Palace within Burhanpur Fort

The palace within Burhanpur Fort, known locally as Shahi Qila, was built under the Farooqui rulers of Khandesh on the bank of the Tapti river and later passed to the Mughals after Akbar's conquest of the region. Shah Jahan, while governor of the Deccan, was so attached to the fort that he held court here for the first years after his accession to the Mughal throne. The complex was divided into an official section for royal administration and a private residential section known as the Haram.

Though now largely in ruins, the palace still preserves fine carved stonework, most notably in its hammam (royal bath), built for Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal and designed in Mughal-Iranian style with domed chambers decorated with honeycomb-patterned painting. Mumtaz Mahal died in Burhanpur while giving birth to her fourteenth child, and the site of Ahu-khana near the Tapti, close to the fort, is traditionally said to have been the location first considered for her mausoleum before the Taj Mahal was built in Agra. The palace ruins are now maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.