A History of Agriculture in India v2.c68: Chapter 16. Gardens of Babur in Kabul and India

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c68

Language: English

v2.c68.s1 Gardens at Agra — 4 parts
v2.c68.s2 Char-Bagh at Dholpur — 3 parts

Chapter 16. Gardens of Babur in Kabul and India

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OBSERVATIONS ON FRUITS AND FLOWERS IN THE *BABUR-NAMA

IN Kabul Babur found time and leisure to indulge in his favourite hobby of gardening. Eleven gardens are mentioned as made by him, viz. the *Bagh-i-wafa*, *Shahr-ara* (Town-adorning), which contained very fine plane-trees, the *Char-bagh*, the *Bagh-i-jalau-khana*, the *Aurta-bagh* (Middle-garden), the *Saurat-bagh*, the *Bagh-i-mahtab* (Moonlight-garden), the *Bagh-i-ahu-khana* (Garden-of-the-deer-house), and three smaller ones. In these gardens he held his feasts and drink parties.

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*Bagh-i-wafa* was laid out in A.D. 1508 near Fort Adinapur, which he describes thus: ‘The garden lies high, has running water close at hand, and a mild winter climate. In the middle of it, a one-mill stream flows constantly past the little hill on which are the four garden-plots. In the south-west part of it there is a reservoir, ten by ten, around which are orange trees and a few pomegranates, the whole encircled by a trefoil-meadow. This is the best part of the garden, a most beautiful sight when the oranges take colour. Truly that garden is admirably situated!’

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Babur thus records a visit to *Bagh-i-wafa* in A.D. 1519. ‘We dismounted in the *Bagh-i-wafa*; its oranges had yellowed beautifully; its spring bloom was well-advanced, and it was very charming.’

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We see the *Bagh-i-wafa* in a painting of the *Babur-nama* in the collection of the National Museum, New Delhi. On the top of the painting is Koh-i-Safed, the snow-covered mountain. Below is the *Char-bagh*, divided into four plots in which oranges are growing. A plantain and two cypresses grow in one of the plots. Water is supplied by a Persian wheel which is painted on the top of the picture (Fig. 21). In another version of the same theme from the British Museum *Babur-nama*, sugarcane and plantains are depicted (top of Fig. 20). These were introduced by Babur from Lahore.

Gardens at Agra

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On settling down at Agra, Babur’s first concern was to raise a garden where he could take refuge from heat and dust. He was disgusted with the disagreeable aspect of the country, the flat monotonous dusty plains of Agra. He not only laid a garden for himself but also encouraged his nobles to follow his example. He thus describes in his memoirs how he set about laying the garden on the bank of the Jumna, now called *Ram-bagh*.

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‘It always appears to me that one of the chief defects of Hindustan is the want of artificial water-courses. I had intended, wherever I might fix my residence, to construct water-wheels, to produce an artificial stream, and to lay out an elegant and regularly planned pleasure-ground. Shortly after coming to Agra, I passed the Jumna with this object in view, and examined the country, to pitch upon a fit spot for a garden. The whole was so ugly and detestable that I repassed the river quite repulsed and disgusted. In consequence of the want of beauty, and of the disagreeable aspect of the country, I gave up my intention of making a *char-bagh*; but as no better situation presented itself near Agra, I was finally compelled to make the best of this same spot. I first of all began to sink the large well which supplies the baths with water; I next fell to work on that piece of ground on which are the *ambli* (or Indian tamarind) trees, and the octangular tank; I then proceeded to form the large tank and its enclosure; and afterwards the tank and *talar* (or grand hall of audience) that are in front of the stone palace. I next finished the garden of the private apartments, and the apartments themselves, after which I completed the baths. In this way, going on without neatness and without order, in the Hindu fashion, I, however, produced edifices and gardens which possessed considerable regularity. In every corner I planted suitable gardens; in every garden I sowed roses and narcissuses regularly, and in beds corresponding to each other.

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'Khalifeh, Sheikh Zen, Yunis Ali, and several others who procured situations on the banks of the river, made regular and elegant gardens and tanks, and constructed wheels after the fashion of Lahore and Debalpur, by means of which they procured a supply of water. The men of Hind, who had never before seen places formed on such a plan, or laid out with so much elegance, gave the name of Kabul to the side of the Jumna on which these palaces were built.'¹

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¹ *Memoirs of Zehir-ud-din Muhammed Babur*, Vol. II, pp. 257-258

Char-Bagh at Dholpur

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After consolidating his power in the North, he thought of conquering Gwalior fort.

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On his way to Gwalior, Babur camped at Dholpur. He was struck by the beauty of the hills, and ordered the construction of a *char-bagh*. Babur records, 'North of the tank, the ground is thick with trees, mangoes, jaman, all sorts of trees; amongst them I had ordered a well made 10' × 10' (3 m × 3 m). Its water goes to the above-named tank. To the north of this tank, Sultan Sikander's dam is flying across the valley; on it houses have been built, and above it the waters of the rains gather into a great lake. On the east of this lake is a garden. I ordered a seat and a four-pillared platform to be cut out in solid rock on that same side.'

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Babur died on 26 December 1530 at the age of about forty-seven, after prolonged illness of more than six months. He was buried in Bagh Guli-Afshan, later on renamed Aram-bagh, on the banks of the Jumna at Agra. Between A.D. 1540 and A.D. 1544, when India was ruled by Sher Shah Suri, his body was transported to Kabul and buried in Bagh-e-Kalan, where he had rested during his stay in Kabul under the shade of planes and oaks, and admired the mauve blossoms of arghwān.