The construction of the Taj Mahal complex at Agra began in the year:

The construction of the Taj Mahal complex at Agra began in 1632, soon after the death of Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal, and the main tomb was completed by about 1643, with the whole complex finished around 1653.

Background:

• Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Banu Begum) died in June 1631 at Burhanpur, in the Deccan, while giving birth to her fourteenth child.
• She was first buried at Burhanpur.
• Her body was brought to Agra in December 1631 and placed in a temporary tomb on the site.
• Shah Jahan acquired the land from Raja Jai Singh of Amber, giving him other properties in exchange.

Construction:

• Work on the foundations and the platform began in 1632.
• About 20,000 workers, including masons, stone-cutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers and dome-builders, came from all over the empire and beyond.
• More than 1,000 elephants were used to carry building materials.
• White marble was brought from Makrana in Rajasthan.
• Precious and semi-precious stones came from different parts of India and Asia, including jade from China, turquoise from Tibet, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and carnelian from Arabia.
• A town called Mumtazabad (now Taj Ganj) grew up nearby to house the workers.

Stages of construction:

• The main tomb was completed around 1643.
• The mosque, the guest house (jawab), the gateway and the garden were completed by about 1653.

The complex:

It includes the main tomb, a mosque on the west, a matching building (jawab) on the east, a large garden (char bagh) and the main gateway (Darwaza-i-Rauza).

Shah Jahan's tomb:

After his death in 1666, Shah Jahan was buried next to Mumtaz Mahal; his cenotaph is the only asymmetrical element in the tomb.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1626 was before Mumtaz Mahal's death.
• ✗1648 was the year the Red Fort of Delhi was completed.
• ✗1658 was the year Shah Jahan was deposed.