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Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore
| Site number: | 171 |
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| Type of site: | Cultural | |
| Date: | - | |
| Date of Inscription: | 1981 | |
| Location: | Asia, Pakistan, Lahore, Punjab | |
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| Description: | Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore are two masterpieces built during the time of the virtuoso Mughal civilization, which reached its highest point under Emperor Shah Jahan. The fort encloses palaces and mosques made of marble and festooned with mosaics and gilt. Its splendid gardens were placed close to the city of Lahore on three terraces with lodges, waterfalls and large ornamental ponds; their elegance is unequalled anywhere in the world. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available. For 360 degree imaging of this site, click here. | |
| The Shalimar Gardens (Urdu: شالیمار باغ), sometimes written Shalamar Gardens, were built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Lahore, modern day Pakistan. Construction began in 1641 A.D. (1051 A.H.) and was completed the following year. The project management was carried out under the superintendence of Khalilullah Khan, a noble of Shah Jahan's court, in cooperation with Ali Mardan Khan and Mulla Alaul Maulk Tuni. The site of the Shalimar Gardens originally belonged to one of the noble Zaildar family in the region, well known as Mian Family Baghbanpura. The family was also given the Royal title of 'Mian' by the Mughal Emperor, for its services to the Empire. Mian Muhammad Yusuf, then the head of Mian family, donated the site of Ishaq Pura to Emperor Shah Jahan, after pressure was placed on the family by the royal engineers, who wished to build on the site due to its good position and soil. In return, Shah Jahan granted the Mian family governance of the Shalimar Gardens. The Shalimar Gardens remained under the custodianship of this family for more than 350 years. In 1962, the Shalimar Gardens were nationalised by General Ayub Khan because top Mian family members had opposed his imposition of martial law on Pakistan. The Mela Chiraghan festival used to take place in the Gardens, until President Ayub Khan ordered against it in 1958. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. For 360 degree imaging of this site, click here. | ||
| Source: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/171 | |
| Reference: | 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page. | |