Questions for reading, writing, and discussion
Read the article, then answer the following questions:
• Who was the founder of the Mughal Dynasty?
• What were some of the major achievements of Akbar the Great? List at least five.
• How are the multiculturalism and religious syncretism of Akbar and his descendants
exemplified in the architecture of the Taj Mahal?
• What are aniconic designs? Why are such designs important in Islamic architecture and
art?
• How is the use of white marble in the Taj Mahal reflective of Hindu architectural
traditions?
• What is the connection between the pietra dura technique perfected during the Italian
Renaissance and the jewel-inlaying technique of the Taj Mahal?
• How was Mumtaz Mahal’s number of children, their premature deaths, and her own
passing during childbirth at the age of 38 illustrative of child mortality rates and rates of
disease prior to the Industrial Revolution?
• In addition to their function as memorials to deceased rulers, what other purposes did
the mausoleums at Agra serve? Specifically, how are they connected to political
legitimacy?
• The materials used to build the Taj Mahal came from all over Afro-Eurasia. How does the
sourcing of these materials exemplify India’s role in the economy of the region during the
early modern period?
• Follett writes, “The building [of the Taj Mahal] is thought to have cost around 1 billion
U.S. dollars.” What social, political, cultural, economic, and technological structures
must have been in place in South Asia at the time for such an enormous tax revenue to
be raised?
• Social:
• Political:
• Cultural:
• Economic:
• Technological: