Red Taj Agra ? | Lal Taj Mahal | John Hessing Tomb

Описание: Many structures inspired the construction of Taj Mahal, specifically, Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, Gur-e Amir (tomb of Timur) in Samarkand, Itmad-ud-Daulah’s Tomb (often called Baby Taj), Ibrahim Rauza of Bijapur and also Jama Masjid in Delhi. This celebrated Mughal tomb of Mumtaz Mahal and Emperor Shah Jahan then became the inspiration for many later buildings, and some were even nicknamed after the tomb. Aurangabad’s Bibi ka Maqbara, Tomb of Safdarjang in Delhi, Shahzadi Ka Maqbara in Chota Imambara, Lucknow, Taj Masjid in Dhaka and its replicas in Bangalore, Bulandshahr district, Uttar Pradesh, China, Bangladesh, UAE, Malaysia, just to name a few.
, One such Taj inspired tomb is that of a military officer, John Hessing (1739–1803), cited as the ‘Red Taj Mahal’ situated in Nehru Nagar, close to MG Road of Agra. Far smaller than the Taj Mahal, this modest but eye-catching tomb was built in the memory of John Hessing which is housed within a Roman Catholic cemetery called Padretola, or Padresanto, one of the oldest Catholic cemeteries of Northern India. Historical sources mention that the cemetery dates back to the 1550s, from the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar, when Armenian Christians who shifted and settled in Agra began burying their dead ones. The grief-sickened wife of John Hessing, Lady Anne Hessing commissioned his tomb, which came up in a span of one year in 1803, also often called Hessing’s tomb or ‘John Sahab Ka Rauza’ by the locals.
India witnessed many European adventurers, mercenaries, soldiers, professionals and merchants landing on its soil in search of prospects and profits. The life of Hessing, a Dutch soldier and trader was also an interesting one. Born in Utrecht (Netherlands) and at the age of 13, in 1792, John Hessing landed in Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), joined the Dutch East India Company’s army as a mercenary officer under General Perron and fought many battles against the British East India Company including the fourth Anglo-Dutch war. After five years, John returned to the Netherlands. In 1763, he came back to India, served the Nizam of Hyderabad, and later joined the Marathas. He commanded the Maratha army in 1795 in a battle of Kardla that defeated the Nizam of Hyderabad. Colonel John Hessing fought against British forces in the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1802-1805).
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