MAY 2001- Contents

Culture
Sufi poet-saints of 12th C

Environment
Blind dolphins -endangered

Sports
Women's Cricket in south Asia

Heritage
Heritage Awards 2000

2001 contenders

Archaeology
Gardens of the Mughals

Lifestyle
Good as Gold- contemporary jewellery in gold

Editor's Note

the craft shop

the print gallery

the-south-asian.com                               May 2001

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So wrote Niccolao Manucci, Italian soldier and quack doctor who lived and travelled in India for several decades at the end of the seventeenth century. Manucci's time in India coincided with the completion of some of the greatest Mughal gardens and he, like many others since, was fascinated by their buildings and enchanted by the cool oasis of planted tranquility which they afforded in the searing heat of the plains. Mughal gardens have retained their power of fascination and now, as with other major sites, much more thought is being given to effective management and conservation to ensure that they endure into the next millennium.

One cannot ensure the good conservation of a building, garden or artifact, without understanding it thoroughly; this alone allows sound decisions or vital interventions to be made. Before turning to some of the conservation issues linked with the great Mughal gardens on the World Heritage List let us examine their design and development and touch upon the fortunes and misfortunes that made them what they are today.

The story of the Mughal gardens, in a sense, is illustrated by those on opposite banks of the river Jamuna at Agra. The great flowering of the art of garden making began with the emperor Babar’s riverside palace garden and reached its most magnificent development with the Taj Mahal, the most sublime of all garden sites, Shahjahan's memorial to his beloved wife, Arjumand Banu Begum better known by her title Mumtaz Mahal, Elect of the Palace.

Emperor Babar’s distaste for the gardens and grounds he found around Agra is well known. Searching for one in this region of fierce heat and desert landscape, he rejected all those he was shown, sank a well and set about creating a new garden for himself: an enclosed garden, terraced to overlook the river and graced with pavilions where one could sit and catch the cooling breezes, with water running in channels for irrigation and ornament and baths for relaxation. It is with some pride that Babar recorded that, in that charmless Hind, plots of garden were laid out with order and symmetry, with suitable borders and parterres in every corner and in every border rose and narcissus in perfect arrangement. There was something irresistible in this arrangement and it was soon copied by other members of the royal family and of the court until the whole river bank seemed reminiscent of their homeland.

The site of Babar’s garden, the Ram Bagh, can still be seen though it has been modified over the centuries and has not been included on the World Heritage List. Yet this site, together with the insights Babar offers in his writings, highlights some of the key elements of Mughal garden design; dramatic siting, brilliant use of water and a deep and skilful delight in planting and architecture. For over two centuries Babar and his successors used these elements to transform traditional Islamic design and create some of the world’s finest gardens.

Gardens were an integral part of Mughal life. The Mughal court being constantly on the move, garden palaces and gardens within fort complexes were highly appreciated as places of relaxation and as settings for court ceremonial. Ultimately, a garden which had delighted its maker in his lifetime became the splendid setting of his Mughal tomb.