18 February - 18 March
It’s now just over two years since we re-opened Babur and it’s been a good year. What’s been especially gratifying is the enthusiastic response everyone has shown for the new look of the restaurant.
We’re all very happy with the way the restaurant has turned out but it has taken some getting used to. We didn’t manage to do as many events last year as we would have liked to. And judging from your response to the events we did hold, we think you’d probably like it if we did some more. Our two main events last year were the Colours of Rajasthan and our six-week celebration of the restaurant’s 22nd birthday with a tasting menu. Thanks so much for your support and enthusiasm.
This year, we’re going to try to host more food events (more on that in the next mail) and for our first, we thought we’d go back to our roots. Some of our customers who celebrated Valentine’s Day with us last year may remember that our menu was also celebrating the Emperor Babur’s 524th birthday. Well, the name of Babur has done very well for us over the years and we thought it would be good to find out a bit more about him.
The Bagh-i-Babur (Babur’s Garden) was built exactly 500 years ago. The Kabul of Babur’s day was very different from the Kabul we see today on the news. He planted his 11-hectare garden (which he called the Bagh-i-Wafa, Garden of Fidelity) on the slope of a hill in the countryside with views of his citadel. In his autobiography, the Baburnama, he describes his garden in real detail and in a way that is surprising from a man who conquered an empire: In the southwest portion of the garden there is a pool surrounded by orange trees and some pomegranate trees. All around the pool is a clover meadow. The best place in the garden is there. When the oranges turn yellow it is a beautiful sight.
He writes in amazing detail about the land and produce of Afghanistan, about the fertility of the country, saying that the apples from one district are the best, while another produces the best pears or grapes. He talks about the banana trees he had planted and when they fruited, or about the sugarcane and orange groves, or the almond and peach blossoms in spring.
The past 30 years have not been kind to this beautiful country. During the Soviet occupation, many of the orchards were cut down for firewood because there was no other source of heat in the cold Kabul winters. It might sound silly to say, but we felt we wanted to give something back to the place the man who gave us his name loved best.
Since 2002, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture has been restoring the walled Babur Gardens, including the simple grave open to the sky Babur requested for himself, and at the same time restoring one of the great amenities of Kabul to its people. Looking at what the Gardens were before and after restoration (which you can follow on http://www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=12541), it’s easy to see why Babur so loved Afghanistan. But there were many productive orchards across Afghanistan and these need to be replanted.
In 1990, Afghanaid began setting up nurseries of fruit and timber tress to help introduce new varieties and demonstrate better ways of planting and cultivating trees. By late 1994, a stock of 67,727 almond, apple, apricot, peach and other fruit trees had been grown for distribution in four provinces.
This is a large-scale, long-term project and we are pleased to be contributing towards this. To see what Afghanaid is doing, visit http://www.afghanaid.org.uk/events/baburs_525th_birthday.phtml. During the course of Babur’s 525th birthday celebration, from 18 February to 18 March, we will contribute £1 for each party that orders from our festival menu. Customers who wish may make their own contributions.
We’ll be posting the festival menu and more information in the next blog entry and we hope to see you during Babur’s 525th birthday celebration. Thanks for visiting.
In 1990, Afghanaid began setting up nurseries of fruit and timber tress to help introduce new varieties and demonstrate better ways of planting and cultivating trees. By late 1994, a stock of 67,727 almond, apple, apricot, peach and other fruit trees had been grown for distribution in four provinces.
We’ll be posting the festival menu and more information in the next blog entry and we hope to see you during Babur’s 525th birthday celebration. Thanks for visiting. 