charbagh

File:Naghshe Jahan Square Isfahan modified.jpg (constructed 1598–1629) in Isfahan, Iran]]

The traditional chaharbagh has a four-part garden layout with axial waterways joining at a small square basin in the garden's centre.

The chaharbagh layout originated in the paradise gardens of the Achaemenid Empire, as suggested by excavations at Pasargadae and Susa.{{cite encyclopedia|entry=Čahārbāḡ|title=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/caharbag-lit}} The highly structured geometrical scheme of the chaharbagh became a powerful method for the organization and domestication of the landscape, itself a symbol of political territory.D. Fairchild Ruggles, Islamic Gardens and Landscapes, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008, p. 39.

After the Muslim conquest of Persia, the chaharbagh was considered to represent the four gardens of Paradise mentioned in the Quran's 55th Chapter (Surah), Ar-Rahman ('The Beneficient'):

{{blockquote|And for him, who fears to stand before his Lord, are two gardens. (Chapter 55: Verse 46)

And beside them are two other gardens. (Chapter 55: Verse 62)}}

The waterways were considered to represent the four rivers mentioned in a hadith: Sayhan, Jayhan, the Euphrates and the Nile.

File:1508-Babur celebrates the birth of Humayun in the Chahar Bagh of Kabul.jpg celebrates the birth of Humayun in the charbagh of Kabul.]]

In the 16th century, the chaharbagh layout was brought from Iran to the Indian subcontinent by the Mughal dynasty founded by Babur, who was originally from Central Asia. This tradition gave birth to the Mughal gardens, which perhaps displayed its highest form in the Taj Mahal {{see below}}.

File:Humayun's Tomb, Delhi - Visit During WCI 2016 (37).jpg, Delhi, India]]

Several of the first Mughal charbagh gardens of monumental scale belonged to imperial mausoleums, such as the Bagh-e Babur at Babur's Tomb, in Kabul, Afghanistan (honoring the first Mughal emperor, Babur);[https://books.google.com/books?id=wnKiKy9_2u4C&dq=Humayun%27s+Tomb&pg=PA179 Mughul Tomb Gardens] The poetics of gardens, by Charles Willard Moore, William J. Mitchell. Published by MIT Press, 2000, p. 17. {{ISBN|0-262-63153-9}} the charbagh at Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, India (honoring Humayun, son of Babur); and the charbagh at the Tomb of Jahangir (honoring the fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir, son of Akbar) in Lahore, Pakistan.

File:Agra, Taj Mahal LCCN95505064.jpg, Agra, India, showing the square basin at the intersection of four waterways]]

The charbagh of the Taj Mahal is also the charbagh of a mausoleum, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (great-great-grandson of Babur) for his favourite Indian wife Mumtaz Mahal. Unlike the other tombs, the mausoleum is not in the centre of the garden, however archaeological excavations have revealed another garden opposite indicating that historically the mausoleum was centered as in tomb garden tradition.{{cite episode |title=Ep. 2 |series=Monty Don's Paradise Gardens |network=BBC}} In the charbagh of the Taj Mahal, each of the four parts contains sixteen flower beds.

File:'Pakistan'- Shalimar Gardens Lahore- By @ibneazhar Sep 2016 (38).jpg, Lahore, Pakistan, displaying the typical charbagh layout]]

Other Mughal charbagh gardens were built for leisure, without any mausoleum, such as the Shalamar Gardens (also known as the "Shahla Bagh"), in Lahore, Pakistan, which were also laid out by Shah Jahan. The Shalamar Gardens comprise two charbagh gardens separated by a gigantic pool.

A charbagh is located on the roof top of the Ismaili Centre in South Kensington, London.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/place_in_paradise/islamic.shtml A Place in Paradise] - radio coverage from the BBC about the charbagh garden on top of the Ismaili Centre in South Kensington

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• Paradise garden

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{{reflist}}

• Lehrman, Jonas Benzion (1980). [https://books.google.com/books?id=WwH5L6u6tu0C Earthly paradise: garden and courtyard in Islam]. University of California Press. {{ISBN|0-520-04363-4}}.
• Ruggles, D. Fairchild (2008). [https://books.google.com/books?id=848k_veh0IkC Islamic Gardens and Landscapes]. University of Pennsylvania Press. {{ISBN|0-8122-4025-1}}.

{{commons category}}

• https://villanews.ir/en/editorial/when-everything-starts-with-chahar-bagh
• [http://afghanistan.asiasociety.org/timeline/53/CE/1505 Babur's Garden] - video from the Asia Society, US

{{Horticulture and gardening}}

{{Islamic architecture}}

{{Islamic art}}

Category:Persian art

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Category:Types of garden

Category:Landscape design history

Category:Mughal architecture elements

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Category:Islamic architectural elements

Category:Islamic gardens