Introduction : the Mughal dynasty, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal

I. Mughal Agra, a riverfront garden city

The Mughal garden, its buildings and its ownership

The riverfront garden city

Reconstruction of the riverfront scheme

The gardens of the left bank

The gardens of the right bank

II. The construction of the Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan and architecture

Imperial mausoleums, a 'built tomb' controversy

The architects of the Taj Mahal

Craftsmen, materials, and construction techniques

Construction history and celebrations of the anniversaries of Mumtaz Mahal's death

Death and burial of Shah Jahan

III. More than a tomb : the parts of the Taj Mahal

The design

The principles of Shahjahani architecture

The principles as expressed in the Taj Mahal

Modular planning of the Taj Mahal / Richard André Barraud

A walk through the Taj Mahal complex

The Jilaukhana (forecourt) zone

The great gate

The southern galleries

The garden

The garden-wall pavilions

The riverfront terrace and the marble platform of the mausoleum

The mausoleum

The minarets

The mosque and Mihman Khana, or assembly hall

The side wings

The towers of the riverfront terrace

The bazaar and caravanserai complex (Taj Ganj)

The waterworks

Buildings outside the wall

IV. The paradisiacal house of the queen

The symbolism of white marble and red sandstone

Naturalistic ornament as an expression of paradise

The inscriptions

Sound as an expression of eternity

Funerary and commemorative rites

V. Everybody's Taj Mahal

Early travellers and picturesque discovery

In British hands

Visitors and comments

The Taj Mahal in popular culture

Conservation and future

Postscript : visiting the Taj Mahal

Map of Mughal India

Lahauri's account of the complex on the occasion of its formal completion, on the twelfth anniversary of Mumtaz Mahal's death

Factfile : detailed measurements of the Taj Mahal complex / Richard André Barraud

Glossary