Botanical Culture of Mughal India: (Ad 1526–1707)

Copyright © 2018 by Versha Gupta.

ISBN:                  Softcover                        978-1-5437-0335-1

                            eBook                              978-1-5437-0336-8

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CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Development Of Horticulture

Royal Gardens

Society And Plantation Of Trees

Botanical Products And Their Significance

Preservation Of Fruits And Flowers

Appendix - I

Appendix - II

Appendix - III

Appendix - IV

Appendix - V

Bibliography

MAPS

1.   Areas famous for different varieties of fruits

2.   Areas famous for tree products

3.   Different Industries related to the Botanical Products

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1.   CHASHMA SHAHI KASHMIR

2.   NISHAT GARDEN KASHMIR

3.   NASEEM BAGH SRINAGAR

4.   PINJAUR GARDEN

5.   WATER AS A DECORATIVE FEATURE PINJOUR GARDEN

6.   CHINAR TREE IN KASHMIR

7.   BARADARI AT SHALAMAR GARDEN KASHMIR

PREFACE

Indian society since times immemorial has played an important role in the preservation and sustenance of the environment. Keeping this aspect in mind various environment friendly practices were either initiated afresh or were continued albeit with some modifications by the Indian society and enlightened rulers who had public welfare as their supreme motto. This trend of preserving environment and its surroundings was continued by the Mughal rulers with their notable contributions towards the initiation and propagation of botanical culture in india. The present work introduces the readers the culture of environmental protection which had been initiated and sustained, starting form the ancient and traversing through the Sultanate and the Mughal period. It minutely details the initiatives undertaken for the development of horticulture during the Mughal period. The work enumerates the contribution of the Mughal kings and nobility towards laying out the gardens on a exquisite scale. It also focuses on the activities initiated by the general public for the preservation of the ecology in the geographical areas inhabited by them. Various botanical products and the scientific inventions made in this field find due mention regarding their role in the upkeep of the economy and general prosperity of the society. The notable role of the religious elements of various hues and institutions established by them are the highlights of this work.

The historical analysis of this work is based on both the contemporary sources and modern works. The contemporary sources consist of the chronicles, archaeological remains, Mughal documents (farmans and prawanas) and travel accounts.The modern works pertaining to the social and economic history of medieval India are also utilised. The present study is an attempt to add botanical culture as a dominant part of the socio-economic life of the Mughal India. A survey of some existing Mughal gardens, particularly of the Punjab, Haryana and Kashmir has been made. Some of the photographs of these gardens and trees are appended in this work.

I express my sincere gratitude to the staffs of libraries of ICHR, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Jamia Milia Islamia, Krishi Bhawan, the National Archives of India, New Delhi; Osmania University, Hyderabad; Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba; Library of the Department of History, The Central Library, University of Jammu; Amar Palace library, the State Archives of Jammu and Srinagar, the Ranbir Library, Jammu for extending their help to me during my visits for the material collection.

I express my heartfelt and sincere gratitude to Professor Shailendra Singh Jamwal of Department of History, University of Jammu who always encouraged me in completing this task. I am greatly thankful to my teacher Professor Jigar Mohammad of Department of History, University of Jammu in helping me to bring out this work. I express my deep gratitude to Pranvee Fathepuri, Sana and Neeraj Jandial who helped me in accomplishing this task. I am also thankful to my publishing house Partridge India.

My thanks are due to the members of my family especially to my father, late shri Chander Prakash Gupta ji for encouraging me for acquiring higher studies and was happy to see me at academic work. I am also grateful to my mother Smt. Kamla Gupta for providing me material and moral assistance when it was needed. I take this opportunity to thank my husband Pawan Gupta and my son Siddharth who always assisted me and were source of inspiration in times of need and it is to my son this book is lovingly dedicated.

Versha Gupta.

INTRODUCTION

Indian society and state understood the plantation of both fruit bearing and non-fruit bearing trees as an integral part of their socio-economic activities. Though agricultural productions were the dominant source of the livelihood of the society and source of state’s revenue but right from the beginning people treated forest produce as an important source for fulfilling their day to day needs. Even before the man developed agriculture, he was dependent on trees for fulfilling his needs, he lived mostly on fruits and flesh. Man sought shelter of trees against inclement weather, got fruits and nuts to eat and wood for implements. It is from wood that he obtained fire which enabled him to cook his food and to warm his dwellings. And with the development of civilization the need for trees and tree products increased. Consequently, the culture of tree protection emerged in ancient Indian society.

The trend of tree plantation and protection of forests may be traced from ancient India. The plantation and protection of trees was understood as a pious work in the Indian society. During Harappan and Vedic ages certain trees were regarded as sacred notably the pipal. Even a seal of Harappan period depicts a horned goddess on a pipal tree. Aryans of the Vedic Age had great love for trees and flowers. In Mahabharata we find a numerous references of several trees such as mango, asoka, champaka, nag-champa, sal, coral and oleander, etc..

Continuity of cultural traditions in India is proverbial. This continuity is found in almost all the aspects of life including horticulture. During Sultanate period [1206 – 1526], the Sultans of Delhi worked for the improvement of Indian fruits and system of gardening as a whole. Firoz Tugluq (1351–1388) laid out 1200 gardens in the vicinity of Delhi. These gardens were embellished with the choicest fruits. Zia-ud-din Barni, Ibn-Batuta and Shams Siraj Afif have mentioned the cultivation of fruits like mangoes, melons, sugarcane, limes, pomegranates, narang, etc. However, under the Mughals botanical products became a major source of income for both the State and Society. Mughals fully realised the importance of trees and forests in the general economy and prosperity of the country and followed a definite policy for their conservation and scientific exploitation. A large number of changes took place in the product and practices of horticulture. All the Mughal emperors from Akbar to Aurangzeb shared a natural gift of the traditional Muslim interest in horticultural pursuits and were keenly desirous of promoting this particular branch of activity. Many contemporary Mughal sources refer to the development of horticulture during this period. Abul Fazl, the court historian of the Mughal emperor Akbar(1546-1605) writes that Akbar invited the horticulturists from Iran and Turan and got them to settle down in India. Seeds were imported from the far off countries to grow the best quality of fruit in the country. With the introduction of grafting system, quality of various fruits were improved.

A large number of gardens were constructed throughout the empire. These gardens gave a fillip to horticulture and plantation of numerous trees as well as many herbs and shrubs. Experiments on grafting and plantation of new varieties of fruits were carried out in these gardens. The variety of plants found in Mughal gardens was great and by some accounts, there were so many different types that gardens could be kept continuous bloom all the year. A large number of new fruits such as papaya, cashew nut, pine-apple were introduced during this period. Mughal Emperors themselves participated in the promotion of horticulture. Cutting of trees was regarded as punishable act. Jahangir(1605-1627) himself writes in his memoirs that he got the thumbs of a man to be cut because he had destroyed the Champa tree. No revenue was collected from the orchards. Akbar remitted the cess on the fruit trees i.e. Sar-i-darakhti. Jahangir too exempted the orchard land from the taxes.

Not only the ruling class but common people also took great interest in plantation of trees as trees were associated with all the socio-economic activities of the people and furnished them with all their needs. The trees contributed to the development of both the rural and urban economy of the empire. People worked for the expansion of the tree plantation and avoided their destruction.Trees were also worshipped especially by the Hindus. In fact tree worship was possibly the earliest and the most prevalent form of religion in India. Not only the trees but their products were also regarded as sacred. The tree products such as fruits, flowers, sandal, betel leaf, etc. were used for the religious purposes. Tree products were also an important requirement in the social occasions. With the progress of horticulture and process of intensification, the industry of flowers and fruit preservation became one of the dominant features of the economy of the Mughal Empire. Fruits and flowers were preserved in various forms such as pickles, marmalades, scents, perfumes, etc. During the 16th and 17th centuries with the the development of the urban centres the need for tree products increased. These were related with almost every important activity, wether it was the construction of the buildings, manufacture of the means of transport, for medicinal purposes, maintenance of silk industry and the manufacture of the house hold articles. Trees not only fulfilled the needs of the people but also gave promotion to number of industries. These industries in turn provided employment to a number of artisans as they were engaged in the manufacture of the different products and their manufactures were not only appreciated in the country but also in the foreign lands. There was a brisk trade in these products. all this widened the scope of Indian goods in the foreign markets and helped to improve the economy of the Mughal empire.

The value of this work lies in the fact that although many works on the economic activities such as agricultural productions, land revenue system and trade and commerce are produced by the modern historians but no detailed study of the botanical culture and horticulture in Mughal India is available. Therefore this work concentrates on the various aspects of the horticulture and botanical culture in India under the Mughals. Both the social and the economic significance of the botanical products have been covered. Role of the royal gardens in the expansion of horticulture and in the promotion of tree plantation in the different parts of the Mughal empire have been examined. The work is valuable for the study of the social and economic life during the Mughal period. From social point of view we find that there were many curious customs, traditions and superstitions among the people relating to trees. The work also concentrates upon the economic significance of the botanical products. The study provides a detailed account of the numerous tree products and their multiple uses. For instance, from Abul Fazl’s account we find that about seventy-two types of wood was available in india and different varieties of wood was used in the building industry and for the manufacture of the means of transport. The botanical products led to the development of the numerous industries and provided employment to a large number of artisans. For instance, in building industry we come across a number of artisans such as carpenters, pinjara saz, arrakash, patal band, lakhira, etc. Both horticulture and botanical products gave boost to the economy of the Mughal empire. The income from the fruits from the orchards and gardens is recorded by the sources of the Mughal period which shows that the state was conscious of the economic value of the botanical products.

This work is also of considerable value to the environmentalists because it throws ample light on the significance of the different varieties of trees and their products especially in today’s world where we are confronting the serious problems like global warming and climatic change which has occurred primarily because of the cutting of the trees and deforestation. In fact this work is important for every one because it makes us realise the importance of the trees in our life. More over this work also have some importance for the botanists because it provides along list of the numerous trees, plants, flowers, herbs and shrubs with their scientific names which were grown in India right from the ancient times.

DEVELOPMENT OF HORTICULTURE

Tree products were the major source of livelihood of the people of India from ancient period onwards. The trend of tree plantation and protection of forests may be traced from ancient India. The Aryans of the Vedic times were the great lovers of nature. They had great love for trees and flowers, and the very name they gave to flowers, Sumanasa – that which pleases the mind – reveals their aesthetic sensibility ¹. The ancient Indians greatly loved flowers and trees, specially the flowering trees, which were very frequently mentioned in poetry, especially the asoka (saraca Indica) – a smallish tree bearing a mass of lovely scarlet or orange blossoms; other favourites were the tall pale – flowered sirisa (Albizzia spp.), the fragrant, orange flowered kadamba (Anthocephalus cadamba), and the red Kimsuka (Butea frondosa); the banana (kadali) were grown for ornament as well as for its fruit. Bushes and creepers were also much loved especially the jasmine, of which there were many varieties; and the white atimukta (hiptage madablota); other popular trees were the campka (michelia champaca), and the hibiscus, or the china rose (japa). ² The rishis admired trees of forests because they were hardy and could survive the droughts. Sal trees in the month of June when grass dries up and the earth is brown look marvellously fresh and green.

Plant the mango, plant the tamarind, and plantain ;

cluster of fruits will weigh their boughs

plant ten kachnar trees for flowers;

In a garden set the tulsi

water them unweariedly, but they will wither

but trees in the forests,

which depend upon God alone,

never wither and die

the forest trees grow always ³

Hiuen Tsang, the famous Chinese pilgrim in India (A.D. 630) has given a list of fruits which he saw in India. The main fruits mentioned by him are "the amala fruit (ngan-mi-lo), the maduka fruit (mo-tu-kia), the bhadra fruit (pa-ta-lo), the kapittha fruit (kie-pi-ta),… the mocha fruit (mau-che), the narikela fruit (na-li-ki-lo), the panasa fruit (pan-na-so)… as for the date (tasu), the chestnut (lih), the loquat (p’l), and the persimmon (thi) they are not known. The pear (li), the wild plum (nai), the peach (t’au), the apricot (hang or mui), the grape (po-tau), etc., these all have been brought from the country of Kashmir and are found growing on every side. Pomegranates and sweet oranges are grown everywhere". ³a. The kings in ancient India made great endeavours to plant trees for instance Asoka (264 – 227 B.C.) encouraged the planting of trees in gardens and along the roads in form of avenues. ⁴ The tree products also contributed to the economy of the state in the ancient India and its is evident from the laws of Manu, which specify the king’s taxes in the subjoined terms He may also take a 6th part of the clear annual increase of trees, … medicinal substances, perfumes, liquids, flowers, roots and fruits… ⁵

Continuity of cultural traditions in India is proverbial. This continuity is found in almost all the aspects of life including horticulture. Religious injunctions both in Hinduism and in Islam, helped in planting trees all over the land; trees that were helpful to man in the economic sense of the word. ⁶ During the Sultanate period (1206–1526), the sultans of Delhi worked for the improvement of Indian fruits and system of gardening as a whole. From Alauddin Khalji (1295–1315) to Akbar (1556–1605) there was an emphasis on the planting trees that were useful as well as charming from aesthetic point of view. Firoz Tugluq (1351–1388) was exceedingly fond of laying out gardens and is credited with the laying of 1200 gardens in the vicinity of Delhi, these gardens were embellished with the choicest fruits. These efforts led to a general improvement in the quality of the most of fruits. In every garden there were white and black grapes and fruits of rich variety. The grapes became so cheap that they sold at one jital per seer. This contributed to state economy also. The state’s share of income from these gardens amounted to 80,000 tankas annually. ⁷ Moreover the canals of Firoz Shah which supplied water to the new cities of Hisar Firoza and Firozabad, they gave a great flip to the horticulture of the areas. Historian Ziauddin Barni has visualised the cultivation of fruits like mangoes, melons, figs, oranges, limes, pomegranates and apples and flowers like roses, etc. ⁸ Other fruits mentioned by Historian Sirajuddin Afif, a contemporary of Firoz Shah Tuglaq are:

Sugarcane, both black and ponda; sadaphal, jundhari, narang and sikandwal, etc. ⁹

Father Monserrate has mentioned that Firoz Tugluq got trees to be planted in long avenues on both sides of the roads in his dominions. He writes:

Peruzis ¹⁰ who was Pathan by race, was much devoted to piety; for he gave orders that through out his dominions, at the intervals of every two miles, resting places should be built in which a shady tree should be planted… He also planted trees in a long avenue on both sides of the roads, where there was room, in order that tired way fares might find shelter. ¹¹

We get references to plantation of pleasant grooves of trees in Kashmir by Sultan Zain-ul Abidin (1420-1470). He built a palace in the middle of lake Ulur, and planted grooves of trees, so that there can be but few more agreeable places in the world. ¹² Sikander Lodi (1488–1517), paid a special attention to the culture of pomegranates in Jodhpur, and he confidently declared that Persia could not produce pomegranates which would compare favourably with the Jodhpur variety in flavour. ¹³ Ibn Batuta in his work Rehla has described the fruits and trees of Hind: these fruits were mango (amba), kathal (jack fruit), tendu (diospyros peregrine), jambol (jaman, syzgiumcu-mini), sweet orange (naranj), madhuka latifolia (mahwa), kasera (scir-pusgrossus) and pomegranate (rumman). ¹⁴ The culture of flowers is of very ancient date in Hindustan. They have been remarkable for their charm and beauty e.g. marigold. Whole chapters of their books have been devoted by Amir Khusrau and Malik Muhammad Jaisi to the description of flowers of the land. ¹⁵

During Mughal period horticulture received an special attention of the ruling class. A large number of changes took place in the product and practices of Horticulture. All the Mughal emperors from Babur (1526 –1530) to Aurangzeb (1658–1707) shared the natural gift of traditional Muslim interest in the horticultural pursuits and were keenly desirous of promoting and popularising this particular branch of activity. As one finds that a striking feature of India is the extraordinary variety of its physical aspects, vegetation and her people. Babur the first Mughal emperor had a keen sense of observation and his memoirs provide a vivid account of the country in the early sixteenth century. Coming from the temperate Central Asia, He felt the uniqueness of the country.

Hindustan is a remarkably fine country. Its hills and rivers, its forests and plains, its animals and plants, its inhabitants and their languages, its winds and rains are all of different nature. ¹⁵a

Babur’s love for fruits and natural beauty imbibed him with a desire for planning for gardens. On the banks of Jamuna, he raised several gardens with beautiful flowers and fruit trees. ¹⁶ His daughter Gulbadan Begam has described him as planter of trees. ¹⁷ Babur has given a detailed description of the fruits of Kabul and Samarkand. About the fruits of Samarkand he writes;

Grapes, melons, apples and pomegranates, all fruits indeed, are good in Samarqand; two are famous, its apples and its sahibi (grapes). ¹⁸

Babur had so much love for fruits that when he was in India, he wept at the sight of the fruits that were sent to him from the Kabul. ¹⁹ Like Babur his successors also had great interest in the development of horticulture. Akbar (1556-1605) his grandson, a wise and tolerant statesman and a brilliant General, could spare time to set out plantations with his own hands. He had obtained Irani and Turani horticulturists and caused them to settle down in India. According to his court historian Abul Fazl:

His Majesty looks upon the fruits as one of the greatest gifts of the creator, and pays much attention to them. The horticulturists of Iran and Turan have, therefore, settled here, and the cultivation of trees is in a flourishing state. ²⁰

Akbar’s son Jahangir (1605–1627) was even more devoted to his gardens and intensely interested in botany, observing fruits and flowers he saw upon his marches with meticulous care. He was very much fond of fruits especially mangoes, and had fruits served as relish with his drinks. He even exempted the cultivation of fruits from tax to encourage horticulture. ²¹ Shahjahan (1627 –1658) often left the fortress (palace) early in the morning, and as a recreation would gather fruits in the garden in the company of his favourite pages. ²² Even during the reigns of the later Mughals period we get numerous references to the development of Horticulture from various travel accounts and contemporary Persian and vernacular sources. Bernier, a French Physician who lived in India from 1656 – 1668, has given the account of the fruit market of Delhi in which various types of good quality fruits were available. According to him pears and apples of all sorts were available and there were melons which lasted the whole winter. ²³ Manucci, a Venetian has also praised the quality of the Indian fruits. He