What very few people know is that after being brought from Burhanpur in Dec 1631, Mumtaz Mahal was buried in a corner of the Taj Mahal garden.
The lower portion of the tomb was still not ready to receive her.
Of course the upper part took much longer to build.
She was given temporary burial once again in this enclosure. The four walls ensured that her purdah was maintained even in death
Salih a contemporary historian writes in Amaal e Salih: “after reaching Akbarabadi’s, it [body of Mumtaz Mahal] was entrusted to earth In the heaven like tract of land situated to the south side of the abode of the caliphate overlooking the river Jamuna which had belonged to Raja Mansingh and to acquire it his Majesty the Caliph ranked had given an exchange a mansion loftier than the said mention to his grandson Raja Jai Singh”
This is a record from 1631. In the farman of 1633 there are four other havelis mentioned. It is not certain whether there was an exchange or 5 havelis were given in total.
These are photos from The Illumined Tomb by Begley and Desai.
They have examined & translated all contemporary records of Shah Jahan ‘s reign including farmans giving 4 havelis in lieu of Raja Man Singh’s ‘haveli’
Haveli means mansion
The last pg has the descriptions of the havelis
