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The Aram Bagh is the oldest
Mughal Garden
Mughal gardens are a type of garden built by the Mughals. This style was influenced by the Persian gardens particularly the Charbagh structure, which is intended to create a representation of an earthly utopia in which humans co-exist in perfe ...
in India, originally built by the
Mughal Emperor Babur in 1528, located about five kilometers northeast of the
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
in
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. Babur was temporarily buried there before being interred in
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
.
The garden is a
Persian garden
The tradition and style of garden design represented by Persian gardens or Iranian gardens ( fa, باغ ایرانی), an example of the paradise garden, has influenced the design of gardens from Andalusia to India and beyond. The gardens of the A ...
, where pathways and canals divide the garden to represent the Islamic ideal of paradise, an abundant garden through which rivers flow. The Aram Bagh provides an example of a variant of the charbagh in which water cascades down three terraces in a sequence of cascades. Two viewing pavilions face the
Jumna
The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Ban ...
river and incorporates a subterranean 'tahkhana' which was used during the hot summers to provide relief for visitors. The garden has numerous water courses and fountains.
[Koch, p.37-41]
The name is a corruption of the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
''Aaram Bagh'' meaning 'Garden of Rest'. It is also variously known as ''Bagh-i Nur Afshan'' 'Light-Scattering Garden', ''Aalsi Bagh'' or 'Lazy Garden': according to legend, Emperor Akbar proposed to his third wife, who was a gardener there, by lying idle for 6 days until she agreed to marry him.
Jahangir
Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti.
Ear ...
waited in the garden in early March 1621 for the most astrologically auspicious hour for him to enter Agra after he took the
Fort of Kangra. The preserved, surviving architecture dates to his reign and demonstrates the skill of his wife
Nur Jahan
Nur Jahan, born Mehr-un-Nissa P ersian: نورجهان (; – 18 December 1645) was the wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir from 1620 until his death in 1627.
Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa, as the daughter of a Mirza Ghi ...
as a garden designer.
In Art and Literature
An engraving of
Thomas Shotter Boys' painting is in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835, together with a poetical illustration (''The history of Shah Dara's flight and death'') by
Letitia Elizabeth Landon
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L.
The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...
entitled
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Citations
References
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Further reading
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External links
The Herbert Offen Research Collection of the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
{{Agra Division topics
Mughal gardens in India
Buildings and structures in Agra
Tourist attractions in Agra
Gardens in Uttar Pradesh
Persian gardens in India
Archaeological monuments in Uttar Pradesh
1528 in India