The Muslim Emperor Shah Jahan -who died in 1666 – built the Taj Mahal in memory of his dear wife and queen Mumtaz Mahal at Agra. It is described as an ‘elegy in marble’ or more often as an expression of a ‘dream’. The Taj Mahal – which means Crown Palace – is a Mausoleum that houses the grave of grave of Queen Mumtaz in the lower chamber.
Agra rose to prominence in the reign of Akbar the Great, the Mogul emperor of India who expanded the Mogul empire to include northern India and established an efficient and enlightened administration and made Agra the seat of one of the mightiest and richest kingdoms.
It was, however, in the seventeenth century, during the reign of Shah Jahan, grandson of Akbar, that Agra reached its peak. Shah Jahan rebuilt much of the Fort and with the construction of the Taj replaced red sandstone with marble.
Shah Jahan ascended to the throne in 1628. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal were inseparable lovers. She fell seriously ill after the birth of their 14th child. It is said that on her death bed Mumtaz expressed a wish to the Royal Emperor Shah Jahan that he would build a beautiful and incomparable monument over her grave as a token of their worldly and inseparable love.
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