Inside History

AGRA, INDIA, 1648

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is considered to be one of the modern wonders of the world. It was made a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1983 and is estimated to receive 2.5 million visitors a year. However, as glorious a building as it is, its origin story is filled with personal tragedy.

The Taj Mahal is ultimately a mausoleum commissioned by Shah Jahān around 1632 to house the remains of one of his wives, Mumtaz Mahal. They had met years before Shah Jahān was made emperor and she was his second of his three wives, even though she met him first. They were married for 13 years and had 14 children in that time (although only seven survived infancy). It was shortly after the birth of their 14th child that Mahal passed away in 1631.

Since he was in the middle of a campaign to quell a rebellion in Burbanpur, Shah Jahān had her buried immediately, according to Muslim tradition, but she was exhumed a little later and her remains moved to Agra, where her mausoleum would be built. To honour the woman who is often referred to as his favourite wife, Shah Jahān constructed one of the most impressive and intricately designed mausoleums in history.

Shah Jahān actually has something of a reputation as a builder thanks to a number of big construction projects that he sanctioned using imperial funds. Two great mosques were also built in his capital of Agra as well as a further mosque and the Red Fort in Delhi.

This particular project was the biggest, though, and he wanted it completed quickly. It’s thought that around 20,000 people were employed in its construction, including both skilled and unskilled labourers. A town named Mumtazabad was built alongside the Taj Mahal construction area to house all of these workers.