Taj: A Story of Mughal India

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When his queen Arjumand Banu–Mumtaz-i-Mahal, the chosen one of the palace–died, Shah Jahan wanted to build a monument that was the image of his perfect love for her. For twenty-two years, twenty thousand men laboured day and night to fulfil the emperor’s obsession. The result was the Taj Mahal, a marble mausoleum lined with gold, silver and precious jewels. This powerful novel narrates the story of the Taj on two parallel levels. The first one tells the passionate love story of Shah Jahan and Arjumand till her death through the voices of three main characters–Arjumand, Shah Jahan and Isa, Arjumand’s favourite eunuch. The second recounts the later years of Shah Jahan’s reign, the building of the Taj Mahal and the bloody pursuit of the fabulous peacock throne by his sons. Intertwined with the narrative about the building of the Taj is the story of Murthi, the Hindu master craftsman sent as a gift to the emperor to carve the famous marble jali around Arjumand’s sarcophagus. In this complex and fascinating book, Murari has written much more than a historical romance. He has skilfully recreated the period against which the story is set: the sensual opulence of the palace and the grinding poverty of seventeenth-century India, the vicissitudes of Shah Jahan’s reign and the often bitter conflict between men of different faiths.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Timeri N. Murari

Timeri N. Murari began his career as a journalist and has written novels, non-fiction, as well as screenplays and stage plays. His film, The Square Circle, made Time magazine’s top ten best films. He later adapted it for the stage and directed it at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre. His novels include the international best-seller Taj: A Story of Mughal India (reissued by Penguin India in 2003) and The Arrangements of Love. His most recent non-fiction book is My Temporary Son: An Orphan’s Journey. Timeri Murari lives in Madras. Visit the author at www.timerimurari.com.

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Bibliographic information

Title
Taj: A Story of Mughal India
Author
Edition
Reprint
Publisher
ISBN
0143031163
Length
xii+371p., 20cm.
Subjects