Ustad Isa

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File:Edwin Lord Weeks - The Taj Mahal - Walters 37316.jpg

Ustad Isa Shirazi ({{langx|fa|استاد عيسى شیرازی}} translation Master Isa) was a Persian architect{{Cite web |title=Construction of the Taj Mahal |url=https://www.wonders-of-the-world.net/Taj-Mahal/Construction-of-the-Taj-Mahal.php |access-date=2022-03-18 |website=wonders-of-the-world.net |quote=Ustad Isa [Shirazi] and Isa Muhammad Effendi, from Persia: Architectural Designer}} from the city of Shiraz in Safavid Persia (modern-day Iran) often described as the assistant architect of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.(Heather Kissock) [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wb62DwAAQBAJ&dq=Ustad+Isa&pg=PA16 Ustad Isa, Chief Designer page 16] Taj Mahal (The Builders including Ustad Isa) via Google Books, Published 2018, Retrieved 18 November 2021

The lack of complete and reliable information as to whom the credit for the design belongs, led to innumerable speculations. Scholars suggest the story of Ustad Isa was born of the eagerness of the British in the 19th century to believe that such a beautiful building should be credited to a European architect. Local informants were reported to have started British curiosity regarding the origins of the Taj by also supplying them with fictitious lists of workmen and materials from all over Asia. Not much is currently known about his background though his surname Shirazi indicates Persian origin. Certain sources have conflated Ustad Isa Shirazi with Isa Muhammad Effendi,{{Cite web |title=Creation History |url=https://www.tajmahal.gov.in/creation-history-of-taj-mahal.aspx |access-date=2022-03-18 |website=tajmahal.gov.in |quote=Architects and Craftsmen; Ustad Isa and Isa Muhammad Effendi of Persia, Credited with a key role in the architectural design.}} which would corroborate a Turco-Persian origin.

Recent research suggests the architect, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri was the most likely candidate as the chief architect of the Taj Mahal, an assertion based on a claim made in writings by Lahauri's son Lutfullah Muhandis.[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/252/ Taj Mahal Description and Profile] UNESCO website, Retrieved 18 November 2021Asher, p.212Begley and Desai, p.65[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part2_14.html The Age of Splendor (The Reign of Shah Jahan)] Columbia University website, Retrieved 18 November 2021