The idea of paradise is common to many faiths, promising eternal bliss in a garden setting. The Mughal gardens of Kashmir are exemplars of the great paradise garden traditions of the world, rooted in the concept of ancient Persian gardens and deriving their form from Qur’anic descriptions of jannat. In the harsh terrains of the Persian plateau, Central Asia and the hot plains of Hindustan, the Islamic chahar bagh evolved as an insular, walled garden, ordered by a formal geometry and the promise of water. In the verdant valley of Kashmir, the Mughal gardens achieved a new paradigm, transcending the confines of the walled enclosure, to embrace the spectacular landscape. The gardens of the Nominated Property are archetypes of the Timurid-Mughal garden tradition, transported from Samarqand, Ferghana, Kabul and the plains of India, into the Himalayan setting, to invoke jannat within the paradisiacal landscape of Kashmir.