Dawn Over The Taj Mahal
A series of photographs taken between 6:30am and 8:00am.
Click on each to see an enlargement.

Prince Khurram and Arjumand Banu Begam
When he was sixteen, Prince Khurram (the future Emperor Shah Jahan) was strolling in the Royal Meena Bazaar when he saw the beautiful fifteen year old daughter of the prime minister. Taken by her beauty, he applied to his father, the emperor, the very next day and asked for and was granted permission to marry her. It was love at first sight. However, a marriage between Khurram and Arjumand was not as easy as one might think. For in seventh century Indian courts, marriages of love were almost unheard of. Royal marriages were made for political considerations, to cement military coitions, to strengthen family ties, or for other alliances. So, a year later, Prince Khurram was married to a Persian princess.

Because Moslem law allowed every man to have four wives, marriage to Arjumand was not lost even though Prince Khurram had married a Persian princess. So, five years later when the emperor's astrologers calculated that the time was correct for a marriage between them, the long awaited wedding took place. It was a huge affair even by royal standards. As the procession made its way to Arjumnad's house, musicians, dancers, and acrobats entertained the crowds. Officials of state wore robes embroidered with spun gold on silk. Slaves shooed flys away, coolies carried torches, and long robed dervishes said their prayer beads.

Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan
In order to show his great esteem for Arjumand, Jahangir bestowed the highest of honors on his new daughter-in-law, a new name. She was now Mumtaz Mahal or "Chosen One of the Palace". After the wedding the prince and Mumtaz were inseparable. She soon became a political adviser to her husband and was instrumental in supporting widows, orphans, and poor families.

When his father died, Prince Khurram became emperor and changed his name to Shah Jahan or "The King of the World". Mumtaz continued to be the Emperor's favorite. He built a magnificent suite of rooms for her in the palace and brought her lavish gifts. He even took her along with him on his military campaigns. It was on one of these campaigns that Mumtaz, pregnant with their fourteenth child, accompanied Shan Jahan in the fall of 1630. In the spring of 1631, Mumtaz gave birth to a girl. However, Mumtaz was not well following the birth and she died a few days later.

The Taj Mahal
Following Mumtaz Mahal's death, Shah Jahan locked himself in his rooms for eight days. When he emerged he was no longer the same man who had gained the throne four years earlier. He mourned her for almost two years. When her body was brought from Burhanpur, where she died, to Agra, the seat of rule for the Mughal Empire, she was laid to rest in a temporary crypt in a garden along the banks of the Jumna River. The foundation of her mausoleum was laid in 1631.

The Taj Mahal's design combined Hindu, Persian, Turkish, and Buddhist elements in such a way that they were synthesized into something completely new. Today, the Taj Mahal has become one of the great visual clichés of our time. Although we marvel at its beauty and the story behind its construction, its facade is so familiar to us that we have forgotten that the Taj Mahal is a completely original work, totally unique for its time.