IRRIGATED GARDENS 11 



makes its other beauties possible. Solomon's 

 " garden of running water " is still an actual 

 reality. Thus the need of irrigation dictated 

 the whole plan and arrangement of these Eastern 

 enclosures,' and herein they differ from the 

 great Italian gardens, with which, at first sight, 

 they seem to have so much in common. This 

 resemblance is most striking where a hilly situa- 

 tion has been made use of, as in the Nishat Bagh, 

 which rises in grand imposing terraces from the 

 shores of the Dal Lake in Kashmir ; but while 

 in the villa gardens of Italy the beautiful foun- 

 tains and waterfalls are only one of the principal 

 adornments, in these Eastern baghs the water 

 is the very life and soul, the raison d^etre, of the 

 garden itself. 



A very good account of one of these Persian 

 gardens is given in a book edited by Major P. M. 

 Sykes, and called The Glory of the Shia World, 

 in which the arrival of a Vakil -ul-Mulk and his 

 entertainment at Mahun are thus described : 

 " However, thanks be to Allah, the garden 

 at Mahun was fitted to receive even such a 

 distinguished guest as the Vakil -ul-Mulk ; 

 and, since it is one of the famous gardens of 

 Persia, itself a land of most famous gardens, 



