Mumtaz Mahal or Taj Mahal?
The Taj Mahal is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and is a symbol of love and devotion. This grand mausoleum was constructed between 1632 and 1642-43 in honour of Mumtaz Mahal, beloved wife of Emperor Shah Jahan, and serves to commemorate the emperor's deep, everlasting affection for his wife.
What was the reason for choosing the name 'Taj Mahal'?
The name 'Taj Mahal' was actually given by European travelers. Many Europeans who visited Agra during the construction of the Taj Mahal noted the queen's name as Taj Mahal, perhaps an abbreviation of 'Mumtaz Mahal'. As they had difficulty pronouncing the queen's name, she was called 'Mumtaj', and eventually 'Taj'. In other words, 'the mausoleum of Taj Mahal' gradually became 'Taj Mahal''. Interesting to note that there was also one of Akbar Shah's (Akbar II, the sixteenth Mughal Emperor) wives who had the same name Taj Mahal.
I came across an engraving in the Dutch book 'Oud en nieuw Oost-Indiën, vervattende een naaukeurige en uitvoerige verhandelinge van Nederlands mogentheyd in die gewesten' (1726) authored by François Valentyn. The title of this picture is 'Tadjoe Mahal Gemalin van Sjah Djihaan', which translates to 'Taj Mahal, consort of Shah Jahan' in English.
Following are some European accounts:
J. B. Tavernier, a French jewel merchant: Of all the tombs at Agra, that of the wife of Shah Jahan [the Taj Mahal] is the most splendid. He purposely made it near the Tasimacan [Taj Ganj, a great bazaar], where all foreigners come, so that the whole world should see and admire its magnificence....I witnessed the commencement and accomplishment of this great work, on which twenty-two years have been spent, during which twenty thousand men worked incessantly; this is sufficient to enable one to realize that the cost of it has been enormous.
Peter Mundy, an employee of the East India Company (1632): This king is now building a sepulcher for his late deceased queen Taj Mahal whom he dearly affected, having had by her 9 or 10 children, and thought in her life time to use no other woman. He intends it shall excel all other. The place appointed (is) by the river side where she is buried, brought from Burhanpur where she died accompanying him in his wars.....There is already about her tomb a rail of gold (which was removed in 1642 and was replaced by the present screen of marble). The building is begun and goes on with excessive labor and cost, prosecuted with extraordinary diligence, gold and silver esteemed common metal, and marble but as ordinary stones.
Francois Bernier, a French traveler and physician (1663): I decidedly think that this monument deserves much more to be numbered among the wonders of the world than the pyramids of Egypt, those unshaped masses which when I had seen them twice yielded me no satisfaction.
Jean de Thevenot, a French traveler (1666): The fairest of all is that which Shah Jahan erected in honour of one of his wives called Taj Mahal, whom he tenderly loved, and whose death had almost cost him his life...Only so much I'll say that this King having sent for all the able architects of the Indies to Agra, he appointed a council of them for contriving and perfecting the tomb which he intended to erect, and having settled salaries upon them, he ordered them to spare no cost in making the finest Mausoleum in the World, if they could. They completed it after their manner, and succeeded to his satisfaction.
The mausoleum's location was originally owned by the Kachhwaha kings, dating back to the reign of Raja Man Singh. It was later acquired from the then-owner, Raja Jai Singh, in exchange for another edifice. The marble used in the construction of the Taj Mahal was sourced from Makrana, which was the ancestral estate of Raja Jai Singh.
During Shah Jahan's era, the court historians referred to the tomb as the Illumined Tomb (Rauza-i-Munavvara).
What was the reason for choosing the name 'Taj Mahal'?
The name 'Taj Mahal' was actually given by European travelers. Many Europeans who visited Agra during the construction of the Taj Mahal noted the queen's name as Taj Mahal, perhaps an abbreviation of 'Mumtaz Mahal'. As they had difficulty pronouncing the queen's name, she was called 'Mumtaj', and eventually 'Taj'. In other words, 'the mausoleum of Taj Mahal' gradually became 'Taj Mahal''. Interesting to note that there was also one of Akbar Shah's (Akbar II, the sixteenth Mughal Emperor) wives who had the same name Taj Mahal.
I came across an engraving in the Dutch book 'Oud en nieuw Oost-Indiën, vervattende een naaukeurige en uitvoerige verhandelinge van Nederlands mogentheyd in die gewesten' (1726) authored by François Valentyn. The title of this picture is 'Tadjoe Mahal Gemalin van Sjah Djihaan', which translates to 'Taj Mahal, consort of Shah Jahan' in English.
Following are some European accounts:
J. B. Tavernier, a French jewel merchant: Of all the tombs at Agra, that of the wife of Shah Jahan [the Taj Mahal] is the most splendid. He purposely made it near the Tasimacan [Taj Ganj, a great bazaar], where all foreigners come, so that the whole world should see and admire its magnificence....I witnessed the commencement and accomplishment of this great work, on which twenty-two years have been spent, during which twenty thousand men worked incessantly; this is sufficient to enable one to realize that the cost of it has been enormous.
Peter Mundy, an employee of the East India Company (1632): This king is now building a sepulcher for his late deceased queen Taj Mahal whom he dearly affected, having had by her 9 or 10 children, and thought in her life time to use no other woman. He intends it shall excel all other. The place appointed (is) by the river side where she is buried, brought from Burhanpur where she died accompanying him in his wars.....There is already about her tomb a rail of gold (which was removed in 1642 and was replaced by the present screen of marble). The building is begun and goes on with excessive labor and cost, prosecuted with extraordinary diligence, gold and silver esteemed common metal, and marble but as ordinary stones.
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The Travels of Peter Mundy, in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667: Volume II: Travels in Asia, 1628-1634 |
Francois Bernier, a French traveler and physician (1663): I decidedly think that this monument deserves much more to be numbered among the wonders of the world than the pyramids of Egypt, those unshaped masses which when I had seen them twice yielded me no satisfaction.
Jean de Thevenot, a French traveler (1666): The fairest of all is that which Shah Jahan erected in honour of one of his wives called Taj Mahal, whom he tenderly loved, and whose death had almost cost him his life...Only so much I'll say that this King having sent for all the able architects of the Indies to Agra, he appointed a council of them for contriving and perfecting the tomb which he intended to erect, and having settled salaries upon them, he ordered them to spare no cost in making the finest Mausoleum in the World, if they could. They completed it after their manner, and succeeded to his satisfaction.
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Indian Travels of Thevenot and Careri |
The mausoleum's location was originally owned by the Kachhwaha kings, dating back to the reign of Raja Man Singh. It was later acquired from the then-owner, Raja Jai Singh, in exchange for another edifice. The marble used in the construction of the Taj Mahal was sourced from Makrana, which was the ancestral estate of Raja Jai Singh.
During Shah Jahan's era, the court historians referred to the tomb as the Illumined Tomb (Rauza-i-Munavvara).
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