The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1631 while giving birth to their 14th child. Mumtaz, Shah Jahan’s third wife, was known for her exceptional beauty, and the emperor was known to be mad about her. Crestfallen by her sudden death, the emperor, it is believed, turned grey-haired in just one night. Work on the Taj began in 1632, but it wasn’t until 1653 that the whole monument came together in its current form. But as fate would have it, soon after the Taj was built Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb who held him prisoner in the Agra Fort, where he spent the rest of his years yearning for the Taj. Shah Jahan after his death in 1666 was buried beside his beloved Mumtaz in the Taj Mahal.