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The Peacock Throne (Hindustani: मयूरासन, تخت طاؤس : ''Mayūrāsana'', (ペルシア語:تخت طاووس), ''Takht-i Tāvūs'') was a famous jeweled throne that was the seat of the Mughal emperors that conquered Northern India. It was commissioned in the early 17th century by emperor Shah Jahan and was located in the Red Fort of Delhi. The original throne was subsequently captured and taken as a war trophy in 1739 by the Persian king Nader Shah, and has been lost ever since. A replacement throne based on the original was commissioned afterwards and existed until the Indian Rebellion of 1857. == History == Shah Jahan ruled in what is considered the Golden Age of the vast Mughal Empire, which covered almost all of the Indian subcontinent. It was ruled from the newly constructed capital of Shahjahanabad and the fabled imperial citadel Red Fort, with its marble halls bedecked in silk, perfumed water fountains and canals running, surrounded by fragrant gardens. Sumptuous feasts, religious festivals, extravagant receptions for state guests, with innumerous artists and musicians, a large zenana and thousands of soldiers, courtiers and servants who ensured for a colourful and joyful life far away from everyday worries. The focus around which everything revolved was the emperor, where he gave audiences and received petitioners. The court and its ruler was a mirror image of paradise on earth, in the very centre of the empire. Amongst the various titles he carried, such as Great King (پادشاه, ''Badshah''), he was also the Shadow of God (''Zill-i-Allahi''), making him the executor of God's will. The sovereign therefore also held a court of justice. It was therefore necessary to have a proper seat or Throne of Solomon (تخت سليمان, Takht-e-Sulaiman) to underscore his position of the just king. Just like Solomon's throne, the Peacock Throne was to be covered in gold and jeweled, with steps leading up to it, with the ruler floating above ground and closer to heaven. Said Gilani and his workmen from the imperial goldsmiths' department were commissioned with the construction of 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 workmanship that was unsurpassed before or after its creation. It was an opulent indulgence that could only be seen by a small minority of courtiers, aristocrats and visiting dignitaries. The throne was even for the Golden Age Mughal standards supremely extravagant and cost twice as much as the construction of the Taj Mahal.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Sunday Tribune - Books )〕 The appearance of the 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. It did initially not carry a name and was simply 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.〔 It was inaugurated with a triumphant ceremony on 22 March 1635, the seventh formal anniversary of Shah Jahan's accession. 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 Spring festival. 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 Baqir. ''The Peacock Throne: Romance and Reality''. Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, 3 (1966), pp. 27-32. The inauguration of the throne took place on 3 Shawwal 1044. See Lahori's ''Padhshahnama'' in Elliot and Dowson, ''History of India'', vol. 6, pp. 45-6. Also Inayat Khan in Begley and Desai, ''Shah Jahan Nama'', pg. 147.〕 Muhammad Qudsi, the emperor's favourite poet, was chosen to compose twenty verses that were 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, mentioning the date in the letters of the phrase "the throne of the just king".〔〔''Aurang shahinshah adil'' (1+6+200+50+20, 300+1+5+50+300+1+5, 70+1+4+30=AH 1044)〕 Poet Abu-Talib Kalim was given six pieces of gold for each verse in his poem of sixty-three couplets. The master goldsmith Said Gilani was summoned by the emperor and showered with honours, including with his weight in gold coins and given the title "Peerless Master" (''Bibadal Khan''). Gilani produced a poem with 134 couplets, filled with chronograms. The first twelve reveal the date of the emperor's birth, the following thirty-two the date of his first coronation, then the ninety couplets giving the date of the throne's inauguration.〔 After Shah Jahan's death, his son Aurangzeb, who carried the title Alamgir, ascended the Peacock Throne. He was the last of the strong Mughal emperors and after his death in 1707, his son Bahadur Shah I reigned from 1707-1712. Bahadur Shah I was able to keep the empire stable and relaxed religious policy, however after his death the empire was in inexorable decline. A series of political instabilities, military defeats and court intrigues brought and fell a number of emperors: Jahandar Shah ruled for one year from 1712–1713, Farrukhsiyar from 1713–1719, Rafi ud-Darajat and Shah Jahan II only for a couple of months in 1719. By the time Muhammad Shah came to power, Mughal power was in serious decline and the empire became more vulnerable. Nevertheless under the generous patronage of Muhammad Shah, the court at Delhi became again a beacon of the arts and culture. Administrative reforms could not however stop the later Mughal-Maratha Wars, which greatly sapped the imperial forces. It was only a question of time until forces from neighbouring Persia saw their chance to invade. Nadir Shah's invasion of India culminated in the Battle of Karnal on February 13, 1739 and the defeat of Muhammad Shah. Nadir Shah entered Delhi and sacked the city, in which course tens of thousands of inhabitants were massacred. Persian troops left Delhi at the beginning of May 1739, taking with them the throne as a war trophy, amounting to a large reduction in Mughal wealth and an irreplaceable loss of cultural goods and treasures. Among the known precious stones that Nadir Shah looted were the Akbar Shah diamond, Great Mughal diamond, Great Table diamond, Koh-i-Noor, Shah diamond, as well as the Samarian spinel and the Timur ruby. These stones were either part of the Peacock Throne or were in possession of the Mughal emperors. The Akbar Shah Diamond was said to form one of the eyes of a peacock,〔() 〕 as well as the Koh-i-Noor.〔() 〕 The Shah diamond was described by Tavernier as being on the side of the throne.〔() 〕 Many of these stones ended up becoming part of the Persian crown jewels or were taken later by the British colonialists. When Nadir Shah was assassinated by his own officers on June 19, 1747, the throne disappeared, most probably being dismantled or destroyed for its valuables in the ensuing chaos.〔James Fraser. ''Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan in the years 1821 and 1822 (n.p., 1825), p. 43, cited in Baqir "Peacock Throne", 34-41〕 One of the unsubstantiated rumours claimed the throne was given to the Ottoman Sultan,〔Mehmet Onder - Antika - The Turkish Journal of Collectable Art, May 1985, Issue: 2〕 however in reality this could be a minor throne produced in Persia and given as a gift. Persian emperor Fath-Ali Shah commissioned the Sun Throne to be constructed in the early 19th century for him. The Sun Throne has the shape of a platform just like the Peacock Throne. Some rumours claim that parts of the original Peacock Throne were used in its construction, however there is no evidence to that. Over time the Sun Throne was erroneously referred to as the Peacock Throne, a term that was later appropriated initially by the West as a metonym for the Persian monarchy. No proofed parts of the original Peacock Throne survived. Only some of diamonds and precious stones that are attributed to it have survived and been re-worked. A Sikh legend has it that a rectangular stone slab measuring 6 ft.X4ft.x9in. was uprooted, enchained and brought by Jassa Singh Ramgarhia to Ramgarhia Bunga in Amritsar after the capture of the Red Fort by combined Dal Khalsa forces of Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Baghel Singh in 1783. It was moved to Amritsar as war booty.〔File:Historic stone slab of Mughal throne.jpg〕 However if this stone pedestal indeed does stem from the Peacock Throne has not been independently corroborated by scientists and historians. A replacement throne was probably constructed after the Persian invasion for the Mughal emperor, which closely resembled the original.〔Swany, K.R.N. ( "As priceless as the Peacock Throne," ) ''The Tribune'' (India). January 30, 2000.〕 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 the large-scale destruction of the Red Fort by the occupying British colonialists. The marble pedestal on which it rested in the ''Divan-i-Khas'' has survived and can still be seen today.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Shah Jahan's Peacock Throne )〕 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 remains unknown.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Annual report of the Trustees )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=PG Times )〕 There is another marble leg in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Where exactly these two pedestals originate from however and if they are connected to the Peacock Throne at all remains unclear. Inspired by the legend of the throne, King Ludwig II of Bavaria installed a romanticised version of it in his ''Moorish Kiosk'' in Linderhof Palace, constructed in the 1860s. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Peacock Throne」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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