Eternally breathtaking: The story behind the Taj Mahal

By the early seventeenth century, the Mughal Empire, which had been founded in 1526 by Babur, who traced his ancestry to Timur and Genghis Khan, had expanded its control over much of the Indian subcontinent and had grown wealthy, largely through regulation of trade routes and land taxation.

Under rulers such as Akbar and Jahangir, successive campaigns had significantly strengthened imperial control and court patronage encouraged the growth of poetry and painting.

Akbar, for instance, had sponsored the construction of Fatehpur Sikri in the 1570s and had supported scholars such as Abul Fazl, whose writings detailed Mughal administration and ideals. 

So, at the time Shah Jahan became emperor in 1628, the empire already had significant funds and the artistic skill needed for large-scale building projects.

As a result, he commissioned new forts, mosques, and palaces that combined Persian, Timurid, and Indian influences into increasingly refined forms.

He had a particular interest in architectural symmetry, and his works consistently stressed architectural balance and a clear central focus.

The Taj Mahal, however, would arguably surpass all earlier monuments in both scale and personal meaning. 

The turning point came in 1631, when Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan’s chief consort, died during childbirth when she was accompanying him on campaign in Burhanpur.

Because of this loss, he entered a long period of mourning and withdrew from public life.

For this reason, he decided to build a tomb unlike any other. He ordered her remains transferred to Agra and began planning a structure that would explicitly reflect her beauty and faith.

His architects drew upon Persian funeral traditions and Islamic concepts of paradise, creating a monument that would celebrate both spiritual purity and personal grief. 

Mumtaz Mahal was born Arjumand Banu Begum in 1593 and came from a family with strong political ties at the Mughal court.

Her father, Asaf Khan, held a senior administrative post, while her aunt, Nur Jahan, had married Emperor Jahangir and had significant influence over state affairs.

By contrast, Shah Jahan, then known as Prince Khurram, remained a young heir to the throne when he met Arjumand in 1607.

Five years later, he married her, despite already having other wives in accordance with dynastic expectations. 

From the beginning of their marriage, Mumtaz became far more than a ceremonial spouse.

For example, she accompanied the prince on military campaigns, participated in courtly events, and provided counsel during political deliberations.

Her position remained secure and unmatched by others in the harem, as Shah Jahan continued to favour her throughout their marriage.

Court chroniclers described their relationship in idealised terms, highlighting her wisdom and generous conduct that inspired loyalty.

She held the official title of Padshah Begum and exercised privileges that placed her above most of the other imperial consorts. 

When she died in June 1631 during the birth of their fourteenth child, the emperor responded with obvious grief.

According to contemporary court writings and later anecdotes, he refused to attend court functions, wore simple white garments, and allowed his hair to turn grey.

His priorities had clearly shifted, and he spent considerable resources on honouring her memory.

Her body, initially buried at Burhanpur, was later reinterred in Agra after the foundations of her permanent tomb had been prepared.

Of their fourteen children, only seven survived infancy, a fact that added to Shah Jahan's sorrow. 

Planning began in 1632, and over the next two decades, architects, masons, and artisans transformed the emperor’s vision into stone.

Contemporary accounts reportedly estimated that more than 20,000 workers had taken part in the construction, although, that figure had come primarily from Persian sources and later historical writings rather than direct Mughal records.

The workforce included skilled specialists brought from Persia, the Ottoman Empire and Central Asia.

Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, who was a Persian architect with prior experience in Mughal court commissions, had taken charge of the overall design and had used elements of Timurid dome construction and Persian garden planning.

Project managers such as Mir Abd-ul Karim and Makramat Khan oversaw the planning and stages of construction. 

To make the structure stable, engineers sank deep wells filled with rubble to support the plinth upon which the mausoleum would rest.

Builders then transported white Makrana marble from Rajasthan, which they moved using oxen, carts and barges along the Yamuna River.

Because marble alone could not express the full decorative vision, artisans inlaid thousands of semi-precious stones such as jasper, onyx, carnelian, jade and lapis lazuli into the marble surfaces in detailed floral designs.

Turquoise appeared occasionally but was apparently less frequently used than some later descriptions have claimed.

This technique, known as pietra dura, had previously appeared in Mughal architecture, but had rarely been applied on such a large scale.

The estimated cost of the entire project had reportedly reached approximately 32 million rupees, according to historical accounts compiled during the later Mughal period.

That was an immense expenditure at the time. 

Calligraphic inscriptions in black marble framed arches and doorways, all executed by Amanat Khan Shirazi, who was the imperial calligrapher responsible for selecting Quranic verses that generally stressed eternal life and God's mercy.

The central onion-shaped dome, which reached a height of approximately 73 metres from base to finial, dominated the structure and sat atop a cube-shaped tomb chamber.

Four tall minarets stood at the corners of the platform, angled slightly outward to prevent them from falling onto the mausoleum if damaged by an earthquake.

The cenotaphs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, richly inscribed and decorated, lay within the central chamber, while their actual graves rested in a crypt directly beneath, which followed Islamic burial rites. 

By 1643, the tomb itself had largely been completed, while the outer buildings and formal gardens continued under construction until 1653.

Altogether, the project used substantial resources and needed careful coordination of supplies and workers across distant regions of the empire.

For Shah Jahan, however, the cost mattered less than the result. He likely believed the monument would honour Mumtaz Mahal’s memory and act as a final major work of the Mughal empire. 

Shah Jahan ordered the construction of an entire funerary group of buildings around the mausoleum to enhance the spiritual and visual effect of the site.

The main entrance was known as the Darwaza-i-Rauza or 'Gate of the Mausoleum,' which towered above visitors as they approached, and its red sandstone walls were inlaid with floral patterns and Quranic inscriptions that prepared visitors for the sacred space within.

Once inside, the visual field opened to reveal the mausoleum at the far end of a symmetrical garden divided into four parts by paved walkways and water channels. 

This garden design followed the traditional charbagh layout common in Persian royal gardens, which symbolised the Quranic vision of paradise as a garden with four rivers.

As visitors walked along the central path, they encountered a long reflecting pool that mirrored the dome and minarets in its surface.

Because of the deliberate proportions and central layout, the entire site appeared orderly and displayed a harmonious design that felt timeless. 

To the west of the mausoleum, a mosque allowed the faithful to offer prayers in honour of the deceased.

A mirror image of this building, known as the jawab, stood on the eastern side, and it was used to preserve perfect symmetry rather than to fulfil a religious purpose.

At the rear of the platform, the riverfront terrace opened onto the Yamuna, where water supply systems kept the gardens lush and the fountains operational. 

Some later sources reportedly suggested that Shah Jahan intended to build a second tomb for himself out of black marble on the opposite bank, connected by a bridge.

However, no definitive archaeological evidence has supported this claim.

Excavations at Mehtab Bagh in the 1990s yielded no structural foundations to confirm the theory, which had originally been popularised by the art historian E.B. Havell.

If such plans ever existed, they never progressed, possibly because of changing political circumstances and the emperor’s forced retirement. 

In 1658, after a period of declining health and internal court disputes, Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb, who confined his father to the Red Fort in Agra.

From his private chambers, the deposed emperor could gaze across the Yamuna River at the tomb he had built for his beloved wife.

For the next eight years, he lived under house arrest until his death in 1666. His body was interred beside Mumtaz Mahal in the crypt beneath the tomb, completing the final chapter of their shared story. 

During the later Mughal period, political instability and financial decline at times led to periods of neglect at the site.

Over time, the inlays of precious stones were pried out by looters, and the gardens became overgrown.

When the British East India Company assumed control of the region in the nineteenth century, officers occasionally used the site for garden parties and military ceremonies.

Because of this, restoration was needed to preserve the original design. 

Lord Curzon, who was appointed as Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905, initiated major conservation work that initially included dome repairs, garden restoration, and increased protection.

After India gained independence in 1947, the Taj Mahal came under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, which kept it as a national monument and an internationally important site.

In 1983, UNESCO added it to the list of World Heritage Sites due to its architectural importance and cultural value. 

Today, the Taj Mahal is one of the most visited and photographed monuments in the world.

Each year, around six million people come to Agra to see it. However, pollution and environmental damage have threatened the marble, and this has led to restrictions on nearby industry and vehicle emissions.

In recent years, India's Supreme Court has repeatedly warned about the site's decay and urged stronger protective measures.

Nevertheless, the structure continues to draw admiration from across the globe.

Its creation, born from grief and built carefully, ensured that the love between Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal would be remembered.