By about 1653, the main Taj Mahal complex at Agra was substantially complete. Commissioned by Shah Jahan for Mumtaz Mahal, it combined Persian, Indian and Islamic architectural traditions. The mausoleum became a global emblem of Mughal artistry and imperial memory.

The Taj Mahal's garden, marble and calligraphy fed poetic traditions of love, paradise and loss. Later Urdu, Persian, English and Indian writers repeatedly returned to it as a symbol of beauty shadowed by mortality.