23 July 2010, 7:57 pm
In 1607, Emperor Shah Jahan met Arjumand Banu Begum, the daughter of a nobleman, and fell in love with her at first sight. He was 46 and she was 14 at the time. He immediately asked her to marry him and they were bethrothed but however they would have to wait 5 years before they were married in 1612 on an auspicious date set by the court astrologers. She would become the unquestioned love of his life. After their wedding celebrations, Shah Jahan "finding her in appearance and character most beautiful among all the women of the time", gave her the title 'Mumtaz Mahal' (Beloved Jewel of the Palace). Shah Jahan already had three other wives but by all accounts, he was so taken with Mumtaz, that he showed little interest in exercising his polygamous rights with the earlier wives. According to the official court chronicler, Qazwini, the relationship with his other wives "had nothing more than the status of marriage. The intimacy, deep affection, attention and favour which His Majesty had for Mumtaz exceeded by a thousand times what he felt for any other." Mumtaz Mahal had a very deep and loving marriage with Shah Jahan. Even during her lifetime, poets would extol her beauty, gracefulness and compassion. Mumtaz Mahal was Shah Jahan's trusted companion, travelling with him all over the Mughal Empire. His trust in her was so great that he even gave her his imperial seal, the Muhr Uzah. Mumtaz was a great influence on him, apparently often intervening on behalf of the poor and destitute. Shah Jahan ruled over a vast area which now comprises of modern day India, Nepal, Tibet, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Turkey, he wrote "I preferred the least ringlet of hair which curled down her exquisite neck to the throne of the world". Despite her frequent pregnancies, Mumtaz traveled with Shah Jahan's entourage throughout his military campaigns. She was his constant companion and trusted confidant and their relationship was intense. In their nineteen years of marriage, they had fourteen children together, seven of whom died at birth or at a very young age. Mumtaz died in Burhanpur in 1631, while giving birth to their fourteenth child. In the immediate aftermath of his bereavement, the emperor was reportedly inconsolable. After her death, Shah Jahan went into secluded mourning for a year. When he appeared again, he looked defeated, his hair had turned white, his back was bent, and his face worn. Shah Jahan began planning the design and construction of a mausoleum and funerary garden in Agra for his wife. This would become known as the Taj Mahal. When his son, Aurangazeb took over the throne, he imprisioned his father in a jailroom with one window facing the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan would spend hours and hours reminsicing and looking out the window until the day he died. He was later buried in the Taj Mahal next to his beloved wife, Mumtaz. May they rest in peace forever.... Read More »
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