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Question 218 of 248 · Monuments & Religious Places
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The Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were built by the Mughal emperor:

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Answer: Option D — Shah Jahan

Detailed Solution

The Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan, were built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1641-42.

About the Shalimar Gardens (Lahore):

  • They were laid out under the supervision of Ali Mardan Khan and Mulla Alaul Maulk Tuni, nobles of Shah Jahan's court.
  • They are laid out in the Persian char bagh style, with three descending terraces.
  • The terraces have names: "Farah Bakhsh" (bestower of pleasure), "Faiz Bakhsh" (bestower of goodness) and "Hayat Bakhsh" (bestower of life).
  • The gardens contain more than 400 fountains, water channels, a large central tank, marble pavilions and cascades.
  • Water for the gardens was brought by a canal (the Shah Nahar, or Hasli canal) from the Ravi river.
  • The gardens were used by the royal family and the court for leisure.

UNESCO status:

The Shalimar Gardens, together with the Lahore Fort, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

Later history:

The gardens were damaged after the decline of the Mughals, and were later restored, partly under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the British.

Shah Jahan's other buildings:

  • In Agra: the Taj Mahal and several buildings in the Agra Fort.
  • In Delhi: the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid, in the new city of Shahjahanabad.
  • In Lahore: parts of the Lahore Fort, such as the Sheesh Mahal and the Naulakha Pavilion, and the Wazir Khan Mosque (built by his governor).
  • In Kashmir: the Chashma Shahi garden and an extension of a garden in Srinagar.

Mughal gardens in general:

  • Mughal gardens were laid out in the char bagh pattern, symbolising paradise.
  • They featured running water, fountains, terraces, trees, flowers and pavilions.
  • They were often built around tombs and palaces.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗Akbar, Jahangir and Aurangzeb did not build the Lahore Shalimar Gardens.

Quick tip

Remember: Shalimar Gardens, Lahore = Shah Jahan (1641-42; three terraces; UNESCO 1981 with the Lahore Fort).

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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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