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Birth and Childhood
Born in Agra in the year 1593, Mumtaz Mahal known as Arjumand Banu Begum before marriage was a soft spoken woman who captured people’s attention with her intoxicating beauty.
She grew up in an abundance of wealth and knowledge. She strictly abided to all religious laws of Islam and was a dedicated Sunni Muslim.
She was born to Asaf Khan, the brother of Empress Noor Jahan. Noor Jahan was the twentieth wife of Emperor Jahangir and stepmother of Shah Jahan. Her rule of the Mughal Empire during Jahangir’s tenure is listed among the top women rules in India with an ‘Iron Fist’. The marriage of Arjumand Banu Begam with Shah Jahan is said to be an example of her influence on the Mughal rule.

Early ages and Marriage
She grew up to a young lady of extreme beauty and it is said that Shah Jahan or then known as Prince Khurram could not take his eyes off her during their first meet. He fell in love with her innocence and beauty while she loved him with his princely personality. After 5 years of continued disagreements and family feuds, he married her finally on 1612 when she was 19 years old.
Interests & Involvement
She was known to be a very religious person and it is said that few of Shah Jahan’s religious
views and decisions were influence by her.
She also involved herself in an abundance of charity works with written works state her support for the poor and needy. She enjoyed in visualising elephant and combat fights that are normally conducted for the court. She also took a deep interest in architecture and a garden along the river of Agra is said to have been built on her orders.
The ‘romantic life’ with Shah Jahan
Her life with Emperor Shah Jahan has been described by contemporaries as a ‘journey of
love’. She has been his friend and very close companion throughout the entire nineteen years, they lived together. Though she was the third wife of Shah Jahan, she was the closest to him and is said that Shah Jahan maintained just the relation of a ‘dutiful’ husband with the other two queens.
She had been a part of him, always being with him from the early days of his revolt against his father, Jehangir till her death in Burhanpur. She accompanied him in all his travels and campaigns even during her periods of pregnancy. She lived as his companion more interested on his personal front than on the political angle as compared to her aunt and step mother-in-law, Nur Jahan. True to the meaning of her name ‘Mumtaz Mahal’, she remained the ‘Chosen One of the Palace’ till her death.
Children
She had 14 children with Shah Jahan out of which only 7 of them survived into adulthood. The remaining 7 either died at the time of birth or due to illness. Her daughter Jaharana Begum and son Dara Shikoh were crowned imperial princess and prince of the Mughal Empire respectively though it was her son Aurangazeb who took over the throne after Shah Jahan.
Death
When she was pregnant with her fourteenth child, she travelled with Shah Jahan to the
Burhanpur province where he was holding a military campaign. She died there in a complicated case of pregnancy delivering her fourteen kid and a daughter named Gauhara Begum. Her body was buried in Burhanpur initially and later brought in a golden coffin to Agra.

It is believed by historians that she requested Shah Jahan to build a monument to showcase their love to the world and also that he will never remarry after her death. Though the facts of the promise was never known, but it is true that Shah Jahan never re-married and that the Taj Mahal stands tall and high proudly flaunting their genuine love.