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Empress of the TAJ: In Search of Mumtaz Mahal
An extraordinary book that combines travel- and history-writing with brilliant storytelling to give us a portrait of Mumtaz Mahal, in whose memory Shah Jahan built the Taj, and also a portrait of India before it was changed by liberalization.
In the early 1980s, researching for his bestselling novel Taj, author Timeri—Tim—Murari began the first of his journeys in the footsteps of Arjumand Bano, the precocious daughter of a Mughal nobleman. Arjumand went on to become Mumtaz Mahal, chief consort of Emperor Shah Jahan, and empress of the Mughal kingdom until her death in 1631, giving birth to their fourteenth child. Over the next two decades, the grieving emperor had the Taj Mahal built in her memory—their final resting place, and the world’s most enduring symbol of love.
Tim went on his journeys at a time before air travel was common in India, when they were protracted affairs undertaken mostly by train. In these travels of discovery—in Delhi; in Agra, the centre of Mughal power and site of the Taj Mahal; in the desert cities of Rajasthan, where Shah Jahan waged ceaseless campaigns, Mumtaz Mahal at his side; and in Burhanpur in the Deccan, where the empress breathed her last—the author found fascinating glimpses of an empire at its zenith, and of a consuming love. Intertwined with these insights were the shabby realities of modern India—the obstinacies of the bureaucracy that controls monuments, the industries which deface them, and a citizenry that remains unaware of its own history.
A brilliant meld of travel and history writing, Empress of the Taj is not only the story of a fabled queen, and the magnificent obsessions of royalty; it is also an invaluable record of a lost era in India.
In the early 1980s, researching for his bestselling novel Taj, author Timeri—Tim—Murari began the first of his journeys in the footsteps of Arjumand Bano, the precocious daughter of a Mughal nobleman. Arjumand went on to become Mumtaz Mahal, chief consort of Emperor Shah Jahan, and empress of the Mughal kingdom until her death in 1631, giving birth to their fourteenth child. Over the next two decades, the grieving emperor had the Taj Mahal built in her memory—their final resting place, and the world’s most enduring symbol of love.
Tim went on his journeys at a time before air travel was common in India, when they were protracted affairs undertaken mostly by train. In these travels of discovery—in Delhi; in Agra, the centre of Mughal power and site of the Taj Mahal; in the desert cities of Rajasthan, where Shah Jahan waged ceaseless campaigns, Mumtaz Mahal at his side; and in Burhanpur in the Deccan, where the empress breathed her last—the author found fascinating glimpses of an empire at its zenith, and of a consuming love. Intertwined with these insights were the shabby realities of modern India—the obstinacies of the bureaucracy that controls monuments, the industries which deface them, and a citizenry that remains unaware of its own history.
A brilliant meld of travel and history writing, Empress of the Taj is not only the story of a fabled queen, and the magnificent obsessions of royalty; it is also an invaluable record of a lost era in India.
195 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 10, 2019
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About the author
Timeri N. Murari
36 books37 followersTimeri Murari is an award winning writer, filmmaker, and playwright, who began his career as journalist on the Kingston Whig Standard in Ontario, Canada. He writes for the Guardian, Sunday Times, and other magazines and newspapers internationally. He has published both fiction and non-fiction, and his bestselling novel, Taj, was translated into 19 lanugages and has recently been reissued by Penguin India. In 2006, he published a memoir, My Temporary Son, exploring the difficulties of adopting a desperately ill orphan. Timeri now lives with his wife in his ancestral home of Chennai, India.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 11, 2019
Empress of the Taj: In search of Mumtaz Mahal
To start with I am a big fan of Timeri N. Murari. I have read many of his works, both fiction and non-fiction. I have enjoyed his historical fictions and that’s how I ordered this book without realising that it falls in the category Non-fiction/Travel/History. I was skeptical for a start but once I embarked on the journey there was no looking back.
The journey was to know more about Arjumand aka Mumtaz Mahal, about whom history doesn’t have much mention. It is only Shah Jahan who could not part with her even in death and erected the most magnificent monument which people see with awe. The author travels to places where Arjumand spent time, lived and breathed her last. He was trying to understand Arjumand so that he could write a novel, a novel that became a best seller, ‘Taj’.
I love the author’s narratives. The complex scenes of the daily life or the mundane is defined with fluidity. You become part of his world. In fact in this book, I have explored places with him, walked the dusty paths of palaces and forts. He describes each moment with precision. The handling of the government officials and their attitudes are described impeccably. He looks beyond the ‘today’ to understand the lives of people in different parts of India and how their behaviour, their attitude towards life has been shaped by the intruders and tumultuous historical events. He finds the amalgamation of cultures and clans through these historical events.
He trudges through centuries within a span of a sentence, giving due importance to each era. One moment you would be standing with Shah Jahan and the next moment he brings you to the present day, present moment to deal with the sentry posted at the gates of the old forlorn fort. He describes the splendour, the grandeur of not only the Mughal Kings but also the kings associated with them.
I have enjoyed every bit of this excellent account of the journey to find tit-bits about Mumtaz Mahal in Delhi, Agra, Udaipur, Ranthambore, Indore, Asirgarh and lastly Burhanpur. Though this was not what I was looking for in this book but I am left speechless with his honest and frank narratives.
To start with I am a big fan of Timeri N. Murari. I have read many of his works, both fiction and non-fiction. I have enjoyed his historical fictions and that’s how I ordered this book without realising that it falls in the category Non-fiction/Travel/History. I was skeptical for a start but once I embarked on the journey there was no looking back.
The journey was to know more about Arjumand aka Mumtaz Mahal, about whom history doesn’t have much mention. It is only Shah Jahan who could not part with her even in death and erected the most magnificent monument which people see with awe. The author travels to places where Arjumand spent time, lived and breathed her last. He was trying to understand Arjumand so that he could write a novel, a novel that became a best seller, ‘Taj’.
I love the author’s narratives. The complex scenes of the daily life or the mundane is defined with fluidity. You become part of his world. In fact in this book, I have explored places with him, walked the dusty paths of palaces and forts. He describes each moment with precision. The handling of the government officials and their attitudes are described impeccably. He looks beyond the ‘today’ to understand the lives of people in different parts of India and how their behaviour, their attitude towards life has been shaped by the intruders and tumultuous historical events. He finds the amalgamation of cultures and clans through these historical events.
He trudges through centuries within a span of a sentence, giving due importance to each era. One moment you would be standing with Shah Jahan and the next moment he brings you to the present day, present moment to deal with the sentry posted at the gates of the old forlorn fort. He describes the splendour, the grandeur of not only the Mughal Kings but also the kings associated with them.
I have enjoyed every bit of this excellent account of the journey to find tit-bits about Mumtaz Mahal in Delhi, Agra, Udaipur, Ranthambore, Indore, Asirgarh and lastly Burhanpur. Though this was not what I was looking for in this book but I am left speechless with his honest and frank narratives.
March 2, 2020
A travelogue about the places associated with Arjumand Bano Begum, better known as Mumtaz Mahal, immortalized by her husband, Emperor Shah Jahan in the Taj Mahal.
Clearly an excellent idea of a travel book that promises to merge the past with the present.
Timery wrote a novel about the life of Mumtaz Mahal, Taj: A Story of Mughal India, in late 1980s. Preparatory to writing that novel, he visited the places associated with the Mughal Empress who died tragically young.
It appears that a couple of years ago Murari had found out the “field notes” of those visits. The present book has grown out of those notes.
But the problem with the book is that the travels were undertaken in early 1980s and book based on those travels has been written more than 35 years later – in 2018/2019. Over the course of these four decades the country has changed in a big way. Reasons for that are many – liberalized economy, use of technology, explosion of population, change of socio-political situation. But the constant is change.
Because of this change, the book feels quite dated.
Besides, personal stories of the author and his family rob the book of the feel of history.
In essence, Murari started the book with great promise. But he has failed to live up to that promise.
Clearly an excellent idea of a travel book that promises to merge the past with the present.
Timery wrote a novel about the life of Mumtaz Mahal, Taj: A Story of Mughal India, in late 1980s. Preparatory to writing that novel, he visited the places associated with the Mughal Empress who died tragically young.
It appears that a couple of years ago Murari had found out the “field notes” of those visits. The present book has grown out of those notes.
But the problem with the book is that the travels were undertaken in early 1980s and book based on those travels has been written more than 35 years later – in 2018/2019. Over the course of these four decades the country has changed in a big way. Reasons for that are many – liberalized economy, use of technology, explosion of population, change of socio-political situation. But the constant is change.
Because of this change, the book feels quite dated.
Besides, personal stories of the author and his family rob the book of the feel of history.
In essence, Murari started the book with great promise. But he has failed to live up to that promise.
March 18, 2024
A book about the empress in whose honour one of the most famous monuments of the works has been built. Little is known about Mumtaz Mahal yet the world knows about her mausoleum. The journey of the author as he traces his muse’s journey across India of the 1980s. Not the best book ever but then not the worst either.
September 15, 2019
Disappointed
Not much is told about Anjumand. A novel rather than just staying the facts would have been better. Truly disappointing.
Not much is told about Anjumand. A novel rather than just staying the facts would have been better. Truly disappointing.
March 20, 2021
Written by an NRI, like an NRI. Lacks any sort of depth. Only redeeming quality is the quirky sense of humour
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews