CHAPTER VI
GARDENS OF THE PLAINS - LAHORE
Sweet is this Garden, through envy of it the Tulip is spotted,
The Rose of the Sun and the Moon form its beautiful lamps.
Mughal Garden Motto.
LAHORE, the northern city, seems above all others the special capital of the Emperor Jahangir and his Queen, Nur-Jahan, the Light of the World, who at one time ruled the so-called World-Conqueror, and through him the entire Empire of the Mughals.
Her name was even joined with his on the Imperial coinage, and the inscription declared that gold had acquired a new value since 'Nur-Jahan' appeared on it. But Jahangir can easily be forgiven for this abrupt departure from Oriental precedent-for the com marked the triumph of a life-long love.
Their story has been often told. To this day Indian women delight to tell it, lamenting the unkind fate which kept the lovers apart nearly half their lives. One would hesitate to repeat it, but that no account of Indian gardens or garden-craft would be complete without some further mention of the Empress who shares with Babar the credit of having designed and inspired so many lovely Mughal pleasure-grounds.
[Note: Lahore was part of India when Mrs Villiers-Stuart was there. The name Pakistan was coined in 1933 and the state came into existence in 1947]
