WAH BAGH 155 



holy place. Legends of Buddhist, Brahmin, 

 Mohammedan, and Sikh gather round the numer- 

 ous springs that gush out of the ground at the 

 north-west foot of the precipitous hill of Baba 

 Wali. 



The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Hwen Thsang, 

 journeyed from Taxila to visit the spring ; where 

 he mentions the tank, fringed with lotus flowers 

 of different colours, built by the Serpent King, 

 Elapatra one of those vague shadowy Naga 

 kings whose splendours haunt all Indian history, 

 and whose legendary doings reappear with a 

 strange persistence in old Indian gardens. 



The place is said to owe its present name to 

 Akbar, who was so struck with its beauty, that 

 it drew from him the exclamation of Wah Bagh ! 

 (Oh, what a garden !) and Wah Bagh it is to 

 this day. But it was Akbar's son Jahangir who 

 actually built the garden-palace. 



Moorcroft, who visited Wah nearly ninety 

 years ago, describes it at some length : " The 

 garden covers a space about a quarter of a mile 

 in length, and half that in breadth, enclosed by 

 walls partly in ruins. The gateways and turrets 

 that were constructed along the boundary-wall 

 are also mostly in a ruinous condition. The 



