Mumtaz Aziz / Amina Sinai
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Mumtaz Aziz is the dark skinned second daughter of
Aadam Aziz. She has a brief
marriage with Nadir Khan
during which she lives a double life - half above
the floor and half beneath the carpet.
They call their underground lair after the famous Taj Mahal in Agra - Rushdie is having a little joke here somewhere because the wife of Shah Jahan who ordered the construction of the Taj Mahal was called Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj was intended to be a tomb for her. After Nadir Khan flees, Mumtaz marries again, this time to Ahmed Sinai. Ahmed Sinai renames her "Amina". She is one of several characters to be renamed in this story. She can never forget Nadir however, who returns in Bombay where they have illicit meetings at The Pioneer Cafe. She is killed by a bomb that lands on her house during the Indo-Pakistan war.
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