Mumtaz Mahal

Her name was Arjumand Banu Begum but her husband Shah Jahan, then Prince Khurram, gave her the title Mumtaz Mahal - Chosen One of the Palace - as he found her appearance and character so elect among all the women of the time. The love, intimacy and passion between them was so strong that Shah Jahan neglected his other two wives, only dutifully siring a child with each. Poets extolled her beauty, grace and compassion and the court historians documented the intimate and erotic relationship the couple enjoyed. Mumtaz Mahal never left Shah Jahan's side, traveling with him all over and he trusted her so that he gave her the Muhr Uzah, his imperial seal. Though she had no aspirations to political power, she frequently intervened on behalf of the poor and destitute. Thirteen pregnancies had taken their toll on Mumtaz Mahal's body and her fourteenth, and last, took her life. Shah Jahan's grief over her death made him go into secluded mourning for a year, and when he reappeared, his hair had turned white. His back was bent, his face worn and it was only his eldest daugther Jahanara Begum who could bring him out of grief. The Taj Mahal was planned and designed by Shah Jahanar to become a suitable mausoleum and funerary garden for Mumtaz Mahal.