· 2020-01-31 · parallel with the length of the gardens for supplying water and enhancing the...

ELK ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

ISSN 2394-9392 (Online); DOI: 10.16962/EAPJSS/issn.2394-9392/2014

Volume 1 Issue 3 (2015)

www.elkjournals.com ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

74

THE HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING AND LANDSCPING OF A 16TH CENTURY MUGHAL

GARDENS AT WAH

Prof. Dr. Shahid Ahmad Rajput (Archaeologist)

Department of Architecture and Design

COMSATS, Institute of Information Technology (CIIT),

Islamabad, Pakistan

Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Keywords—Bagh-i-Hassan Abdal; Wah gardens; Mughal architecture; hydraulic engineering; Akbar; Jahangir;

Shahjahan; Aurangzeb; Raja Man Singh; Hayat; Hammam; Baradari; Ahmad Mimar; Saleh Kanboh; Mullah

Abdul Hamid Lahori.

This paper is written on the Hydraulic engineering employed during the 16th century at a Mughal Garden

better known as ‘Wah Gardens’ in the area known as Hassan Abdal. The main purpose of this research paper

is to share discovery of the Hydraulic system and understand the Hydraulic Engineering employed in running

the fountains, the Hammam (Turkish Bath), supply of water to the main tank and three channels running

parallel with the length of the Gardens for supplying water and enhancing the beauty of the Gardens and to

restore it accordingly. It is important to note that this is the only Mughal Garden in the subcontinent where a

complete hydraulic system has been discovered, which provides us a complete model of the Mughal Hydraulic

Engineering system for study. The author was Principal investigator of the project titled “Archaeological and

Hydraulic Studies of Wah Gardens” by the Dept. of Archaeology, Govt. of Pakistan, in 1993-94. Complete

excavation report was published in 1996 by the author. Now another Project on the Landscaping of this

garden has been approved. Therefore it was felt necessary to write once again for the guidance of the team to

undertake the project of landscaping. In the conclusion some practical suggestions are made for the

restoration of this simple but complete hydraulic system as well as the landscaping on the original pattern.

http://dx.doi.org/10.16962/EAPJSS/issn.2394-9392/2014

http://www.elkjournals.com/

mailto:[email protected]





75

I. INTRODUCTION

About two kilometers east of Hassan

Abdal beside the G.T Road, is a 16th to

17th century Mughal garden initially

called Bagh-i-Hassan Abdal now

popularly known as Wah Garden. It was a

private property till 1976 but due to its

historical and architectural importance,

Wah Garden was acquired by the

Government and was handed over to the

Department of Pakistan Archaeology for

its excavation, restorations and

maintenance. (Fig.1)

This paper deals exclusively with the

description of the Hydraulic Engineering

System discovered during excavations

over the last two decades and re-

interpreted with the modern tools of today.

Wah Garden was not pre-planned and the

Mughal Emperors used it as a transit

camp. It evolved over a number of years,

growing and changing according to the

instructions of the Emperor who used it.

The excavations began in Mar.1993. Since

that time much has been revealed and the

work is still in progress intermittently.

The purpose of the project of excavation

was the study of architectural and

hydraulic features of the gardens. In this

connection a number of important

discoveries were made, e.g. a large water

tank on the eastern end of Wah Garden,

three water channels running parallel with

the length of the garden and fifteen

fountains in the central water channel with

water inlets situated in the upper terrace.

In addition, there is also a Hammam

attached to the southern wing of the

Baradari (Pavilion).

All these features will be discussed in this

paper but the main focus will be the

hydraulic engineering system of this

garden. Reader’s attention is first drawn to

the garden’s history in order to establish

the origin of its name, how and when this

garden came into being, who created it,

how it developed and how it stands today.

(Fig.1) Wah Gardens as it stands today

II. HISTORY

a). Mughal Chronicles

The area where the Garden is located was

given the name “Hassan Abdal” after

Hassan, a famous saint of Qandahar,

where he is still known and revered as

Baba Walli as he is in Pakistan. Abdal1

1- Abdal is a Persian word, meaning a substitute; certain

persons by whom God continues the existence of the

world, their number is seventy, of whom 40 reside in

Syria and 30 elsewhere. When any one of these dies his







76

was his title. He died and was buried in

Qandahar. It is written on his tombstone

that Mirza Shah Rukh (1406-1447) met

him in Qandahar with due respect in 1417

AD, and whatever he had heard about the

Saint, he saw the same with his own eyes.

The Saint died during the life of Mirza

Shah Rukh2, between 1417 and 1447. It is

not known when the Saint visited this

place but, during his stay in Hassan Abdal,

he made a Khanqah (meditation place) on

top of a hill, which is still visited, by locals

and foreigners alike.

Hassan Abdal lies on the main road from

Kabul to Lahore. Emperor Akbar stayed

or passed through Hassan Abdal several

times between 1581 and 1592. In 1581

Akbar travelled via Hassan Abdal to

Attock where he stayed for fifty days,

laying the foundation stone of the Attock

Fort on May 30, 1581. He then continued

to Kabul and returned to Lahore via

Attock. On these two occasions he might

have stayed in Hassan Abdal, for the

distance between Hassan Abdal and

Attock is ten kos (a Mughal kos is

equivalent to 2.5 km.) Since the normal

distance travelled by the army in one day

place is filled up by some one selected from among the

rest of mankind ; Abdal has also acquired the meaning

of a hermit. (Steingass, Persian English dictionary,Rpt,

N. Delhi, 1981).

2 - Elphinstone, M., An Account of the Kingdom of

Caubul, 72-74, London,1815; Siddiqi, Op.Cit. 29-35, In

his book Siddiqi has also published an illustration of the

Tomb Stone of the Saint at Qandahar.

was ten kos, this distance would make

Hassan Abdal a perfect manzil or a halting

place. During his eight days stay beginning

on December 13, 1585, Akbar went to

hunt in a Qumargah (hedge for a hunting

place) near Hassan Abdal and also during

this stay sent expeditions to check

Yusufzais in Malakand/ Swat as well as to

invade Kashmir3.

Near Hassan Abdal, even before the time

of Akbar, there was a pond in the middle

of which Raja Man Singh built a small

building (pavilion), as recorded by

Jahangir in 1607 during his first visit to

Hassan Abdal4. In 1581, when Akbar laid

the foundation stone of Attock Fort, he

appointed Raja Man Singh to protect the

frontiers 5 . Raja Man Singh stayed in

Hassan Abdal from 1581 to 1586, during

which time he might have built that small

building. The remains of this small

building have now been identified beneath

the existing Baradari.

Emperor Jahangir visited Hassan Abdal six

times between 1607 and 1626. On his first

visit in 1607 he stayed here for three days.

He described his first stay as follows:

3 - Abul Fazl, Ain-i-Akbari, Munshi NolKashor, 2:160,

Calcutta,1881 and Akbar Nama, 3:210, Kanpur, 1883 ;

Beverage, H., Ain-i-Akbari and Akbar Nama, Culcatta,

1939.

4 -Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan,Op.Cit., 48, Ghazi pur, 1963;

Rogers, A., Tuzuk, 99. RAS London, 1909.

5 - Akbar Nama, 3:210







77

“12 Muharram 1016 AH / 29 April

1607 Wednesday, (I) stayed at Baba

Hassan Abdal. To the East of this place at

about one kos there is a cascade whose

water falls with a great speed.….. I casted

the famous Indian net by my own hand

and caught twelve fish, put pearls in their

noses and let them loose in the water 6.

Four years later an English traveller,

William Finch, although he never went to

Hassan Abdal, repeated this story and

attributed the anecdote to Akbar7.

Subsequent writers (the European

travellers) confused the historic

chronology, however, later in October of

the same year, i.e. 1607, on his way back

from Kabul, Jahangir stayed at Hassan

Abdal to hunt8. Jahangir took an interest in

the development of Hassan Abdal. Thus

he sent Rs.4000 in 1608, and again

Rs.5000 the following year for the

development and construction of a

building in Hassan Abdal9.

Perhaps at this time the Hammam or a

portion of it was developed. The

Hammam as it stands now shows at least

6 - Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan, Op.Cit, 48, 1963; Rogers,

A., Tuzuk, 99. RAS London, 1909.

7- Maclagan,E.D, “The Earliest English Visitors to the

Punjab, 1585-1628”, in The Journal of the Punjab

Historical Society, Vol.1, PP. 109-134; Foster, Early

Travels in India, 1583-1619, P. 168, London, 1921.

8- Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan, Op.Cit., 61.

9 - Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan, Op.Cit., 26.

two types of architecture of different

periods of which one is definitely

Jahangiri or earlier10.

Jahangir’s descriptions of his third visit to

Hassan Abdal are very important as they

provide us with an information of the

Garden under study: “15 Rabi al Awwal

1029 AH / 10 February 1620 Tuesday,

Landed at Hassan -Abdal ...at this manzil

gah (halting place) there is a flowing

spring, a cascade and a very fine pond. On

Thursday at the beginning of 53rd lunar

year of my life I celebrated my Taladan

(lunar weighing ceremony). Since the

journey ahead was mountainous and there

were plenty of ups and downs, it was very

difficult to take the whole army at once,

therefore, it was decided that Hazrat

Maryam Zamani (Jahangir’s mother Jodh

Bai) and other court ladies should stay

here for a few days before resuming their

journey”.11

On his fourth visit to Hassan Abdal in

1622, Jahangir again mentioned in his

Tuzuk that he stayed near the spring in

Hassan Abdal for four days12. During this

stay he hunted 30 mountain rams with

arrows and a gun inside a (hedge)

10 - This was pointed out by Philippa Vaughan. She

worked at Wah Garden in April 1993 and was sponsored

by the British Council Islamabad. Her paper on Wah

Garden will be published shortly in the forthcoming

Bulletin of School of Oriental and African Studies,

University of London.

11 - Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan, Op.Cit., 288-89.

12 - Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan, Op.Cit., 343-344.







78

Qumargah raised for this occasion. Hence

Hassan Abdal had already become a

popular spot for hunting, celebrations,

overnight halts, and was admired

frequently by the Emperor Jahangir. It is

thus apparent that there was some sort of

royal encampment or garden already in

existence in the vicinity where Jahangir

could leave his mother and other court

ladies for a few days’ rest, and that Hassan

Abdal had become an important manzil

gah, for the Mughal Emperors on their

way to Kashmir and Kabul.

The Shahjahani historians, Mulla Abdul

Hamid Lahori and Saleh Muhammad

Kanboh, visited Hassan Abdal with

Shahjahan during his twelfth regnal year in

April 1639, and recorded Hassan Abdal as

the most beautiful and gratifying garden

between Delhi and Kabul13.

According to his chroniclers Shahjahan

visited Hassan Abdal nine times during his

reign, between 1639 and 1652. He always

stayed at Hassan Abdal on his way to and

from Kabul except for once in 1647 on his

way back from Kabul when he did not stay

there14. During his third visit, on his way

back from Kabul in Oct.1646, the stay of

Shahjahan in Hassan Abdal is recorded to

have been in a garden called “Bagh-i-

13 - Lahori, Badshah Nama, 2: 143, Calcutta, 1868;

Kanboh, ‘Amal-i-Saleh, 2: 304, Calcutta, 1927

14- Kanboh, (‘Amal-i-Saleh) Shahjahan Nama, 3:7

Bahisht ‘Ain” 15 or Heavenly garden.

Chroniclers report that Shahjahan visited

Hassan Abdal for the fifth time in April

1647 and stayed in a building constructed

in the garden16. Two years later, in 1649,

when Kanboh came to Hassan Abdal with

Shahjahan, he recorded Hassan Abdal as

“Gulistan-i-Irum”17 or Paradise garden.

Finally Aurangzeb Alamgir stayed in

Hassan Abdal for one and a half years

between July 6, 1674 and January 2, 1676,

during which time he stayed for some time

in this garden. His historians refer to this

place as Bagh-i-Hassan Abdal 18 .

Shahjahani historians recorded the royal

gardens as Hassan Abdal. Jahangir

admired its cascade, pond, and it’s

building with the name Hassan Abdal.

The name “Wah” does not occur in any of

the historical references. How then did this

garden of Hassan Abdal acquire the name

of Wah Garden? There is a gap in the

history of Hassan Abdal after Aurangzeb,

till 1815 when Elphinstone came to

Hassan Abdal as a traveller and recorded

his observations.

15 - Lahori, Badshah Nama , 2: 605.

16- Ibid. 2: 640.

17 - Kanboh, Op.Cit., 2: 508.

18 - Saqi Musta ‘id Khan, Ma ‘sir-i- Alamgiri, 134,

Calcutta, 1870







79

b). Wah Garden as seen by the

European Travellers

Elphinstone: “The valley of Hassan Abdal

recalled to our recollection the country we

had left. It had indeed been famous in all

ages for its beauty, and had been a

favourite resting place of the great

Mughals, on their annual migration to

Cashmere; Nor could there have been a

scene better fitted for the enjoyment of

their easy and luxurious grandeur....”.19. It

is important to note that the name of this

place so far is Hassan Abdal.

Then another English traveller, Moorcroft

in 1823, visited the garden. In his

travelogue he repeats the false anecdote of

William Finch as given above that Akbar

admired this garden and said “Wah Bagh”

(what a beautiful garden!). Hence the

garden was so named and it is known as

Wah Garden to this day. The impact of

Moorcroft’s story was so strong that even

the Rawalpindi Administration Report of

1865, the Journal of Indian Antiquary

1873, and the Rawalpindi District

Gazetteer 1883, recorded this place as

Wah Garden.

Moorcroft: “Advancing20 across the low

ridge of the hills, we came to a plain in

19 - Elphinstone,M., An Account of the Kingdom of

Caubul, 72-74, London,1815

20 - Moorcroft, Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of

which stood the village of Wah, and an

extensive garden, in the usual

Mohammedan style, constructed by the

order of Emperor Akbar, on the site of an

old serai, the beauty of which drew from

the monarch the exclamation of “Wah!”

whence the name of the new pleasure-

ground originated. It covers a space about

a quarter of a mile in length and half that

in breadth, enclosed by walls partly in

ruins. The gateways and turrets that were

constructed along the boundary wall are

also mostly in a ruinous condition. The

eastern extremity is occupied by two large

stone-walled tanks; the western by

parterres, and they are divided by a

building which served as a pleasure-house

to the Emperor and his household. It was

too small for a residence, consisting of a

body and two wings, the former containing

three long rooms, and the latter divided

into small chambers (Fig. 2). The interior

of the whole is stuccoed, and in the smaller

apartments the walls are decorated with

flowers, foliage, vases, and inscriptions in

which, notwithstanding the neglected state

of the building and its antiquity, the lines

of the stuccoed work are as fresh as if they

had but just been completed, indicating a

very superior quality in the stucco of the

East over the West (Fig.3). The chambers

Hindustan and the Punjab, from 1819-1825,

2: 317-319, London, 1825; This account of Moorcroft

was published as it is by Wilson in 1841 from London in

a single volume, pp. 317-319 ; and it was included with

a little alterations by Villiers Stuart, Gardens of the Great

Mughals, pp.155-57, London, 1913.







80

in the southern front of the western wing,

and other continued beyond it, constitute a

suite of baths, including cold, hot, and

medicated baths and apartments for

servants, for dressing, and reposing,

heating rooms and reservoirs (Fig.4) the

floors of the whole have been paved with a

yellow breccia, and each chamber is

surmounted by a low dome with a central

sky-light. Fresco paintings of flowers and

foliage in compartments embellish the

walls, and unless injured by mechanical

violence, the coloring has lost little of its

original luster.

Although possessing nothing majestic or

imposing, the bath of Wah bagh must have

….

(Fig.3) Stucco tracery on the inside of

baradari, photographed by the author.

been both commodious and elegant. The

water, which was supplied from the

reservoirs first noticed, is clear and in

great abundance. It comes from several

copious springs, at the base of some

limestone hills in the neighborhood and,

after feeding the tanks and canals of the

garden, runs off with the Dhamrai River

that skirts the plain on the north and

West”.

Later travellers do not add to this

significantly.

The Illustrated London News, Saturday,

April 20, 1850, published an article about

Wah Garden with an engraving after a

sketch by G.T. Vigne 21 in 1836 (Fig.5).

This sketch was also published by F.S.

Aijazuddin in his book The Historical

Images of Pakistan, P.131, Lahore, 1992.

Villiers Stuart22 visited this garden during

early 20th century and published his

account in 1913, in which he quoted

Moorcroft as above.

Thus to this day the name of the garden is

Wah following Moorcroft’s story.

Henceforth let us call it Wah Garden since

we are left with little choice.

21- The author is thankful to Khwaja Shahid Hosein,

Former Secretary Ministry of Culture and Tourism and

the Ambassador of Pakistan to UNESCO in Paris, who

provided the author with this sketch from his personal

library in London.

22 - Villiers Stuart, Op.Cit., 155-57.







81

III. Hydraulic Engineering System of

Wah Gardens

The following lines will describes the

Hydraulic Engineering system of the

garden as it is known today:

a). Hydraulic System,

b). Hammam (Turkish Bath)

a) The Hydraulic System

Our excavations have discovered a large

water tank on its eastern end, fifteen

fountains in the central water channel and

their water inlets, three water channels, a

Paien Bagh/Zanana, (garden for ladies) a

few architectural ornamental objects in

stone, and the Hammam or Turkish Bath.

Our excavations confirm much of

Moorcroft’s descriptions of Wah Gardens.

Main Water Tank

The main water tank is the principal

feature of the garden. As shown in the

plan it is situated at the Eastern end of the

upper terrace and it measures 220’ X 214’

and 5’.6” deep. The removal of debris and

in-fill has revealed seven pointed arches

between the tank wall and the platform in

the center of the tank indicating a cause-

way. These arches are parallel on either

side of the platform suggesting that the

causeway went right across the tank. Later

selected trenches sunk beyond the

causeway at the north-eastern end revealed

the continuation of the northern wall

suggesting that the tank extended beyond

the causeway. This would be consistent

with Moorcroft’s description of two tanks

although the precise form is yet unclear in

view of the asymmetrical axis of the

garden.

The layout of the water channels, tank and

positioning of the pavilions are not

symmetrical. Indeed, the lack of symmetry

is a notable feature of the garden. The

reason for this lack of symmetry is that the

layout follows the topography of the site

and the principal sources of springs.

Water Channels

There are two outlets of water at the

Northern and Western walls of the main

tank. Once the tank is filled, water flows

into these outlets forming a northern

channel in the north and central channel in

the west. Both channels run through the

whole length of the garden and finally join

the river, which once flowed along its

west.

Northern Channel

This channel is fed through an arch

situated at the northeastern end of the main

tank. This channel is 2.6 feet wide and 1.6

feet deep when it leads to the north from

the main tank but in the middle of the

northern pavilion when it turns westwards

it widens up to three feet. However, its

depth remains the same throughout its

length in the upper terrace i.e., 18 inches.

Here there are six terra-cotta (T/C) pipes

embedded in bricks at regular intervals and

called stepping-stones. Their purpose is to

maintain the water level and to keep it







82

thoroughly fresh as T/C pipe allowed

water to run through from the base.

Central Channel

From the middle of the western wall of the

main tank in the upper terrace, starts the

main or the central channel which is 10’.4”

wide & 11.3” deep. This channel passes

through the Baradari down in the lower

terrace, making a cascade. Water follows

into the central channel when the main

tank is filled to the height of 5’.6”. There

is a stone bridge on this channel at the

distance of 91’ from the main tank.

Hitherto, only four fountains were known

between this bridge and the main tank, but

during our present project eight more

fountains were discovered in the same area

at regular intervals i.e, 7’.6”each. These

fountains are connected by a terracotta

pipe embedded in thick masonry, which is

40” deep. The drawing in (Fig.6) depicts

the depth and width of the central channel

and the details of how the fountains were

connected with terracotta pipe and how the

water was supplied to these fountains.

Beyond the stone bridge the floor of this

channel is embellished with Sang-i-Abri

and Sang-i- Khattu, the black and golden

stones set in a chevron design (Fig.7).

(Fig. 7) Black & golden stone set in

chevron design.

This design continues from the bridge

down to the lower terrace including the

cascade. Water flows from the cascade

down to the lower terrace in a tank

measuring 14’.3” X 19’.3” with a fountain

in its center. From this tank, the water

enters into yet another smaller tank

measuring 7’.9” x 16’.11” which also has a

fountain, the only one with an eight petal

flower. Here the channel is bordered on

either side by tall Cypress trees to the

outer boundary. (Young trees are seen in

the illustrations in Crowe’s book 23 and

were planted earlier in 20th century. What

they replaced is not clear). Halfway

through the lower terrace, the main

channel joins another tank 40’.2” X 40’.6”

also with a fountain in its center.

Adjacent to this tank is a platform, beneath

this platform are three channels through

which the water resumes its course

23- Sylvia Crowe and Sheila Haywood, The Gardens of

Mughal India, 126-27 London, 1972.







83

through the main channel once again. This

channel continues to the western end of the

garden where it passes through a small

gateway and joins another smaller tank

outside the boundary wall. This tank has a

small tapering drain indicating the end of

the central channel. A trench sunk just

beyond this drain revealed a thick layer of

river pebbles showing that at this point the

water of the central channel flowed into a

river, which once bordered this garden on

the West. This excavation confirms

Moorcroft’s descriptions as mentioned

above.

Southern Channel

Parallel to the northern channel and on the

south of the central channel there is yet

another channel though is badly damaged.

Like the other two channels mentioned

above, it also starts from the upper terrace

and runs through the lower terrace to the

western wall of the garden. Similar to the

northern channel this channel also has a

small tank, which in a later period was

divided, into four smaller tanks, two on

either side almost in the middle of the

lower terrace. However, unlike the

northern and central channels this channel

was fed by the surplus water of a higher

water channel running behind the screen

wall and supplying water to the fountains

in the central channel at the upper terrace.

b). The Hammam or Tukish Bath

Adjacent to the southern end of the

Baradari there is a Hammam (Fig.4). Here

an independent aqueduct running beside

the eastern wall of the main water tank

supplied the water. This aqueduct

supplying water to is nine inches wide and

one foot deep. Fortunately the Hammam is

still in a good state of preservation,

showing almost all the necessary

architectural features in situ of which we

can identify the water supply, the heating

room, the hypocaust and latrines. Some

important and interesting aspects of this

bath are: it has a single entrance through

the western wing of the Baradari; it has a

complex arrangement of rooms and halls

as was seen and recorded by Moorcroft24;

its walls are extra-thick to maintain the

inside temperature; it has hollow

pavements and the provision for a

hypocaust, for circulating hot air and

steam in the Hammam and for boiling

water for a hot bath, there is a furnace

which is connected with the hypocaust.

The furnace has an entrance from the

outside of the Hammam; there is also an

excellent arrangement of running water

and the provision of pools for hot, cold and

medicated water; it has an effective

drainage system still in operation; initially

it had special ventilators in the ceiling of

the rooms and its walls on the inside were

once embellished with cut plaster painting

and floors with mosaic as recorded and

published by Moorcroft25 in 1823. Traces

24 - Moorcroft, 317-319.

25 - Ibid., 317-319.







84

of painting on the wall and mosaic in the

floor are still to be seen intact. Moorcroft

saw and recorded in his descriptions that

all the chambers of the bath were

surmounted by low domes with central

skylight. But when this Hammam was

excavated not only its low domed ceiling

but also its walls were badly damaged and

the whole suite of baths was buried under

a mound of earth. Some functional and

more important architectural features or

elements of this Hammam are as follows:

Apodyterium- where the bather undressed

and left his clothes, measuring 7.4X7.8

feet; Alipterium- where oil was anointed,

measuring 12X12 feet; Calidarium- hot

room, it has two wings, measuring 14X14

feet and 14.10X9.4 feet; Sudatorium-

steam room, measuring 12X10 feet;

Tepidarium- warm room, measuring

14X14 feet. Tepidarium generally is a

large hall with a beautiful pool in the

middle, such as found at Wah Garden, and

it was used as a special meeting room;

Frigidarium- cold bath, measuring

12.10X10.6 feet. It has an octagonal pool,

measuring 4.4X4.4 feet, with a fountain in

the middle. These are the most important

features of all the known Mughal

Hammams or Turkish Baths.

IV. Conclusion

The Mughal garden at Wah initially called

“Bagh-i-Hassan Abdal” took its present

name as “Wah Gardens” only in 1823 after

Moorcroft. Raja Man Singh erected the

first building, a little pavilion no longer

intact, in the pool during his stay in the

area between 1581 and 1586. Later due to

its serenity, the abundance of fresh spring

water, and its location, Mughal emperors

admired and stayed in this area and sent

money to construct buildings. The whole

structure shows alterations and additions in

many places and represents various

periods of architecture. There is historical

and archaeological evidence for the

patrons of the garden and the chronology

of its construction.

This is the only garden in which a

complete hydraulic system of Mughal

period is discovered which represents a

marvel of Hydraulic engineering of the

16th Century. The hydraulic engineering

involved in this garden is based on the

gravity and thus very simple but

amazingly perfect and continuously

running fountains were connected by T/C

pipe to a supplying reservoir whose base

was approximately four feet higher than

the fountain heads. This height through

gravity kept the fountains running round

the clock. It has been very unfortunate on

part of the department of archaeology that

the hydraulic system after its discovery in

1994 has not yet been restored according

to its original plan reflecting in the lack of

interest in restoring the hydraulic system

which can serve as a prototype. The main

purpose of paper and demonstration is

primarily focused to draw the attention of







85

the concerned authorities for taking

necessary initiatives to restore the

hydraulic system of the unique garden.

There is no rocket science involved in its

restoration according to the original plan.

It is very simple, main thing here is of

understanding or get help from those who

understand it and are willing to contribute

for its authentic and original or near

original restoration. Additionally, the

landscaping of these historical gardens

also require serious planning based on the

historical references of which there are

many available with the author and in the

libraries. There is ample evidence as to

why two terraces were named differently

i.e. Faiz Bakhsh and Farah Bakhsh. These

names have specific meaning in them and

thus the landscaping of the gardens must

take into consideration these meaning and

landscaping be carried out accordingly.

This paper provides a platform to benefit

from and the author shall be available for

consultation in case the young team

requires assistance in understanding the

hydraulic system as well as for selecting

the right plans for plantation at each

terrace of the garden according to the

authentic historical sources. The author

has first-hand knowledge of all the

architectural and archaeological features of

these gardens and his excavation report

was published in 1996 26 . Since the

excavation of Wah Gardens in 1993-94,

26 Rajput, the Mughal Gardens Wah,...,73-87

the author has been involved in the

research and teaching of Islamic Art and

Architecture. He has been delivering the

lectures on international forums and on

Islamic Art and Architecture and has

published number of papers and books on

the subject. His recent published works

such as a) History of Islamic Art 27 ; b)

Significance of al-Mansurah28; c) Origin of

Blue and white29; and d) Principal source

of Arabic Calligraphy30 are few examples

of his commitment on the subject.

The enlargement of gardens, with the

expansion of the tank, the installation of

fountains, and construction of the

Hammam, and a grand entrance,

corresponds with the descriptions given by

Lahori and Kanboh, so that it was once

indeed a Bagh-i-Bahisht ‘Ain and the

Gulistan-i-Irum. This garden is unique in

view of the fact that it was used as manzil

bagh (transit garden) and is the only

surviving garden of its type in the whole

subcontinent. We hope and look forward

to restore the garden once again according

to the original pattern for the benefit of

posterity.

27 History of Islamic Art, Sang-i-Meel, Lahore,

2008 28 Significance of al-Mansurah in the Context of

Arab’s and Muslim’s History of Science, ELK Asia

Pacific Journal of Social Sciences, 2015. 29 The Origin of Blue and White and its

development during the 15th-16th century, Frontier

Archaeology, 2014 30 The Principal Sources of Arabic Calligraphy in

the Muslim World, Pakistan Heritage, 2013







86

REFERENCE

[1] Abul Fazl. (1881) Ain-i-Akbari,

Munshi Nol -Kashor, Calcutta.

[2] Aijazuddin, F.S. (1992) The Historical

Images of Pakistan, Lahore.

[3] Bahadar, M. (1988) “Mughal Garden

Wah”, Journal of Central Asia, Vol. XI,

No. 2.

[4] Baron Charles Hugel. (1845) Travels in

Kashmir and the Punjab, London.

[5] Beverage, H. (1939) Ain-i-Akbari and

Akbar Nama, Culcatta,

[6] Burns, A. (1834) Travels into Bukhara,

Vol. I, London.

[7] District Gazetteer of Attock, (1865)

[8] Elphinstone, M. (1815) An Account of

the Kingdom of Caubul, London.

[9] Foster. (1921) Early Travels in India,

1583-1619, London.

[10] Kanboh. (1927) ‘Amal-i-Saleh’,

Calcutta.

[11] Lahori. (1868) Badshah Nama,

Calcutta,

[12] Maclagan, E.D. (N.D) “The Earliest

English Visitors to the Punjab, 1585-

1628

[13] Mohan Lal. (1946) Travels in the

Punjab, Afghanistan, and Turkistan,

London.

[14] Nadiem, Ihsan H. (1986) “The

Hydraulics of Shalamar Garden”,

Journal of the Pakistan Historical

Society,Vol. xxxiv, part 1, pp.1-13

[15] Nath, R. (1976) Some Aspects of

Mughal Architecture, Delhi.

[16] Rajput, S. A. (1996) “The Mughal

Garden ‘Wah’ Near Hassan Abdal:

“Report of Excavations of 1993-94 and

New Discoveries” Based on

Collaborative Study Sponsored by

Smithsonian Institution, Washington,

DC & Dept. of Archaeology, Lahore,

The Mughal Garden: Interpretation,

Conservation and Implications, 73-87

[17] --------History of Islamic Art, Sang-i-

Meel, Lahore, 2008

[18] --------Significance of al-Mansurah in

the Context of Arab’s and Muslim’s

History of Science, ELK Asia Pacific

Journal of Social Sciences, 2015.

[19] --------The Origin of Blue and White

and its development during the 15th-16th

century, Frontier Archaeology, 2014

[20] --------The Principal Sources of Arabic

Calligraphy in the Muslim World,

Pakistan Heritage, 2013

[21] Rogers, A. (1909) Tuzuk, RAS London.

[22] Saqi Musta‘id K. (1870) Ma ‘sir-i-

Alamgiri, Calcutta.

[23] Siddiqi, M.H, (1977) Tarikh -i- Hassan

Abdal, Lahore.

[24] Akbar Nama, (1883) Kanpur,

[25] Sir Sayyed A. K. 1963 Tuzuk-i-

Jahangiri, Ghazipur.

[26] Thomas Moore, (1817) The Lalla

Rookh, London.

[27] Villiers Stuart. (1913) Gardens of the

Great Mughals, London.







87

(Fig.2) The Plan of Wah Garden by the author







88

(Fig.2.1) A close up Plan of Garden by the author







89

(Fig. 4) Plan of the Hammam or Turkish Bath at Wah Gardens by the author.







90

(Fig. 5) A sketch of Eastern gateway of Wah Garden, engraving by G.T.Vigne 1835.

(Fig.6) Cross section drawing of the Hydraulic Engineering / water supply to the fountains at Wah Garden. Discovered and

drawn by the author



· 2020-01-31 · parallel with the length of the gardens for supplying water and enhancing the...

Documents