Indian Gardens 
THE NISHAT BAGH 
Interior of the lower pavilion looking toward the lake 
terribly, like all the other Mogul gardens, 
from neglect, spoliation and Europeaniza¬ 
tion, something of the original intention may 
be gathered from what remains. The fig¬ 
ure on the opposite page gives the plan of 
the gardens. They are divided into three 
terraces, the dimensions of the whole being 
five hundred and twenty yards in length and 
two hundred and thirty yards in breadth. 
A masonry wall twenty feet high surrounds 
the entire garden, and secured the privacy 
which Shah Jahan desired for his zanana. 
1'he first terrace is 
a square of two hun¬ 
dred and thirty yards, 
divided into four 
smaller squares by 
the principal water- 
channels. The water 
was brought from the 
distant hills by a 
canal constructed by 
Shah Jahan’s engineers at a cost of two 
lakhs of rupees (about one hundred thou¬ 
sand dollars). Each of the smaller squares 
is again subdivided into four squares, as 
shown in the lower left-hand corner of the 
plan, but the gardens have been so often 
the camping ground of marauding armies 
that it is difficult to say how much the 
present lay-out corresponds with the origi¬ 
nal design of the Moguls. In the center 
of the east and west boundary walls two 
large pavilions were placed for the conve¬ 
nience of the emperor 
and his zanana. The 
water from the cen¬ 
tral channel passes 
through another pa¬ 
vilion, overlooking 
the second terrace 
and, falling over a 
carved marble slope 
in front of this pavil- 
270 
