Fatehgarh, once a site of two gardens, is situated two miles southeast of Shalimar Garden. The first and larger garden was built either during Jahangir’s or early in Shah Jahan’s reign. Few traces of this garden, which had some features unique to the region, survive at present. It was square in plan with a square extension on the eastern side, and it was enclosed by a twelve-foot-high boundary wall with four octagonal corner bastions. The wall was strengthened with half-octagonal bastions at regular intervals. The main entrance projects out like the Fatehgarh Garden in the middle of the western wall. The main distinguishing feature of this elegant gateway is semi-hexagonal chajjas (overhanging eaves) a little below the parapet wall, one on either side.
The other, smaller garden is reported to have been constructed by Dara Shikoh. It measures 194 by 180 feet, and its double-storied gateway is located on the south side. The soffit of the main entrance archway and baradari was painted with delicate frescoes in floral and geometric designs. An impressive baradari lay in the middle of the garden surrounded on three sides by a pool. A large well outside the northern wall provided water, which was brought through a conduit built in the wall. Traces of the underground pipes still exist below the walkway on the east side.
-Abdul Rehman, Munazzah Akhtar
Resources:
Earthly paradise: the garden in the times of the great Muslim empires (Open in Zotero)
Originally published: Rehman, Abdul, and Munazzah Akhtar. “Unknown Gardens at Fatehgarh.” Middle East Garden Traditions. Dumbarton Oaks, November 18, 2014. https://www.doaks.org/resources/middle-east-garden-traditions/catalogue#b_start=0&c6=Mughal+Gardens. Archived at: https://perma.cc/9W6B-6FJT
