Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan was the ruler of Mughal Empire in India from 1628 to 1657. The name Shah Jahan comes from Persian word, which means 'King of the World." Shah Jahan the fifth son of emperor Jahangir born with the name Prince Khurram. After Jahangir's death in 1627, Khurram occupied the power after defeating his weaker brother Shahryar. Shortly after the war he changed his name to Shah Jahan. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan is best known as the builder of the Taj Mahal. Apart from Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan had erected many architectural marvels like the Jama Masjid of Delhi.


In 1607 at the age of 15, Khurram met a refined and highborn young girl, Arjumand Bano Begam (Mumtaz Mahal). For both, it was love at first sight and they got married after five year. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal enjoyed 19 years of happy marriage together but in 1631 Mumtaz Mahal died in childbirth. After the death Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan began the construction of Taj Mahal in 1631 to fulfill the wish of his favourite wife. With the hard work of 20,000 workers and skilled craftsmen, Taj Mahal was completed in 1654.


In the beginning of 1657, Shah Jahan fell severely ill that lead to a war between his sons for succession. Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb defeated his elder brother Dara Shikoh and became the king in 1658. Aurangzeb imprisoned his father in a tower of Agra Fort and allowed him to view Taj Mahal from his private chamber every evening. In 1666, after the continuous imprisonment of eight years, Shah Jahan died at the age of 74. Aurangzeb buried his father Shah Jahan, beside the grave of Mumtaz Mahal.
Mumtaz Mahal
Mumtaz Mahal or Arjumand Banu Begum was the second wife of Shah Jahan. She is better known as the woman, in whose memory the Taj Mahal was built. Arjumand Banu Begum was born in the year 1593 in Agra. Her father was a Persian Abdul Hasan Asaf Khan, the brother of empress Noor Jehan, wife of emperor Jahangir. In 1612, at the age of 19 Arjumand Banu was married to prince Khurram (Shah Jahan).

Mumtaz Mahal was a woman of legendary beauty and virtue, who was happily married to Shah Jahan. She was the trusted companion of Shah Jahan, accompanying her husband all over the Mughal empire and in every walk of life. Emperor Shah Jahan trusted her so much that he gave her his royal seal, the Muhr Uzaz. Mumtaz Mahal even accompanied Shah Jahan whenever he went to fight wars. In the year 1630, Shah Jahan and his pregnant empress moved towards Deccan or Maharashtra to suppress the Lodi Empire. Mumtaz Mahal died in the city of Burhanpur in 1631 after giving birth to her 14th child. It is said that Mumtaz Mahal asked her husband to create a symbol of their love. Six months after the death of his wife, Shah Jahan laid the foundation of Taj Mahhal on the bank of river Yamuna. It took 22 years to his husband to built a monument befitting the memory of his beloved wife.