136 GARDENS OF THE PLAINS LAHORE 



was allowed to see are identical in both pictures . 

 So perhaps it is the Empress herself whom the 

 two attendants welcome with the tiny bunch of 

 sweet-scented flowers. Which of all her gardens 

 was it, one wonders, through whose half-opened 

 gate we catch a glimpse of the dainty white- 

 starred flowering tree ? 



Shah Jahan, Jahangir's son and successor, 

 built the Shalimar gardens at Lahore on the 

 model of his father's Kashmir garden. They 

 were commenced in 1634 by his architect, 'Ali 

 Mardan Khan. The making of one of these 

 huge water -gardens in the plains, with their tanks 

 and, literally, hundreds of fountains, was no easy 

 matter ; but 'Ali Mardan Khan was also celebrated 

 as an engineer he is said to have been the 

 greatest executive officer who ever served a 

 Mughal Prince. It was he who constructed the 

 canal which supplied Shah Jahan's Delhi, so that 

 each house could have its fountains and its tanks ; 

 the same canal somewhat remodelled is in use 

 to this day. Among other posts he held was the 

 governorship of Kashmir ; he is credited with 

 having first introduced the chenar (Oriental 

 Plane tree) into that country. While there he 

 would naturally become familiar with the royal 



