The Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares, in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal with construction starting in 1632 AD and completed in 1648 AD, with the mosque, the guest house and the main gateway on the south, the outer courtyard and its cloisters were added subsequently and completed in 1653 AD. The existence of several historical and Quaranic inscriptions in Arabic script have facilitated setting the chronology of Taj Mahal. For its construction, masons, stone-cutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole of the empire and also from the Central Asia and Iran.

Designed and built by Akbar in 1565 A.D., built with barricaded wall of red sand stone; it houses the beautiful Pearl Mosque and numerous palaces including the Jahangir Mahal, Diwan-i-Khas, Diwan-i-Am, Macchhi Bhawan, Nagina Masjid, Meena Bazar, Moti Masjid, Sheesh Mahal, Musamman Burj where from Taj Mahal is visible in all its beauty from one side of the fort. So very ironically, Emperor Sahahjahan, prisoner of his son Aurangzeb in his old age was put in a cell from where he could gaze at the Taj Mahal at a distance, from his cell in the fort.

Surnommé le « Baby Taj », ce monument est considéré comme la source d'inspiration de la merveille du monde, le Taj Mahal. Cependant, le tombeau d'Itimad-Ud-Daulah est une œuvre d'art plus délicate, avec ses treillis de marbre et ses fines sculptures. Il s'agit de la première structure moghole réalisée en marbre par Nur Jahan, mère de Shah Jahan (le bâtisseur du Taj Mahal). Ce fut le premier d'une longue série de tombeaux érigés sur les rives de la Yamuna. Si vous visitez Agra, ne manquez pas de visiter ce joyau de beauté, symbole de la finesse de chaque monument de marbre glorifiant Agra.