Gardens of Babur
The Gardens of Babur (باغهای بابر, Bāgh-hā-ye Bābur) are a historic garden complex in the Guzargah neighborhood of Kabul, on the western slope of Sher Darwaza mountain. Covering 11.5 hectares (28 acres), they are the final resting place of Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire, and one of Afghanistan's most significant cultural landmarks.[1][2]
Babur's design
Babur captured Kabul from the Arghun dynasty in 1504 and ordered the construction of an "avenue garden" on the hillside, described in his memoir, the Baburnama. The original design featured thirteen terraces descending the slope, connected by marble-lined water channels — an early example of the Mughal charbagh tradition that would later produce the gardens of Agra and Lahore.[1][2]
Babur died in 1530 and was initially buried in Agra, but his remains were reinterred in this garden around 1544, in accordance with his wishes.[1]
Mughal additions
Over the next century and a half, successive Mughal emperors embellished the garden:
- 1607: Emperor Jahangir visited and ordered walls around all Kabul gardens, laid a prayer platform at Babur's grave, and placed an inscribed headstone.[1]
- 1638: Emperor Shah Jahan erected a marble screen around Babur's tomb and built a mosque on the terrace below.[1]
- 1675: Emperor Aurangzeb dedicated a white marble mosque marking his conquest of Balkh.[1]
War and restoration
The garden suffered severe damage during the Afghan Civil War (1992–1996), when most trees were cut for firewood and structures were damaged. In 2002, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) signed an agreement with the Transitional Afghan Administration to rehabilitate the garden. The restoration, completed in 2008, reconstructed Babur's grave enclosure from marble fragments, re-roofed Shah Jahan's mosque, and re-established the marble-lined water channel and thirteen-terrace system. The garden was placed under the management of the independent Bagh-e Babur Trust in January 2008.[2][3]
By 2016 the garden attracted over one million visitors annually, making it one of Kabul's most popular public spaces.[1]
Notable burials
The garden contains the graves of several Mughal royals:
- Babur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire
- Khanzada Begum (1478–1545), Babur's sister
- Hindal Mirza (1519–1551), Babur's son
- Gulbadan Begum (1523–1602), Babur's daughter, author of the Humayun-Nama
- Mirza Muhammad Hakim (1553–1585), Babur's grandson[1]