Page 26 - Seniors Today - August 21 Issue
P. 26
Travel
Fire and Fascination
Navneet Sahni writes about the Chinar, the tree that symbolises Kashmir in
all its splendour
Amir Khusrau is said to have equated Many Mughals kings, Pathan sultans and
Kashmir with paradise when he said “Gar Maharajas treated the Chinar as the soul of
firdaus bar rue zameen ast/hameen asto, Kashmir and many books, wax eloquent on
hameen asto, hameen ast (If ever there the existence of these trees. The Buen, as the
is Paradise on Earth/It is here! It is here! locals call this tree was the favourite of many
It is here!). I am sure that he must have Mughal kings. In fact this tree was given the
been talking about beautiful valley where title of being the Royal tree and it was decreed
the mighty Chinars form the backdrop. that no one could cut this tree anywhere. Of
Overwhelming majority of photos of Kashmir course the famed Mughal gardens in Kashmir
are incomplete without these magnificent were laid out by them with the beautiful
trees. It symbolises Kashmir! Chinars as the central backdrop along with
the Zabarwan mountain range.
Historians point out several instances
to say that the Chinar is thought to have
been introduced to Kashmir from Persia,
way before by the time the Mughals.
Unfortunately, which is the usual narrative
most like to believe. It is believed that the
poet king, the 8th. sultan of Kashmir - who
ruled for a glorious period of fifty years
(1420-1470) was responsible for getting this
26
