I

Indian landscape design

The history of landscape design of a region is about the changing rela5onship of human beings with nature over a period of 5me, a
rela5onship which then manifests itself in various designs forms. It is less about dates and 5me spans and more about the intrinsic
connec5ons of the landscape with the history of the people and their culture, which includes their science, art and literature.

The focus is to emphasize on a few of the dominant themes and percep5ons towards nature that shaped the Indian landscape.
The objec5ve is also to illustrate how history is a tool to understand the manner in which natural and cultural ecology worked
together to produce a very dis5nc5ve Indian landscape over 5me.

It would thus be erroneous to view the history of Indian landscape only through the lens of religion and instead to understand it in
the context of the ancient , medieval and colonial periods of Indian history.

NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION AND INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION ( 2600-1900 B.C.)

The rst urbaniza5on took place in the arid and semiarid region of northwest India in the
valleys of the Indus and the Saraswa5 rivers. This urbaniza5on is known as the Indus or
Harappan civiliza5on, which ourished during 2600-1900 B.C. The rest of India during this
period was inhabited by Neolithic and Chalcolithic farmers and Mesolithic hunter-
gatherers.
Long before the rst seOlements associated with the Harappan complex appeared, the
plains were doOed with the seOlements of sedentary agriculturists. By at least 3000 B.C.,
these pre-Harappan peoples cul5vated wheat and barley, and had developed sophis5cated
agricultural implements and cropping techniques. The pre-Harappan peoples knew how to
make bronze weapons, tools, and mirrors, and they had mastered the art of poOery
making. Probably popula5on increase required coloniza5on of nearby areas. Towards the
east, there were vast tracts of fer5le silt brought by the Indus River that were aOrac5ve
areas to colonize.
The Indus plains were made fer5le by the annual inunda5on of the river Indus, which
made it an area where, bush and wild grasses could grow. Seals from the Indus civiliza5on
depict a variety of animals, of which the 5ger, rhinoceros, and the elephant are the most
frequent. These are all animals, which require a reasonable forest cover. It has been
suggested that in the past there were forest galleries where these animals made a home
but which had disappeared in the last couple of centuries. Hence, in the semi-arid Indus
valley with only gallery forests and pliable fer5le silts to tackle, the new technologies
enabled the Neolithic farmers to colonize the Indus valley to generate enough agricultural
surplus to ini5ate the urbaniza5on processes.

Fall of the Indus Valley Civiliza5on
It appears that towards the close of the third millennium BC, owing to various pressures,
e.g. environmental and invasions, the Harappans moved eastwards into the Sarasva5
valley in Rajasthan. Owing to neo-tectonic movements the lineaments changed the
courses of the rivers and, as a result, the main feeders of the river Sarasva5, namely the
palaeo-Satluj and the palaeo-Yamuna, changed their courses and leV the Sarasva5 high
and dry. Once again environmental pressure pushed the Harappans further east 5ll they
reached the fringes of the Gange5c doab. However, the doab had a monsoonal ecology
with which the Harappans couldnot cope, and this led to the demise of the Harappan
culture in this area.

Ci5es around the indus plains

Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were sited close
to water sources to enable both irriga5on to
t h e h i n t e r l a n d a n d a s c h a n n e l s o f
communica5on facilita5ng trade.

ANCIENT PERIOD (1500 b.c. 700 a.d.)

At about the same 5me, semi-nomadic pastoralists from Central Asia made their
appearance in India. The Indo-Aryans were not originally agriculturalists. They were
pastoral nomads. They have brought with them the domes5c horse and two wheeled
chariots.
The early Aryans seOled in the northwestern plains. During 1500BC, the Aryans moved out
of the northwestern plains and into the Punjab and the Western Gange5c Valley, the
loca5on of the Mahabharata epic. From the Western Gange5c Valley, about the year 1000,
they shiVed to the Middle and Eastern Gange5c Valley which witnessed the events of the
Ramayana epic and rise of the rst poli5cal en55es known as Mahajanapadas as also of
Buddhism and Jainism.
During these periods, their society changed from tribal organiza5on to caste organiza5on
and their polity changed from tribes ruled by elected chiefs to liOle kingdoms ruled for the
most part by semi-divine kings--and then to larger monarchical states.

As human seOlements expanded,

land originally under tree cover was
c l e a r e d t o m a k e w a y f o r
cul5va5on.A dis5nc5on is made
between what they called Grama
and Aranya.
The Vedic tradi5ons arm that
every village will be complete only
when certain categories of forest
vegeta5on or trees (e.g., mahavan,
shrivan, and tapovan) are preserved
in and around its territory.
Mahavan adjoins the village,
p e r h a p s e q u i v a l e n t t o t h e
protected areas of today and
provides a place where all species
can coexist. Once some of the
original forest was cleared, the
Vedic culture also necessitated that
a n o t h e r k i n d o f f o r e s t b e
established in its place. This is
equivalent to todays produc5on
forests and it provides the
essen5al goods and services to
humans and livestock ( e.g., fodder,
5mber, roots, and herbs, besides
maintaining soil fer5lity, air and
water quality as well as providing
shelter), tradi5onally these are
called shrivan. The third category of
forests is tapovan, or the forest of
religion the home of sages. Being
sacred, no animal or trees could be
harmed in these forests. This kind
of forest is natural and untended.

ANCIENT PERIOD (1500 b.c. 700 a.d.)

As men5oned earlier the Harappans were not able to tame the monsoonal dense forests
of the Gange5c plains. As a result the urban civiliza5on declined. Early iron technology in
the Gange5c doab ( land between the two rivers) made its appearance with the advent of
the rst millennium BC. Iron is not much superior to bronze, but its mass-abundance made
it a powerful tool of agricultural transforma5on of the swampy, densely forested area of
the doab, surfaced by a soil full of kankar, into a fer5le area. During this 5me the Aryans
shiVed their livelihood from nomad pastoralism to a combina5on of pastoralism and
farming by 1000, and then, in the next ve hundred years to agriculture and trade. This last
transi5on is known as India's second urbaniza5on. The second phase of urbaniza5on of
India (aVer the Indus valley) marked by trade, coinage, script and birth of the rst Indian
empire, namely Magadha, with its capital at Pataliputra (modern Patna) also took place in
this region in the sixth century B.C.
In southern India, the Tamils were emerging as the dominant group. The people of the
south adopted the use of iron implement.

Gardens

Gardens were an indispensable feature in house and town planning in ancient India and
the art of gardening is men5oned as one of the 64 arts recognized in ancient India. There
are innumerable examples of gardening in ancient India: with Megasthenes describing the
palace of Chandragupta Maurya : the Yenuvana, Ambavana, Mahavana and the Jetavana in
the outskirts of saravas5, all royal gardens of early Buddhist 5mes which later were
opened to public and converted into permanent retreats for the wanderers of dierent
orders; the Chinese pilgrim Hsieun Tsang describing Nalanda of seventh century CE with
streams of blue water winding through parks and blossoms of sandal trees and mango
groves.

In late Vedic 5mes forests began to

serve as refuges or retreats for
brahmanical priests (and later for
o t h e r a s c e 5 c s a s w e l l ) t o
communicate spiritual specula5ons
and secret rituals to their disciples
in the seclusion thus provided to
them.
The later Vedic period also merges
smoothly with the period of middle
kingdoms. By Asokas 5me (reigned
268-241 BC), forest clearance,
especially along major routes,
seems to have progressed so much
that the highways passed in long
stretches through open or tree
less tracts; otherwise there would
have been liOle need for Asoka to
have referred with pride to his
eort to plant the banyan and other
trees along the roads in order to
provide shade to caOle and men .

MEDIEVAL PERIOD (700 a.d.-1750A.D.)

The Gupta Empire ended in 673 AD and the country was again, divided into small states
which perpetually fought among them. The poli5cal instability caused by the local conicts
was aggravated by repeated Muslim invasions from the west. Various muslim invasions
resulted in establishment of the Delhi sultanate in early 13th century. Five dierent
dynas5es ruled under Delhi sultanate Slave, Khaljis, Tughlaq, Sayyids and Lodis. It ruled
large region of the country, mainly northern part and later on many parts of southern India
between 1206CE to 1526CE. The Delhi sultanate was absorbed by the emerging Mughal
empire with Babur becoming the rst king. For the next two centuries, the country was
ruled by successive Mughal kings Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb.
Meanwhile in the south, the Vijaynagara Empire was established in 1336 by the Sangama
dynasty.

SULTANATE LANDSCAPES

A Turkish slave Mohammed Gauri established his kingdom at Delhi, inaugura5ng the Slave
Dynasty, (in 1206 A.D). Qutb-Din-aibak (1210 A.D.) made an important contribu5on to
architecture during his 5me. Very liOle informa5on about gardens is available. We have
some informa5on about the gardens and garden pavilions built during the reign of queen
Razia Begum (1236 A.D.). However, her rule was short lived. Perhaps, the king best known
for his love of gardens before Babar would be King Feroz Shah Tughlaq (1351 A. D.). Feroz
Shah Tughlaq carried out extensive opera5ons to establish fruit gardens in and near Delhi.
He laid out as many as 1200 gardens in Delhi area and 43 in ChiOor and restored 30
gardens of Allaudin khilji. True, the gardens may have been mainly fruit orchards, but
recrea5on was no small part of it. More use was made of running water in the gardens
Most of the gardens had irriga5on channels, and some had fountains also. The Lodhi
dynasty which ruled from 1450 to 1526 A.D., contributed greatly to architecture and to the
art of gardens in India. Their contribu5on to the art of Islamic gardens in India is of
importance to us. It might sound surprising but some of these gardens were more
advanced for their 5me than the gardens developed by Babar in India.

Religion, state and royalty

con5nued to be the three key
players managing the natural
r e s o u r c e s a n d m o u l d i n g
aqtudes to design with nature
through the mediaeval period
too. Trea5ses such as kitab al-
hind aOributed to the year
1030CE con5nued to try and
understand the landscape of the
subcon5nent. In giving detailed
informa5on on techniques of
hor5culture, these trea5ses lend
credence to the fact that the
plan5ng of gardens as sites of
intensive botanical inves5ga5on
a n d t h e i r f u n c 5 o n i n g a s
distribu5on centres in the
diusion of plants from region to
region was a dis5nc5ve feature
of the mediaeval period.

MEDIEVAL PERIOD (700 a.d.-1750A.D.)

SULTANATE LANDSCAPES

Gardens , or baghs , were an important part of the urban fabric in the sultanate era;
chroniclers have reported the existence of gardens such as Bagh-e-jud, Bagh-e-Khizrabad
and Bagh-e-Qutlugh Khan. LiOle is known of their exact form, however; the chronicles
describe them as simply beau5ful gardens surrounding palaces.

Feroz shah is credited with rst aOempts towards aoresta5on of large barren areas around his citadel, and
the building of a number of hun5ng lodges.

The Sultanate and Mughal rulers

did not have any special interest in
the conserva5on of forests; they
cleared them either for strategic
reasons or for other purposes. They
were, however, interested in
forests for hun5ng and in the
crea5on and maintenance of
gardens besides plan5ng of trees
along the highways and canals. The
Mughal emperor, Akbar, who
evinced interest in the plan5ng of
trees along canals, directed that
on both sides of the canal down to
Hissar, trees of every descrip5on,
both for shade and blossom, be
planted, so as to make it like canal
under the tree in paradise.

MEDIEVAL PERIOD (700 a.d.-1750A.D.)

MUGHAL LANDSCAPES

Gardens, par5cularly in the form of orchards, were probably valued from very early 5mes,
both for their produce and the pleasant micro climate they created. Gardens as pleasure
resorts however came into their own under the Mughals.

Site and surroundings
Sites possessing a dened iden5ty, for example, at the foot of the hill, or overlooking
the valley can be readily recognized as types of places where Mughal gardens are found.

Typically, in the pleasure gardens of Kashmir, the garden site is at the lower eleva5on of a
hill, between the hill and the lake. It is not accidental that this par5cular loca5on is the
perfect place from which spectacular views of the valley are revealed: to one side the
mountain at the back, on the other, the lake view. Towards the lake, the visual link
between garden and valley is marked by the ow of water in that direc5on and the
progression of terraces downwards with the grand chenars on either side. These direct the
eye away from the details of the garden to the extended lake panorama and hills beyond.
The garden celebrates the beauty of the valley. It transcends its visible physical limits, and
the internal space engages drama5cally with the larger seqng.

LEGEND
1.
Entrance
2.
Public garden
3.
Diwan-e-aam
4.
Diwan-i-khas
5.
Water throne
6.
Pavilions
7.
Zenana garden
8.
Black marble pavilion

Shalimar gardens

MEDIEVAL PERIOD (700 a.d.-1750A.D.)

MUGHAL LANDSCAPES

In the gardens of Humayuns tomb in Delhi, aOen5on focusses on the mausoleum
occupying the centre of the garden enclosure. At Taj Mahal in Agra, the mausoleum is
places at the end of garden, overlooking the river overlooking the river view, the base of
the tomb func5ons as a vast plasorm from whch to experience two worlds: the exquisitely
sophis5cated, enclosed paradise on one side, the robustly rural, dusty expanse of the
Jumna oodplain on the other.
Within forts and palaces this idea is demonstrated in the planning of gardens to look out
into countryside from an elevated viewpoint : the forts of Agra and Delhi

MEDIEVAL PERIOD (700 a.d.-1750A.D.)

MUGHAL LANDSCAPES

Within forts and palaces this idea is demonstrated in the planning of gardens to look out
into countryside from an elevated viewpoint : the forts of Agra and Delhi

MEDIEVAL PERIOD (700 a.d.-1750A.D.)

The Char Bagh
The arrangement of the Mughal garden is decep5vely simple .An orthogonal grid of paths
divide the space, four-fold or otherwise; the plots in between are lush with the foliage of
freely growing orchard trees, the whole interlaced with a network of water-channels
punctuated by pools and cascades. The garden is territorially dened and contained in a
walled enclosure, accessible only through symmetrically arranged gates. OVen, one side of
the enclosure, usually opposite the main entry gate, opens to a view of the landscape
outside.
There are, of course, signicant departures. Depending on func5on and usage: the spa5al
concept in the Tomb gardens of the plains is dis5nct from that of the pleasure gardens.
The Tomb garden is almost always perfectly square; more oVen than not, the pleasure
gardens have a linear axiality. The organiza5on of landscape elements in the laOer
suggests a strong direc5onality towards a prospect or view - a river or valley panorama;
whereas the funerary landscapes focus inward, on the tomb itself, the view outwards from
one side certainly drama5c, but seemingly incidental to the main theme.

Water
At the heart of the design is the idea that the bagh should be alive with the con5nuous
ow of water, whose primary purpose is to irrigate the garden and maintain its health. The
means through which this is accomplished is the supreme achievement of the Mughal
garden. The garden contains a wide array of water-related elements and structures to
provide a considerable ordinary task, by enhancing and modula5ng in many subtle ways
the movement, appearance and sound of water.
Familiar examples include, for instance, falls nego5a5ng large dierences in level, from
one terrace to the next in thick sheets, their sound recalling the soothing rumble of
waterfalls in nature. Or, in another interes5ng technique, inclined stone cascades
engraved with paOerns to create a white sheet of foaming water (the chadar), especially
eec5ve when viewed by moonlight. Gravity-fed fountain jets, integrated into the carefully
engineered system of channels and ponds complete the picture.

Humayun tomb gardens

colonial PERIOD (1750A.D.-1947a.d.)

A new landscape emerged with the colonial presence from the early nineteenth century
onwards, while in the early phase Bri5sh adapted to traits and paOerns of the host
culture, with 5me they sought design solu5ons, including interven5ons in gardens , in
terms of concepts exis5ng in contemporary Britain.

The basic territorial unit of the colonial culture was a bungalow siqng in an open space, in
complete contrast to the more introvertly planned havelis of the indigenous popula5on.
This garden space came to have unique sociological proper5es, providing both isola5on
and insula5on from the na5ve culture.

Bungalows with large compounds in which colonial structure was retained. In form they were a reversal of
char bagh of the havelis; now the green enveloped the building instead of being contained within.

With the advent of railway

construc5on in India, demand for
wood increased manifold. Nearly
1,100 wooden sleepers were
required for each kilometer of
track, needing some 250 trees to be
felled on an average. Even sleepers
of good Sal 5mber could not last for
over eight or ten years, so that aVer
each decade or so an equal amount
of 5mber would be needed again.
Since 13,639 kilometers of railway
track had been laid by 1879, one
can imagine that for the ini5al track
laying alone 3.4 million trees must
have been cut, with another 2
million cut for replacement of
sleepers on tracks laid out earlier.

In 1865 the Indian Forest Act was
issued, to be superseded by
another Forest Act in 1878.
(1) Reserved forests, which were to
be totally maintained for supplying
5mber and other products to
government or those contrac5ng
with it. Here rights or privileges
were either absolutely prohibited
or allowed only under stringent
condi5ons.
(2) Protected forests, where the
government permiOed some rights
of the local popula5ons or private
persons to be exercised, e.g., for
woodcuqng, grazing or rewood
collec5on.

A study of the Indian landscape history clearly indicates that the central feature of the pre-colonial Indian landscape design was its
complimentary rela5onship with nature and an experien5al aesthe5cs, which encapsulated the metaphysical and the physical and in
its resultant form displayed an amazing synergy between the natural and cultural ecology. There is much that can be learnt from
these tradi5ons, pre colonial paOerns of design with nature, and contemporary Indian landscape design, in its inspira5on from this
rich legacy can and should give us more culturally responsive landscape designs.