seated on the Peacock Throne Shah Jahan ruled in what is now considered the
Golden Age of the vast
Mughal Empire, which covered almost all of the
Indian subcontinent. He ruled from the newly constructed capital of
Shahjahanabad. The emperor was the focus around which everything else revolved, giving audiences and receiving petitioners. The ruler's court was to be a mirror image of paradise on earth, in the very center of the empire, and such a ruler would be worthy of a
Throne of Solomon (تختِ سليمان, Takht-e-Sulaiman) to underscore his position as a just king. Like Solomon's throne, the Peacock Throne was to be covered in gold and jewels, with steps leading up to it, with the ruler floating above the ground and closer to heaven. Said Gilani and his workers from the imperial goldsmiths' department were commissioned to construct this new throne. It took seven years to complete. Large amounts of solid gold, precious stones, and pearls were used, creating a masterful piece of Mughal artistry that was unsurpassed before or after its creation. It was an opulent indulgence that could only be seen by a few courtiers, aristocrats, and visiting dignitaries. The throne was, even by Golden Age Mughal standards, supremely extravagant, costing twice as much as the construction of the
Taj Mahal. The appearance of this new throne was in stark contrast to the older
throne of Jahangir, a large rectangular slab of engraved black
basalt constructed in the early 1600s, used by the father of Shah Jahan. The new throne was not initially given the name by which it became known. It was known as the "Jeweled Throne" or "Ornamented Throne" (
Takht-Murassa). It received its name from later historians because of the peacock statues featured on it. The date was chosen by astrologers and was doubly auspicious, since it coincided exactly with
Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, and
Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The emperor and the court were returning from Kashmir, and it was determined that the third day of Nowruz would be the most auspicious day for him to enter the capital and take his seat on the throne. Muhammad Qudsi, the emperor's favourite poet, was chosen to compose twenty verses inscribed in emerald and green enamel on the throne. He praised the matchless skill of the artisans, the "heaven-depleting grandeur" of its gold and jewels, and included the date in the letters of the phrase "the throne of the just king". Poet Abu-Talib Kalim was given six pieces of gold for each verse in his poem of sixty-three couplets. The emperor summoned master goldsmith Said Gilani and showered him with honours, including his weight in gold coins and the title "Peerless Master" (
Bibadal Khan). Gilani produced a poem of 134 couplets, filled with
chronograms, the first twelve couplets giving the date of the emperor's birth, the following thirty-two the date of his first coronation, then ninety couplets giving the date of the throne's inauguration. as did the Koh-i-Noor. The Shah diamond was described by
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier as being on the side of the throne. Many of these stones ended up becoming part of the
Persian crown jewels and, later, the
British crown jewels as a result of Great Britain's colonial expansion into the region. When Nadir Shah was assassinated by his officers on 19 June 1747, the throne disappeared, most probably being dismantled or destroyed for its valuables, in the ensuing chaos. One of the unsubstantiated rumours claimed the throne was given to the Ottoman Sultan, although this could have been a minor throne produced in Persia and given as a gift. The Persian emperor
Fath-Ali Shah commissioned the
Sun Throne to be constructed in the early 19th century. The Sun Throne has a platform in the shape of that of the Peacock Throne. Some rumours claim that parts of the original Peacock Throne were used in its construction, although there is no evidence. Over time, the Sun Throne was erroneously called the Peacock Throne, a term the West later appropriated as a
metonym for the Persian monarchy. No structural parts proven to be of the original Peacock Throne survived. Only some of the diamonds and precious stones attributed to it have survived and been re-worked. A
Sikh legend has it that a rectangular stone slab measuring by by was uprooted, enchained, and brought by
Ramgarhia Misl chief
Jassa Singh Ramgarhia to
Ramgarhia Bunga, in
Amritsar, after the capture of the Red Fort by the combined Dal Khalsa forces of
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and
Baghel Singh in 1783, as war booty. However, that this stone pedestal does indeed come from the Peacock Throne has not been independently corroborated by scientists and historians. A replacement throne resembling the original was probably constructed for the Mughal emperor after the Persian invasion. The throne was located on the eastern side of the
Divan-i-Khas, towards the windows. This throne, however, was also lost, possibly during or after the
Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the subsequent looting and partial destruction of the Red Fort by the British. The marble pedestal on which it rested has survived and can still be seen today. In 1908, the
New York Times reported that
Caspar Purdon Clarke, Director of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, obtained what was purported to be a marble leg from the pedestal of the throne. Although mentioned in the 1908 annual report, the status of this pedestal leg remains unknown. There is another marble leg in the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Where precisely these two pedestal legs originate, and if they are connected to the Peacock Throne, remains unclear. == Descriptions ==