Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Banu Begum), Shah Jahan’s wife, died in Burhanpur while accompanying the imperial camp. Her death became the immediate impetus for planning a monumental funerary complex later known as the Taj Mahal.
After Mumtaz Mahal’s death, Shah Jahan initiated planning for a grand mausoleum and garden-tomb at Agra on the Yamuna’s bank, setting the conceptual and administrative foundations for the multi-decade build.
Building work commenced on the Agra site, launching the large-scale mobilization of materials and labor required for the mausoleum and its formal garden setting.
Ustad Ahmad Lahori is widely cited as the project’s main architect, coordinating the overall architectural conception within Shah Jahan’s court building apparatus.
Specialized craftspeople—masons, stonecutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, and dome builders—were requisitioned from across the Mughal Empire, with additional expertise drawn from Central Asia and Iran.
High-quality white marble from Makrana (Rajasthan) was used for the Taj Mahal’s signature fabric, requiring organized quarrying and long-distance transport of stone to Agra.
Amanat Khan Shirazi is traditionally credited with major inscriptional calligraphy on the Taj Mahal complex, reflecting the project’s integration of high-status Qur’anic and dedicatory texts into architectural surfaces.
A major court ceremony took place at the (partly completed) mausoleum to mark the 12th anniversary of Mumtaz Mahal’s death, underscoring the monument’s dynastic and memorial function even before full complex completion.
The central mausoleum was completed, marking a major milestone before the wider ensemble (including several ancillary buildings and enclosure elements) reached final completion.
Work on the flanking religious and auxiliary buildings (notably the mosque and the jawab/guest house) progressed as part of finishing the full architectural composition around the mausoleum and garden.
Major enclosure elements—including the monumental southern gateway and the outer courtyard with its associated structures—were added in the later phases, completing the planned ceremonial approach and visitor sequence.
The full ensemble—including mausoleum, garden, mosque, guest house, main gateway, and outer court components—reached completion, concluding one of the Mughal period’s most ambitious architectural and artisanal undertakings.
Construction of the Taj Mahal: planning, artisans and completion (1631–1653)
