Mughal Gardens
Riverside Garden: Bagh- i Nur Afshan (Ram Bagh)
Residential Garden: Bagh-i Hayat Bakhsh
The Mughal gardens in India, initiated by the first Mughal emperor Babur, were based
on the Timurid garden tradition of char bagh. The term "bagh" has been used in Persian
chronicles denoting an orchard, grove, or garden. Other terms such as "gulistan" and "bustan"
are also frequently used in Persian poetic traditions to denote flower gardens. The Mughal
char bagh gardens were deeply symbolic, reflecting the ‘royal emblems of territorial control
by the Mughals’ (the appropriation of land) and the Quranic notion of paradise (jannat). The
Koranic term ‘al-janna’, i.e., the garden, the garden par excellence; envisions paradise as a
lush, well-ordered garden, a vision that inspired the architectural and horticultural ambitions
of the Mughal emperors.
A significant manifestation of this symbolism is found in the tomb-gardens. Islamic
tradition conceives of paradise as a garden, and burial in such a space amounts to a material
anticipation of immaterial bliss. The placement of tombs within gardens was not only a visual
and spatial reminder of this concept but had an additional religious purpose, as per Stephen P.
Blake, ‘if more people came, they could pray for the salvation of the entombed.’ The tradition
was exemplified in structures such as Humayun’s Tomb, which served as the prototype for
later monumental tomb-gardens, culminating in the Taj Mahal. The funerary garden thus
served as a critical intersection of spiritual and political legitimacy.
Babur, influenced by Timurid char bagh garden tradition, sought to replicate the lush
landscapes of Central Asia in the dusty and arid plains of Hindustan. The char bagh style
gardens originated in Persia. ‘Char’ means four and ‘bagh’ means Gardens, thus char bagh
means a garden that is sub-divided into four parts by water cannels, was a Persian-inspired
representation of the Quranic paradise. Babur’s memoirs reveal his dissatisfaction with the
Hindustan’s landscape charmless and disorderly Hindustan’ and which he found disorderly
and aesthetically displeasing. He criticized the existing gardens of India for their lack of
symmetry and irrigation facilities. He systematically introduced new designs that imposed
order upon nature. Babur’s gardens, such as the Ram Bagh, exhibited formal geometric
patterns and sophisticated irrigation systems, embodying the aesthetic and ideological
aspirations of Timurid civilization.
Catherine Asher highlights that Babur’s gardens were not merely expressions of
aesthetic preferences but had funerary, dynastic, and religious connotations, symbolizing the
emperor’s ability to control and order the landscape of India and its population. Wescoat and
Asher agree that Babur’s gardens had little to do with sophisticated paradise symbolism,
which became more prominent in later Mughal gardens. This tradition of landscaping
continued under his successors, though no major residential gardens were developed until
Jahangir’s reign. Babur’s decision to establish gardens outside the pre-Mughal fortresses
reinforced their role as symbols of political appropriation. His act of placing gardens outside
the fortresses of pre-Mughal rulers signified the assertion of a new imperial order, as these
fortresses had historically been the centers of royal power.
During Akbar’s reign, riverfront gardens became prominent, particularly along the
banks of the Yamuna River in Agra. However, there is little evidence of significant palace
gardens within Akbar’s fortresses. The historian Qandahari, for instance, does not mention
any gardens in his descriptions of Akbar’s construction project of Agra Fort. In Jahangir’s
time, palace gardens were still not prominent in Mughal garden architecture. The emperor
himself only mentioned one palace garden in his autobiography, the one laid out by his father,
Akbar, in the citadel of Hari Parbat in Srinagar.
The two prominent riverfront gardens in Agra during Jahangir’s reign were established by
imperial women, Bagh-i-Nur Afshan and the Bagh-i-Jahanara. The Bagh-i-Nur Afshan,
reconstructed by Nur Jahan in 1621, was a riverfront garden conforming to char bagh layout
that became characteristic of later Mughal gardens. Gardens were built near rivers because
water was lifted by a Persian wheel to the height of the enclosure wall. From there, an
aqueduct carried the water to the garden, where it flowed through a network of terra-cotta
pipes along the top of the wall, irrigating the garden. This procedure produced the head of
water necessary to work the fountains. Unlike the later garden plan, in which the main
building was located at the garden’s center, riverfront gardens placed the primary structures
along the terrace adjacent to the river. The shift towards the riverfront provided the main
garden pavilions with the climatic advantages of running water. The arrangement also created
a striking backdrop for the garden, reinforcing the synthesis of nature and architecture that
characterized Mughal aesthetics.
Under Shah Jahan, Mughal gardens achieved their most refined expression,
particularly in the form of residential gardens. The development of riverfront gardens reached
its canonical form, with a symmetrical composition that became the dominant garden model.
Shah Jahan’s reign saw the construction of the Anguri Bagh in Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal’s
funerary garden, both of which exemplified the perfection of Mughal landscape architecture.
The most outstanding specimen of a residential garden from this period was the Bagh-i-Hayat
Bakhsh. This garden, modelled on the zanana gardens of Agra and Lahore, featured a vast
char bagh layout with intersecting water channels and a central water tank (hawz).
Stephen Blake argues that residential gardens, known as khanah bagh, were integral to
the domestic sphere of the Mughal imperial household. The Hayat Bakhsh, for instance, was
designed as an intimate, secluded space reserved for the emperor’s family, contrasting with
the more public gardens of earlier periods. The main inscription of the Hayat Bakhsh
proclaims that ‘the Hayat Bakhsh is to the buildings what soul is to the body,’ reinforcing the
symbolic significance of the garden as the heart of the palace complex. Salih Kambuh, a
court poet and historian, celebrated Shah Jahan’s palatial gardens as terrestrial images of
paradise, drawing direct comparisons to the Quranic vision of Jannat.
The culmination of Mughal garden design under Shah Jahan was not only an aesthetic
achievement but also a political statement. Ebba Koch asserts that paradisiacal palace gardens
were intended to symbolize Shah Jahan’s reign as a new golden age—a realm of perpetual
spring brought about by just and enlightened rule. These paradisiacal palace gardens were not
only meant to provide aesthetic and recreational pleasure but also to serve as a metaphor for
the emperor’s rule, presenting him as the ideal sovereign whose governance had ushered in
an era of harmony and prosperity.
In conclusion, the evolution of Mughal gardens from Babur to Shah Jahan reflects
broader shifts in political ideology, religious symbolism, and architectural innovation.
Initially conceived as expressions of conquest and control, these gardens gradually evolved
into sophisticated metaphors for paradise, culminating in the paradisiacal visions realized
under Shah Jahan. The Mughal garden tradition, rooted in Persian and Timurid precedents,
became a defining feature of the dynasty’s imperial aesthetics, reinforcing both political
authority and religious symbolism through its meticulous design and execution.
Bibliography
● Koch, Ebba. (2001). Mughal Art and Imperial Ideology: Collected Essays, Delhi:
Oxford University Press.
● Koch, Ebba. (2013). Mughal Architecture: An Outline of its History and Development
(1526- 1858). Delhi: Primus.
● Wescoat, James L. Jr. and Bulmahn, Joachim Wolschke, (1996). Mughal Gardens:
Sources, Places, Representations and Prospects, Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks
Research Library and Collection.
● Dickie, James. (1985). The Mughal Garden: Gateway to Paradise, Brill, Muqarnas,
Vol. 3, pp. 128-137
