Islam came to India in the 11th-13th centuries, and reached its peak in the Mughal Dynasty
[16th-18th] esp. in the reign of Akbar who built the new capital at Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar was
almost illiterate. And this may partly account for his passion of miniature painting
In the reign of Shah Jahan, the arts of luxury and also architectural decoration were brought
to a height of refinement. The court workshops monopolised the finest materials and most
skilful artists to produce luxuries for the emperors and nobility.
Shah Jahan built this tomb for his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The tomb is symmetrical,
crowned with the large bulbous dome raised on a drum.
The tomb is set in a larger landscape of square court divided into quadrants by watercourses
that allude to the garden of paradise
They used of arches and white marble or stucco facing instead of red sandstone for exterior
finished like the gateway