Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal "crown of the palace"

The Taj Mahal is a complex of buildings built between 1631 and 1654 in the city of Agra, India, on the banks of river Yamuna, by the Muslim emperor Shah Jahan ofthe Mughal dynasty. The impressive set was erected in honor of his favorite wife, Arjumand Bano Begum - better known as Mumtaz Mahal, Mumtaz-i-Mahal married Shah Jahan in 1612. She was thegranddaughter of Itimad-ud-Daulah, Chief Minister of Emperor Jahangir, and niece of his wife, Nur Jahan. It was not the first wife of the prince Shah Jahan, but it was his favorite. In 1631, some years after theascension to the throne, and when accompanied him on his campaign in the Deccan, she died while giving birth to their fourteenth child.

Shah Jahan had been educated as prince and as a mystic.Stripped of worldly interests, he learned grammar, logic, mathematics, astronomy and geology. He mastered Arabic (the language of the Qur'an) and Persian (the language of the Court). One day while walkingthrough a bazaar , his eyes met those of Princess Arjumand, of only 15 years of age, daughter of the Prime Minister of the Court.
The prince, struck by her beauty, asked the price of a crystalnecklace she was trying on. They replied that it was not made of crystal but of diamonds and that it was worth 10,000 rupees. The prince paid without hesitation and so immediately won the heart of theprincess. But the couple had to wait five years to marry, during which time they could not see each other even once ... Finally the wedding took place in 1612, with a spectacular ceremony in which theEmperor named Arjumand Mumtaz Mahal, The Chosen One of the palace.
The construction of the Taj Mahal, began with the foundation of the mausoleum. An area of approximately 12,000 square meters was dugand filled with debris to reduce leaks from the river. The whole area was raised to a height of almost 15 meters above the level of the bank. The Taj Mahal, has a height of approximately 60 meters,...