108, transl. Ball: see next note). Austin
was in the service of Jahangir as early as 1621, and probably came
out to India from Persia in 1614. He is described as an engineer
(_ingenieur_), and is recorded to have made a golden throne for
Jahangir (_J.R.A.S._, 1910, pp. 494, 1343-5). Sleeman's misreading of
_ustad_ as _ustan_, and his consequent blunders, have misled
innumerable writers. In cursive Persian the misreading is easy and
natural. He took Ustan as intended for 'Austin'. Certain marks in the
garden on the other side of the river indicate the spot where Shah
Jahan had begun work on his own tomb. Aurangzeb, as Tavernier
observes, was 'not disposed to complete it' (see _A.S.R._, iv. 180).
For a summary of the controversy concerning the alleged share of
Geronimo Veroneo in the design of the Taj, see _H.F.A._, 1911, pp.
416-18. Personally, I am of opinion, as I was more than twenty years
ago, that 'the incomparable Taj is the product of a combination of
European and Asiatic genius'. That opinion makes some people very
angry.
19. I would not be thought very positive upon this point, I think I
am right, but feel that I may be wrong.
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