Bagh-e-Babur (Babur Garden), situated in the heart of Kabul, is the city’s most beautiful public garden and a top destination for Kabul residents and foreign tourists. Although the garden was ravaged during the civil war, extensive restoration has brought Bagh-e-Babur to its previous glory and it attracts thousands of visitors each day.
The garden was built by Zahir-u-ddin Mohammad Babur, first emperor of the Mughal Empire. Babur was the son of a Turk father and a Mughal mother, born 1483 in Andijan, a town in the Fergana Valley in present-day Uzbekistan. At the young age of 11, Babur inherited the kingdom of Fergana Valley after his father, Omar Shaykh Mirza, died.
By the age of 21, Babur conquered large parts of what is now modern-day Afghanistan and founded the Mughal Empire. He captured Kabul and was soon charmed by the city’s beauty, which at that time was dotted with lush green hills and flowing streams. In a poem to describe Kabul’s beauty, Babur wrote:
“If there is a paradise in the ground [world], it is this [Kabul], it is this [Kabul], and it is this [Kabul].” (Unofficial translation)
“If there is a paradise in the ground [world], it is this [Kabul], it is this [Kabul], and it is this [Kabul].” (Unofficial translation)
Babur was fascinated by the beauty of architecture and gardens. During his rule, he ordered the construction of several large gardens in Ogra, Gowalyar and Dulpoor of modern-day India. His grandsons, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, inherited his love of natural beauty and gardens.
Gardens from the Mughal Empire era are unique in their natural beauty and architecture. Mughal gardens were characterized by square and geometric shapes and designed with terraced gardens and straight streams for easy flow of water inside.
To remain true to the traditional design of Char Bagh [meaning ‘four gardens’, and name for the original design of the gardens], each garden terrace is divided into four sections. Generally, these gardens are composed of rectangular segments and straight lines, with no winding avenues or circular sub-gardens. Baburis [Mughal emperors] carefully selected the ideal locations to build their gardens. Often gardens were built at the bottom of hills and covered with beautiful trees and rocks.
Babur built several gardens in Kabul, but Bagh-e-Babur is considered his shining achievement, built on 11 hectares at the bottom of Shir Darwaza Mountain in the heart of the city. Babur requested to be buried at Bagh-e-Babur. Ten years after his death in 1540, his powerful grandson, Shah Akbar brought his body from India to be buried in the garden.
Bagh-e-Babur’s boundary wall is three meters high and made of clay. The garden’s perimeter is rectangular with stairways moving up and down the terraced slopes and sidewalks along the stream in the center of the garden. The stream originates from the pool built in the garden’s northeast corner. Sidewalks connect Shah Jahan’s mosque and ceremony hall with the caravansary (an inn for family or visitors) at the west side of the garden.
Bagh-e-Babur is well known not only for its art and architecture, but also for its various species of trees and plants, including pomegranate, apple, fig, peanut, date, apricot and almond, among others.
Bagh-e-Babur is well known not only for its art and architecture,
but also for its various species of trees and plants, including
pomegranate, apple, fig, peanut, date, apricot and almond,
among others.
After Babur’s death, all Mughal emperors would make the pilgrimage to Kabul to visit Bagh-e-Babur and worship their grandfather’s grave. They replicated Bagh-e-Babur’s design while building gardens in India and Samarqand, a city in Uzbekistan. Bagh-e-Babur was reconstructed and extended many times by Mughal emperors. In 1647, Shah Jahan, who famously built the Taj Mahal in India visited Bagh-e-Babur and ordered the construction of a marble stone mosque. After the collapse of the Mughal Empire, the garden was damaged by an earthquake in 1842.
In 1890, Abdul Rahman Khan, then king of Afghanistan, rebuilt and decorated Bagh-e-Babur influenced by European styles. He constructed a gathering hall in the center of the garden west of Babur’s grave and another caravansary was built in the south of the garden for his family and guests. This caravansary building was used as the German Embassy from 1914 to 1915.
Following the kingdom of Nader Khan in 1930, the garden opened to the public after having been an exclusive sanctuary for kings and royal families for centuries. Soon after, several new buildings were introduced to the garden and housed facilities for a school, hospital and music hall.
During the civil war, Bagh-e-Babur was severely damaged and all its buildings were set on fire.
Following the collapse of the Taliban and establishment of the new interim administration of Afghanistan, the Agha Khan Development Foundation (AKDF) reconstructed the garden in cooperation with the Kabul Municipality and Ministry of Information and Culture. Millions of dollars were invested and reconstruction activities started in 2006 and finished in 2007.
AKDF has taken responsibility for the garden’s maintenance and control since 2007. Once the sanctuary of kings and emperors, today Bagh-e-Babur is one of the most popular destinations for Kabul residents and foreign tourists. The garden receives thousands of visitors every day and the money earned from ticket sales is used for upkeep of the premises.
