Dorothy Hoobler - Where Is the Taj Mahal?

Even though it was built nearly four hundred years ago, the Taj Mahal has become a symbol of modern India, the worlds largest democracy. India has 1.2 billion people, the second-largest population in the world. Only Chinas is larger. Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located, is about 130 miles south of New Delhi, the nations capital.

India is the birthplace of several different religions. Many languages are spoken within its borders. In the past, these differences prevented India from becoming united. Today, most of its people take great pride in their countrys different traditions and cultures.

The ruler later known as Shah Jahan was the fifth emperor of the Mogul dynasty, which ruled much of what is present-day India from 1526 to 1858. At its height of power, the Mogul Empire included parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The first six rulers of the Mogul Empire were probably the richest in the world at that time. European travelers spread the stories of the Moguls fabulous wealth and power. The rulers of Europe admired the splendor and luxury of the Moguls. In the 1600s and 1700s the term Great Mogul meant the kind of powerful ruler that European monarchs wanted to be as well.

The Moguls reputation for wealth made the name mogul a synonym for a wealthy personas it still is today. Those who reach great success in business, and particularly the movie industry, are called moguls.

As for Shah Jahan, everything about his birth in 1592 seemed lucky. The year was 1000 in the Islamic calendar, and the month was the same month as Muhammads birthday. (Muhammad was the prophet who began the religion of Islam.)

Islam

The religion of Islam was started by a man named Muhammad in the seventh century AD. He lived in Arabia. The holy book of Islam is called the Koran. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam teaches that there is only one God. Muslims (those who believe in Islam) believe that Jesus and Moses were prophets, like Muhammad.

Muslims regard Mecca, a city in Saudi Arabia, as holy. Five times a day, Muslims turn in the direction of Mecca and pray. Muslims try to make a pilgrimage , or trip, to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes.

In ancient times, Muslims spread their religion over a large area, from North Africa to central Asia. The Mogul rulers were Muslims. However, they allowed their subjects to follow other religions.

At his birth, the future emperor was given the name Khurram. It meant joyous. Just before he was born, a fortune-teller made a prediction to his grandfathers first wife, Ruqaiya. He said that this child would have a great future and be more resplendent than the sun.

Ruqaiya had no children of her own. She wanted to raise a future emperor. So when Khurram was six days old, he was taken from his mother and given to Ruqaiya. The mother was paid with rubies and pearls for her loss. From then on Ruqaiya was in charge of the childs upbringing.

Like all the children and grandchildren of the Mogul ruler, Khurram grew up in the palace harem. (The word harem comes from an Arabic word meaning sacred or forbidden.) This was where the women and children of the household stayed, apart from men. The emperors wives lived there, along with his mother, aunts, nieces, and young children. Female servants lived there, too. Even the harem guards were women who were trained to use a bow and arrow. The only grown man to enter was the emperor himself. He slept there. It was also where he kept his most important papers.