Let's start with a story set in the early 1600s in India.
A story devoid of heroes and as reckless as the Game of Thrones (but brief)
India (which included current Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh) was not a country but a combination of several smaller kingdoms. Most of these kingdoms were already annexed by the Mughals which came in a century earlier.
The fourth Mughal emperor, Jahangir, had just married the daughter of one of the ministers in his court, Nur Jahan. She was the 20th and last wife of the Emperor.
Nur Jahan was very intelligent and influential.
In a very short duration, she acquired a considerable power and authority when the Mughal Empire was at the peak of its glory. Even today, she is considered as the most powerful Mughal Queen by the historians.
But, among the many sons of the Emperor, prince Khurram, did not like her step-mother's growing power at all.
They had several differences mainly about who will annex the throne after the Emperor. The differences became wide open and apparantly the emperor sided with the queen, which made Khurram revolt against his own father.
Khurram got defeated and took shelter away from the capital with his wife and two sons.
He stayed away for a couple of years.
After the Emperor's death, Khurram colluded with Nur Jahan's brother and went on to annex the throne.
He became the 5th Emperor of India and became widely known as Shah Jahan.
After becoming the Emperor, Shah Jahan killed all the people who stood against him including his brothers and step brothers.
Nur Jahan survived and left the kingdom.
The story continues...
Life came full circle for Shah Jahan.
When he grew old, all his sons had a fight. The most powerful of them, Aurengzeb killed all his brothers, declared Shah Jahan incapable of ruling and incarcerated him. Shah Jahan died after 8 years under confinement.
End of Story
BUT
The most interesting part is...
During his reign, Shah Jahan also married several times. But he loved one of his queen the most - Mumtaz Mahal. She died in a child birth (of their 15th child). In her memory, Shah Jahan created the Taj Mahal.
Yes.
Shah Jahan is the one credited for building of one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
The Taj Mahal is developed by a.. ahem... tyrant... to diplay love for... ahem... ONE OF HIS MANY wives!!
But why am I telling you this story?
Because the place that inspired Shah Jahan to create the Taj Mahal, was the city of Udaipur - MY CITY 😁.
??
After revolting against his father, Shah Jahan, or prince Khurram, took shelter in a western indian kingdom of Mewar, with a capital city at Udaipur.
While in Udaipur, he stayed in a very beautiful island palace, Jag Mandir, located in the middle of Lake pichhola overlooking the grand city palace. The best place to stay with the best view if you ask me.
This was the period where he was inspired by the beauty of the architecture of the City Palace and Jag Mandir which reflected in the exquisite workmanship of the Taj Mahal and many other architectural marvels that were created during his reign.
Who wouldn't get inspired by a place like this!?
Palaces of Udaipur have a typical Rajputana architecture adorned by minute and detailed carvings on the pillars, doors, and windows.
As I mentioned in my last post, Udaipurography was my first photo blog that I created some 5-6 years ago. I've lost the original pictures so sharing the ones with the watermark.
Let me know how you find this one.
Checkout my last post here: https://steemit.com/travel/@bhaga/bb5-the-beautiful-city-i-was-born-in-part-1-lakes-and-landscapes (there is a beautiful video in the end)
The next post, part 3, will be about art and culture.
And next time, i'll share another story, which will have HEROES. Promise.