The ''Mumtaz Mahal'' ( Hindustani: ممتاز محل, मुमताज़ महल, literally Jewel Palace) is located in the

Red Fort The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift hi ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. The ''Mumtaz Mahal'' is one of the six main palaces that were situated facing the

Yamuna River The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Ban ...

. All six palaces were connected by the Stream of Paradise (''Nahr-i-Bishisht''), a waterway which ran through them. At one time the ''Chhoti Baithak'', which no longer exists, was located just to the north of the ''Mumtaz Mahal''. The building was constructed with white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

in the lower half of its walls and pillars. It consists of six apartments divided by arched piers and was originally painted with floral decorations on the interior. The ''Mumtaz Mahal'' was part of the Zenana. After the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

occupied the fort, it was used as a prison camp. The building currently houses an exhibition of the Red Fort Archaeological Museum, consisting largely of exhibits of the

Mughal period The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

References

External links

Red Fort {{india-struct-stub