MichaleYarbrough: Adding First Bio First Draft - done

2025-12-18T19:32:06Z

Adding First Bio First Draft - done

New page

{{short description|Mughal garden at Dal Lake, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir}}
{{For|other gardens of the same name|Shalimar Gardens (disambiguation){{!}}Shalimar Gardens}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox park
|name = Shalimar Bagh
|native_name =
|photo = Shalimar Bagh 1.jpg
|image_alt =
|photo_caption = Shalimar Bagh's marble pavilion
|type = [[Mughal garden]]
|location = [[Srinagar]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[India]]
|coords = {{coord|34|8|32.48|N|74|51|46.48|E|type:landmark_region:IN|display=inline,title}}
|area = {{convert|12.4|ha|acre}}
|plants =
|species =
|collections =
|opened = 1619 A.D.
|owner = Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department
|operator = Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department
|budget =
|visitors =
|founder = [[Jahangir]]
|status =
|website = {{URL|https://srinagar.nic.in/tourist-place/shalimar-garden|srinagar.nic.in}}
|designer = Jahangir
}}

'''Shalimar Bagh''' ({{IPA|ur|ʃɑːliːmɑːr bɑːɣ}} ; {{IPA|ks|ʃaːlɨməːr baːɣ}}) is a [[Mughal garden]] in [[Srinagar]] of [[India]]n-administered [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], located at the northeast of [[Dal Lake]]. It is also known as '''Shalimar Garden, Farah Baksh''', and '''Faiz Baksh'''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shalimar Garden {{!}} District Srinagar, Government of Jammu and Kashmir {{!}} India |url=https://srinagar.nic.in/tourist-place/shalimar-garden/#:~:text=Shalimar%20Bagh%20is%20a%20Mughal,during%20Maharaja%20Hari%20Singh's%20rule. |access-date=2025-05-16 |language=en-US}}</ref> The other famous shoreline garden in the vicinity is [[Nishat Bagh]], 'The Garden of Delight'. The Bagh was built by [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] Emperor [[Jahangir]] in 1619. The Bagh is considered the high point of Mughal [[horticulture]]. It is now a public park and also referred to as the "Crown of Srinagar".<ref name="Bagh">{{Cite web |title=Shalimar Gardens in Srinagar |url=http://www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=8861 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509173939/http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=8861 |archive-date=2012-05-09 |access-date=2009-12-25 |publisher=Archnet.org}}</ref>

It is the earliest of the Mughal imperial gardens called '''Shalimar Gardens''', followed by the [[Shalimar Gardens, Lahore|one in Lahore]], begun in 1641 under [[Shah Jahan]] and [[Shalimar Gardens, Delhi|the one in Delhi]], begun in 1653 by [[Izz-un-Nissa]], his wife.

==Etymology==
Several other [[Mughal garden]]s situated in [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] share the name 'Shalimar'.<ref name="Suvorova">{{Cite book |last=Suvorova |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9evtgAACAAJ |title=Lahore: Topophilia of Space and Place |date=2012-02-09 |publisher=OUP Pakistan |isbn=978-0-19-906355-0 |language=en}}</ref> Although the exact origin of the word remains unknown, the most correct etymology could be [[Persian language|Persian]]-[[Arabic]] mixed expression ''[[shah]] al-‘imarat'' (Master of Buildings).<ref name="Suvorova"/>

==History==
[[File:A view of Shalimar Bagh in Srinagar.jpg|thumb|A view of Shalimar Bagh]]
Shalimar Bagh was built by Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1619.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Govt. Website |url=https://srinagar.nic.in/tourist-place/shalimar-garden/#:~:text=The%20Bagh%20was%20built%20by,called%20as%20crown%20of%20Srinagar.}}</ref> He enlarged the ancient garden in 1619 into a royal garden and called it 'Farah Baksh' ('the delightful'). In 1630, under Emperor [[Shah Jahan]]’s orders, Zafar Khan, the governor of Kashmir, extended it. He named it ‘Faiz Baksh’ ('the bountiful'). It then became a pleasure place for the Sikh governors of the province.

During the rule of [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]], the marble pavilion was the guest house for European visitors. Electrification of the premises was done during [[Maharaja]] [[Hari Singh]]’s rule. Thus, over the years, the garden was extended and improved by many rulers and called by different names, but the most popular name, ‘Shalimar Bagh’, continues to this day.<ref name=Bagh/><ref name="Shalimar">{{Cite web |title=Shalimar Bagh Mughal Garden, Srinagar |url=http://www.asiaexplorers.com/india/shalimar_bagh_mughal_garden.htm |access-date=2009-12-30}}</ref>

During the Mughal period, in particular, Emperor Jahangir and his wife [[Nur Jahan]] were so enamoured of Kashmir that during summer, they moved to Srinagar with their full-court entourage from [[Delhi]] at least 13 times. Shalimar Bagh was their imperial summer residence and the Royal Court. They crossed the arduous snowy passes of the [[Pir Panjal]] mountain range on elephants to reach Srinagar.<ref name="Asif">{{Cite web |title=The Royal Gardners of Mughal India |url=http://www.alshindagah.com/marapr2005/india.html |access-date=2009-12-30}}</ref>

==Layout==
[[File:The entrance to Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar.jpg|thumb|right|Entrance channel to Shalimar Bagh from Dal Lake, 1864 view]]
The layout of the garden is an adaptation of another [[Islamic garden]] layout known as the [[Persian gardens]]. The garden was built on flat land on a square plan with four radiating arms from a central location as the water source. It needed to be modified to suit the hilly terrain and availability of a well, which could be diverted from a higher elevation to the planned gardens. Modifications involved the main channel running through the garden axially from the top to the lowest point. This central channel, known as the Shah Nahar, is the main axis of the garden. It runs through three terraces. This layout left out the radial arms, and the shape became rectangular, instead of a square plan of the Chahar Bagh.<ref name=Bagh/>

The garden covers an area of {{convert|12.4|ha|acre}} built with a size of {{convert|587|m|ft}} length on the main axis channel and with a total width of {{convert|251|m|ft}}. The garden has three terraces fitted with fountains and with [[Platanus orientalis|chinar]] (sycamore) tree-lined vistas. The ''Shahnahar'' is the main feeder channel to all the terraces. Each one of the three terraces has a specific role.<ref name=Bagh/>

The garden was linked to the open Dal Lake water through a canal of about {{convert|1.6|km}} length and {{convert|11|m}} in width that ran through the swampy quagmire. Willow groves and rice terraces fringed the lake edge. Broad green paths bordered the lake with rows of chinar trees. The garden was laid in trellised walkways lined by avenues of aspen trees planted at {{convert|0.61|m}} intervals.<ref name="Stuart">{{Cite book |last=Stuart |first=C.M. Villiers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpCb6ezD-m0C&q=Gardens+of+the+Great+Mughals+(1913),++C.M.+Villiers+Stuart's&pg=PR2 |title=Gardens of the Great Mughals (1913) |work= |publisher=Read Books |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4097-1962-5 |pages=162–166 |access-date=2009-12-30}}</ref>

==Architecture==
[[File:Shalimar Gardens, Kashmir..jpg|thumb|right|View of Shalimar Bagh]]
[[File:Shalimar Garden Shrinagar Pavilion.jpg|thumb|The marble pavilion]]
The architectural details of the three terraces of the garden are elaborate.

The first terrace is a public garden or the outer garden ending in the Diwan-e-Aam (public audience hall). In this hall, a small black marble throne was installed over the waterfall.<ref name="Bagh" /><ref name="Asif" />

The second terrace garden along the axial canal, slightly broader, has two shallow terraces. The Diwan-e-Khas (the Hall of Private Audience), which was accessible only to the noblemen or guests of the court, now derelict, is in its centre. However, the carved stone bases and a fine platform surrounded by fountains are still seen. The royal bathrooms are located on the north-west boundary of this enclosure. The fountain pools of the Diwan-e-Khas, the Diwan-e-Aam, and in turn, the Zenana terrace are supplied in succession.<ref name="Royal">{{Cite web |date=2009-04-04 |title=History of Shalimar Bagh |url=https://searchkashmir.blogspot.com/2009/04/history-of-shalimar-bagh.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121128033502/http://searchkashmir.blogspot.com/2009/04/history-of-shalimar-bagh.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 November 2012 |access-date=2009-12-30 }}</ref> It has 410 fountains.

[[File:Mughal era architecture inside of the Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar.jpg|thumb|Mughal era architecture, inside of the Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar.]]
[[File:A view of Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar, in 2013.jpg|thumb|Shalimar Bagh in Srinagar, April 2013.]]
In the third terrace, the axial water channel flows through the Zenana garden, which is flanked by the Diwan-e-Khas and chinar trees. At the entrance to this terrace, there are two small pavilions or guard rooms (built in Kashmir style on a stone plinth) that are the restricted and controlled entry zone of the royal harem. Shah Jahan built a [[Baradari (building)|baradari]] of black marble, called the Black Pavilion, in the zenana garden. It is encircled by a fountain pool that receives its supply from a higher terrace. A double cascade falls against a low wall carved with small niches (chini khanas), behind the pavilion. Two smaller, secondary water canals lead from the Black Pavilion to a small baradari. Above the third level, two octagonal pavilions define the end wall of the garden. The baradari has a lovely backdrop of the snow mountains, which is considered a befitting setting for the Bagh.<ref name=Bagh/><ref name= Royal/>

The Shalimar Bagh is well known for ''chini khanas'', or arched niches, behind garden waterfalls. They are a unique feature in the Bagh. These niches were lit at night with oil lamps, which gave a fairytale appearance to the waterfalls. However, now the niches hold pots of flowers that reflect their colours behind the cascading water.<ref name=Bagh/><ref name= Royal/>

Another unusual architectural feature mentioned is the doors of the Baradari. In the garden complex, the Baradari had four exquisite doors made of stone supported by pillars. It is conjectured that these stone doors were ruins from old temples that were demolished by Shahjahan. The garden also provided large water troughs where a variety of fountains were fixed.<ref name="Stuart p.167">Stuart p.167</ref>

It has been aptly described by a chronicler glowingly:<ref name="Stuart p.167">Stuart p.167</ref>{{cquote|A subtle air of leisure and repose, a romantic indefinable spell, pervades the royal Shalimar: this leafy garden of dim vistas, shallow terraces, smooth sheets of falling water, and wide canals, with calm reflections broken only by the stepping stones across the streams.}}

Even in later years, during Maharaja's rule, the gardens were well maintained and continue to be so even now as it is one of the prominent visitor attractions around the Dal Lake.

The garden is considered to be very beautiful during the autumn and spring seasons due to the colour change in the leaves of the famed Chinar trees.

The gardens were the inspiration for other gardens of the same name, notably the [[Shalimar Bagh, Delhi]] in [[Delhi]] (built in 1653, which now also has an upscale colony), and [[Shalimar Gardens (Lahore)|Shalimar Gardens]] in [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]], built by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1641.

The black pavilion built during the early part of Jahangir's reign (1569–1627), in the top terrace of the Shalimar Bagh, has the famous inscription in [[Persian Language|Persian]], which says:<ref name="kausar">{{Cite web |last=Sajjad Kausar |date=July 2005 |title=Meaning of Mughal Landscape |url=http://conferences.ncl.ac.uk/unescolandscapes/files/KAUSARSajjad.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723103627/http://conferences.ncl.ac.uk/unescolandscapes/files/KAUSARSajjad.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-23 |access-date=2009-12-31 |page=1}}</ref><ref name="Blake">{{Cite book |last=Blake |first=Stephen P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vJ0e0kfgttUC&q=Shalimar+Gardens+inscription+-Scribid-+If+there+is+a+paradise+on+earth%2C+it+is+this%2C+it+is+this%2C+it+is+this&pg=PA44 |title=Shahjahanabad: The Sovereign City in Mughal India (1639-1739) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-521-52299-4 |page=44 |access-date=2009-12-31}}</ref>
<blockquote>
اگر فردوس بر روے زمین است<br>
همین است و همین است و همین است<br>
''Agar Firdaus bar rōy-e zamin ast,<br>''
''hamin ast-o hamin ast-o hamin ast''.
</blockquote>
This is a couplet wrongly attributed to the [[Persian language|Persian-language]] poet [[Amir Khusrau]], but written by a Persian poet [['Orfi Shirazi|, Orfi Shirazi]] during his visit to Kashmir,<ref>{{Cite web |title=ذکر کشمیر در ادب فارسی |url=https://www.iranboom.ir/shekar-shekan/adabiat/8301-zekr-keshmir-dar-adab-farsi.html |access-date=2021-06-05 |website=www.iranboom.ir}}</ref> which is inscribed on many buildings in the Indian subcontinent.

Translated to [[English Language|English]], it means:
{{cquote|If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.}}

It is also mentioned that when Jahangir was asked on his deathbed about his cherished desire, he is credited with saying:<ref name="Akbar">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dTR7X6pmY94C&q=Jahangir's+words+-+If+there+is+a+paradise+on+earth,+it+is+this,+it+is+this,+it+is+this&pg=PA248 |title=Byline |publisher=Chronicle Books |year=2003 |isbn=81-8028-003-9 |page=248 |access-date=2009-12-31}}</ref>

{{cquote|Kashmir, the rest is worthless.}}

==In popular culture==
The poem "[[Kashmiri Song]]" by Laurence Hope (pseudonym of [[Violet Nicolson]]) opens with the line referring to Shalimar:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Amy Woodforde-Finden |first=Laurence Hope |url=http://archive.org/details/fourindianlovel00hopegoog |title=Four Indian Love Lyrics: From "The Garden of Kama." |date=1902 |publisher=Boosey & Co. |others=Harvard University |pages=13 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Doctor |first=Geeta |date=2015-04-18 |title=The story behind the Kashmiri Song that entranced Britain between the wars |url=http://scroll.in/article/695936/the-story-behind-the-kashmiri-song-that-entranced-britain-between-the-wars |access-date=2023-08-11 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=<poem>Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar</poem>|title=''Four Indian Lyrics''|source="Kashmiri Song", p.13}}

The song was set to music by Lawrence Hope herself and was very popular in Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Amy Woodforde-Finden |first=Laurence Hope |url=http://archive.org/details/fourindianlovel00hopegoog |title=Four Indian Love Lyrics: From "The Garden of Kama." |date=1902 |publisher=Boosey & Co. |others=Harvard University |pages=14 |language=English}}</ref> [[Salman Rushdie]]'s 2005 novel ''[[Shalimar the Clown]]'' refers to the garden in its title as well as the name of the central character, a man who "has turned from a benign, tightrope-walking clown in a Kashmiri village into a Muslim terrorist".<ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-09-17 |title=Salman, you're slayin' me! |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/salman-youre-slayin-me/article986788/ |access-date=2023-08-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rushdie |first=Salman |url=http://archive.org/details/shalimarclownnov0000rush |title=Shalimar the clown |date=2006 |publisher=London : Vintage |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-09-949809-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Vallath |first=Kalyani |title=A Contemporary Encyclopedia of Indian Literature in English |publisher=Vallath Books |year=2024 |isbn=978-81-945632-7-3 |volume=2 |pages=77}}</ref> The fiction deals with the fate of Kashmir in a world steeped in terrorism as it moves from California to Kashmir.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-09-09 |title=SHALIMAR THE CLOWN (Published 2005) |work=The New York Times |language=en |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/style/shalimar-the-clown.html |access-date=2023-08-15 |last1=Kakutani |first1=Reviewed by Michiko }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dev |date=2005-05-17 |title=Shalimar The Clown |url=https://www.salmanrushdie.com/shalimar-the-clown/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=Salman Rushdie |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sarkar |first=Sreyoshi |date=2016-09-01 |title=Shalimar the Clown and the Politics of "Worlding" the Kashmir Conflict |journal=Commonwealth Essays and Studies |language=en |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=23–33 |doi=10.4000/ces.4731 |issn=2270-0633|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[The Globe and Mail]] praises the book as being a "devastating portrait of the destruction of Kashmir.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dev |date=2005-05-17 |title=Shalimar The Clown |url=https://www.salmanrushdie.com/shalimar-the-clown/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=Salman Rushdie |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Gardening}}
* [[Achabal Gardens]]
* [[Verinag]]
* [[Gardens in India]]
* [[Indo-Islamic Architecture]]

==References==

{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Shalimar Bagh (Srinagar)}}
* [http://www.pem.org/library/collections/offen The Herbert Offen Research Collection of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum]

{{Kashmir Valley}}
{{Mughal Empire|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Gardens in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Mughal gardens in India]]
[[Category:Mughal terraced gardens]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Srinagar]]
[[Category:Persian gardens in India]]
[[Category:1610s establishments in India]]
[[Category:1610s establishments in the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:1619 establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:Neighbourhoods in Srinagar]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Srinagar district]]

Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar - Revision history

MichaleYarbrough: Adding First Bio First Draft - done