From Shahjahan, Jahangir to Babar: How did Mughals get ice as there were no refrigerators
Shivani Tiwari
During summer, refrigerators are essential as they help keep your food from spoiling and provide cool and refreshing beverages to drink.
But have you ever wondered how people in the Mughal era kept things cool without modern refrigeration, and how they arranged ice in the past?
Despite technological limitations, people from the Mughal era still managed to obtain ice through clever and resourceful methods.
In the Mughal era, people used ice to cool drinks and food during summer. Let us know where and how they get ice at that time.
During the Mughal era, ice was transported from frozen lakes and rivers in the Himalayas.
Such as Kashmir, Himachal and Garhwal. The ice was collected in winter and preserved until summer.
During the era of Humayun and Akbar, the supply of ice from Kashmir to Delhi was brought through special routes built along the Yamuna River near Delhi to bring ice.
They built underground icehouses to store ice for a long time. These were deep pits or cellars with thick and insulated walls. The ice was wrapped in ash or cloth, so that it would not melt.
Mughal emperors built such icehouses in Delhi, Agra, and Lahore. Jahangir mentions the storage of ice and its royal use in his records, Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri.
In ancient India, people used a technique where water in shallow ponds or earthen pots was exposed to cold nights in December-January, forming a thin layer of ice on the surface.
Special employees were appointed for ice houses, who were called Aabdar. These people save the ice from melting and deliver it to the royal kitchen.