The site

The white-marble mausoleum that emperor Shah Jahan raised at Agra between 1632 and 1653 for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth. Perfectly symmetrical, it stands on a plinth flanked by a mosque and its mirror image, reflected in a long watercourse within a four-part paradise garden. Its walls are inlaid with semi-precious stones in floral arabesques and inscribed with Qur'anic calligraphy that grows larger with height to appear even. The peak of Mughal architecture, it drew on Persian, Islamic and Indian traditions alike.

Field notes

civilizations

Mughal

types

Mausoleum

built

1,632 CE — 1,653 CE

occupied

1,653 CE — 1,900 CE

country

India