Lal Bagh

Lalbagh Botanical Garden or simply Lalbagh (lit. 'red garden'), is a botanical garden in Bengaluru, India. It was originally built by Hyder Ali in 1760, during the Sultanate of Mysore . The garden was later managed under numerous British superintendents before Indian Independence. It was responsible for the introduction and propagation of numerous ornamental plants as well as those of economic value. It also served a social function as a park and recreational space, with a central glass house dating from 1890 which was used for flower shows. In modern times, it hosts two flower shows coinciding with the week of Republic Day (26 January) and Independence Day (15 August). As an urban green space along with Cubbon Park, it is also home to numerous wild species of birds and other wildlife. The garden also has a lake adjoining a large rock on which a watchtower had been constructed during the reign of Kempegowda II.

History

King Hyder Ali commissioned the building of this garden in 1760, but his son, King Tipu Sultan, completed it. A Bagh is Hindustani for garden while the reference of the prefix Lal is debated and could refer to the colour red due to its original floral composition but Lal also means "beloved". King Hyder Ali decided to create this garden on the lines of the Mughal Gardens that were gaining popularity during his time. King Hyder Ali laid out these famous botanical gardens and his son King Tipu Sultan added horticultural wealth to them by importing trees and plants from several countries. King Hyder Ali and King Tipu Sultan's Lalbagh gardens were managed by Mohammed Ali and his son Abdul Khader, and were based on design of the Mughal Gardens that once stood at Sira, at a distance of 120 km from Bengaluru. At that time, Sira was the headquarters of the strategically important southernmost Mughal "suba" (province) of the Deccan before the British Raj. The Lalbagh gardens were commissioned by the 18th century; over the years, it acquired India's first lawn-clock and the subcontinent's largest collection of rare plants. After the British conquest of Kingdom of Mysore in 1799, the garden was under the charge of Major Gilbert Waugh, Company paymaster and in 1814 its control was transferred to the Government of Mysore with an appeal by Waugh to the Marquis of Hastings that it should be under the botanical garden at Fort William, Calcutta. This was accepted and the charge for supervision was given to Nathaniel Wallich on 24 April 1819. This continued until 1831 when charge moved to the Mysore Commissioner. An Agricultural and Horticultural Society had been formed with William Munro, an army officer and amateur botanist in charge of the Bengaluru chapter. The Society wrote to the Mysore Commissioner, Sir Mark Cubbon, requesting charge of the Lalbagh garden. Cubbon granted control and during this period it was used for horticultural training. The Bengaluru chapter of the Society was dissolved in 1842, leaving the gardens unmanaged. In 1855, Hugh Cleghorn, was appointed as a botanical advisor to the Commissioner of Mysore. Cleghorn and Jaffrey, superintendent of the Madras Agri-Horticultural Society looked at various sites for a horticultural garden and found that Lalbagh suited their purpose despite being located at a distance from the Cantonment, the British centre of the city. He suggested that a European Superintendent be appointed with control under the Chief Commissioner. Cleghorn was against the use of Lalbagh for commercial enterprise and instead suggested that it should aim to improve the use of indigenous plants, aid in introducing useful exotic species and help in the exchange of plant and seed materials with other gardens at Madras, Calcutta and Ooty. Under Cubbon's orders, Lalbagh was made into the Government Botanical Garden in August 1856 and a professional horticulturist was sought from Kew. William New was recommended and he arrived at Bengaluru on 10 April 1858. New's contract ended in 1863-64 and he was replaced by Allan Adamson Black who worked at the Kew Herbarium. Black, however, suffered from poor health and resigned in 1865. He died after visiting his brother in Rangoon aboard HMS Dalhousie, off the Coco Islands on 4 December 1865. New was then re-appointed. In his 1861 catalogue of the plants of Lalbagh, there were numerous economic and ornamental plants including Cinchona, coffee, tea, macadamia nuts, hickory, pecan, rhododendrons, camellias, and bougainvilleas. New died in 1873 and was followed by John Cameron, also from Kew. Cameron had the additional support of the Maharaja of Mysore who was appointed in 1881 and introductions included Araucarias (A. cookii and A. bidwilli), cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens), topiaries made from Hamelia patens.

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