In 1830, Lord William Bentinck was the first to gain the title Governor-General over British-controlled India. As the highest authority in the region, Bentinck made a surprisingly decent number of beneficial social reforms to India. However, he disregarded the Taj Mahal as unremarkable and lacking in any preservation-worthy qualities, and when the issue of a new government house came up he supposedly set his eyes upon its marble (via The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland). Bentinck’s plan to demolish the structure and sell the material to local aristocrats was seemingly only halted when the looted marble of the Agra Fort yielded poor revenue (via Live History India). 

This plot by Bentinck is mired in controversy, as it could be part of a slander campaign with little basis in truth. Either way, such a worst-case scenario did not play out, although the mausoleum was not unscathed by the British. According to Mental Floss, the Rebellion of 1857, in which several different Indian factions rose up against the British East India Company, was a devastating time for the Taj Mahal. The building’s art, fittings, and any artifacts within were taken by British forces, and it was only decades later that a British-led restoration effort was undertaken to bring it to its modern state.