June 11, 2024 • 32 mins
The Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world, a tourist destination that attracts travelers from all over the globe. But the story of its construction is fascinating—a monument (sorry) to lasting love and an intricate architectural celebration of a diverse empire.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener Discretion advised one quick
bit of housekeeping before we get started. First, thank you
for listening. This is Danishwartz. Obviously, if you want to
support the show, we have a Patreon, Patreon dot com
(00:20):
slash Noble Blood Tales. I publish episode scripts with some
extra bonus content. I do a series rewatching the CW
series Rain and going over it every episode. It's about Mary,
Queen of Scott's. If you have not seen that show,
it is just it's a wild ride. And also maybe
the Patreon perk I'm most excited about. We have these
(00:42):
gorgeous tarot card style stickers of the six Wives of
Henry the Eighth that are completely exclusive to Patreon subscribers.
So if you join four times a year, you'll get
sent like an exclusive sticker pack and get these truly
gorgeous stickers that I'm obsessed with. But of course, the
best for the show is just listening, or if you
want a different form of Danish Worts related content, my
(01:06):
novel's Anatomy A Love Story and Immortality A Love Story
just came out in paperback. So if you've been looking
for an excuse to read books about nineteenth century Edinburgh,
in the bathtub or on the go, this is your moment.
When asked to think of a famous love story, most
(01:28):
people would probably volunteer Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's most famous couple,
kept apart by warring families.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It's become the default image of love. There have been
so many adaptations of that story, and it just demonstrates
how enduring that narrative is. What is perhaps most compelling
about their love, though, is the tragic ending. The teenager's
love can never spoil because it can never fully play
(01:57):
out well. Romeo and Juliet, our fictional veroneesay nobility Luckily
for us and this podcast. Tragedy and compelling love stories
abound in history. Take for example, Napoleon and Josephine, whom
we've covered before on this show. Napoleon became infatuated with
(02:18):
Josephine in the late seventeen nineties, and despite Josephine being
an older, widowed mother, they married. And while their marriage
was a passionate relationship, both full of love and sometimes contempt,
what ultimately ended their marriage was politics. Josephine's inability to
give Napoleon the air he desperately needed. Even after their annulment,
(02:43):
they stayed close and they were rumored to still be
deeply in love, although they were never to be reunited.
When Napoleon was sent into exile, Josephine is said to
have begged Czar Alexander the First of Russia to let
her join him. Sadly, she never would, as Josephine would
die while Napoleon was on Elba. In perhaps the most
(03:07):
romantic cinematic ending to that story, Napoleon's last word when
he died on Saint Helena was Josephine, speaking of Russia.
The love story of the last Czar and Sarina of
the Romanov dynasty tracked a disastrous and very sad peth.
(03:27):
Nicholas the Second of Russia fell deeply in love with
his cousin alex of Hesse as a young teenager. Many
years later, their love flourished and it became clear that
it was true love. Although the couple were perfect for
each other, they were not perfect for the Russian people,
as we covered very early on this show in an
(03:48):
episode called Ever Dearest Cousin Nikki Tsar Nicholas was toppled
by the communist Red Army in nineteen seventeen and his
family was taken captive by the Provisional Government. In the
middle of the night on January seventeenth, nineteen eighteen, the
entire family was surprised with an execution by firing squad
(04:11):
in the basement of their makeshift prison in Katrinbourg. While
Alexandra and Nicholas had their crowns, titles, lifestyle, and ultimately
lives taken away, they did die at each other's sides.
We've explored many tragic love stories like those on Noble Blood,
(04:34):
and what makes them so sad, I think is that
these couples never get the happy ending that were primed
to believe that all love stories deserve. People in love
should get to live happily ever after. That's what the
stories have taught us. But of the many many couples
we've discussed on this show, none have left as monumental
(04:57):
a legacy as that of Shai Jahan and Mumtas Mahal.
Their names might sound vaguely familiar, but it is the
monument that was built as a testament to their love
that almost everyone on Earth would recognize a symbol probably
as well known as Romeo and Juliet, the taj Mahal.
(05:20):
I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. If you
were to ask someone in the Western world to think
of India, one of the first images that probably pops
into their heads is the taj Mahal, located in Agra,
a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
(05:41):
The taj Mahal sits on forty two acres of land
at a bend in the Yamuna River. The monument reaches
seventy three meters or two hundred and forty feet at
its tallest, and is built almost entirely out of marble.
The central building features massive arch shaped doorways that lead
(06:03):
to the inner chamber. The roof of the building consists
of four small domes and one large dome that looms
large over the structure. Almost every square inch is jewel,
encrusted or engraved with floral patterns versus from the Koran.
Surrounding the taj Mahal are lush gardens and wide reflecting pools.
(06:29):
But why waste any more time describing it? You are
probably already familiar with it. The massively starkly white monument
has become a national symbol, both in likeness and in name.
And I encourage you, if you are unfamiliar, take two
minutes and go look up photos of the taj Mahal.
(06:50):
Remind yourself just how spectacular it is. What many people
might not know is the reason the taj Mahal was built.
It's not a temple or a palace, but a tomb
built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved wife,
Mumtaz Mahal. Further, people often take for granted the religious
(07:14):
and cultural practices that influenced the way that the monument
was built and designed. So in this episode, I'm going
to recount the love story that inspired the taj Mahal
and walk through what led to its creation and the
maintenance of this world wonder and our story begins in
(07:34):
northern India in the sixteenth century. The Mughal Empire, not
to be confused with the Mongol Empire, ruled over parts
of modern day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh from fifteen
twenty six BCE to eighteen fifty seven BC, calling this
(07:54):
empire the Mughal Empire is a Western convention, as the
Muughuls themselves called their dominion Hindustan or similar derivations of
that name, but the Western name is helpful to illustrate
how this empire argued for its own legitimacy. The first
Mughal emperor, Babur, was a Central Asian prince who claimed
(08:17):
descent from two great emperors, Timor also known as tamer
Lane on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mother's. Thus,
Babur's legitimacy partially relied on those dynastic empirical connections. The
term Mughal represents that connection, as it is the Indo
(08:38):
Persian form of Mongol. The Mughal Empire is known for
simultaneously controlling a wide swath of land and people without
suppressing local cultures and religions. The ruling elite sought not
to spread their culture or religion, but just to conquer
land in order to maintain power and more importantly, gather
(09:02):
wealth and acquire wealth. They did. Scholar J. C. Sharman
asserts that the Mughal Empire dwarfed the European states of
the time in not just wealth, but also population and
land mass. Keep in mind that this was the era
of the Spanish and Dutch Golden Ages, as well as
(09:22):
the height of French opulence being built at Versailles. Europe
was not doing too badly for itself during this period,
but the Mughals they were doing better. They taxed their
subjects to achieve their wealth, but this was about as
much as was required of the subjects. There was no
compulsory religion or cultural practices, so as long as they
(09:45):
paid their taxes, locals were free to do as they pleased.
To return to Babur. Babur's son, Humayan, briefly ruled following
Babor's death in fifteen thirty, but it was under Humayan's
son Ekbar that the Mughal Empire really began to flourish.
Under Akbar, the empire expanded to include almost the entire
(10:08):
Indian subcontinent. By the time Akbar died, his empire encompassed
roughly one hundred and fifteen million people, or twenty percent
of the world's estimated population. To accumulate that massive territory,
Akbar led numerous military campaigns and political missions. He also
(10:28):
extended the empire's power and sphere of influence through strategic
trade relations with European trading companies, including the British East
India Company. With the massive wealth Akbar accumulated, he patronized artisans, poets, artists,
and holy men. His financial investment into cultural realms led
(10:51):
to the birth of a distinctly Mughal artistic style. Returning
to the religious tolerance that I mentioned was a major
character of the Mughal Empire, it was Akbar who epitomized
that tolerance. The Mughal Empire and the Indian subcontinent contained
a myriad of different religions and sects at that time,
(11:13):
including Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism, Sufism, Judaism, and Jainism. The Mughal
elite were themselves Muslim, but instead of cracking down on
the diversity of religion and forcing Islam onto his subjects,
Akbar fostered acceptance of all religions through formal policy. He
(11:34):
also sponsored dialogues and debates between holy men of different faiths,
even going so far as to include Jesuit missionaries in
those conversations. But this episode is not about Akbar. It
is about his grandson, Emperor Shah Jahan Shah Jahan was
the fifth ruler of the Mughal Empire and in many
(11:55):
ways maintained the status quo set by his grandfather. Although
he was more religiously Orthodox than his grandfather Akbar had been,
and can be categorized as a devout Muslim, Shahjahan continued
policies of religious tolerance. He too, again much like Akbar,
led successful military campaigns across the subcontinent and furthered the
(12:20):
expanding Mughal influence and power. With regards to his personal life,
Shahjahan continued the Mughal tradition of polygamy. In Mughal India,
polygamy was common amongst the highest levels of society across faiths.
Shahjahan had four wives and each marriage presented a beneficial
(12:41):
political alliance. His marriages to his first and third wives
cemented a bond with a prominent Persian family in court. Similarly,
the marriage to his second wife, Mumtazmahal intertwined Shahjahan's family
with her powerful up and coming family. The Shah's fourth
marriage was to his half cousin, who was a princess
(13:04):
of a clan that was conquered by the Mughuls. Thus
that marriage offered a symbolic sense of peace between the
conqueror and the conquered. Although all of those marriages were
politically expedient, only the marriage between Shahjahan and mumtaz Mahal
developed into a deeper love. In just one example of
(13:27):
the vast documentation of their love, Shahjahan's court historian noted
that the emperor's quote, whole delight was centered on this
illustrious lady to such an extent that he did not
feel toward the others one thousandth part of the affection
that he did for her, which must not have felt
(13:47):
great for them. But we don't even need to look
at court records to tell us that there was a
deeper connection happening between those two. If we simply look
at the numbers, it's plain to see that Shahjahan had
a particular affection for mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz Mahal gave birth
to all but one of Shahjahan's children, giving birth to
(14:10):
fourteen in total. For her to carry all but one
of his children and to have so many children, is
by itself a testament to their connection. But Even more
so is the fact that Mumtaz Mahal's fourteen children were
born in the span of eighteen years, all while traveling
(14:30):
with her husband on his numerous military campaigns. They were
literally always together. Unfortunately, after many successful pregnancies on the road,
the birth of Mumtaz Mahal's fourteenth child was too difficult
to endure. After struggling through thirty hours of labor and
(14:51):
a postpartum hemorrhage, she looked on the king with despair
and tears in her eyes and admonished him to take
good care of her children and her own aged father
and mother when she was herself no more. Despite the
best attempts by midwives, doctors, and her ladies in waiting,
(15:13):
Mumtazmahal passed away at the age of thirty nine after
giving birth. Shahjahan was utterly shattered. His beloved wife had
been taken from him far too soon. His grief was
almost all consuming, and he certainly could not proceed with
life as normal. For at least a week after Mumtazmahal's death,
(15:38):
the emperor refused to conduct any official state business. All
nobles and advisers were turned away as he hid himself
and wallowed in his grief. This loss stayed with Shahjahan
for many years. He forswore luxuries like jewelry, perfume and
music for two years, and his beard allegedly turned white
(16:00):
from his stress and despair. Every Friday for months after
his wife's passing, Shahjahan would visit her grave and recite
the prayer for the departed, the Fatiha. But her grave
was located in Burhanpur, where his army had been stationed
when she passed. But when it was time for the
(16:22):
army to leave, the emperor had faced a dilemma. He
couldn't just leave his beloved there as he returned home,
nor could he bury her in any normal tomb, and
so as soon as he returned to his home base
in Agra, he picked out the location on the Yamuna
River where he would bury Mumtaz Mahal and build her tomb.
(16:45):
It would take six months for her body to be
transported there, but once she arrived, construction of her resting
place officially began. Shahjahan turned to his court architect ustadim
On Lahore to design and lead the building process of
the tomb. Lahouri had a tall order, not just in
(17:07):
being asked to build a tomb worthy of the emperor's
favorite deceased wife, but also in that he essentially had
to create a new architectural style. Remember that the Mughal
Empire was tolerant of many religions and contained many different
ethnic groups. Know also that the Mughuls didn't really have
(17:29):
their own distinct architectural style at this point, So Lahouri
leaned into their cultural acceptance in order to synthesize a
brand new style influenced by first the architectural style of
the Mughals rulers ancestral homelands in Central Asia and the
buildings built previously by Muslim rulers in India, and the
(17:52):
even older styles indigenous to India. The Mughals were quite
proud of their heritage. I previously mentioned they descended from
Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, massive forces in Asian history. As such,
they were keen to associate themselves with those emperors, Tamerlane
(18:12):
in particular, and utilized that building style to do it.
Timrid architecture is characterized by the presence of domes and
intricate geometric patterns. The tomb of the second Mughal emperor,
Human Shahjahan's great grandfather is a fantastic example of a
(18:33):
Mughal building inspired by Central Asian architectural traditions. In fact,
Lahori looked at that tomb in order to inform his
understanding of that style. It was important for Lahori to
also incorporate Muslim artistic traditions in the design of the
taj Mahal. The Muguls were themselves Muslim, and therefore mumtaz
(18:57):
Mahal's tomb had to adhere to Muslim conventions. Some of
the defining characteristics of Indo Islamic architecture from before the
Mughals included ornate minarets or towers used to call people
to prayer, and intricately decorated mihrabs or niches in the
wall used to indicate the direction of mecca. We can see,
(19:21):
in particular the tradition of minarets in the design of
the taj Mahal. The four towers at the corners of
the larger mausoleum are a prime example of ornate minarets.
Because the Mughal Empire encompassed areas that had a century's
long history of Muslim rulership and architecture, Lahore had ample
(19:43):
examples of Indo Islamic architecture to turn to when designing
and constructing the taj Mahal. While those first two sources
of inspiration came from aspects of elite Mughal identity that
were arguably foreign to the Indian subcontinent, the third stylistic
inspiration came from the people who were actually building the tomb.
(20:08):
Indian architects, the people who would be lending their expertise
and talent to constructing Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, while certainly learned
in those other styles, were able to contribute skills that
wouldn't have been seen in Timid or into Islamic architecture,
primarily stone carving. India has an abundance of stone with
(20:32):
which to carve, something not found in the deserts of
western or Central Asia. As much Indian architects over the
centuries had perfected their ability to carve stone and marble,
we can attribute the brilliant white color of the taj
Mahal to its marble facade, something that they were able
(20:52):
to create due to that vast stone carving tradition. Of course,
all of those styles were not distinct and had a
lot of overlapping features. But I think it's fascinating to
see just how much of a melting pot the Mughal
Empire was and seeing that physically in front of you,
based on the different styles and cultural traditions reflected in
(21:16):
the taj Mahal. Now, like I said, designing and constructing
the taj Mahal was no small task, and Ustad Ahmed
Lahore did not undertake it alone. He managed a board
of architects who collectively oversaw more than twenty thousand workers
and artisans these crafts people came from across the Asian
(21:39):
and even European continent, with some artisans coming from as
far as Italy. Starting in sixteen thirty one, construction began
as people started hauling in ported marble to the site,
started hoisting materials up with complex polley systems, and securing
the foundations of the building. They meticulously carved the marble
(22:03):
and delicately inlaid precious stones throughout the entire structure, both
on the exterior and the interior. Understandably, it took them
twelve years for the tomb to be finished, and even
longer to finish outlying structures and the gardens. All in all,
the taj Mahal would be complete in sixteen fifty three,
(22:26):
more than twenty years after Shahjahan commissioned it. I've focused
on the building, but I don't want to overlook the
importance of the gardens and ponds surrounding the mausoleum. We
can classify the entire complex as a quote sharbag, or
a type of garden with four quadrants separated by waterways
(22:49):
meant to reflect depictions of paradise found in the Qur'an.
At the taj Mahal, there are four ponds or reflecting
pools extending out from the center of the garden, just
like the four rivers that extended from the Garden of Eden. Lahri.
In building Mumtaz Mahal's tomb in an expansive sharbag garden
(23:11):
was creating an idyllic place for the tomb, a fasimile
of the Garden of Eden. In essence, she was to
be laid to rest in paradise. Ultimately, the taj Mahal
would be not just Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, but Shahjahan's as well.
Shortly after the tomb was complete, Shahjahan was overthrown by
(23:35):
his and mumtaz Mahal's son Aragzeb. When Shahjahan became gravely
ill in sixteen fifty eight, Aurangzeb and his brothers sensed
that the issue of succession was rapidly approaching, so they
began to face off for their father's throne. Ultimately, Aragzeb
defeated his brothers in the battle for power by either
(23:59):
killing them or running them out of the empire. But
the one thing standing in his way was still his father,
who did not die like it had seemed like he would.
Unable to commit patricide, Arangzeb placed Shahjahan under house arrest
in the Fort of Agra. Here, Shajahan was essentially siloed,
(24:22):
unable to lead the empire, but he was able to
live out his days with almost any or everything that
he could have ever wanted, And although he was unable
to leave the grounds, he was still able to gaze
across the river and admire his beloved resting place. Eight
years later, when Shajahan finally passed, his son had him
(24:45):
interred alongside his mother Muntazmahal. Kept apart for thirty years,
the couple finally reunited and under the majestic domes is
where the couple currently rest side by side for eternity.
One brief side note. If you've heard the rumor that
(25:05):
Shahjahan cut off the hands of every worker who built
the taj Mahal so that they could never construct anything
that beautiful again, it is just that it is a rumor.
There is actually no historical evidence of that at all. Unfortunately,
the twenty years of hard work that had gone into
building the immaculate taj Mahal were undone a century later,
(25:29):
when Shahjahan was no longer around to protect the complex
and the luxurious trappings inside, it became a target of
theft by those within and without the Mughal Empire. In
seventeen twenty, an influential Mogul courtier removed the sheets of
pearl that encased the two sarcophagi. In seventeen sixty one,
(25:53):
the ruler of the Kingdom of Bartpur laid siege on Agra,
ultimately taking over control of the city and the taj
Mahal from the Mughal Empire. Their ruler Maharaja suraj Mal
decided to take the massive silver doors of the tomb
so that he could melt the silver down. A Mughal
(26:14):
historian of the time also records that during that period
of Baratpur control, the central fifteen foot gold finial or
ornamental spire at the top of a roof was taken
as well. In general, with no one there who actively
took care of the complex protecting it, the taj Mahal
(26:35):
fell into disrepair. But given the fact that we all
know of the taj Mahal and how spectacular it is,
people have since stepped up to preserve and protect it.
In the late nineteenth century, during the British Raj Viceroy
Curzone undertook the first major restoration project of the taj Mahal,
(26:55):
during which he added a chandelier to the main interior chamber.
Since then, the Indian government has put in place regulations
to prevent air pollution from degrading the marble and turning
the monument a yellow brown color. There is now a
four thousand square mile area around the taj Mahal in
which there are incredibly strict emissions regulations for their adding
(27:20):
a layer of protection, the tomb is now designated as
a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which comes with a variety
of legal safeguards that will hopefully preserve the monument into perpetuity.
But it's not just these government agencies and institutions that
show us how special the taj Mahal is. Last year,
(27:43):
over five million people visited the site, and pre pandemic
the visitor numbers exceeded six million. The site is among
the top ten most visited tourist destinations in the entire world,
competing with the Vatican, the Ife Tower, and the Forbidden
City in Beijing. People all over the world continue to
(28:06):
travel to Agra, specifically to see the tomb that a
bereft husband built for his beloved wife. The magnitude of
the legacy of Shah Jahan and mumtaz Mahal cannot be overstated.
So next time you see an Indian restaurant named after
the taj Mahal or a tea blend borrowing the name,
(28:26):
I hope you think of that couple and the depth
of their love across time. Keep listening after a short
sponsor break to hear a little bit more about another
tragic love story that connects to the taj Mahal. Since
(28:57):
I opened this episode with some tragic love stories, I
felt it was only fitting to end with one. If
you didn't know any better, you could just assume that
the bench at the end of the reflecting pool in
front of the taj Mahal was just a regular old bench.
But that bench has managed to become incredibly important for
the British royal family. Prince Charles now King Charles the
(29:21):
Third of England is a known India file. He has
traveled to the country ten times and even spent his
seventy first birthday there. On his second trip to India,
the then thirty two year old Prince was one of
the most eligible bachelors in the world. On that trip,
he visited the taj Mahal, where he took a photo
(29:43):
seated on the aforementioned bench. While talking to reporters at
the monument, he proudly proclaimed, I can understand that love
could make a man build the taj Mahal for his wife.
One day, I would like to bring my own back here.
It would take ten years Charles to return to India,
but once he and Princess Diana announced their February nineteen
(30:06):
ninety two, tour to India, it appeared as though he
was following through on his proclaimed wish to share the
beautiful taj Mahal with his wife. However, Charles did not
visit the taj Mahal on that trip. Instead, Princess Diana
would visit the taj Mahal alone, after keeping reporters waiting
(30:27):
for a number of hours uncertain whether or not she
would even come. When she did finally arrive, she sat
down for photos on the very same bench where Charles
had sat a decade earlier. Photographer Noir Hussein was there
on that day and recalls Diana's demeanor as she sat
in front of one of the most ostentatious symbols of love.
(30:51):
He said quote, she looked sad and she knew which
way the story would go. She was very clever. There
were other pictures taken that day on another their bench,
when she seemed to be contemplating things. Those photos only
bolstered the rumors circulating about the couple's strained marriage. It
wouldn't even be a year later that Charles and Diana
(31:14):
would announce their divorce. When Prince William and Princess Kate
visited India in twenty sixteen, they too visited the taj Mahal.
Everyone was on pins and needles to see if the
couple would sit on the very same bench where William's
father and his late mother had both sat separately years before.
(31:35):
The couple did end up sitting at that bench for
photos together, in a way reclaiming the bench and all
that it came to symbolize. Noble Blood is a production
(31:59):
of iHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey.
Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Forts, with additional
writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zewick, Courtney Sender,
Julia Milani, and Armand Cassam. The show is edited and
produced by Noehmy Griffin and rima il Kaali, with supervising
(32:23):
producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams
and Matt Frederick. Four more podcasts from iHeartRadio. Visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener Discretion advised one quick
bit of housekeeping before we get started. First, thank you
for listening. This is Danishwartz. Obviously, if you want to
support the show, we have a Patreon, Patreon dot com
(00:20):
slash Noble Blood Tales. I publish episode scripts with some
extra bonus content. I do a series rewatching the CW
series Rain and going over it every episode. It's about Mary,
Queen of Scott's. If you have not seen that show,
it is just it's a wild ride. And also maybe
the Patreon perk I'm most excited about. We have these
(00:42):
gorgeous tarot card style stickers of the six Wives of
Henry the Eighth that are completely exclusive to Patreon subscribers.
So if you join four times a year, you'll get
sent like an exclusive sticker pack and get these truly
gorgeous stickers that I'm obsessed with. But of course, the
best for the show is just listening, or if you
want a different form of Danish Worts related content, my
(01:06):
novel's Anatomy A Love Story and Immortality A Love Story
just came out in paperback. So if you've been looking
for an excuse to read books about nineteenth century Edinburgh,
in the bathtub or on the go, this is your moment.
When asked to think of a famous love story, most
(01:28):
people would probably volunteer Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's most famous couple,
kept apart by warring families.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It's become the default image of love. There have been
so many adaptations of that story, and it just demonstrates
how enduring that narrative is. What is perhaps most compelling
about their love, though, is the tragic ending. The teenager's
love can never spoil because it can never fully play
(01:57):
out well. Romeo and Juliet, our fictional veroneesay nobility Luckily
for us and this podcast. Tragedy and compelling love stories
abound in history. Take for example, Napoleon and Josephine, whom
we've covered before on this show. Napoleon became infatuated with
(02:18):
Josephine in the late seventeen nineties, and despite Josephine being
an older, widowed mother, they married. And while their marriage
was a passionate relationship, both full of love and sometimes contempt,
what ultimately ended their marriage was politics. Josephine's inability to
give Napoleon the air he desperately needed. Even after their annulment,
(02:43):
they stayed close and they were rumored to still be
deeply in love, although they were never to be reunited.
When Napoleon was sent into exile, Josephine is said to
have begged Czar Alexander the First of Russia to let
her join him. Sadly, she never would, as Josephine would
die while Napoleon was on Elba. In perhaps the most
(03:07):
romantic cinematic ending to that story, Napoleon's last word when
he died on Saint Helena was Josephine, speaking of Russia.
The love story of the last Czar and Sarina of
the Romanov dynasty tracked a disastrous and very sad peth.
(03:27):
Nicholas the Second of Russia fell deeply in love with
his cousin alex of Hesse as a young teenager. Many
years later, their love flourished and it became clear that
it was true love. Although the couple were perfect for
each other, they were not perfect for the Russian people,
as we covered very early on this show in an
(03:48):
episode called Ever Dearest Cousin Nikki Tsar Nicholas was toppled
by the communist Red Army in nineteen seventeen and his
family was taken captive by the Provisional Government. In the
middle of the night on January seventeenth, nineteen eighteen, the
entire family was surprised with an execution by firing squad
(04:11):
in the basement of their makeshift prison in Katrinbourg. While
Alexandra and Nicholas had their crowns, titles, lifestyle, and ultimately
lives taken away, they did die at each other's sides.
We've explored many tragic love stories like those on Noble Blood,
(04:34):
and what makes them so sad, I think is that
these couples never get the happy ending that were primed
to believe that all love stories deserve. People in love
should get to live happily ever after. That's what the
stories have taught us. But of the many many couples
we've discussed on this show, none have left as monumental
(04:57):
a legacy as that of Shai Jahan and Mumtas Mahal.
Their names might sound vaguely familiar, but it is the
monument that was built as a testament to their love
that almost everyone on Earth would recognize a symbol probably
as well known as Romeo and Juliet, the taj Mahal.
(05:20):
I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. If you
were to ask someone in the Western world to think
of India, one of the first images that probably pops
into their heads is the taj Mahal, located in Agra,
a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
(05:41):
The taj Mahal sits on forty two acres of land
at a bend in the Yamuna River. The monument reaches
seventy three meters or two hundred and forty feet at
its tallest, and is built almost entirely out of marble.
The central building features massive arch shaped doorways that lead
(06:03):
to the inner chamber. The roof of the building consists
of four small domes and one large dome that looms
large over the structure. Almost every square inch is jewel,
encrusted or engraved with floral patterns versus from the Koran.
Surrounding the taj Mahal are lush gardens and wide reflecting pools.
(06:29):
But why waste any more time describing it? You are
probably already familiar with it. The massively starkly white monument
has become a national symbol, both in likeness and in name.
And I encourage you, if you are unfamiliar, take two
minutes and go look up photos of the taj Mahal.
(06:50):
Remind yourself just how spectacular it is. What many people
might not know is the reason the taj Mahal was built.
It's not a temple or a palace, but a tomb
built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved wife,
Mumtaz Mahal. Further, people often take for granted the religious
(07:14):
and cultural practices that influenced the way that the monument
was built and designed. So in this episode, I'm going
to recount the love story that inspired the taj Mahal
and walk through what led to its creation and the
maintenance of this world wonder and our story begins in
(07:34):
northern India in the sixteenth century. The Mughal Empire, not
to be confused with the Mongol Empire, ruled over parts
of modern day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh from fifteen
twenty six BCE to eighteen fifty seven BC, calling this
(07:54):
empire the Mughal Empire is a Western convention, as the
Muughuls themselves called their dominion Hindustan or similar derivations of
that name, but the Western name is helpful to illustrate
how this empire argued for its own legitimacy. The first
Mughal emperor, Babur, was a Central Asian prince who claimed
(08:17):
descent from two great emperors, Timor also known as tamer
Lane on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mother's. Thus,
Babur's legitimacy partially relied on those dynastic empirical connections. The
term Mughal represents that connection, as it is the Indo
(08:38):
Persian form of Mongol. The Mughal Empire is known for
simultaneously controlling a wide swath of land and people without
suppressing local cultures and religions. The ruling elite sought not
to spread their culture or religion, but just to conquer
land in order to maintain power and more importantly, gather
(09:02):
wealth and acquire wealth. They did. Scholar J. C. Sharman
asserts that the Mughal Empire dwarfed the European states of
the time in not just wealth, but also population and
land mass. Keep in mind that this was the era
of the Spanish and Dutch Golden Ages, as well as
(09:22):
the height of French opulence being built at Versailles. Europe
was not doing too badly for itself during this period,
but the Mughals they were doing better. They taxed their
subjects to achieve their wealth, but this was about as
much as was required of the subjects. There was no
compulsory religion or cultural practices, so as long as they
(09:45):
paid their taxes, locals were free to do as they pleased.
To return to Babur. Babur's son, Humayan, briefly ruled following
Babor's death in fifteen thirty, but it was under Humayan's
son Ekbar that the Mughal Empire really began to flourish.
Under Akbar, the empire expanded to include almost the entire
(10:08):
Indian subcontinent. By the time Akbar died, his empire encompassed
roughly one hundred and fifteen million people, or twenty percent
of the world's estimated population. To accumulate that massive territory,
Akbar led numerous military campaigns and political missions. He also
(10:28):
extended the empire's power and sphere of influence through strategic
trade relations with European trading companies, including the British East
India Company. With the massive wealth Akbar accumulated, he patronized artisans, poets, artists,
and holy men. His financial investment into cultural realms led
(10:51):
to the birth of a distinctly Mughal artistic style. Returning
to the religious tolerance that I mentioned was a major
character of the Mughal Empire, it was Akbar who epitomized
that tolerance. The Mughal Empire and the Indian subcontinent contained
a myriad of different religions and sects at that time,
(11:13):
including Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism, Sufism, Judaism, and Jainism. The Mughal
elite were themselves Muslim, but instead of cracking down on
the diversity of religion and forcing Islam onto his subjects,
Akbar fostered acceptance of all religions through formal policy. He
(11:34):
also sponsored dialogues and debates between holy men of different faiths,
even going so far as to include Jesuit missionaries in
those conversations. But this episode is not about Akbar. It
is about his grandson, Emperor Shah Jahan Shah Jahan was
the fifth ruler of the Mughal Empire and in many
(11:55):
ways maintained the status quo set by his grandfather. Although
he was more religiously Orthodox than his grandfather Akbar had been,
and can be categorized as a devout Muslim, Shahjahan continued
policies of religious tolerance. He too, again much like Akbar,
led successful military campaigns across the subcontinent and furthered the
(12:20):
expanding Mughal influence and power. With regards to his personal life,
Shahjahan continued the Mughal tradition of polygamy. In Mughal India,
polygamy was common amongst the highest levels of society across faiths.
Shahjahan had four wives and each marriage presented a beneficial
(12:41):
political alliance. His marriages to his first and third wives
cemented a bond with a prominent Persian family in court. Similarly,
the marriage to his second wife, Mumtazmahal intertwined Shahjahan's family
with her powerful up and coming family. The Shah's fourth
marriage was to his half cousin, who was a princess
(13:04):
of a clan that was conquered by the Mughuls. Thus
that marriage offered a symbolic sense of peace between the
conqueror and the conquered. Although all of those marriages were
politically expedient, only the marriage between Shahjahan and mumtaz Mahal
developed into a deeper love. In just one example of
(13:27):
the vast documentation of their love, Shahjahan's court historian noted
that the emperor's quote, whole delight was centered on this
illustrious lady to such an extent that he did not
feel toward the others one thousandth part of the affection
that he did for her, which must not have felt
(13:47):
great for them. But we don't even need to look
at court records to tell us that there was a
deeper connection happening between those two. If we simply look
at the numbers, it's plain to see that Shahjahan had
a particular affection for mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz Mahal gave birth
to all but one of Shahjahan's children, giving birth to
(14:10):
fourteen in total. For her to carry all but one
of his children and to have so many children, is
by itself a testament to their connection. But Even more
so is the fact that Mumtaz Mahal's fourteen children were
born in the span of eighteen years, all while traveling
(14:30):
with her husband on his numerous military campaigns. They were
literally always together. Unfortunately, after many successful pregnancies on the road,
the birth of Mumtaz Mahal's fourteenth child was too difficult
to endure. After struggling through thirty hours of labor and
(14:51):
a postpartum hemorrhage, she looked on the king with despair
and tears in her eyes and admonished him to take
good care of her children and her own aged father
and mother when she was herself no more. Despite the
best attempts by midwives, doctors, and her ladies in waiting,
(15:13):
Mumtazmahal passed away at the age of thirty nine after
giving birth. Shahjahan was utterly shattered. His beloved wife had
been taken from him far too soon. His grief was
almost all consuming, and he certainly could not proceed with
life as normal. For at least a week after Mumtazmahal's death,
(15:38):
the emperor refused to conduct any official state business. All
nobles and advisers were turned away as he hid himself
and wallowed in his grief. This loss stayed with Shahjahan
for many years. He forswore luxuries like jewelry, perfume and
music for two years, and his beard allegedly turned white
(16:00):
from his stress and despair. Every Friday for months after
his wife's passing, Shahjahan would visit her grave and recite
the prayer for the departed, the Fatiha. But her grave
was located in Burhanpur, where his army had been stationed
when she passed. But when it was time for the
(16:22):
army to leave, the emperor had faced a dilemma. He
couldn't just leave his beloved there as he returned home,
nor could he bury her in any normal tomb, and
so as soon as he returned to his home base
in Agra, he picked out the location on the Yamuna
River where he would bury Mumtaz Mahal and build her tomb.
(16:45):
It would take six months for her body to be
transported there, but once she arrived, construction of her resting
place officially began. Shahjahan turned to his court architect ustadim
On Lahore to design and lead the building process of
the tomb. Lahouri had a tall order, not just in
(17:07):
being asked to build a tomb worthy of the emperor's
favorite deceased wife, but also in that he essentially had
to create a new architectural style. Remember that the Mughal
Empire was tolerant of many religions and contained many different
ethnic groups. Know also that the Mughuls didn't really have
(17:29):
their own distinct architectural style at this point, So Lahouri
leaned into their cultural acceptance in order to synthesize a
brand new style influenced by first the architectural style of
the Mughals rulers ancestral homelands in Central Asia and the
buildings built previously by Muslim rulers in India, and the
(17:52):
even older styles indigenous to India. The Mughals were quite
proud of their heritage. I previously mentioned they descended from
Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, massive forces in Asian history. As such,
they were keen to associate themselves with those emperors, Tamerlane
(18:12):
in particular, and utilized that building style to do it.
Timrid architecture is characterized by the presence of domes and
intricate geometric patterns. The tomb of the second Mughal emperor,
Human Shahjahan's great grandfather is a fantastic example of a
(18:33):
Mughal building inspired by Central Asian architectural traditions. In fact,
Lahori looked at that tomb in order to inform his
understanding of that style. It was important for Lahori to
also incorporate Muslim artistic traditions in the design of the
taj Mahal. The Muguls were themselves Muslim, and therefore mumtaz
(18:57):
Mahal's tomb had to adhere to Muslim conventions. Some of
the defining characteristics of Indo Islamic architecture from before the
Mughals included ornate minarets or towers used to call people
to prayer, and intricately decorated mihrabs or niches in the
wall used to indicate the direction of mecca. We can see,
(19:21):
in particular the tradition of minarets in the design of
the taj Mahal. The four towers at the corners of
the larger mausoleum are a prime example of ornate minarets.
Because the Mughal Empire encompassed areas that had a century's
long history of Muslim rulership and architecture, Lahore had ample
(19:43):
examples of Indo Islamic architecture to turn to when designing
and constructing the taj Mahal. While those first two sources
of inspiration came from aspects of elite Mughal identity that
were arguably foreign to the Indian subcontinent, the third stylistic
inspiration came from the people who were actually building the tomb.
(20:08):
Indian architects, the people who would be lending their expertise
and talent to constructing Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, while certainly learned
in those other styles, were able to contribute skills that
wouldn't have been seen in Timid or into Islamic architecture,
primarily stone carving. India has an abundance of stone with
(20:32):
which to carve, something not found in the deserts of
western or Central Asia. As much Indian architects over the
centuries had perfected their ability to carve stone and marble,
we can attribute the brilliant white color of the taj
Mahal to its marble facade, something that they were able
(20:52):
to create due to that vast stone carving tradition. Of course,
all of those styles were not distinct and had a
lot of overlapping features. But I think it's fascinating to
see just how much of a melting pot the Mughal
Empire was and seeing that physically in front of you,
based on the different styles and cultural traditions reflected in
(21:16):
the taj Mahal. Now, like I said, designing and constructing
the taj Mahal was no small task, and Ustad Ahmed
Lahore did not undertake it alone. He managed a board
of architects who collectively oversaw more than twenty thousand workers
and artisans these crafts people came from across the Asian
(21:39):
and even European continent, with some artisans coming from as
far as Italy. Starting in sixteen thirty one, construction began
as people started hauling in ported marble to the site,
started hoisting materials up with complex polley systems, and securing
the foundations of the building. They meticulously carved the marble
(22:03):
and delicately inlaid precious stones throughout the entire structure, both
on the exterior and the interior. Understandably, it took them
twelve years for the tomb to be finished, and even
longer to finish outlying structures and the gardens. All in all,
the taj Mahal would be complete in sixteen fifty three,
(22:26):
more than twenty years after Shahjahan commissioned it. I've focused
on the building, but I don't want to overlook the
importance of the gardens and ponds surrounding the mausoleum. We
can classify the entire complex as a quote sharbag, or
a type of garden with four quadrants separated by waterways
(22:49):
meant to reflect depictions of paradise found in the Qur'an.
At the taj Mahal, there are four ponds or reflecting
pools extending out from the center of the garden, just
like the four rivers that extended from the Garden of Eden. Lahri.
In building Mumtaz Mahal's tomb in an expansive sharbag garden
(23:11):
was creating an idyllic place for the tomb, a fasimile
of the Garden of Eden. In essence, she was to
be laid to rest in paradise. Ultimately, the taj Mahal
would be not just Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, but Shahjahan's as well.
Shortly after the tomb was complete, Shahjahan was overthrown by
(23:35):
his and mumtaz Mahal's son Aragzeb. When Shahjahan became gravely
ill in sixteen fifty eight, Aurangzeb and his brothers sensed
that the issue of succession was rapidly approaching, so they
began to face off for their father's throne. Ultimately, Aragzeb
defeated his brothers in the battle for power by either
(23:59):
killing them or running them out of the empire. But
the one thing standing in his way was still his father,
who did not die like it had seemed like he would.
Unable to commit patricide, Arangzeb placed Shahjahan under house arrest
in the Fort of Agra. Here, Shajahan was essentially siloed,
(24:22):
unable to lead the empire, but he was able to
live out his days with almost any or everything that
he could have ever wanted, And although he was unable
to leave the grounds, he was still able to gaze
across the river and admire his beloved resting place. Eight
years later, when Shajahan finally passed, his son had him
(24:45):
interred alongside his mother Muntazmahal. Kept apart for thirty years,
the couple finally reunited and under the majestic domes is
where the couple currently rest side by side for eternity.
One brief side note. If you've heard the rumor that
(25:05):
Shahjahan cut off the hands of every worker who built
the taj Mahal so that they could never construct anything
that beautiful again, it is just that it is a rumor.
There is actually no historical evidence of that at all. Unfortunately,
the twenty years of hard work that had gone into
building the immaculate taj Mahal were undone a century later,
(25:29):
when Shahjahan was no longer around to protect the complex
and the luxurious trappings inside, it became a target of
theft by those within and without the Mughal Empire. In
seventeen twenty, an influential Mogul courtier removed the sheets of
pearl that encased the two sarcophagi. In seventeen sixty one,
(25:53):
the ruler of the Kingdom of Bartpur laid siege on Agra,
ultimately taking over control of the city and the taj
Mahal from the Mughal Empire. Their ruler Maharaja suraj Mal
decided to take the massive silver doors of the tomb
so that he could melt the silver down. A Mughal
(26:14):
historian of the time also records that during that period
of Baratpur control, the central fifteen foot gold finial or
ornamental spire at the top of a roof was taken
as well. In general, with no one there who actively
took care of the complex protecting it, the taj Mahal
(26:35):
fell into disrepair. But given the fact that we all
know of the taj Mahal and how spectacular it is,
people have since stepped up to preserve and protect it.
In the late nineteenth century, during the British Raj Viceroy
Curzone undertook the first major restoration project of the taj Mahal,
(26:55):
during which he added a chandelier to the main interior chamber.
Since then, the Indian government has put in place regulations
to prevent air pollution from degrading the marble and turning
the monument a yellow brown color. There is now a
four thousand square mile area around the taj Mahal in
which there are incredibly strict emissions regulations for their adding
(27:20):
a layer of protection, the tomb is now designated as
a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which comes with a variety
of legal safeguards that will hopefully preserve the monument into perpetuity.
But it's not just these government agencies and institutions that
show us how special the taj Mahal is. Last year,
(27:43):
over five million people visited the site, and pre pandemic
the visitor numbers exceeded six million. The site is among
the top ten most visited tourist destinations in the entire world,
competing with the Vatican, the Ife Tower, and the Forbidden
City in Beijing. People all over the world continue to
(28:06):
travel to Agra, specifically to see the tomb that a
bereft husband built for his beloved wife. The magnitude of
the legacy of Shah Jahan and mumtaz Mahal cannot be overstated.
So next time you see an Indian restaurant named after
the taj Mahal or a tea blend borrowing the name,
(28:26):
I hope you think of that couple and the depth
of their love across time. Keep listening after a short
sponsor break to hear a little bit more about another
tragic love story that connects to the taj Mahal. Since
(28:57):
I opened this episode with some tragic love stories, I
felt it was only fitting to end with one. If
you didn't know any better, you could just assume that
the bench at the end of the reflecting pool in
front of the taj Mahal was just a regular old bench.
But that bench has managed to become incredibly important for
the British royal family. Prince Charles now King Charles the
(29:21):
Third of England is a known India file. He has
traveled to the country ten times and even spent his
seventy first birthday there. On his second trip to India,
the then thirty two year old Prince was one of
the most eligible bachelors in the world. On that trip,
he visited the taj Mahal, where he took a photo
(29:43):
seated on the aforementioned bench. While talking to reporters at
the monument, he proudly proclaimed, I can understand that love
could make a man build the taj Mahal for his wife.
One day, I would like to bring my own back here.
It would take ten years Charles to return to India,
but once he and Princess Diana announced their February nineteen
(30:06):
ninety two, tour to India, it appeared as though he
was following through on his proclaimed wish to share the
beautiful taj Mahal with his wife. However, Charles did not
visit the taj Mahal on that trip. Instead, Princess Diana
would visit the taj Mahal alone, after keeping reporters waiting
(30:27):
for a number of hours uncertain whether or not she
would even come. When she did finally arrive, she sat
down for photos on the very same bench where Charles
had sat a decade earlier. Photographer Noir Hussein was there
on that day and recalls Diana's demeanor as she sat
in front of one of the most ostentatious symbols of love.
(30:51):
He said quote, she looked sad and she knew which
way the story would go. She was very clever. There
were other pictures taken that day on another their bench,
when she seemed to be contemplating things. Those photos only
bolstered the rumors circulating about the couple's strained marriage. It
wouldn't even be a year later that Charles and Diana
(31:14):
would announce their divorce. When Prince William and Princess Kate
visited India in twenty sixteen, they too visited the taj Mahal.
Everyone was on pins and needles to see if the
couple would sit on the very same bench where William's
father and his late mother had both sat separately years before.
(31:35):
The couple did end up sitting at that bench for
photos together, in a way reclaiming the bench and all
that it came to symbolize. Noble Blood is a production
(31:59):
of iHeart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey.
Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Forts, with additional
writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zewick, Courtney Sender,
Julia Milani, and Armand Cassam. The show is edited and
produced by Noehmy Griffin and rima il Kaali, with supervising
(32:23):
producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams
and Matt Frederick. Four more podcasts from iHeartRadio. Visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Host
Dana Schwartz
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