A History of Agriculture in India v2.c81.s10: Garden at Sarhind
A History of Agriculture in India v2.c81.s10
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Garden at Sarhind
v2.c81.s10.1
One of Jahangir’s gardens was at Sarhind in Punjab. Now it is called Am Khas garden and it is being developed as a tourist centre. Finch, who saw this garden, describes it as follows. ‘At Sarhind there was a fair tank, with a bridge of fifteen stones, to connect the summer house built in the middle of it. From it a small canal was cut for the garden of the Emperor, which was situated at some distance. The way leading to the royal garden was planted on both sides with trees and the garden itself was enclosed with a brick wall. It was planted with all sorts of fruit-trees and flowers, and was rented yearly for Rs 50,000. It was divided into four squares, each a *kos* in length. It was crossed by two main walks, forty feet broad and eight feet high (12.19 m × 2.44 m), with running water in stone channels in the middle of them, and both sides of them were planted thick with fair cypresses. One of these causeways is also paved with pebbles, curiously linter-wrought. At the crossings of the two stood a *mahal* curiously wrought in stone, with fair paintings and rich carvings.’⁵
v2.c81.s10.2
⁵ Ansari, Mohammad Azhar, *European Travellers under the Mughals, 1580-1627*, p. 35
v2.c81.s10.3
Jahangir was the greatest garden builder in India. The romantic beauty of his Kashmir gardens has contributed enormously to the aesthetic reputation of the Mughals. Wherever he stayed in his tours for any length of time, he left a garden for posterity to admire.