India. Mumtaz Mahal (“The Palace’s Choice,” or the harem’s favorite) dies in agony during the throes of her fourteenth pregnancy. At her bedside is her husband, Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor of the Mughal dynasty, distant descendants of the Mongol hordes. He promises to build her a funerary mausoleum with 12,000 tons of stone and marble, with white marble (previously considered heresy in Islamic tradition, a color reserved for the tombs of saints), and precious and rare stones embedded in the walls. This is the Tak Mahal. With 100 million subjects in the 17th century, India is by far the largest and most influential Islamic nation in the world. An open and tolerant version of Islam, coexisting with Hinduism, Christianity, and other religions.
