The Emperor gives a long list of many beautiful gardens surrounding Samarkand at the time of his first visit to that city [See
Gardens in Uzbekistan]. The Perfect Garden, the Heart - delighting, and the Garden of the Plain are among those he mentions as adorned with elaborate garden-houses and pillared halls. These were royal gardens, but 'in the time of Sultan Ahmed Mirza,' Babar's uncle, 'many of the greater and lesser Begs formed gardens, some large, others small. Among these, the Chehar Bagh of Dervish Muhamed Terkhan, in respect of climate, situation, and beauty, is equalled by few. It is situated lower down than the Garden of the Plain, on a small eminence that rises above the valley of Kulbeh, and commands a view of the whole vale, which stretches out below. In this Chehar Bagh there is a variety of different plots laid out one above another, all on a regular plan, and elms, cypresses, and white poplars planted in the different compartments. It is a very perfect place. Its chief defect is that it has no great stream of running water.'
