Taj Mahal Complex

Timeline

1. 1631–1643South bank of the Yamuna at Agra · Indian subcontinentAfter Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631, Shah Jahan immediately recruited over twenty thousand craftsmen from Persia, Central Asia, and India, with chief architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori directing the design. Work began with the foundation and the main tomb's platform, using large quantities of white marble from Makrana; the main tomb's dome was completed around 1643, essentially finishing the mausoleum itself.
2. 1643–1653Taj Mahal complex, Agra · Indian subcontinentAfter the main tomb was finished, the supporting buildings followed: the grand red-sandstone gate at the south (Darwaza-i Rauza), the mosque (Masjid) and guest hall (Jawab) symmetrically to the west, and the inner and outer forecourt gardens (Charbagh cross-channel gardens) were all completed. The whole complex covers about 17 hectares, famed for strict axial symmetry and water-reflection design; the project took over 20 years and cost an estimated more than 32 million rupees.
3. 1658–1680Taj Mahal, Agra · Indian subcontinentAurangzeb seized the throne in a coup in 1658 and confined his father Shah Jahan in Agra's Red Fort until his death in 1666; per his wishes Shah Jahan was buried beside Mumtaz Mahal in the Taj Mahal. In the 1670s the Taj Mahal continued to receive routine maintenance as a royal shrine under Aurangzeb, but the empire's center had shifted south to the Deccan, Agra's political standing declined, and the mausoleum, though well preserved, was no longer the core of court activity.
4. 1857Taj Mahal, Agra · IndiaThe marble suffered partial damage during the British Raj, and after Indian independence in the 20th century the government carried out systematic restoration. In 1983 the Taj Mahal was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, becoming India's most representative tourist and cultural symbol with over seven million visitors annually, and remains a key reference for the study of Islamic and Mughal architectural traditions.