Rich People Build Big Buildings by Mia

Monkeys and the Agra Fort, but only a tiny bit of it. It's really much, much bigger!

Every country has a time when it is wealthy and expansive. However, this time does not last forever and many great empires are become lost and forgotten as their boundaries collapse. The great empires we remember best of all are the ones that leave a legacy that is not invisible like the undulating borders that they fight so hard to push outwards. The golden ages of the grandest empires are remembered by their beautiful buildings and monuments. The ones we have seen so far are the Mughals and Angkor. The rulers who are fortunate enough to be on the throne during the height of its power are powerful and wealthy beyond belief and they can definitely afford to focus their energy on things other than conquering. Instead, they focus on insuring their place in history in a more permanent manner. By building palaces and forts and tombs that will last for thousands of years after their empire is long gone, the rulers ensure the immortality of their name.

Akbar's Tomb

                Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom were built at the height of the Khmer Civilization and serve no real practical purpose except to gloat the wealth of the emperor with their grandeur. Angkor Wat in Cambodia was built in the 11^th Century during the Angkor Period, the golden age in Cambodia, by Suryavarman II. It was built for the Hindu god Vishnu, but was later converted to Buddhism by a Buddhist prince in the 13^th century. It was and remains the biggest and grandest religious building in the world, containing statues full of gold and diamonds and all sorts of treasures in its time. Later in the 11^th century (c. 1185), Suryavarman II’s successor and the last Angkor ruler, built Angkor Thom (Great City) as the new capitol. In the center he built Bayon, a Buddhist temple.  At the time the Khmer Empire stretched far into modern day Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Malaysia. That was the Angkor at its grandest and richest and the emperor decided to celebrate by building himself a new capitol.

                The first mention of the Agra Fort was made in 1080 AD when a Ghaznavide Force captured it. Then, it was not anything like it is today, only an ugly little mud brick thing. Much later, after several Sultans, the fort fell into the hands of the super-rich and powerful Mughal ruler, Akbar the Great. As an assertion of his great power, Akbar had about 1.5 million workers rebuild it with red sandstone, beginning in 1558 and finishing in 1573. Akbar’s reign was at the very height of the Mughal rule when their borders were at their longest and their treasuries stuffed full of pillaged loot. Akbar also built a few nice palaces and mosques for himself inside the thick, red walls. The newly constructed monstrosity of a fort was like Akbar’s name; great and immortal.

Angkor Wat

                Another huge bit of Akbar’s favorite red sandstone was shaped into his very own tomb. Construction and design of Akbar’s Tomb was begun by Akbar himself, as is tradition, and finished by his son Jahangir in the early 1600’s.  Akbar, though he was already going down in history as the greatest Mughal emperor, had to make a fittingly grand tomb for himself just to make sure he was remembered properly. The empire he had helped build and maintain would eventually crumble, but not a gigantic tomb of red sandstone.

                 Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan began construction on a tomb for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal in the mid- 1600’s.  The beautiful mausoleum was completed after 22 years by 20,000 expert Persian craftsmen that were paid enough money for the rest of their lives. The workers were not allowed to leave India in case they attempted to replicate the Taj Mahal and their families were transported to them. They never had to work for a living again. Shah Jahan had promised his wife to build her the greatest tomb ever and he did so. The grand building is not only gigantic and made of hard white marble; it has a romantic love story to go with it making it even more memorable. Instead of focusing on expanding the empire, which is far from permanent, he built great buildings including several tombs and mosques. As the builder and funder of the Taj, Shah Jahan’s name was preserved by the marble structure in a way that the expansion of his empire couldn’t.

Taj Mahal

                All of these great structures were constructed (or greatly renovated like the Agra Fort) at or near the height of the empire who’s emperor it was built by. Also, they seem to be a demonstration of power and wealth, an everlasting monument to ensure the immortality of a ruler’s name that could not be established by expanding an empire.  Akbar’s Tomb and the Taj Mahal really have no purpose other than being incredible. All of these rulers wished to secure a spot for their names on history’s pages and succeeded by building monuments that are far more permanent than conquering and acquiring land.