Meet the Indian man who says he’s a Mughal heir and owns the Taj Mahal

Maharani Rajikaraje Gaekwad and Princess Diya Kumari of Rajasthan, still hold social and political influence, others have made headlines with contentious claims to historical sites and properties.

Among them is Prince Yakub Habeebuddin Tucy, a man who claims to be the sixth-generation heir of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor. His lineage, he asserts, connects him to legendary rulers like Akbar, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb. But it is not just his ancestry that has kept him in the news—it is his claims over some of India’s most iconic heritage sites, as reported by TOI.

The Taj Mahal Controversy

One of Prince Tucy’s most talked-about claims is his assertion that he is the rightful owner of the Taj Mahal, the world-famous white marble mausoleum built by Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. He first made this claim years ago, drawing widespread media attention. To support his assertion, he submitted a DNA report to a Hyderabad court, which was reportedly admitted as evidence.

His claim gained even more traction in 2019 when he publicly challenged Princess Diya Kumari of Rajasthan, who had stated that her family had documents related to the Taj Mahal. Tucy confronted her directly, saying, “If you do have the documents kept in your pothikhana, show them. If you have even a drop of Rajput blood within, show those documents.”

The Ayodhya Land Dispute

Tucy was also deeply involved in the controversy surrounding the land on which the Babri Masjid once stood, now the site of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He opposed the Wakf board’s claim to the land, arguing that if it was indeed connected to Babur, then as a direct Mughal descendant, he was the rightful owner.

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Unlike many others involved in the