Mumtaz Mahal | |
---|---|
Empress of the Mughal Empire Empress mother of the Mughal Empire | |
![]() Portrait of Mumtaz Mahal on ivory, 17th‑century, held at the Lahore Museum in Lahore, Pakistan | |
Padshah Begum | |
Tenure | 19 January 1628 – 17 June 1631 |
Predecessor | Nur Jahan |
Successor | Jahanara Begum |
Born | Arjumand Banu Begum 29 October 1593 Agra, Mughal Empire |
Died | 17 June 1631 Burhanpur, Mughal Empire | (aged 37)
Burial | |
Spouse | |
Issue among others... | |
House | Timurid (by marriage) |
Father | Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan |
Mother | Diwanji Begum |
Religion | Shia Islam[1][2][3][4][5] |
Mumtaz Mahal (Hindustani pronunciation: [mʊmˈtaːz ˈmɛɦ(ɛ)l]; lit. 'The Exalted One of the Palace'; born Arjumand Banu Begum; 29 October 1593 – 17 June 1631)[6] was the empress consort of Mughal Empire from 1628 to 1631 as the chief consort of the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan.[7] The Taj Mahal in Agra, often cited as one of the Wonders of the World,[8] was commissioned by her husband to act as her tomb.[9]
Mumtaz Mahal was born Arjumand Banu Begum in Agra to a family of Persian nobility. She was the daughter of Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan, a wealthy Persian noble who held high office in the Mughal Empire, and the niece of Empress Nur Jahan, the chief wife of Emperor Jahangir and the power behind the emperor.[10] She was married at the age of 19 on 10 May 1612 or 16 June 1612 to Prince Khurram,[11][12] later known by his regnal name Shah Jahan, who conferred upon her the title "Mumtaz Mahal" lit. 'The Exalted One of the Palace'.[13] Although betrothed to Shah Jahan since 1607,[14] she ultimately became his second wife in 1612.[15][16] Mumtaz and her husband had 14 children, including Jahanara Begum (Shah Jahan's favorite daughter),[17] and the Crown prince Dara Shikoh, the heir-apparent,[18] anointed by his father, who temporarily succeeded him until deposed by Mumtaz Mahal's sixth child, Aurangzeb, who ultimately succeeded his father as the sixth Mughal emperor in 1658.[19]
Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 in Burhanpur, Deccan (present-day Madhya Pradesh) during the birth of her 14th child, a daughter named Gauhar Ara Begum.[20] Shah Jahan had the Taj Mahal built as a tomb for her, which is considered to be a monument of undying love. As with other Mughal royal ladies, no contemporary likenesses of her are accepted, but imagined portraits were created from the 19th century onwards.
She was religiously a Shi'a Muslim.
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