The Postcard
A postally unused postcard that was published by Shunker, Dass & Co. of Lahore. The card, which was printed in Saxony, has a divided back.
Shalimar Gardens, Lahore
The Shalimar Gardens (Urdu: شالامار باغ) are a Mughal garden complex located in Lahore, Pakistan. The gardens date from the period when the Mughal Empire was at its artistic and aesthetic height, and are now one of Pakistan's most popular tourist destinations.
The Shalimar Gardens were laid out as a Persian paradise garden intended to create a representation of an earthly utopia in which humans co-exist in perfect harmony with all elements of nature.
Construction of the gardens began in 1641 during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan, and was completed in 1642.
In 1981 the Shalimar Gardens were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Naming the Gardens
Courtiers told the Maharaja Ranjit Singh that:
"Shala is a Turkic word which means pleasure,
and the mar means a place in which to live."
However the arguments of the courtiers failed to make any impression on Ranjit Singh, and so he gave his own name to the garden, and called it “Shahla Bagh”, with “Shahla” meaning in Persian “Sweetheart” with dark gray eyes and a shade of red, and “Bagh” meaning “Garden.”
The courtiers highly praised the Maharaja's ingenuity in selecting so charming a name for the famous gardens of Láhore, and it was ordered, accordingly, that henceforth the gardens be called by that name, and written so in all public correspondence.
The gardens are however still known as the "Shalimar Gardens."
Location
The Shalimar Gardens are located next to the Grand Trunk Road, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of the Delhi Gate of the Walled City of Lahore. They provide a popular recreation spot for Lahore's residents.
History of the Gardens
Lahore's Shalimar Gardens were built by the Mughal royal family, primarily as a venue for them to entertain guests, although a large portion was open to the general public.
The gardens' design was influenced by the older Shalimar Gardens in Kashmir that were built by Shah Jahan's father, Emperor Jahangir.
However unlike the gardens in Kashmir which relied on naturally sloping landscapes, the waterworks in Lahore required extensive engineering to create artificial cascades and terraces.
The Shalimar Gardens were designed as a Persian-style Charbagh "Paradise Garden" - a microcosm of an earthly utopia. Though the word Bagh is translated simply as "garden," Bagh represents a harmonious existence between humans and nature, and represents a poetic connection between heaven and earth.
All natural elements of the Bagh are appreciated - including the sun, moon, and air.
The site was chosen for its stable water supply. The project was managed by Khalilullah Khan, a noble of Shah Jahan's court. Ali Mardan Khan was responsible for most of the construction, and had a 100-mile-long canal built to bring water from the foothills of Kashmir to the site.
The site of the Shalimar Gardens originally belonged to the Arain Mian family. Mian Muhammad Yusuf, then the head of the family, ceded the site to the Emperor Shah Jahan in order for the gardens to be built.
In return, Shah Jahan granted the Arain Mian family governance of the Shalimar Gardens, and the gardens remained under their custodianship for over 350 years.
Construction of the gardens began on the 12th. June 1641, and took 18 months to complete.
During the Sikh era, much of the garden's marble was pillaged and used to decorate the Golden Temple and the Ram Bagh Palace in nearby Amritsar, while the gardens' costly agate gate was stripped and sold by Lehna Singh Majithia.
In 1806 Maharaja Ranjit Singh ordered the Shalimar Gardens to be repaired.
The annual Mela Chiraghan festival used to take place in the gardens until General Ayub Khan forbade it in 1958. The Gardens were nationalised in 1962 by General Ayub Khan because Arain Mian family members had opposed his imposition of martial law in Pakistan.
Design and Layout of the Gardens
Mughal Gardens were based upon Timurid gardens built in Central Asia and Iran between the 14th. and 16th. centuries. A high brick wall richly decorated with intricate fretwork encloses the site in order to allow the creation of a Charbagh paradise garden - a microcosm of an earthly utopia.
The Shalimar Gardens are laid out in the form of a rectangle aligned along a north–south axis, and measure 658 metres by 258 metres, and cover an area of 16 hectares. Each terrace level is 4–5 metres (13–15 feet) higher than the previous level.
The uppermost terrace of the gardens is named Bagh-e-Farah Baksh, literally meaning Bestower of Pleasure. The second and third terraces are jointly known as the Bagh-e-Faiz Baksh, meaning Bestower of Goodness. The first and third terraces are both shaped as squares, while the second terrace is a narrow rectangle.
Shalimar's main entrance was onto the lower-most terrace, which was open to noblemen, and occasionally to the public. The middle terrace was the Emperor's Garden, and contained the most elaborate waterworks of any Mughal garden. The highest terrace was reserved for the Emperor's harem.
The square-shaped terraces were both divided into four equivalent smaller squares by long fountains flanked by brick khayaban walkways designed to be elevated in order to provide better views of the garden.
Cascades were made to flow over marble paths in what are known as chadors, or "curtains" into the middle terrace. Water collected into a large pool, known as a haūz, over which a seating pavilion was made.
Water Features of the Shalimar Gardens
The Shalimar Gardens contain the most waterworks of any Mughal Garden. They contain 410 fountains, which discharge into wide marble pools. The enclosed garden is cooler than the surrounding area because of the dense foliage and water features.
