India, Oct. 18 -- The term 'aish', used in expressions like 'aish-o-aaram', embodies a sense of pleasure and enjoyment, along with comfort and satisfaction. Thus, it is fitting that the garden known as 'Aishbagh' should come up in Lucknow during its Nawabi era - a time when the city was celebrated for its indulgent lifestyle. Constructed by Asaf-ud-Daula, the fourth Nawab of Awadh, Aishbagh was reportedly established in or after 1785, as evidence suggests it was still under development during the visit of Warren Hastings to Lucknow in 1784. It was a walled expanse, designed in the traditional 'charbagh' or grid layout, adorned with pavilions and water features strategically placed throughout its grounds. Detailed accounts of Aishbagh are scarce; however, one can infer its likely design from the depictions and writings of artists such as Thomas and William Daniells, who documented their experiences when they toured Lucknow in 1789. Referring to it as the 'Garden House of Assaph ud Dowla in Ishe Baug, Lucnow' according to the Daniells brothers, it was, 'laid out with great magnificence and taste. The buildings... are merely garden-houses, constructed of brick and beautifully stuccoed with chunam; they are raised on chaupoutres (chabutra; platforms), with steps to ascend from the garden to the first storey...some of them are surmounted by an elegant square canopy with curtains depending from the four sides. These canopies are supported upon small pointed arches; and here is a delightful retreat from the heat of the noonday sun. The interior of the garden-houses is divided into apartments, which are occupied by the different functionaries to whom the charge of the gardens is committed.' The pavilion with its 'square canopy' would become a standard fixture in many later buildings of Lucknow, following the hybrid architecture style, so favoured by the Nawabi dynasty. The pavilion as sketched by the Daniells shows an attractive, well proportioned square edifice on a platform, with three large engrailed arch openings in the centre and smaller ones on the flanks, with a hipped roof having finials. Aishbagh also had an artificial lake called 'Moti Jheel' or Pearl Lake; the place soon became popular for its beauty and also for its annual 'Sawan Mela' which was held in the premises and attended by Asaf-ud-Daula in person. Aishbagh became famous for another unrelated reason: the opulent wedding of Mirza Wazir Ali, the purported son and successor of Asaf-ud-Daula. A painting by Robert Orr (1804-1842) captioned 'Aeish-Bagh, Palace of Soleyman-Sheko, brother of the Emperor of Delhi, in Lucknow, capital of the Kingdom of Oude (East India). This house was the residence of the Jancigny Family, from 1831 to 1835, Adolphe being then Aide-de-camp to the King of Oude' reveals that Suleiman Shikoh, the Mughal prince who resided in Lucknow as a political refugee in a palace complex called 'Mahalsara Suleiman Shikoh' (present day Aminabad area), had also owned a palatial building in Aishbagh, which had been occupied by the Jancigny family. Details of this Adolphe, who, chronologically, would be the aide-de-camp of Nasir-ud-Din Haider (the second king of Awadh) are not available. The gardens seemed to have retained their glory, as decades later, a court poet of Wajid Ali Shah, waxed eloquent on its beauty and ability to 'pleasure the senses'. But its days were numbered as it saw fierce fighting during 1857-58, becoming the last refuge of firebrand revolutionary, Ahmadullah 'Danka' Shah, after he had vacated the Taaron Wali Kothi. Post 1857, Aishbagh, for some unspecified reason, faced the ire of the British, who chose the premises to set up an industrial area (for liquor, leather goods) and establish the waterworks for supplying colonial Lucknow with potable water. The official proposal for the latter submitted on August 2, 1893, involved 'the acquiring of 41 acres of land, 3 roads and 15 palaces in Aishbagh.' This gives a startling indication of what Aishbagh might have originally been, having at least 15 palaces in its premises. Municipal water supply for Lucknow commenced operations in 1894, with 32 miles of pipes laid for distributing water in the city. After intake from the Gomti river at Gaughat (an earlier plan to draw water from deep bore wells in Aishbagh failed within two years), the water was pumped to tanks in Aishbagh, filtered, purified and supplied throughout the city, including the Civil Lines and Cantonment area. The British-era water works, now upgraded and extended, continues to supply drinking water to the core city and several peripheral areas, but falls short of actual requirement. The present state of Aishbagh gives no indication of its original grandeur. Apart from a few scattered ruins, including a dilapidated, heavily encroached 'baradari' and Moti Jheel, which was once a vast 33-acre water body, but now diminished in size due to urbanisation, there is nothing much to see. The lake is currently undergoing ecological restoration under the aegis of the Lucknow Development Authority. PC Sarkar, a former scientist, has authored several books on the forgotten heritage of Lucknow...