Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c6.s1.24

c6.s1.24

The Sultans of Delhi and other rulers appear to have taken pains to improve the quality of Indian fruit and the system of gardening as a whole. Firuz Tughluq carried out a big programme of laying gardens, which led to a general improvement in the quality of most of the fruits mentioned above.⁴ According to his chronicler, he laid out 1,200 gardens in the neighbourhood and in the suburbs of Delhi, eighty on the Salora embankment, and forty-four in Chitor.⁵ Rajputana maintained and even extended this tradition of laying gardens. Apart from Chitor, Dholpur, Gwalior, and Jodhpur, other places also took up the improved methods of fruit cultivation and gardening. In Dholpur especially, gardens shaded the route to the city for a distance of seven krohs (about 14 miles)⁶. Special attention was paid to the culture of pomegranates in Jodhpur, and the Lodi Sultan Sikandar confidently declared that Persia could not produce pomegranates which would compare favourably with the Jodhpur variety in flavour.⁷