds for the construction of the Taj Mahal were provided by the Royal Treasury of the Emperor and the Treasury of the Government of Agra Province (subah Akbarabad). The accounts were scrupulously kept by the people in charge of finances. The main sources of expenditure were the cost of stones and wages paid to workers.
In all, it would be 466.55 kg of gold that would have been drawn from the royal treasury.
Cost of maintaining the time of Shah Jahan
The maintenance of the Taj Mahal was initially a question to be solved. Such a beautiful building had to be perfectly maintained. Moreover, it was necessary to maintain staff on the spot, if only for the religious office. Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who is at the origin of his construction, encouraged the "waqf" (a disinterested loan for a charitable cause of the Muslim sphere) to be able to pay this interview. This waqf paid 300,000 rupees, one-third of which came from 30 villages in the Agra district, while the rest came from taxes generated on the commerce of the bazaars and caravanserais that had been built at an early stage south of the complex. . All the surplus will be distributed by the Emperor as he sees fit. In addition to paying for routine maintenance, the waqf funded the expenses for the agents of the grave and the Hafiz, Koran reciters who would sit day and night in the mausoleum and offer funeral services of prayers for the soul eternal of Mumtaz Mahal.
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