Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Look at the cameo portrait, thumb ring, and wine cup (made of white nephrite jade, 1657)
that belonged to one of the world's most powerful men.
Shah Jahan—or “King of the World”—ruled the largest empire of the day, covering
northern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. His Mughal Empire was descended from
Genghis Khan and the Mongol horde, who conquered and then settled in central Asia and
converted to Islam.
Shah Jahan was known for his building projects, especially the Taj Mahal (see a pic-
ture of it nearby), built as a mausoleum for his favorite wife, Mumtaz, who bore him 14
children before dying in childbirth.
His unsuccessful attempts to expand the empire drained the treasury. In his old age,
his sons quarreled over the inheritance. Imprisoned by his sons in the Agra fort, Shah Ja-
han died gazing across the river at the Taj Mahal, where he, too, would be buried. India's
glory days were ending.
Then came the British.
• At the far end of Room 41 (facing the door) is the huge wood-carved...
