Char Chinar, also sometimes called Char Chinari, Ropa Lank, or Rupa Lank, is an island in Dal Lake,

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. The island located on the Lakut Dal (small Dal) is known as Roph Lank (Silver Island) and is marked with four Chinar trees growing at the corners, thus known as Char Chinari (Four Chinars). A second chinar island, known as Sone Lank (Gold Island), is located on the Bod Dal (Big Dal) and overlooks the shrine of

Hazratbal Hazratbal is a notified area situated in the Srinagar district of Jammu and Kashmir. It is about from the Srinagar city center. The area became famous after the construction of Hazratbal Shrine, where hundreds of thousands of people visit ev ...

History

Murad Baksh Mirza Muhammad Murad Bakhsh (9 October 1624 – 14 December 1661) was a Mughal prince and the youngest surviving son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Empress Mumtaz Mahal. He was the Subahdar of Balkh, till he was replaced by his elder ...

, brother of the

Mughal emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

, constructed the Roph Lank.

Chinar

Chinar trees characteristically grow in Western Himalayas. Their botanical name is ''

Platanus orientalis ''Platanus orientalis'', the Oriental plane, is a large, deciduous tree in the family Platanaceae, growing to or more, and known for its longevity and spreading crown. In autumn its deep green leaves may change to blood red, amber, and yellow. ...

.'' They have been an important part of Kashmiri tradition, in that, a Chinar tree is found in almost every village in Kashmir. These trees have survived for ages, because Chinar is basically a long-living tree. It spreads wide across a region of cool climate with sufficient water. The tree has several properties - leaves and bark are used as medicine, the wood, known as lace wood, has been used for delicate furniture and the twigs and roots are used for making dyes.

Decline and restoration

Chinar all over Jammu and Kashmir have been affected due to various reasons such as indiscriminate

tree felling Felling is the process of cutting down trees,"Feller" def. 2. and "Felling", def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd ed. via CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press. 2009. an element of the task of logging. The person cutting the trees is ...

and floods. Three of the four trees have shown signs of drying up. Some locals blame construction on the island, whereas others blame recent floods and climate change. The floriculture department of Jammu and Kashmir is making efforts to restore the island and have also planted more Chinar trees on the island.

Gallery

File:Char Chinar.jpg File:Char Chinar at Dal Lake 1.jpg File:A view of Dal Lake with Chinar islands.jpg File:Char Chinar - panoramio.jpg File:Char Chinar at Dal Lake 2.jpg File:India - Srinagar - 019 - Char Chinar Island on Dal Lake.jpg

References

{{Commons category, Char Chinar Islands of Jammu and Kashmir Srinagar Lake islands of India Islands of India Uninhabited islands of India