ISLAMABAD, July 9: Indian archaeologists claim to have discovered for the first time the names of some of the skilled craftsmen and masons who had built the Taj Mahal.

The lives of those who had built the extraordinary monument have been shrouded in obscurity until now.

A list of some 671 names have been found engraved on to a wall in the complex that surrounds the Taj Mahal, according to the Asian Age newspaper.

The list, which was found on the north side facing the river Yamuna, is believed to have been inscribed by the same hands that fashioned the extraordinary decorative work of the Taj Mahal.

The names of some of the most senior artisans who built the Taj Mahal have been known for centuries. The chief architect was Ustad Ahmad Lahori. It took 20,000 labourers to build the Taj Mahal.

So many that an entire town, Mumtazabad, was built for them to live in next to the site. It survives to this day as Taj Ganj, a suburb in Agra. The craftsmen were brought from as far away as Central Asia, Iran, Syria and Turkey. -APP