Cave inside Chenar Tree. By a British Army Officer, around 1907. [via: bonham] |
In Abul Fazal’s Akbarnama there is an episode in which during a storm, Akbar and 34 of his men take shelter inside the hollowed trunk of an aged Chinar tree. In ‘Tuzk-i-Jehangiri’, returing to the same episode, Jehangir recounts that he too took shelter in a cave inside a Chinar tree that time, he along with five or seven of his horsemen and with their horses.
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The world is indeed getting smaller.
Found this bit: M S Wadoo in his book 'Trees of our Heritage' (2007), claims the largest and oldest Chinar tree, dating back to 1374, is at Chattergam Cadoora in central Kashmir in the garden of Sufi saint Syed Qasim Shah's (who came to kashmir with Shah Hamadan) shrine. The 700 year old tree is 14.78 metre tall and the circumference of its stem is 31.85 meters.