Page 189 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

TALIRI BAGH

Taliri Bagh is situated on the eastern side of the Muzaffargarh city. Its
historical importance can be assessed from the following words of the District
Gazetteer compiled in 1929:

“The only public garden is the Tiliri Garden situated at a distance of
about a mile to the east of the town. It is the only place of resort by
the public on festivals and other occasions. The garden has of late
been extended for Arabian date plantations which are now yielding
fruit.”

Similarly, the District Gazetteer compiled in 1964, while referring to the
Bagh, emphasized that it was “still the best date palm orchard in the country
which also provides a beautiful avenue for picnic resort for the public on
festivals and other occasions. This garden is famous for its mangoes and
Arabian date plantation.”
The Bagh might have been the first and the only place of public resort, as far
back as hundred years ago, and also the then best date palm orchard in the
entire country but unfortunately no one today in the entire Muzaffargarh
seemed to know its historical significance. In fact, it came as a surprise for
the author too that the DC House in which he lives, and the Camp Office he
is working on the Gazetteer in, was situated right in the middle of a place of
such a value. A subsequent visit to the Bagh was even more disappointing.
It was not even a shadow of its former self. There was no system of care,
maintenance or watering in place either. The trees seemed old and aging, and
were lacking in fruit. There were shrubs and bushes all over the place. People
had made pathways crisscrossing the entire garden, at least one of which
was a pacca road. Nomads had made their dwellings, i.e. jhuggis, at some
places. The neighbouring sabzi mandi had also been encroaching upon the

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