Srinagar

Srinagar is the heart of the Vale of Kashmir with its saffron fields, on Lake Dal, round which the Mughal emperors built their gardens; under Jahangir there were, Brookes writes, no fewer than seven hundred. ¹

Akbar first visited Kashmir in 1586 after its conquest and called it his private garden; his first building there was the fortress of Hari Parbat over the lake, followed by the garden palace of Nasim Bagh. Jahangir and Nur Jahan loved it in turn, spending whole summers there, and the gardens multiplied in their time. ^{3 1 4}

On the lake and its slopes lie the Shalimar Bagh, the Nishat Bagh, the Chashma Shahi and the Pari Mahal; further off in the valley are Verinag and Achabal. The emperors reached the lake gardens by boat, and the tradition of floating gardens survives there. ^{1 2 5}