Afghanistan - Bagh-e Babur

Bagh-e Babur is located on the slopes of Kuh-e Sher Darwaza, southwest of the old city of Kabul. The garden is c. 11.5 ha large and arranged in 15 terraces along a central axis in east west direction. From the top terrace, the visitor has a magnificent vista over the garden and its perimeter wall, across the Kabul River towards the snow covered mountains. Created by the founder of the Mughal dynasty, Ziihir ad-Din Muhammad Biibur (1483-1530), after his conquest of Kabul in 1504, Bagh-e Babur is one of the earliest surviving Mughal gardens. The king was a passionate gardener and personally designed and supervised at least 10 gardens in his capital Kabul (frontispiece). They are described in the BlJbur-name, but the historical name of Bagh-e Babur is not known. Excavations revealed that Babur did not design his garden on an empty plot: ruins of a monumental building dating to the 3rd century BC and traces of a subsequent occupation to the 15th century made it necessary to clear the ground before a large terraced garden with a different orientation could be landscaped at this very spot. For political reasons, Babur had to move east and conquered northern India in 1526; he died in Agra in 1530. Throughout his years in the flat, dusty plains of India he missed his home country and thus wished to be buried in Kabul. His body was transferred to Bagh-e Babur by his widow around 1544. The texts do not provide a reason why out of all gardens he chose this one. However, remains of older tombs with brick vaults and stone cists excavated underneath the tomb platform revealed that the area was already used as a cemetery, possibly by his Timurid kin -a finding which might provide a context for his choice.