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The story behind Taj Mahal is also as
beautiful as the monument. It is the love
story of a prince and a beauty girl that
turned into a legend.
The story of Taj Mahal is inseparable from
the life of Mumtaz Mahal who was the chief
queen of Shahjahan. Prince Khurram, as
Shahjahan was known before he became the
Mughal emperor, was a handsome
twenty-year-old man, when he was betrothed
to Mumtaz.
 It
is said that the imperial capital of Agra
was agog with the description of her beauty
at the time of the betrothal. The maiden
name of Mumtaz Mahal was Arjumand Banu
Begum.
Prince Khurram had been married twice before
he met and married Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz bore
him 13 children and accompanied him wherever
he went.
On June 17, 1631 Mumtaz Mahal breathed her
last after delivering her 14th child, at the
age of 39. Saddened by her sudden demise,
Shahjahan resolved to immortalize their
love.
It is said that Mumtaz Mahal on her deathbed
had herself asked her husband to create a
symbol of their love for posterity.
Shahjahan is said to have accepted her
proposal and resolved to do so.
According to another school of thought
however, no such conversation transpired
between the two and the grief stricken
emperor decided to build the Taj Mahal to
immortalize the memory of his beloved queen,
on his own.
Either, way the Taj remains as whimsical in
conception as it is majestic in
construction. Before the construction of Taj
Mahal began, Mumtaz Mahal was given a
temporary burial in the Zainabadi garden in
Burhanpur for a period of six months, before
the body was exhumed and brought to Agra,
for the final burial.
Arjumand Banu a shopkeeper was sitting at
her shop in Meena Bazar, the private market
attached to the harem, when Prince Khurram
saw her for the first time.
He saw a piece of glass at her shop and
asked for it's worth she replied that it is
a diamond and not glass.
The prince picked up the piece of glass and
gave her rupees ten thousand (an amount she
boldly said that he could not afford).
Next day the prince went to emperor Shah
Jahan to seek his permission to marry
Arjumaand Banu. Emperor Jahangir gave the
permission at once but it took five years
for him to marry his beloved. Meanwhile he
was married to a Persian Princess Quandari
Begum due to some political reasons.
On an auspicious day, 1612 they tied the
knot. It was a grand wedding. It was a
perfect match; she was inseparable from
Khurram and even accompanied her when he
went to fight wars.
Emperor Jahangir entitled Prince Khurram as
'Shah Jahan' And when he became emperor he
entitled his wife as Mumtaz Mahal 'the
chosen one of the palace'.
Mumtaz was very compassionate, generous and
demure. She was also involved in
administrative work. She continually
interacted on behalf of petitioners and gave
allowances to widows. She is said to have
enjoyed the spectacle of man in combat with
animals.
In 1630 Mumtaz Mahal died in childbirth.
Before dieing she extracted a promise from
Shah Jahan that after her death he would
build the most beautiful building of the
world as a tribute to their love.
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