ZAHIRUDDIN Mohammed Babur never thought much of Hindustan. It was, for this founder of the Mughal dynasty, ‘‘a land of little charm—its people possessing neither character, nor ability, nor wit.’’ Other such uncharitable remarks abound in the Babur Nama, his memoirs; strange considering history generally records him as a cultivated man.The heat of the North Indian plains must have got to Babur, a man who constantly longed for Kabul, a city he’d captured and loved. “Three things oppressed us in Hindustan, its heat, its violent winds, its dust,” he emphasises, as he goes on to talk about how he chilled it during the searing Indian summers. ‘‘Babur brought in his concept of gardens to India, with burbling water channels and fountains, and trees from lemon to cypress. He built Aram Bagh in Agra in classic Persian style on the banks of the Yamuna,’’ says conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah. The wind skimming coolness from the river waters would have brought some respite to the royal brow perched on an open air pavilion or chabutara, smelling the scents of lemons and jasmine, in the perfectly ordered and symmetrical gardens which made the whole river bank reminiscent of his native Ferghana (Central Asia). Beating the heat was also a matter of prime concern for his descendants who, from the palaces, cities and tombs they left behind, provide future generations with fine examples of how the higher-ups escaped the sun. Among the most remarkable in Akbar’s ill-fated Fatehpur Sikri is a five storey pavilion without any walls, where rows of pillars held up the roofs of the succeeding floors. And when the Jahapanah constructed the Agra Fort complex , the palaces were arranged along the Yamuna. Besides the choice of location, the architects during the Mughal era had other tricks to prevent their well-embroidered sleeves from getting all sweaty. ‘‘There were architectural details, as in Fatehpur Sikri, with tubular columns through which rain water flowed,’’ says historian Narayani Gupta. Gupta goes on to talk about stepwells in the north and the west, though these came into being around the 13th century. ‘‘Often you would have a mosque or a madrassa located near a stepwell, which would have provided wonderful air-conditioning. Tanks (hauz), recharged by monsoon showers, had palaces and public places near them, for example, the Hauz Shamsi and the Hauz Khas in Delhi,’’ says Gupta. Water was obviously a prime factor, and comprehensive engineering works, based on the Persian system of Quanat, were taken up to lure it to the abodes of the Mughals through canals that went on for kilometres or from wells that almost touched base with the core. Shahjahan’s Shalamar Gardens in Lahore was punctuated with water channels, fountains, water falls and bathing halls on numerous terraces, with separate pavilions for the royals, the courtiers and guests. The Rang Mahal in Delhi’s Red Fort complex is another example of ingenious thought. Through the centre of the Rang Mahal flowed the Nahr-i-Behisht (Stream of Paradise), a fountain (with water drawn from the Yamuna) that flowed via smaller channels into rooms at the Red Fort. ‘‘The water channels still cut through Delhi’s landscape. At the time of the Mughals, they passed via Chandni Chowk and Faiz Bazaar,’’ says Gupta. ‘‘The Mughals had summer and winter palaces. At every opportunity, some would escape to Kashmir, where they created more gardens,’’ says Lambah. Jehangir, adds Lambah, built water palaces at Narnaul in present day Haryana, near a lake, with small pavilions in the centre of the water body accessible by boats. Heat was not just a problem in life, the Mughals ensured that their eternal sleep, too, went on undisturbed. Their enormously-domed tombs were usually located within their favourite gardens, and as in the case of the Taj Mahal, right beside a river, surrounded by it. The concept of a burial ground in a garden, says Lambah, is also a matter of faith, one which links up to the Islamic idea of paradise. Afghan Sher Shah Suri’s tomb at Sasaram in Bihar, built in conformance to his own instructions, makes for a fetching picture, bang in the middle of a lake, and the man behind the Grand Trunk Road lies contentedly in the comfy environs of the high-ceilinged structure. Sher Shah didn’t mind being interned in Hind, but Babur would have none of it. When he died in 1530, his favourite garden Aram Bagh proved to be just a temporary resting place. In accordance to his will, the emperor was later buried in the cooler climes of his beloved Kabul.
