Mughal painting also reached its peak during Jehangir's reign which lost much of its glamour after his death. - 1614 AD British East India Company opened its first office in Bombay. - 1628 AD After Jehangir's death, his son Khurram took the name of Shah Jehan and further extended his Empire to Kandahar and conquered much of southern India, it was during Shah Jehan's reign when Mughal Empire was in its golden period. The Mughal architecture moved farther in this period and major feature was white marble, this include Dewan-e-Aam in Agra, Moti Masjid, Shish Mahal and Dewan-e-Khas in Lahore Fort. - 1631 AD The exquisite concept of mausoleum of Shah Jehan's wife Arjumand Banu Begum, Taj Mahal was started. - 1653 AD One of the wonders of World, Taj Mahal was completed showing all the glory of Mughal architecture. - 1658 AD Auranzeb Alamgir's reign started after death of Shah Jehan. The largest mosque in the world of its time, Badshahi Mosque was a great achievement during Aurangzeb's reign. Despite this Aurangzeb gave many grants to Hindus by appointing them in commanding positions in government and allowing them to restore temples. Mughal Empire start declining after this period.

The building was completed in 1665, when Charles II. was on the throne of England and the plague was devastating London. Another building of much the same date is the red stone palace generally attributed to Akbar, but probably of an earlier time, which is the finest example of pure Hindu architecture; while the Moti Masjid, or Pearl Mosque, is an equally perfect example of the Mahommedan style. But the glory of Agra, the most splendidly poetic building in the world, is the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum built (A.D. 1632) by the emperor Shah Jahan for the remains of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, in which he himself also lies buried. The building is built of white marble throughout, crowned with a great white dome in the centre, and Taj Mahal.with a smaller dome at each of its four corners. From the marble terrace which surrounds it rise four tall minarets of the same material, one at each corner. The Taj has been modelled and painted more frequently than any other building in the world, and the word pictures of it are numberless. But it can only be described as a dream in marble. It amply justifies the saying that the Moguls designed like Titans and finished like jewellers.

The Taj Mahal ( TAHJ mə-HAHL, TAHZH -⁠; Hindustani: [t̪ɑːd͡ʒ ˈmɛɦ(ɛ)l]; lit. 'Crown of the Palace') is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658), to house the tomb of his late wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the The… Ever since its construction, the building has been the source of an admiration transcending culture and geography, and so personal and emotional responses have consistently eclipsed scholastic appraisals of the monument. A longstanding myth holds that Shah Jahan planned a mausoleum to be built in black marble as a Black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna river. The idea originates from fanciful writings of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a European traveler and gem merchant, who visited Agra in 1665. It was suggested that his son Aurangzeb overthrew Shah Jahan before it could be built. Ruins of blackened marble across the river in the Mehtab Bagh seeming to support the argument were, however, proven false after excavations carried out in the 1990s found that they were discolored white stones that had turned black. A more credible theory for the origins of the black mausoleum was demonstrated in 2006 by archaeologists who reconstructed part of the pool in the Mehtab Bagh. A dark reflection of the white mausoleum could clearly be seen, befitting Shah Jahan's obsession with symmetry and the positioning of the pool itself. No concrete evidence exists for claims that describe, often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberment and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb. Some stories claim that those involved in construction signed contracts committing themselves to have no part in any similar design. No evidence exists for claims that Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India in the 1830s, supposedly planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction off the marble. Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli says that the story arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort. Another myth suggests that beating the silhouette of the finial will cause water to come forth. To this day, officials find broken bangles surrounding the silhouette. Several myths, none of which are supported by the archaeological record, have appeared asserting that people other than Shah Jahan and the original architects were responsible for the construction of the Taj Mahal. For instance, in 2000, India's…

associated with the marvel of Indian architecture, the Taj Mahal . That most chaste and most ornamental of buildings was erected by Shah Jahan as the mausoleum

diversity, continuity and change. The Hindu Temple — Both the Hindu temple and the Buddhist shrine derive much … ft Nineteenth century engraving of the Taj Mahal. Below: Plan of Taj Mahal, Agra. the tomb, and while emperors … MONUMENTS The Taj Mahal, is a tomb, a temporary resting place awaitng the great Day of Judgment. As a tomb

the symbol of India today. The Taj Mahal was constructed as a memorial to Mumtaz Mahal, … born rather than become a Hindu. Buddhism Buddhism developed as a reform movement within Hinduism … at first derided by many as a “dumb doll” and dismissed as a puppet. Her critics were