INDIA: Archaeologists hope to trace the ancestry of the workers, writes Rahul Bedi, in New Delhi.
Indian archaeologists have uncovered some 670 names of previously unknown masons and labourers who built the Taj Mahal, the white marble monument to love, 356 years ago.
The names, mostly in Arabic and Persian, are etched in the sandstone walls and other peripheral structures on the northern side of the complex at Agra, 190km east of New Delhi that is regarded as one of the world's seven wonders.
Some 20,000 people, led by a nucleus of 37 specialists, built the spectacularly domed Taj Mahal, which the fifth Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan designed as the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in her 30s in childbirth.
It took 17 years to build the awesome and geometrically perfect structure that was completed in 1648. "We stumbled upon these names while doing our routine documentation of the Taj," Mr D Dayalan of the Archaeological Survey of India, which is in charge of historical monuments including the Taj, was quoted as saying by the Asian Age newspaper.
Most of these masons, sculptors and stonecutters came from Iran, Turkey, Syria, central Asia and across India, he added.
Some of the names were also in Hindi, India's official language that evolved from the ancient language, Sanskrit.
The Archaeological Survey team also discovered symbols like tridents, stars, geometrical patterns, flowers and swastikas - an ancient Aryan symbol considered holy by Hindus - carved into some of the walls.
This indicated that the masons and labourers were drawn from diverse religions, the archaeologists said. Being illiterate, they used familiar symbols to mark their identity.
Five of the many names were etched in several places, demonstrating that they were vital to the project, such as the architect, calligrapher and designer.
All names were carefully divided into sections: dome-makers, garden-developers, furnishers and inlay artists.
The Taj Mahal was inlaid with 28 varieties of precious and semi-precious stones ferried in from across the world.
These were later looted by marauders in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Over the next several months the archaeologists hope to record the entire list of workers and to try and track down their antecedents by cross-referencing them with contemporary accounts of the monument's history.
"Our interest lies in the unknown masons who never received publicity for their work," Mr Dayalan said.