Taj Mahal (Muh. Latif, _Agra_, p.
113). Of course, it also serves as an architectural balance for the
mosque.
15. The gardens of the Taj have been much improved since the author's
time, and are now under the care of a skilled European
superintendent, and full of beautiful shrubs and trees. The author's
measurements of the quadrangle seem to be wrong. Different figures
are given by Moin-ud-din (_Hist. of the Taj_, p. 29) and Fergusson
(ed. 1910, vol. ii, p. 313). No official survey is available.
16. The white marble that forms the substance of the building came,
Mr. Keene thinks, from Makrana near Jaipur, but according to Mr.
Hacket (_Records of the Geographical Survey of India_, x. 84), from
Raiwala in Jaipur, near the Alwar border [note]. The account of these
marbles given in the _Rajputana Gazetteer_, 1st ed. (ii. 127) favours
Mr. Keene's view' (_N.W.P. Gazetteer_, 1st ed., vol. vii, p. 707).
The ornamental stones used for the inlay work in the Taj are lapis
lazuli, jasper, heliotrope, Chalcedon agate, chalcedony, cornelian,
sarde, plasma (or quartz and chlorite), yellow and striped marble,
clay slate, and nephrite, or jade (_Dr.
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