He was called by the natives 'Ustan [_sic_] Isa, Nadir-ul-
asr', 'the wonderful of the age'; and, for his office of 'naksha
navis', or plan-drawer, he received a regular salary of one thousand
rupees a month, with occasional presents, that made his income very
large. He had finished the palace at Delhi, and the mausoleum and
palace of Agra; and was engaged in designing a silver ceiling for one
of the galleries in the latter, when he was sent by the Emperor to
settle some affairs of great importance at Goa. He died at Cochin on
his way back, and is supposed to have been poisoned by the
Portuguese, who were extremely jealous of his influence at court. He
left a son by a native, called Muhammad Sharif, who was employed as
an architect on a salary of five hundred rupees a month, and who
became, as I conclude from his name, a Musalman. Shah Jahan had
commenced his own tomb on the opposite side of the Jumna; and both
were to have been united by a bridge.[18] The death of Austin de
Bordeaux, and the wars between his [_scil._ Shah Jahan's] sons that
followed prevented the completion of these magnificent works.
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