Indian Gardens 
should be planted first: 
phulsah( Grewia asiatica ), 
neal bhela, or marking 
nut tree,poona <g[Rottleria 
tinctoria ), Sirish ( Mimosa 
sirissa ), and nim ( Melia 
azardirachta ), as they are 
lucky : after this planta¬ 
tions of any kind may be 
made.” The following 
trees should be planted 
on the four sides of the 
gardens, within the 
ditches (irrigation chan¬ 
nels): on the east side, 
caronda ( Carissa ca- 
rondas ) ; on the south, 
bamboo; on the north, 
conor,or )\.\)\\bz{Zizyphus 
jujuba) and caith ( Feronia 
elephantum ),- on the west, 
amlah (Emblica officinalis) 
and bel [A’bgle marmelos). 
No kind of thorny plant 
should be planted near or 
in the entrance of a house — a very sensible 
limitation. Trees and flowers were also 
chosen as bearing some symbolic meaning, 
or from being sacred to the gods. The 
Asoka tree, with its splendid scarlet blos¬ 
soms, is sacred to Shiva; the jasmine flower, 
to Shiva and Vishnu ; the champak blos¬ 
som, to Kama Deva, the Indian Cupid. 
The famous gardens in the north of India, 
of which a more definite account will be 
given, are all of the Mogul epoch. Babar, 
the first of the Great Moguls (1494—1530) 
and prince of gardeners, has given in his 
memoirs the following description of one of 
the numerous gardens he laid out in his 
kingdom of Kabul, before the conquest of 
Hindustan : “In this district (the Istalif 
district, to the northwest of Kabul) is a gar¬ 
den, called ‘Bagh-e-Kilan’ (the Splendid Gar¬ 
den), which Ulugh Bey Mirza seized upon. 
I paid the price of the garden to the propri¬ 
etors and received from them a grant of it. 
On the outside of the garden are large and 
beautiful spreading plane-trees, under the 
shade of which there are agreeable spots, 
finely sheltered. A perennial stream, large 
enough to turn a mill, runs through the gar¬ 
den and on its banks are planted plane 
and other trees. Form¬ 
erly this stream flowed in 
a winding and crooked 
course, but 1 ordered the 
course to be altered ac¬ 
cording to a regular plan 
which added greatly to 
the beauty of the place.” 
In a valley close by he 
confined a rivulet within 
artificial banks “and 
caused a channel to be 
dug for it over one of the 
heights on the southwest 
of Seyaran.” On the 
top of this height he 
formed a circular platform 
on which to sit and take 
his ease. 
In another district of 
Kabul he planted a gar¬ 
den, named by him 
‘Bagh-e-Vafa’, or Garden 
of Fidelity, which he de¬ 
scribes thus: “It over¬ 
looks the river, which flows between the 
fort and the palace. In the year in which 
I defeated Behar Khan, and conquered La¬ 
hore and Dibalpur, I brought plantains and 
started them here. The year before 1 had 
also planted the sugar-cane in it, which grew 
and thrived. It is on an elevated site, en¬ 
joys running water, and the climate in the 
winter season is temperate. In the garden 
there is a small hillock from which a stream 
of water, sufficient to drive a mill, inces¬ 
santly flows into the garden below. The 
four-fold field-plot (i. e., a part of the garden 
divided into four compartments in the old 
Mogul fashion) of the garden is situated on 
this eminence. On the southwest part of 
this garden is a reservoir of water, ten gez 
square, which is wholly planted round with 
orange trees ; there are likewise pomegran¬ 
ates. All around the piece of water the 
ground is quite covered with clover. This 
spot is the very eye of the beauty of the 
garden. At the time when the orange be¬ 
comes yellow the prospect is delightful. In¬ 
deed the garden is charmingly laid out.” 
Some years afterwards, returning from one 
of his Indian campaigns, he hastened to visit 
his beloved Garden of Fidelity and found it 
A GARDEN, FROM AN OLD INDIAN 
PAINTING 
214 
