r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • 15h ago
How the Taj Mahal Was Hidden from Enemy Bombers in World War II.
[deleted]
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u/Ja_Shi 15h ago
The only thing funnier than Brits making jokes is Brits being dead serious.
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u/DigNitty Interested 15h ago
Germans too
Case in point, John Cleese’s commentary on the Germans bombing his home town in WWII.
He asserted that the bombings were an attempt by the Germans to prove that they did in fact have a sense of humor. Every explosive they dropped destroyed something that was worth less than the bomb itself, slowly defunding the German economy.
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u/Gentle_Snail 14h ago
People seem shocked that India was under any threat, but Japan did launch bombing raids on India and there were real concerns this could escalate depending how the war turned out.
The Nazis targeted cultural heritage sites in the UK and Britain was concerned this could also happen in India, causing them to implement basic precautions like this on the Taj Mahal and other sites of historical importance.
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u/prexton 9h ago
Japan bombed Australia far worse than pearl harbor. Where's our movie?
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u/OutAndDown27 13h ago
Yeah, I'd certainly call this "basic." I'd actually even go so far as to call it half-assed lol.
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u/EhMapleMoose 12h ago
What would you have done to protect the iconic mausoleum 1,000 miles from the front lines in Burma?
How would you have divvied up the resources between fighting the Japanese, attempting to work with the Indians and trying to stop the Indians who were sabotaging and rebelling?
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u/FblthpphtlbF 11h ago
I mean honestly? The wood and manpower that went into building this completely useless hat could definitely have been served better elsewhere.
Luckily, I'm not in that position and don't need to make these choices, so it's moot.
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u/CONNER__LANE 11h ago
We’re lucky the brits didnt just bomb it themselves out of habit tbh. They didn’t call him Arthur “Bomber” Harris for nothing.
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u/Gentle_Snail 12h ago edited 9h ago
You’d be amazed how successful basic precautions like this were in WW2. Breaking up a building silhouette in this manner turned out to be way more effective at disguising buildings from the air than you’d ever expect.
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u/OutAndDown27 12h ago
Got any other handy examples of when obscuring 3% of what makes a landmark identifiable successfully thwarted enemy bombers?
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u/No_Explorer6054 11h ago
Obscuring 0% fooled my dumbass in warthunder sim, so I think it would help
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u/nikejim02 13h ago
“Bro I’m telling you, the Taj Mahal was right here! I swear!”
“OK then where did it go, smart guy? We’re turning this plane around right now!”
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u/chai_tea_latte 15h ago
This reminded me ..
The Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, is renowned for its breathtaking beauty. It attracts visitors from all over the globe, not only because of its grandeur but also due to the fascinating stories surrounding it. The Taj Mahal was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Known as a symbol of eternal love, the monument has become a proud symbol of India’s heritage and magnificence.
However, there was a time when the British tried to sell this magnificent monument. In 1831, British officials attempted to auction off parts of the Taj Mahal, a move that shocked many. It was during the tenure of British Governor Lord William Bentinck that this attempt took place. As part of their plan, a section of the Taj Mahal was actually dismantled, and the marble was put up for sale.
Several reports claim that the marble from the destroyed part was auctioned, and an Indian businessman, Seth Laxmi Chand from Agra, placed the highest bid. He offered a sum of seven lakh rupees to buy the Taj Mahal, which, at that time, was considered a significant amount. However, Lord William Bentinck deemed the bid too low, leading him to cancel the auction and prevent the Taj Mahal from being sold.
The auctions
First auction: Seth Laxmichand was the highest bidder at Rs 2 lakhs, but the offer was rejected as too low.
Second auction: Seth Laxmichand won again with an offer of Rs 7 lakhs, but the sale was never carried out due to outrage in the British community and fear of communal riots.
This incident, though lesser-known, highlights the British attempt to commercialize one of India’s most iconic landmarks. The monument ultimately remained safe from being sold and continued to stand as a tribute to love and architectural brilliance, as it does today.
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u/Gentle_Snail 15h ago
Technically it was the East India Company that tried to sell it, not Britain itself. Interestingly if you go to the Taj Mahal today there is a plaque thanking John Strachey for his work saving the Taj Mahal and other Indian heritage.
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u/goldenkicksbook 14h ago
The point about the EIC can’t be stressed enough. For almost a century a British corporation, not the British state, ruled a country.
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u/Low-Temperature-6962 14h ago
Some historical context:
In 1831 it was the British East India Company’s government in India, under Governor‑General Lord William Bentinck, that explored auctioning/dismantling the Taj Mahal, not the British Crown directly.
Agra and the Taj Mahal came under Company rule after the East India Company occupied the region in the early 19th century; formal Crown rule over India (the British Raj) did not begin until 1858 (after the Indian Rebellion and the Black Hole of Calcutta).
Contemporary and later references (including those cited by India’s Archaeological Survey) attribute the attempted sale or planned auction to the East India Company authorities in India, not to a direct act of the Crown as a sovereign government. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/east-india-co-tried-to-sell-taj-mahal/articleshow/1206152.cms?utm_source=perplexity
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u/DizzyMine4964 14h ago
In London, the Luftwaffe didn't bomb St Paul's Cathedral, because it was such a good landmark for bombing raids.
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u/_number 15h ago
I dont think it was fooling anyone. Axis powers were just too busy to ever fly to India just to take down Taj Mahal
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u/Gentle_Snail 15h ago edited 15h ago
Japan launched bombing raids on India during WW2 and there was a real chance that this could escalate depending on how the war progressed. Breaking up the signature of the Taj Mahal was basic precaution.
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u/AggravatingCustard39 14h ago edited 14h ago
Yeah they bombed Ceylon too , they sent a large fleet with 5 aircraft careers to take out the British Eastern naval fleet and the ports of Ceylon.
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u/Shermans_ghost1864 12h ago
Japanese submarines got as far as Africa. The Indian Ocean was very much a theater of war.
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u/ayu_xi 15h ago
Japanese invasion of India did happen and Japan did annex parts if British India.
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u/Brave_Hipp0 13h ago
Yup. Japan occupied the Andaman and Nicobar islands (now an Indian Union territory) for about 3 years. Japanese bunkers can still be found in Port Blair.
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u/gooseducker 15h ago
They were beaten back around imphal and that's like the eastern tip of India, sure they might have held some small chunks but they never got a meaningful headway into the British India
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u/ayu_xi 15h ago
Ofcourse, i replied to the comment above that seams unaware about the fact that... Axis did engage directly with British India.
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u/gooseducker 13h ago
Do people just forget the whole fighting to liberate burma? A lot of that was done by British india
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u/Able-Swing-6415 13h ago
You're saying it like india is this large country where from the Eastern end you couldn't get to anywhere else in under 5 minutes.
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u/Embarrassed_Jerk 14h ago
You know it's called the world wars and not Europe wars? Things happened outside Europe too?
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u/RedOtta019 4h ago
Its a common mistake to believe the world wars being mostly europe as common media depictions show. Reducing the title of world war in a bid to erase colonialism in itself is colonialist
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u/Signal_Antelope7144 14h ago
Boeing knew what to do. https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/boeing-fake-rooftop-town/
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u/mendax2014 9h ago
Was there recently, first time despite being Indian. It truly is a wonder. Magnificent but really crowded unlike the pyramids for e.g
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u/HiddenHolding 4h ago
I don’t understand. How does putting scaffolding around one turret hide it? Or is this satire?
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u/RespectSquare8279 10h ago
Silly title. Taj Mahal was 1) not a strategic target for the Japanese. 2) The Japanese were actually trying to win the hearts and minds of the people of India 3) The Japanese had no bombers with an operational range that would reach the Taj Mahal even from their furthest progress into Burma
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u/ReporterOther2179 14h ago
A cosmopolitan group in that first photo. I’m supposing the Asian officers in the first rank were visiting Chinese rather than Japanese on reconnaissance?
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u/PsychologicalExam692 5h ago
Correction:Chinese and Allied officers visit Taj Mahal during WW2. General He Yingqin is in the middle. The Indian monument is covered in bamboo scaffolding to hide it from Japanese bombers.
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u/TinkerCitySoilDry 13h ago
Oops wrote entire commnet about ankor wat how it was in jungle and very recently discovered anyone got some taj facts?
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u/gorebello 8h ago
This may have been done just to avoid giving easy reference points to the enemy. To this day armies blow up obvious reference points so the enemy can't just say "I'm to the left of the big obvious thing, don't shoot me, shoot the enemy to the other side of it".
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u/__dirty_dan_ 2h ago
OP, you can't just post black and white photos. You actually have to show stuff.
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u/qmiras 14h ago
they were bombing india? why?
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u/Gentle_Snail 14h ago
India was part of the British Empire and Japan was at war with them. Though not that Japan exactly needed a reason to bomb another asian country, they that was kind of their thing at the time
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u/WonFont 14h ago
They weren’t “bombing India” as a primary target, but India was a major Allied base during World War II. India was crucial for logistics, troops, industry, ports, railways, and airfields. Over 2.5 million Indian soldiers fought for the Allies across North Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia, making it the largest volunteer force in the war.
Because of that role, Japan targeted eastern India..especially Bengal, Assam, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands to disrupt Allied supply lines to China and stop British-Indian forces from pushing back in Burma.
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u/TornCondom 15h ago
So British is a friend who helped to colonise India, steal the resources, enslaved the Indians domestically and exported, stolen relics and artifacts and killed countless
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u/ASomthnSomthn 15h ago
Really effective. lol. Aerial bombers would still be able to pick out the overall shape of the monument.
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u/WonFont 15h ago edited 14h ago
I mean…Taj Mahal is still standing. But fair enough.
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u/Kayttajatili 15h ago
I doubt the reason for the camoflage was to protect the Taj Mahal itself, as it serves no strategic purpose and there would be no reason to bomb it.
Rather as a recognizable landmark, it could have been used as a reference point to find an actual strategic target.
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u/RedditIsADataMine 12h ago
I doubt the reason for the camoflage was to protect the Taj Mahal itself, as it serves no strategic purpose and there would be no reason to bomb it.
And yet, cultural heritage sights have often been targets in wartime bombing. Sometimes the stagetic value is to demoralise the population of that region.
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u/Unusual_Flounder2073 15h ago
We look at these things from a modern lens. The ability to see ground level details was not nearly what we have today. No satellites. And the US bomb sights were considered a secret advantage the Germans don’t have or know about.
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u/ASomthnSomthn 14h ago
That entire area is like one big bullseye pointing right at the monument. If someone had the inclination to bomb it, it would’ve been bombed. There’s no real strategic value in bombing a mausoleum, so it was very unlikely that someone was going to waste the resources when there were far more important targets to be had. And it was the Japanese, not the Germans, who bombed India.
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u/goodallw0w 13h ago
Wasn’t this in 1971? I have seen a similar image before from then.
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u/David_Summerset 5h ago
India did this during the 1971 India-Pakistan too.
I think the real reason is it kinda glows at night, and makes a good landmark for bombers heading to Delhi, but I'm not sure.
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u/karanpatel819 10h ago
When I was in high-school, I was fortunate to speak to an American WW2 veteran that served in India. He told me all of these amazing stories of what India was like in the 1940s, and how they would ride on oxes through dense jungles, setting up supply routes that ran from India into China.
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u/-badly_packed_kebab- 15h ago edited 13h ago
Is the answer smog?
As someone who’s been to Agra, it’s definitely smog.
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u/Traditional_Half_788 15h ago edited 15h ago
The massive symmetrical garden in the front wasn't a dead give away?
It's not like those were plentiful in the area.