A talk on Of regional landscape engagements in the past: Chi’nar (Platanus orientalis) in the making of landscape gardening in Kashmir by Dr Mumtaz Ahmad Numani

About the Talk:
Though previous scholarly works on gardens have been valuable in establishing foundational knowledge about landscape gardening practices in South Asia and, more specifically, in India, scant attention has been given to investigating the choice and selection of ‘plantation’ in the creation of regional landscape gardens in the past. In this presentation, the speaker will discuss and highlight the contribution of Chi’nar (Platanus orientalis) in shaping landscape gardens in the Kashmir valley. The inquiry delves into whether Chi’nar was indigenous to Kashmir or imported. Furthermore, it explores whether Chi’nar was perceived as an integral part of Kashmir’s landscape ecology or merely utilised as a material for aesthetic satisfaction in the construction of landscape gardens in the region.
About the Speaker:
Dr Mumtaz Ahmad Numani has obtained a PhD in Environmental History from the Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. Before joining as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Krea University, Dr Numani worked as a short-term research fellow at the Tribal Research Institute, Jammu & Kashmir, (TRI-J&K). Dr Numani is currently working on his first monograph mainly based on his PhD dissertation. This monograph, in preparation, among other themes, will broadly touch upon the theme of ‘landscape gardening’ as a cultural practice in the past in Kashmir.