The long central plain is, for about 150 miles from Burhanpur

to Nandurbar, an unbroken stretch of deep alluvial soil.

( Gazetteer of the Bombay presidency, vol. XII, Khandesh,
Bombay, 1880, p. 3)
The heritage landscape of Burhanpur has an architectural and
horticultural composition, consisting of many historic
gardens, a unique water management system, a sustainable
planning and design framework, the use of landscape and
topography with numerous heritage components and historical
monuments, temples, tombs and mosques that are locally,
regionally and nationally significant.
The cultural heritage of Burhanpur, a historic district of the
state of Madhya Pradesh in India, is characterized by natural
features and architectural and religious monuments (see
Figure 1). The historic urban landscape flourished in the 14th
and 17th centuries, with many heritage components and
systems, such as picturesque landscapes, historic structures
and environmental and health qualities. This heritage is a
tested model of sustainability and can be considered the
outcome of a model relationship between culture and nature
that is livable, participatory and sustainable. Efforts of
Mughal emperor Jehangir are highlighted in the historic
literature and some research papers with reference of
regulatory framework—Dastur-ul-amal in the encouragement
of the combination of public and private actions; and private
investment.1
“Quanat” water management system and its importance in the sustainable
regeneration of the Burhanpur landscape is highlighted Chaturvedi, A. Historic
Water Management Systems and Relevance for Sustainable Development. In
Proceedings of the Seventh World Archaeological Congress (WAC-7), Dead
Sea, Jordan, 13–18 January 2013. Available online:
http://wac7.worldarchaeologicalcongress.org/ (accessed on
1
Chaturvedi, A. Envisioning a Sustainable Landscape Creative Resource Use,
Communications & Commerce in the Development of the Cultural Landscape of Sironj
During the Mughal Period. J. Landsc. Archit. 2010, 28, 47–53.
16 December 2013).

2. Indigenous Systems of the Burhanpur Cultural

Landscape
2.1. Indigenous Planning and Design

The indigenous planning and design framework of historic

Burhanpur is a result of centuries of decisions and
adjustments in response to the landscape’s cultural and natural
features. The compact built environment of the walled city of
Burhanpur is an important strategy to achieve sustainability
using (connectivity) ready access to services and facilities,
minimizing energy for transport. The indigenous planning and
design framework of Burhanpur considered the landscape
holistically, as well as its component parts, such as street
width, building height, orientation, open spaces, land use
forms, overall configuration and other physical issues within
the climatic considerations. The compact nature of the
traditional Burhanpur settlements ensures that the built
structures not only enclose the space, but also use it as a
resource. The fortification wall of the city, with a
circumference of 5.5 km, contains nine gates and 12 windows.
The principal streets running centrally along the main axes
culminate at the city gates. There are secondary streets and
also narrow winding lanes approaching clusters of houses
through community gates. Narrow streets opening out into
squares exemplify this aspect (see Figure 2).

In the composite climate of Burhanpur, where the summers

are hot and arid, this compact built environment is appropriate
to reduce heat exposure and offer mutual protection.
Moreover, in the present context, such a compact built form
helps with the reduction of energy consumption, reducing
greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing the number and
length of trips. This spatial linkage also reveals
the relationship of the urban form to the landform. The
placement of important buildings at elevated
positions, the irregularity of the streets and other aspects
divide the space into recognizable visual statements, revealing
the existing topography in its true sense. The Badshahi Qila or
citadel, the Jami Mosque and the River Tapti define the basic
axial and geometric organization of the city. The spatial
organization of the walled city of Burhanpur consists of a
series of interlinked landuse patterns and open spaces,
defining a hierarchical relationship with a size and shape
based on the functions performed therein. The landuse pattern
and spatial organization of the walled city, including Badshahi
Qila, the Jami Mosque, Gardens, Sarai and Hammam,
constitute one of the most proficient and sophisticated
exercises in city planning. These important structures form
visual links, whereas other elements, such as the riverfront
and fortification wall, create barriers. The terraces of
Badshahi Qila frame visual linkages or viewpoints with the
landscape of Zainabad across the River Tapti. The functional
and visual connection between spaces is integral to the
significant character of a landscape.
The pedestrian movement network, social structure and
community life are the primary determinants of
the spatial organization of the Burhanpur settlement. The rich
morphology of residential clusters or traditional
neighborhoods, such as the mohallas, wadas, ganjs and puras,
developed over time, an extended joint family system, cultural
aspirations and pedestrian linkages, which all promote
psychological and physical security needs. The mixed landuse
of residential, commercial and (religious) open spaces, which
was the grain of development of these settlements, reduces
home-work journey times and enhances the sense of security
by increasing the number and activity of people on the street
and in public places. The mixed landuse environment is easily
walkable and is small enough to reduce reliance on the use of
vehicles but large enough to offer the range of opportunities
and services that comprise a rich life. The sustainable landuse
pattern of the Burhanpur settlement has evolved and
developed following an organic growth pattern. Although
outwardly cramped and crowded, it has, in fact, an organized
indigenous framework of semi-private and private spaces
(communal qualities and settlements that distinguish one
society from another), part of an organization that is more
meaningful in both socio-economic and cultural terms.

2.2. Indigenous Building Practices

The indigenous building practices, crafts and architecture of

Burhanpur exhibit a typical morphological character that
involves a shared knowledge of centuries of understanding the
context. This understanding accepted the development of
building skills, technical methods and construction practices
harmonious with the natural environment. The traditional
architecture obstructs harsh sunlight and allows natural
ventilation.

2.3. Historic Gardens and Designed Landscapes

As one of the important medieval centers of the Mughals,

garden tradition and Islamic environmental planning ethics
can also be observed in Burhanpur. The medieval Mughal
gardens (a tradition that originated in Central Asia and
extended into South Asia in the 16th century) and designed
landscapes of Burhanpur can be categorized into three
typologies: royal hunting preserves (for example, Zainabad),
royal pleasure gardens (for example, Mahal Gulara, Shahi
Qila and Lalbagh) and sacred tomb gardens (for example, the
tomb of Shah Nawaz Khan and Ahukhana) (see Figure 4).
Garden and landscape design is an integral part of
Burhanpur’s planning and design framework, a description of
which can also be found in Ain-i-Akbari. The Ain-i-Akbari is
a 16th century detailed document recording the administration
of the Mughal emperor Akbar. Through this document, one
can understand the importance given to the gardens in the
medieval town planning of Burhanpur, which is described as a
large city with many gardens dotted with sandalwood trees.
Zainabad, a landscape unit of Burhanpur, situated across the
River Tapti, just beside the Badshahi Qila, contains numerous
Faruqi and Mughal monuments. On the northern side of
Zainabad is a designed landscape of Ahukhana (the pleasure
garden of Mughal princes, literally deer park), developed with
a water system (from the Utaoli River), fragrant grasses,
plants and trees during the times of Akbar’s son Daniyal
(1609) and Jahangir (1605–1627). Before the construction of
the Taj Mahal, Mumtaz Mahal, beloved queen of Shah Jahan
(1631) was buried here for six months and then shifted to
Agra2. The significance regarding the flora and naturally
beautiful setting of this landscape can be traced to the fact that
this location was a proposed site for the Taj Mahal; (see
Figure 5) a conceptual painting can still be seen on the wall of
Zanana Hammam of Badshahi Qila. This defined landscape is
an excellent example of the architectural composition of built
and natural heritages. The built heritage components of this
defined landscape include a central cenotaph surrounded by
2
Russell, R. Gazetteer of India, Madhya Pradesh, Nimar District; Russell, R.V.,
Ed.; Gazetteers Unit Directorate of Rajbhasha Evam Sanskriti, Government of
Madhya Pradesh: Bhapal, India, 1997; Volume A, p. 127.
abundant trees, “baradari” (kiosk) of Bagh-e-Alamara, Nizam
Bagh, Sarai and the tomb of Hazrat Pir Shah Chisti Qadri.
These gardens, dating back to the times of Akbar (1556–
1605), Jahangir (1605–1627) and Shah Jahan (1628–1658),
also feature buildings, pavilions, “hauz” (tank), walls and a
mosque, as well as complex water management techniques.

The holy spaces of various religions, such as Hinduism, Islam,

Jainism and Sikhism, comprise a variety of features of the
physical environment in Burhanpur. Places with distinctive
natural features associated with human events were developed
as pilgrim centers with the association of religious saints and
religious activities. Examples include Ichhadevi hill with the
temple, Ghats (stepped riverfront of the River Tapti), and the
Kabir Panthi near Nagjhiri (Kabir Panthi is a center of
learning for the followers of the religious saint Kabir). The
sacred landscape unit of the Ichha Devi temple and Zainabad
(a royal hunting preserve) are completely forgotten cultural
landscape elements that support various species of plants and
animals in the Burhanpur cultural landscape. The concept of
planting in these gardens not only was based on aesthetics, but
also had another benefits such as providing fruits/food for
human, animal, medical and commercial consumption. The
nature-culture interaction (especially Barela tribal traditions)
also produced traditional knowledge of rare varieties of
medicinal and herbal plants (Ayurveda and Unani medicine)
and biodiversity. Within this context, local communities (such
as the Bohras, Jains, Behnas, cotton-cleaners, Cutchis, and
other Barela tribes) developed ethics, including meaning and
belief systems, commonly referred to as indigenous
knowledge systems. This planning and design framework
articulated with gardens and green open spaces in the compact
built environment of Burhanpur helps with the creation of a
social and physical environment that promotes social
interactions and good health in an increasingly urbanized
Burhanpur. The conservation of these historic gardens and
traditional landscapes are important, especially because it
fosters community pride and provides social, psychological
and physical services, which foster stress recovery by
inducing positive feelings and offer a sense of peacefulness
and harmony, including quality of life. In addition to the
aforementioned benefits, these historic gardens can function
in microclimate stabilization by acting as an air and water
purifier and offering wind and noise filtration, thus helping
reduce the costs associated with decreasing pollution. These
historic gardens not only are culturally significant, but also
provide economic benefits, attracting inward investment while
also delivering solutions fit for modern needs in many ways.
Thus, these gardens generate employment and revenue
through the tourist industry and help communities to
regenerate.

2.4. Indigenous Water Management Systems of the Landscape

Ample references in history along with archaeological

evidence demonstrate the efforts taken by the stakeholders to
ensure an adequate supply of water and the holistic approach
for the development of the Burhanpur landscape. Burhanpur
has a potential geological feature, a large Bajada fault, parallel
to the River Tapti and adjoining the valley of the Satpura hills.
In Burhanpur urbanism, water and topography played a vital
role. As the governor of the Subah of Khandesh during the
reign of Jahangir, with Burhanpur as his capital, Abdurrahim
Khan-i-Khanan constructed an underground canal in the
vicinity of the city. He utilized the geological uniqueness, and
as a direct response to local geo-physical conditions, he
developed the unique water system known as “Quanat” (or
subterranean water channels and cisterns). This system was
built between the 14th and 17th centuries under the guidance
of the Persian geologist Tabkutul Arz by utilizing the fault
landform, which sloped towards the east to the River Tapti.
The city planning of Burhanpur is not limited to the
fortification wall; it also extends at the regional level. The
landuse and buildings dotting the landscape were oriented and
consistent according to the slope of the terrain to allow
continuous water flow by the force of gravity. The water
recharging system devised for the canal is based on the
principle of intercepting the run-off in the subsoil
groundwater level through underground channels and
collecting it in structures, partly underground and partly
aboveground, called “Bhandaras” through a system of
underground channels and galleries (see Figure 6). The
system involved the construction of an aqueduct mostly by
tunneling with vertical airshafts to tap the underground water
flow from the nearby Satpura hill ranges [9]. The ground
water thus collected is stored in sump-wells known as
“karanj”, from where it is further distributed through
quaternary channels throughout the major consumer points,
such as the rest houses of the Sarais, Hammams, gardens,
mosques and residential areas of the city. This system of eight
water works, known as the “Kundi Bhandara”, “Sookha
Bhandara”, “Trikuti Bhandara”, “Mool Bhandara”, and
“Chintaharan” uses unparalleled construction techniques and
may be considered glorious relics of Mughal engineering,
ingenuity and skill.

Other typologies of the water system of Burhanpur are located

along the north-eastern side of picturesque Ahukhana, which
was developed from the River Badi Utaoli with
interconnected water ponds between 1605–1627 A.D.
Towards the north of this Ahukhana on the bank of the River
Badi Utaoli is the twin palace (Mughal pleasure retreat),
Mahal Gulara, constructed by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. A
91 m enchanting masonry dam was constructed across the
River Badi Utaoli with a small, approximately 3.5 m high
waterfall. This defined landscape with a picturesque setting
was compared with Kashmir in Shah Jahan-nama (the
Chronicle of the Emperor), representing a medieval
investment of physical, natural and intellectual resources. In
addition, there are many instances where the water
management system can be observed. For example, three
large artificial tanks, namely the Ganga, Jamuna and Badami
tanks, and three artificial lakes, namely the Mama, Bhanja and
Rani lakes, are the outcome of the sustainable project of the
construction of the Asirgarh forts. Asirgarh is located at the
highest altitude of the region, approximately 673 m above
Indian mean sea level. Stones for its construction were
quarried from the same rocky outcrop on which the Asirgarh
fort was supposed to have been built. This quarrying of stone
for its construction was a sustainable project associated with
the construction of artificial harvesting tanks, which made
water available at such a high altitude.