154 GARDENS OF THE DAL LAKE 



were permitted to accompany the Emperor and 

 Empress. What intrigues and heart-burnings 

 there must have been over the question of 

 privilege, since courtiers not in favour were 

 condemned to stop short at the foot of the great 

 mountains in the suffocating heat of the Bember 

 ravine ! The summer Bernier visited Kashmir, 

 Fadai Khan, Grandmaster of the Artillery, 

 Aurungzeb's trusted foster-brother, was left in 

 charge, stationed as a guard below the pass, 

 " until the great heat be over when the King 

 will return." 



There are three old routes into the country : 

 by Bember and the Pir Panjal ; the Jumna 

 route by Verinag ; and a much longer journey 

 from the north-west through the valleys of the 

 Kishenganga and Jhelum. This last seems to 

 have been the natural outlet from Kashmir and 

 the most frequented route in early times. At 

 Hasan Abul, where the road leaves the plains, 

 the Mughal Garden of Wah Bagh can still be 

 seen. It was built here on account of the springs 

 and used as an Imperial camping-ground. 



Hasan Abul, like Bawan, Achebal, Verinag, 

 and Pinjor, is one of those naturally beautiful 

 spots which each religion in turn claims as a 



