68 THE GARDENS OF THE TAJ 



the garden, which now exhibited a variegated 

 parterre ornamented with flowers of the utmost 

 briUiancy of colours and of the choicest kinds." 



Akbar (1556-1605) was keenly interested in 

 horticulture, though garden building and design 

 do not seem to have had for him the attraction 

 they had for his grandfather Babar or his 

 son Jahangir. The Ain-i-Akbari gives in detail 

 the principal plants and flowers of the time. 

 " His Majesty looks upon plants as one of the 

 greatest gifts of the Creator, and pays much 

 attention to them. The horticidturists of Iran 

 and Turan have, therefore, settled here, and the 

 cultivation of the trees is in a flourishing state." 



In Babar's garden at Agra, named by him 

 the " Flower Scatterer," thousands of pine-apples 

 were produced yearly. One wonders if the 

 red-flowered oleanders flourished there, " the 

 particularly fine red kanirs " which Babar found 

 in a garden at Gwalior and transplanted with 

 such care to his new gardens at Agra. 



In speaking of gardens Jahangir refers to 

 those of the nobles of his Court, remains of which 

 can still be seen on the bank of the Jumna at 

 Agra. He stayed, he tells us, in the Dil Amiz 

 Garden at Lahore. He specially remarks on the 



