Hundreds of years ago, a prince named Khurram lived in India. One day, the 14-year-old prince was walking through the local bazaar and caught a glimpse of a girl wearing a beautiful silk dress and glittering beads. He fell in love instantly and told his father that he wanted to marry her. His father agreed and five long years later Prince Khurram married Arjumand Banu Begum.
They lived a blissful life and were madly in love. Together they had many children. Fifteen years after their wedding, Prince Khurram succeeded his father as emperor of the empire and from then on he was known as Shaj Jahan. His wife was also initiated and he gave her the name: Mumtaz Mahal, The Jewel of the Palace. Shaj Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal were inseparable. Even when there was war, they went there together.
During one of their trips, Mumtaz Mahal was pregnant with their fourteenth child and died of complications at birth. On her deathbed, Shaj Jahan promised her never to remarry and to build the most beautiful mausoleum in the world in her honor. Shaj Jahan was inconsolable and announced a two-year mourning period throughout the empire.
Shortly after her death, the shah started designing it together with the best architects in the empire. Subsequently, 22,000 people worked for a period of 22 years on the monument that has come to be known as the ‘Taj Mahal’, The Crown of the Palace. Shaj Jahan spent the last 8 years of his life as a prisoner in a room overlooking the Taj Mahal, remembering his beloved Mumtaz Mahal.
Millions of people still visit the Taj Mahal in India every year. One of the most beautiful buildings in the world built out of love.
Credits
Ririro is the in-house storytelling voice of Ririro.com, crafting short stories and legends that bring history and culture to life for readers of all backgrounds. This retelling of the Taj Mahal's origin draws on the Mughal-era love story of Emperor Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, one of the most enduring tales of devotion in world history. The detail that Shah Jahan spent his final eight years imprisoned in a room with a view of the monument he built for her gives the story a quietly heartbreaking final note.
