The Story of the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal :

The Taj Mahal, it is well-known, was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his Empress Mumtaz Mahal. As symbols of undying love go, it is one of the most deservedly famous and and best examples of unparalleled excellence in Indo-Persian architecture.

Sir Edwin Arnold wrote about it -

"Not architecture! As all others are,
But the proud passion of an Emperor's love,
Wrought into living stone, which gleams and soars
With body of beauty shrining soul and thought."

Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal :

The actual name of Mumtaz Mahal was Arjumand Banu Begum; Mumtaz Mahal, which means 'The Chosen One of the Palace', was an affectionate title. She was the daughter of Asif Khan and the grand-daughter of Mirza Ghiyas Beg, both of whom held high positions in the Mughal Court.

According to a popular story, Arjumand Banu, as a young girl, captivated Shah Jahan when he confronted her for having released one of his two prized fantail pigeons. He angrily demanded how she could have done something like this, upon which she released the other one as well and said, "Like this!"

During the long years of their married life, she stood by him through political and personal ups and downs, and often accompanied him during military campaigns. It was on one of these – against Khan-i-Jehan Lodi at Burhanpur – that she delivered their fourteenth child and died shortly afterwards on 17 June 1631. The grief-stricken Emperor aged almost over-night – according to legend, his beard and hair turned snow-white – and, for the next two years, he remained in deep mourning for her.

The Idea of the Taj Mahal:

After his wife's death, Shah Jahan gave up most of the pleasures and comforts that his royal position brought him. He had always had an avid interest in architecture, and now thought of erecting a commemorative monument in his queen's memory. A one of a kind monument of such remarkable beauty that it would last over the centuries and awe all lookers.

After her death, Anjuman Banu had been buried temporarily in Burhanpur's Zainabad Garden. Six months later she was taken to Agra (then called Dar-ul Khilafat Akbarabad) and reburied on the banks of the Yamuna.

The piece of land chosen for the burial belonged to Raja Jai Singh, the grand-son of Raja Man Singh, who gladly offered it to the Emperor, and was compensated with another piece of land elsewhere.

The Building of the Taj Mahal :

Initially, many wooden models for the proposed tomb were prepared and, after much consulting between the Emperor and his designers, the final design was approved.

There is considerable debate between historians on who the actual designers were. Was it the Turkish or Persian designer Ustad Muhammad Isa Effendi or the Venetian Adventurer Geronimo Veroneo? Or was it a collaboration between them? Both are known to have been employed by Shah Jehan around this time.

In any case, the building of the Taj Mahal began in 1632 and the main mausoleum was deemed finished in 1643. The work on the outer buildings continued for a considerable time after this, until 1653. So overall the project took around twenty-two years to complete.

According to Tavernier, who saw both the commencement and the completion of the Taj Mahal, over 20,000 workers, Hindu as well as Muslim, from around India and from abroad, particularly from Persia, were employed in the building work. Some of these workmen and craftsmen are mentioned in contemporary accounts, and so we know, for example, that a certain Amanat Khan Shirazi was the Tughra-Navis (Calligrapher) and a certain Ismail Khan was the dome-builder.

Shah Jahan was determined not to be held back by any financial considerations and so no expense was spared in the building. The total cost is said to have been roughly 411 lakhs, 48 thousand, 826 rupees, seven annas, six pies.

This probably includes the cost of the building materials like marble, red sand-stone, precious gems, and so on, procured both from the State Treasury and from donations by Vassal States.

Shah Jahan's End:

Shah Jahan had planned to built a tomb for himself that would be a twin to the Taj Mahal, only in black marble, on the exact opposite side of the Yamuna and connected to the Taj with a marble bridge. But before this project was launched, he was over-thrown from power by his son Aurangzeb and imprisoned. He spent his last years in confinement in the Red Fort from where he could gaze at the Taj Mahal.