HISTORY OF TAJ MAHAL

"
Taj Mahal is as beautiful as the splendid story
behind its construction and thus experiencing the
monument without being aware of Taj Mahal
information is irrelevant. India Taj Mahal is a
legendary story etched in stone by an Emperor for
his beloved wife. The history of this beautiful
marble monument is the history of love a Mughal
emperor had for his Queen. Construction of this
alluring monument began with the tragic death of
Shah Jahans beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal during
the birth of their fourteenth child.
Thus the story of Taj Mahal underlay a wild
passion that led Shah Jahan to erect a marvelous
structure as a real tribute to his wife. The
enchanting monument is so constructed that
each and every corner of the monument expresses
the beauty of Mumtaz Mahal.
It took almost 21 years to build this marvel; the
construction began in 1632 and was completed in
the year 1648. Standing on the banks of river
Yamuna, the enchanting beauty houses the tombs
of the emperor Shah Jahan and his beautiful wife
Mumtaz Mahal.
A LOVE STORY BEYOND IMAGINATION
The splendid love story begins in the year 1612,
when Shahjahan(then Prince khurram) married
Ajumand Bano, who was later entitled as Mumtaz
Mahal. Both of them were so intensely in love
with each other that Mumtaz Mahal accompanied
Shahjahn to all his conquests.
During one such trip to Deccan where emperor
went to war with Khan Jahanb Lodi, Mumtaz
breathed her last breath on 17 june, 1631 during
her fourteenth childbirth. It is believed that on her
deathbed Mumtaz asked for four promises, the

first one being that Shahjahan build a monument

of love for her. Keeping the promise, Shahjahan
began the construction of Tajmahal meaning
crown plaza. However one school of thought
believes that there was no such conversation and
the grief stricken emperor himself decided to build
this monument of love for his beloved wife.
Whatever be the reason its true that the Emperor
was heart broken at the death of his beloved wife
and the Mughal court went into mourning for a
span of more than two years.
Her body received a temporary burial in the
Zainabadi garden in Burhanpur and with six
months time her body was shifted to Agra. A plot
was acquired from Raja Man Singh on the
riverside for the purpose of constructing the
Tajmahal. It is believed that the site was chosen
because it was located on a bend in the river and
could be seen from Shahjahs personal palace in
Agra Fort, which is further upstream.
TAJMAHAL AND THE PROMISE
While Mumtaz was lying on her deathbed, she
asked four promises from the Emperor: the first
one being that he build a monument of their love,
second- that he should marry again, third- that
he be kind to their children and the fourth one is
that he visit the tomb on her death anniversary.
Shahjahan kept the first and second promises.
With effect to the first promise he built the
Tajmahal, as a mausoleum of his beloved wife.
EPITOME OF LOVE-TAJMAHAL
Tajmahal Agra is located on the banks of sacred
river Yamuna and attracts tourists from all over
the world to view the majestic Tajmahal. The
romantic story that inspired the construction of
Tajmahal enhances the aesthetic beauty of this
mausoleum. It is believed that the splendid

beauty, the Taj was built to keep one out of the

four promises that Mumtaz had asked Shajahan
to fulfill. Thus the Tajmahal is epitome of a
mans love for his wife.
Therefore it is best described as a monument of
love. Even after more than 350 years of its
construction, Tajmahal has not lost its romantic
aura and attracts millions of visitors from all over
the world to experience it. Since then the
Tajmahal has spun its magic on the lovers, poets,
painters, artists, authors who treats the Tajmahal
as the temple of love.
It is a deserving resting place for an emperors
empress. It is generally believed that the
Tajmahal, meaning crown plaza is an abbreviated
version of Mumtaz mahals name, which means
Exalted one of the palace
A TRIBUTE TO THE BEAUTY
Tajmahal is a real tribute to the beautiful wife by
a loving husband. The construction of the
structure is such that it becomes obvious that
Shahjahan must have had his beautiful wife in his
mind while constructing the beautiful mausoleum.
The cenotaph of the queen is inlaid with beautiful
jewels. The workmanship is so exquisite that it
has been described as designed by giants and
finished by jewelers.
CONSTRUCTION OF TAJMAHAL
It is believed that the Tajmahal is a result of
some twenty thousand workers toiling day and
night for almost twenty-two years. A small town
named after the deceased wife of the emperor,
Mumatazabad was built for the laborers. Now
the same town is known as Taj Ganj.
As soon as the construction work began
sculptors, masons, craftsmen, and calligraphers
were called from Persia, Ottoman Empire and

Europe to work construction of the Taj. The

calligrapher of Taj Mahal was Amanat Khan
Shirazi whose name occurs at the end of an
inscription on one of the gates of the Taj. The
verses on the tombstone were designed by poet
Ghyasuddin and Ismail Khan Afridi of Turkey was
the dome maker. The superintendent of Masons
was Muhammad Hanif. The structure is believed
to be designed by an Iranian architect Ustad
Ahmad Lahauri. However according to a legend
an Italian architect coordinated the pietra dura
architectural work but there is no proof regarding
that.
The material for the construction was brought
from all over India and central Asia and it took a
fleet of 1000 elephants to transport the material
to the site. Red sand stone was brought from
Fatehpur Sikri, Jasper from Punjab, Jade and
Crystal from china, Turquoise from Tibet, Lapis
Lazuli and Sapphire from Sri Lanka, Coal and
Cornelian from Arabia and diamonds from Panna.
For inlay work 28 kind of rare, semi precious and
precious stones were used. The white marble was
brought from the quarries of Makrana, in
Rajasthan.
The beautiful monument was build at a cost of
about 32 million rupees that nearly bankrupted
the Mughal treasury. It is believed that after the
construction of this splendid structure, Shahjahan
had the hands of the artisans of the Tajmahal
amputated with the fear that they might not
construct another structure to rival the mighty
Tajmahal.
INFLUENCES
The Tajmahal incorporates many designs and is a
perfect blend of Hindu, Persian and Mughal
architecture. Many Mughal and Timurid buildings

had specific influences on the Architecture of The

Tajmahal. Humayuns tomb and the tomb of
Abdul Rahim Khan-I-khanna in Delhi inspired the
model for the Taj with their dome-topped
structure raised on a high platform. The Gur-e
Amir, Itmad-ud-Daula and Shajahans own Jama
Masjid in Delhi inspired the construction of the
beautiful Tajmahal.
WONDER OF THE WORLD
Tajmahal Agra is synonymous with India and is
the most beautiful marble structure of the world.
This beautiful structure is one of the most popular
world heritage monuments on earth. It is more
than 350 years since the Tajmahal was built in
Agra and is still an unrivalled beauty the world
over.
In the year 1983 it was listed as a UNESCO world
heritage site and was described as a universally
admired masterpieces of the worlds heritage.
Tajmahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the
World. No other monument in the world can
match its beauty and elegance.