113
THE GENESIS IN THOUGHT AND IDEAS BEHIND THE DESIGN OF THE MUGHAL GARDENS IN INDIA
MOHAMMAD GHARIPOUR
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA -- CHARLOTTE
1. Mughals in India; Political Context
Any discussion on Mughal gardens in India without having an understanding of the socio-political situation of that age and the importance of royal patronage is impossible. Such contextual study could enable us to assess the degrees of foreign influence versus local trends which led to the formation of a collection of gardens in a large territory from Kabul to Delhi for about three centuries. What is called as “Mughal Indians” was the dynasty of Central Asian origin that ruled portions of the Indian subcontinent from 1526 to 1857. It was founded by Babur (1526–30), a prince descended from Timur and Genghis Khan. Babur invaded Kabul and Delhi in 1526. Supported by the Safavid court, Babur’s successor, Humayun (1530-1555), could regain his lost territory and re-establish Mughal power in the subcontinent after the capture of Kabul in 1545, and Delhi in 1555. Akbar (1556–1605), who inherited a small and precarious kingdom, stretched it from Kabul to the Deccan. Akbar’s son, Jahangir (1605–27) continued the policies set in place by his father and, for the most part, did not interfere with the institutions of state. While his son, Shah Jahan, mainly developed art and architecture in his territory without being worried much about politics. His grandson, Aurangdzeb, expanded Mughal territory to its greatest extent, but at the same time suffered from several Hindu revolts.[1]
Babur and his successors were well-known in history because of their great interest in arts and architecture. In his memoirs, the Babur-Nama,[2] Babur expressed his lifelong interest in horticulture and his attraction as a young man with the gardens of the Timurid capitals in Samarkand and Herat.[3] According to Babur-Nama, Babur himself laid out gardens and built palaces. An illustrated version of Babur-Nama, shows how careful he controlled his craftsmen and architects who were laying out a chaharbagh.[4] After Babur his successors followed this pattern. Although his son, Humayun didn’t have much time to spend for designing gardens, his tomb is the earliest example of Mughal garden mausoleums. Akbar (1556-1605), Babur’s grandson, annexed Vale of Kashmir, which, with its enclosing mountains, flowing water, and rich vegetation with numerous settings for dramatic water landscapes.[5] He also erected a series of palaces at Kashmir, Agra, Lahore, and Fatehpur. Tuzuk-I Jahangiri, the memoirs remained from Jahangir attests his impressive level of interest in painting, architecture, and gardens. The dynasty’s greatest patron of architecture, Shah Jahan (1628–58) reconstructed the palaces at Agra and Lahore and constructed a mausoleum at Agra, called Taj Mahal. This interest in arts gradually disappeared with a gradual increase of Islamic orthodoxy in Mughals’ court. Aurangzib’s gardens at Awrang-abad in the Deccan are two of the last examples of the eMughal landscape architecture.
2. Cultural Connections
A. Nomadic background: Timurids and Mongols
Historical references written by Clavijo, Sharaf Al-Din Ali Yazdi, and Ahmad ibn Arabshah indicate that Timur and his court lived in tents (yurt-aq oya) during most of the spring and summer. These accounts even describe the ceremonies that Timur’s family members such as Ulugh Beg held in these gardens. A miniature painting in Zafarnama illustrates Timur and his courtiers in a garden, filled with tents.[6] Gronke states, when Timur chose a capital, he “gave up the fundamental nomadic principle of mobility and local independence.”[7]
Babur as descendant of Timur tried to regain the control of his grandfather’s capital, Samarkand.[8] Babur’s memoirs demonstrate that he was an intelligent leader who was aware of Timur’s cultural interests such as gardens and probably tried to keep them as a heritage. Babur never got settled and continued Timur’s nomadic life, mainly because he was always involved in ruling his army. More or less, Babur’s successors never felt safe and most of them had to keep their dynamic life style. Such phenomenon changed their perception of place. For these nomadic people, “place” had mobility qualities and garden was something which should have the enough room (and spatial flexibility) to fit their army. Babur, who had inherited this habit from Timur, designed his gardens in a way that they could be filled by army tents.[9] Such capability made him and his architects to reduce the density of planted areas (to increase void spaces) in their gardens. This trend changed after the 17th century as the result of the increasing power of Mughals and getting settled in subcontinent. In that respect, if gardens for Babur, like his grandfather, were calm places which could make him and his soldiers mentally prepared for his wars, they had different meanings for Shah Jahan, who was more settled down and used to urban life style.
Considering their Timurid background, we can ask what influences the early Mughal gardens got from the concepts of the earlier Timurid gardens in Samarqand, Herat, Tabriz, and Yazd.[10] The plans of Timurid gardens show that in all of them, the chaharbagh was an established layout. Clavijo and Babur’s accounts of Timurid gardens prove their huge number in this area. We can assume that the young Babur, who explains his fascination by these gardens in his memoirs, got motivated to continue this trend. But we don’t know what ideas Babur got after observing these gardens and spending some time over there. To answer this question, we need to briefly investigate the principles of garden design in the Timurid age, which could affect Babur. Influenced by Islamic ideologies, Timurids considered gardens as symbols of paradise. This strong belief was even reflected on the façade of Timurid buildings in form of vegetal and floral motifs. The tree-of-life designs in the shape of isolated trees on the façade of mausoleums at Samarqand (Shirin Bika Aqa, Tuman Aqa, Saray Mulk Khanum) and in the mausoleum of Ulugh Beg’s relatives in Shahr-I Sabz show these patterns. Golombek and Wilber believe that these illustrations are more than simple ornaments and decorations, and probably have iconographic values.[11] It is evident that Timurid should not be credited for inventing such iconography, which was already an established tradition in Islamic buildings, but using the same patterns over and over could lead us to their extreme belief in Paradise. Another significant factor, that could have influences on Babur was Timur’s insistence on monumentality of buildings.[12] Collecting artisans and architects (from 1379) from his conquered lands gave him this opportunity to reach his goals in creating monumental buildings. Studying Babur-Nama reveals that such passion for art, architecture, and garden was transferred to Babur who was very proud of his ancestry. Babur’s buildings such as the Bagh-I Babur in Kabul show his passion in creating monumental building.
B. Dependency on Persians
Another important factor in the history of Mughal gardens is Mughals’ relations to Persians. It is stated that Babur was very familiar with the Persian culture, fluent in Persian, and even interested in Shi’ism, though being a Sunni.[13] An illustrated version of Babur-Nama, includes Babur’s memories in Persian language. The poetic language that he uses in this book shows his mastery in Persian. Babur, who didn’t hide his fascination by Persian culture and literature (like his grandfather), hired Persians artists, architects, and craftmen in his court. After decades, his son, Humayun, who was exiled to Iran was kindly hosted by Shah Tahmasp and could gain the power with the support of the Safavid court. After that Humayun and his successors felt that they are indebted to Safavid kings. Such feelings and political and cultural exchanges kept the relations between Safavid and Mughal Empire very warm and strong. These good relations continued in form of exchanging architects and artists in the whole period. The large number of Persian artists, architects, craftsmen, and poets who were working for Mughal kings is an attest to this claim. For example, Haji Begom, Humayun’s widow, hired Mirak Mirza Ghias, a Persian architect to erect a mausoleum for Humayun. It has been said that 200 Persian stonemasons were hired for this construction.[14] The large number of Persian workers for such project could not be possible without the support of the Safavid court. This trend continued by hiring Persian architects and craftsmen in several projects such as Taj Mahal.
The next question is why Babur and his successors showed that excitement to hire Persians in their court in India, which already had a rich artistic and architectural heritage. The reason could be the difference between their aesthetic values and tastes and the Indians’. The following quote from Babur can prove this assert: “Hindustan is a country of few charms….in handcraft and work there is no form or symmetry, method or quality.” He also adds “, except their large rivers and their standing-waters which flow in ravines or hollows (there are no waters). There are no running waters in their gardens or residences. These residences have no charm, air, regularity or symmetry.”[15] Based on Babur’s statement, it could be concluded that the Mughals, especially their early rulers such as Babur, felt closer to Persian concepts and ideas rather than the Indian ones.[16] But we should note that this point cannot be easily generalized to all Mughal kings, who gradually became part of the Indian culture. But it could justify Persians presence in Mughals’ court. Moreover, another benefit of having foreign craftsmen and architects was to bring all their technical mastery and artistic traditions. That could probably satisfy their Mughal patrons who were very demanding and apparently very familiar with stylistic trends. In that sense, we can agree with Golombek, who puts these gardens in a wider category, “Persianate gardens.”[17]
C. Other Influences
Mughal gardens could have other significant sources of influence. One of these sources could have been the long tradition of landscape design in China. Unfortunately, most studies done by well-known scholars in this field such as Golombek, Wilber, Wescoat, Koch, Ettinghausen, and Moynihan have ignored the resources (in terms of materials or concepts) that Mughal Indians could receive through their eastern boundaries. Such trend was probably launched by Gothein who separated these gardens from Chinese and Japanese gardens (“eastern gardens”, as she calls them) simply because of the lack of evidence which could prove the connection between Buddhist India and her neighbor, China.[18] It seems that giving all the credit to Islamic and Persian concepts as inspiration sources for Mughal gardens is an oversimplification, especially when we know that a school of landscape design was being developed at the time of Mughals in India.
4. Characteristics
A. The Pre-Mughal Background
Once Mughals arrived India, they faced an established tradition of garden design, which had roots in Indian culture and mythologies. Water was a significant element in Hindu mystic tradition and necessary in Indian religious ritual.[19] Rich geography of India included Himalaya and Vindhya mountains and Gange, Godavari, and Yamuna rivers and Naimisa forest.[20] All these places, according to Eck, “affirmed to have particularly strong strands of connection to the macrocosm.” Eck adds, these elements and places create a “spiritual ford, a place of pilgrimage.”[21] Indian religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism all confirmed and shaped traditions which were based on natural elements such as plants, trees, and flowers. That is why, probably, priests in India have maintained groves of flowering trees at temple sites. For Indians, certain trees and flowers have symbolic and metaphoric meanings and planting trees is an act of piety.[22] Unfortunately, the documents are not enough to illustrate gardens in pre-Mughal age. The influence of Hindu and Buddhist civilizations of India on later Indo-Islamic gardens could be a subject for further research.
Mughal gardens were spread in a wide geographical area from east boundaries of India to Kashmir and Lahore in west. Moynihan writes, “The custom of Persian gardens had not been adopted in India. The building of such geometrically-planned, water-oriented Paradise gardens by the Mughals was an achievement, as the land, the climate and the culture of Hindustan were incompatible with such a garden tradition.”[23] In contrast, Dickie believes that these gardens had this capability to adapt themselves to the conditions of the sites that they were located in. For example, he mentions with changing the density of plants, they attempted to find solutions to control periodical floods.[24] Similarly, Wescoat disagrees with Moynihan’s generalization. He refers to three autobiographies written by Mughal kings, Baburnama, Akbarnama, and Ain-I Akbari to show the relationship between Mughal gardens and their sites. These historical documents suggest that the process of site selection was a “regional sense of place,” as Ardalan and Bakhtiar call it.[25] The strong connection between Mughal gardens and their sites could be explained by studying the major climatic differences between the arid climate of Iran, as the origin of chaharbagh, and the fertile climate of nowadays India, Pakistan, and Kashmir. In the next section, we will indicate some examples to explore to what extent these gardens were site-specific.
C. Spiritual Concepts
Similar to other gardens founded in Islamic Persia and its neighborhood, gardens were considered more than material resources. Carrying a spiritual meaning, gardens were designed on metaphors and meanings which were mainly based on the perfection of earthly gardens as reflections of the paradise. The integration of such spiritual beliefs and gardens and their relation to Islamic concept of paradise has motivated some scholars such as Ettinghausen to categorize these gardens as “Islamic gardens.”[26] While it is correct that Islamic ideology used paradise as one of its major concepts, there are doubts
on the Islamic originality of “paradise.” In that sense, it seems that the term “Islamic garden” is an addition to some superficial readings of architecture in the Islamic world, which have been encouraged by some scholars. However, we can agree with Moynihan and Lehrman who preferred to categorize them as “Paradise gardens.” Such implication stresses on the spiritual and metaphoric values that the gardens had for their Mughal patrons. We can how these gardens which were originally places for encampment and pleasure could be related to these symbolic meanings? The answer is in a key monument, Humayun’s tomb garden, which later became a model for other Mughal gardens.