Known as the ‘Crown of the Palace’, the Taj Mahal has become a global icon that’s visited by millions of people each year. Although it’s widely regarded as a masterpiece in architecture, design, and craft, its origin story is one of tragic love. 

So who was the man who had the Taj Mahal built, and what of the woman he created it for? What was its fate under the rule of the British? And how did it grow to become a symbol of Indian nationhood in the twentieth century and beyond? 

This is a Short History Of… The Taj Mahal.

A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith. With thanks to Professor Najaf Haider, author of many books on the history of the Mughal Empire.

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