Mumtaz Mahal - Fact or fiction?

[KALKI]

Mumtāz Mahal (April, 1593 - 17 June 1631) (Persian, Urdu: ممتاز محل; pronounced [mumtɑːz mɛhɛl]; meaning "beloved ornament of the palace" is the common nickname of Arjumand Banu Bob, an Empress of India during the Mughal Dynasty. She was born in Agra, India. Her father was the Persian[1] noble Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan, the brother of Empress Nur Jehan[1] (who subsequently became the wife of the emperor Jahangir).

She was religiously a Shi'a Muslim. She was married at the age of 19, on 10 May 1612, to Prince Khurram, who would later ascend the Peacock Throne as Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan I. She was his third wife, and became his favorite. She died in Burhanpur in the Deccan (now in Madhya Pradesh) during the birth of their fourteenth child, a daughter named Gauhara Begum. Her body remained at Burhanpur for 23 years until the Taj was completed. Only then was her coffin shifted to Agra. Her body was then buried in the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Biography
In 1607 AD (1016 AH), Prince Khurram was betrothed to Arjumand Banu Begum, who was just 14 years old at the time. She would become the unquestioned love of his life. They would however, have to wait five years before they were married in 1612 AD (1021 AH), on a date selected by the court astrologers as most conducive to ensuring a happy marriage. After their wedding celebrations, Khurram "finding her in appearance and character elect among all the women of the time", gave her the title 'Mumtaz Mahal' Begum (Chosen One of the Palace). 18 AH).

The intervening years had seen Khurrum take two other wives. By all accounts however, Khurram was so taken with Mumtaz, that he showed little interest in exercising his polygamous rights with the two earlier wives, other than dutifully siring a child with each. 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 the Cradle of Excellence (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 portrayed as the perfect wife with no aspirations to political power in contrast to Nur Jehan, the wife of Jahangir who had wielded considerable influence in the previous reign.

She was a great influence on him, apparently often intervening on behalf of the poor and destitute. But she also enjoyed watching elephant and combat fights performed for the court. It was quite common for women of noble birth to commission architecture in the Mughal Empire. Mumtaz devoted some time to a riverside garden in Agra.

Despite her frequent pregnancies, Mumtaz traveled with Shah Jahan's entourage throughout his earlier military campaigns and the subsequent rebellion against his father. She was his constant companion and trusted confidant and their relationship was intense. Indeed, the court historians go to unheard lengths to document the intimate and erotic relationship the couple enjoyed. 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 AD (1040 AH), while giving birth to their fourteenth child. She had been accompanying her husband whilst he was fighting a campaign in the Deccan Plateau. Her body was temporarily buried at Burhanpur in a walled pleasure garden known as Zainabad originally constructed by Shah Jahan's uncle Daniyal on the bank of the Tapti River.


The contemporary court chroniclers paid an unusual amount of attention to Mumtaz Mahal's death and Shah Jahan's grief at her demise. In the immediate aftermath of his bereavement, the emperor was reportedly inconsolable.Apparently after her death, Shah Jahan went into secluded mourning for a year.

When he appeared again, his hair had turned white, his back was bent, and his face worn. Jahan's eldest daughter, the devoted Jahanara Begum, gradually brought him out of grief and took the place of Mumtaz at court.

Her personal fortune valued at 10,000,000 rupees was divided by Shah Jahan between Jahanara Begum, who received half and the rest of her surviving children. Burhanpur was never intended by her husband as his wife's final resting spot. As a result her body was disinterred in December 1631 and transported in a golden casket escorted by her son Shah Shuja and the head lady in waiting of the deceased Empress back to Agra.

There it was interred in a small building on the banks of the Yamuna River. Shah Jahan stayed behind in Burhanpur to conclude the military campaign that had originally bought him to the region. While there he began planning the design and construction of a suitable mausoleum and funerary garden in Agra for his wife, a task that would take more than 22 years to complete, the Taj Mahal.

Today, the Taj Mahal stands as the ultimate monument to love, and a homage to her beauty and life.


Children

• 1. Shahzadi Huralnissa Begum (1613–1616)
• 2. Shahzadi (Imperial Princess) Jahanara Begum ) (1614–1681)
• 3. Shahzada (Imperial Prince) Dara Shikoh (1615–1659)
• 4. Shahzada Mohammed Sultan Shah Shuja Bahadur (1616–1660)
• 5. Shahzadi Roshanara Begum (1617–1671)
• 6. Badshah Mohinnudin Mohammed Aurangzeb (1618–1707)
• 7. Shahzada Sultan Ummid Baksh (1619–1622)
• 8. Shahzadi Surayya Banu Begum (1621–1628)
• 9. Shahzada Sultan Murad Baksh (1624–1661)
• 10. Shahzada Sultan Luftallah (1626–1628)
• 11. Shahzada Sultan Daulat Afza (1628 - ?)
• 12. Shahzadi Husnara Begum (1630 - ?)
• 13. Shahzadi Gauhara Begum (1631–1707)

• Full name Arjumand Banu Begum
• Born April, 1593
• Birthplace Agra
• Died 17 June 1631
• Place of death Burhanpur
• Buried Taj Mahal
• Consort to Shah Jahan
• Offspring Jahanara Begum, Dara Shukoh, Shah Shuja, Roshanara Begum, Aurangzeb, Murad Baksh, Gauhara Begum
• Dynasty Mughal
• Father Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan
• Religious beliefs Shi'a Islam

[KALKI]

COUNTER NARRATIVE:

1. Mumtaz Was Shahjahan’s 4th Wife Out Of His 7 Wives

2. Shahjahan Killed Mumtaz’s Husband To Marry Her !

3. Mumtaz Died In Her 14th Delivery !

4. He Then Married Mumtaz’s Sister !

Question Arises Where The Hell Is The Love…


Another legend states that Taj Mahal was actually a Hindu temple of Shiva named ‘Tejo Mahalaya’ which was seized by Shah Jahan and renamed as Taj Mahal. This story was brought into light by an Indian Professor P.N. Oak, the writer of “Taj Mahal: The True Story”, a book that was published in 1965. He even filed a petition in the Indian court seeking permission to break open the cenotaphs, and tear down brick walls in the basement chambers of Taj Mahal to prove his theory. But, his petition was rejected as there was no hardcore evidence to support the claim. More proofs are required to justify that Taj Mahal was actually Tejo Mahalaya. Opening the hidden chambers for investigation could uncover more facts. Many researchers still continue to believe Oak’s theory, and the legend lives on.

ADDITIONAL ONLINE ARTICLES

"The Question of the Taj Mahal" (Itihas Patrika, vol 5, pp. 98-111, 1985) by P. S. Bhat and A. L. Athavale is a profound and thoroughly researched and well balanced paper on the Taj Mahal controversy. This paper goes well with the photographs listed below. It uncovers the reasons for the rumors and assumptions of why it is said that Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal, and presents all the inconsistencies of why that theory doesn't hold up. It also covers such things as the descriptions found in the old Agra court papers on the Taj; descriptions and measurements of the building in the old records; Aurangzeb's letter of the much needed repairs even in 1632 which is unlikely for a new building; records that reveal Shah Jahan acquired marble but was it enough for really building the Taj or merely for inlay work and decorative coverings; the observations of European travelers at the time; the actual age of the Taj; how the architecture is definitely of Indian Hindu orientation and could very well have been designed as a Shiva temple; the issue of the arch and the dome; how the invader Timurlung (1398) took back thousands of prisoner craftsmen to build his capital at Samarkhand and where the dome could have been incorporated into Islamic architecture; how it was not Shah Jahan's religious tolerance that could have been a reason for Hindu elements in the design of the Taj; how the direction of the mosque does not point toward Mecca as most mosques do; the real purpose of the minarets at the Taj; the Hindu symbolism recognized in the Taj which would not have been allowed if it was truly Muslim built; and even as late as 1910 the Encyclopaedia Britannica included the statement by Fergusson that the building was previously a palace before becoming a tomb for Shah Jahan; and more. A most interesting paper.

https://www.stephen-knapp.com/was_th...dic_temple.htm




IF SOMETHING IS YOUR FAVOURITE, IT CLEARY MEANS YOU HOLD THAT MORE DEAR IN COMPARISON TO THE OTHER...

[jay999]

Its all a load of bullshite!

Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple coverted into a Mosque type building

the tomb section has been sealed