Nishat Bagh :

A garden of bliss, a garden of joy, a garden of delight, whatever one choose to call it, Nishat Bagh in Srinagar is exceptionally beautiful in every sense of the word. If one looks back in the pages of history, the Mughal era is likely to feel the most dominating one in Kashmir . After dethroning the mightiest of kings, these rulers of Persia set their foot in Kashmir in the 16th century.

Nishat Bagh is a terraced Mughal garden built on the eastern side of the Dal Lake, close to Srinagar in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is the second largest Mughal garden in the Kashmir valley. Nishat Bagh is also located on the bank of the Dal Lake . “Nishat Bagh” in Urdu means the “Garden of Joy”, “Garden of Gladness” and “Garden of delight”.

Located on the bank of the Dal Lake, with the Zabarwan Mountains as it’s backdrop, Nishat Bagh is a garden with views of the lake beneath the Pir Panjal mountain range. The Bagh was designed and built in 1633 by Asif Khan, elder brother of Noor Jahan.

An Anecdote is told of the Jealousy of the emperor Shah Jahan on beholding such a delight garden, which led to the abandonment of the garden for some time. When Shah Jahan saw the garden after it’s completion in 1633,he expressed great appreciation of it’s grandeur and beauty. He is believed to have expressed his delight three times of Asif Khan, his father – in – law, in the hope that he would make a gift of it to him. As no such offer was forthcoming from Asif Khan, however, Shah Jahan was piqued and ordered that the water supply to the garden should be cut off. The garden was then deserted for some time. Asif Khan was desolate and heartbroken, he was uninterested in the sequence of events. When he was resting under the shade of a tree, in one of the terraces, his servant was bold enough to turn on the water supply source from the Shalimar Bagh. When Asif Khan heard the sound of water and the fountains in the action, he immediately ordered the disconnection of the water supply as he feared the worst action from the emperor for this wanton act of disobedience. Fortunately for the servant and for the Khan, Shah Jahan who had heard about this incident at the garden, was not disturbed or annoyed by the disobedience if his orders. Instead, he approved of the servant’s loyal service to his master and then ordered the full restoration right for the supply of water to the garden to Asif Khan his Prime Minister and father – in – law. The Mughal princess Zuhar Begum, daughter of the Mughal emperor Alamgir II and grand daughter of the emperor Jahandar Shah is buried in the garden.