TiAi intermetallic compound has been extensively studied for possible high temperature structural applications because of its high specific strength at high temperature, high creep resistance, and good oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures. In addition to its good properties, an economic manufacturing routes should be developed for this material to be used more extensively. One of the promising route in manufacturing TiAl intermetallics is the Self-propagating High-temperature Synthesis (SHS) method. Thus in this study, an attempt was made to study the mechanism of the SHS process in TiAl synthesis. The composition of the sample was Ti-(45, 50, 53)at% Al and the microstuctures of the products were analyzed using optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. When the phases formed at the main SHS reaction of whicyh combustion temperature is higher than the melting temperature of aluminum were identified as TiAl and Ti$_3$Al ; Ti$_3$Al cores surrounded by TiAl phase. In order to increase the combustion temperature, carbon was added 5 and 10at.%. When the carbon content was 10at.%, the heat of the reaction was large enough to melt the phase formed and that is consistent with the theoretical calculation results of the adiabatic temperature. The combution temperatue, which was measured by a computer data acquisition system, increased with the carbon content. The phases formed from the reaction involving the carbon added were indentified as TiAl and Ti$_2$AlC using XRD. The vickers hardness of the reaction product increased with the carbon content.