The Brutal True Taj Mahal Story, in 3 Minutes (+10 Great Facts)
Often cited as the epitome of a love story, I’ve found that the tale of the Taj Mahal isn’t quite the pure symbol of love people like to make it out to be. Here’s the real Taj Mahal story, as told to me by a guide while I was there…
I knew the Taj Mahal in Agra was commissioned by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a dedication to his late wife, but that was about it. After visiting this week during my three weeks in India I’ve got a whole new perspective on just how romantic this Shah Jahan really was.
Was the Taj Mahal built by slaves?
I know a lot of people are reading this post to find out if the Taj Mahal was built by slaves. Well, I answer that question below using the information that was given to me on my tour of the Taj Mahal.
I was on a tour that was actually meant for Indians, but I’d accidentally independently booked it while I was travelling India. If you want to know more about the slaves and the Taj Mahal, and the Taj Mahal story, read on.
The true story of the Taj Mahal
Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal met when he was 20 and already had two wives he’d married at 16 and 18. He was muslim so of course this was nothing out of the ordinary. They married and the four of them lived together in the huge Agra Fort, and Mumtaz soon became his favourite.
She ended up bearing him 14 children in 10 years, but sadly died during the birth of the final one. She knew there was a problem and with minutes to live made him promise three things.
1. To never marry again
2. To look after the remaining children (8 of them had already died)
3. To build a memorable final resting place for her
He vowed that he would do exactly as she wished.
Let’s take a look at how he got on in this potted Taj Mahal history.
1. To never marry again
He stood by this and the good egg never did marry again, just keeping the two wives that were left.
Instead, he kept 50(!) concubines in his famous Agra Fort.
They were kept in the 50 rooms behind the doors in the photo below for his entertainment whenever he pleased. I presume he would look out on this view and decide which girl he would like that night / morning / day, eeni meeni miini moh...
All 50 were aged between 12 and 18; once they reached their past it date he released them. And if for any reason they didn’t want to have sex with what would today be classed as a revolting pedophile, he had a punishment room in the grounds to teach them a lesson.
Apparently the walls of one area of the Agra Fort used to be covered in images from the kama sutra, but they got rid of them for the tourists.
So yes, he kept his promise and never married again. What a guy.
2. To look after the remaining children
As the remaining children grew up they warred. Everyone wanted to be king, and there was only one spot.
The youngest boy, delightful child that he was, killed his elder brothers to get to the throne. He also imprisoned his father in the Agra Fort when he fell ill, and never let him out again for fear of being overturned.
He then decided to imprison the creator of the Taj in the Agra Fort too so he’d be forced to spend his last years looking at the beauty he’d created over the river but could never actually touch it. There are also rumours that he had the architect’s hands cut off so he could never design anything else so beautiful, and he gauged out the eyes of the workers out too, so the story goes.
Another rumour flying around is that while imprisoned the architect taught the boys that served him all he knew about architecture and they went on to great things, much to the annoyance of the now king.
When Shah Jahan finally died his daughter wanted to bury his body in the Taj Mahal, next to her dead mother, and orchestrated the whole thing against her brother’s wishes. This also meant she ruined the perfect symmetry of the building in allowing them to be reunited.
It seemed that they’d created a monster with their last son and Shah didn’t stand a chance.
More on travel in India
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3. To build a final resting place for her
