The Charbagh Garden Design
The charbagh, the four-part garden plan that became the defining landscape form of the Mughal architecture tradition, is and influential garden types ever developed. The word charbagh means “four gardens” in Persian, and the basic plan divides a rectangular enclosure into four equal parts by means of water channels or walkways, with the principal building placed at the centre of the composition or at one end. The form was developed in the arid conditions of the Iranian plateau, was carried into South Asia by the early Mughal emperors, and was adapted to the conditions of the Indian subcontinent, producing a tradition that endured for roughly three centuries and that influenced the gardens of the Deccan, the Rajput courts, and the later Indo-Saracenic and colonial traditions.
Persian Origins
The charbagh is a direct descendant of the Persian garden, the bagh, that was developed in the arid conditions of the Iranian plateau and that is documented from the Achaemenid period onward. The earliest documented examples are found in the surviving Achaemenid garden remains at Pasargadae, where the ruins of the palace and garden of Cyrus the Great include a rectangular enclosure divided into four equal parts by means of stone water channels. The form was developed and refined in the gardens of the Sassanian, Timurid, and Safavid periods in Iran and Central Asia, and it became features of the Persian contribution to the wider Islamic and Central Asian architectural traditions. The charbagh form was the most widely exported of the Persian garden types, and it was the form that was carried into the Indian subcontinent by the Mughals.
Introduction to South Asia
The charbagh was carried into the Indian subcontinent by the early Mughal emperors, and the first Mughal gardens were established in the cities of Kabul, Kandahar, and Lahore in the early sixteenth century. Babur, the founder of the dynasty, recorded in his memoirs his pleasure in laying out gardens in the cities he founded, and the Bagh-i-Haft Awrang and other early Mughal gardens established the basic conventions of the tradition. The Ain-i-Akbari, the administrative compendium compiled by Abu’l-Fazl during the reign of Akbar, contains detailed descriptions of the imperial gardens at Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, and Lahore, and it provides a useful indication of the importance of the garden tradition in the imperial culture of the period.
The introduction of the charbagh to South Asia required a substantial adaptation of the Persian form to the different climatic conditions of the subcontinent. The arid conditions of the Iranian plateau, where the garden was a precious refuge from the surrounding desert, were replaced by the more varied conditions of the Indian subcontinent, where the garden had to compete with the natural fertility of the land. The adaptation involved the use of running water in more elaborate forms, the inclusion of a wider range of plant material, the integration of the building with the surrounding landscape in new ways, and the development of a series of regional variants that reflected the local conditions of the different parts of the empire.
The Four-Part Division and the Use of Water
The basic plan of the charbagh divides a rectangular enclosure into four equal parts by means of axial water channels and raised walkways. The principal building is placed at the centre of the composition or at one end, and the four parts of the garden are oriented towards the cardinal directions. The four-part division is closely associated with the symbolism of the four rivers of paradise described in the Quran, of water, milk, wine, and honey, and the four-part garden has been read as a representation of the Islamic vision of paradise.
The use of running water is a defining feature of the charbagh, and the integration of the water with the garden and the building is features of the tradition. The water is supplied by means of channels, pools, and fountains, and the sound of the running water is an important element of the design. The technology of water supply in the Mughal charbagh was a sophisticated combination of Persian and Indian techniques. The Persian qanat, the underground channel that carries water from an aquifer to the surface, was used in many of the imperial gardens, and the Indian techniques of well-digging, water-lifting, and irrigation were also employed.
The Plant Material
The plant material of the charbagh was carefully selected to reflect the conventions of the Persian garden, the climate of the Indian subcontinent, and the symbolic programme of the building. The plants typically included fruit trees, particularly citrus, mango, and pomegranate, flowering shrubs, particularly rose and jasmine, scented plants, and a number of trees that had symbolic significance in the Persian and Indian traditions. The cypress, with its upright habit and its association with mourning in the Persian tradition, was a common element of the planting, and the plane tree, with its broad shade and its association with the Persian poetic tradition, was also widely used. The use of the plants in the Mughal charbagh was a deliberate application of the conventions of the Persian garden, and it gave the gardens a distinctive character that has been the subject of considerable scholarly and literary attention.
Major Mughal Charbagh Examples
The major surviving examples of the Mughal charbagh include the gardens of Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, the gardens of the Taj Mahal at Agra, the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, the Nishat Bagh in Srinagar, the gardens of the Lahore Fort, the gardens of the Red Fort in Delhi, the gardens of the tomb of Akbar at Sikandra, and the gardens of the Bibi Ka Maqbara at Aurangabad. The gardens of the Taj Mahal are the most elaborate of the tradition, and the integration of the building with the charbagh garden is a defining feature of the design. The Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, constructed during the reign of Shah Jahan in the 1630s, are arranged on a series of terraces descending from the higher ground to the river, and the integration of the water, the planting, and the building is a particularly clear expression of the Mughal garden idiom. The gardens are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the “Fort and Shalamar Gardens, Lahore” inscription.
Influence on the Taj Mahal Gardens
The gardens of the Taj Mahal represent the most elaborate development of the charbagh tradition in the Mughal architecture tradition, and the integration of the building with the charbagh garden is a defining feature of the design. The garden, about three hundred metres on each side, is divided into four equal parts by means of axial water channels and raised walkways, and the principal building is placed at the centre of the composition. The whole represents a particularly clear expression of the Mughal garden tradition at its most elaborate.
Legacy and Influence
The charbagh has been garden types in the history of designed landscapes, and its influence extends well beyond the Mughal period. The form was adopted by the provincial Mughal courts, the Rajput kingdoms, the Deccan sultanates, the Sikh rulers of the Punjab, and the British colonial authorities, and it has been the subject of considerable imitation in the modern period. The persistence of the charbagh form in the Indian subcontinent, well after the end of the Mughal period, is a clear indication of the depth of the tradition, and the gardens of the Taj Mahal, the Shalimar Gardens, and the Nishat Bagh remain among the most visited and most studied landscapes in the world.
For the broader context of the imperial building tradition, the Mughal architecture overview pillar offers a synthetic account, while the Mughal gardens cluster examines the garden tradition in greater depth. The Taj Mahal and Humayun’s Tomb long-tail pages treat the major surviving charbagh examples in greater detail.
Sources
- Elizabeth B. Moynihan, Paradise as a Garden in Persia and Mughal India (1979).