How Mughal emperors like Babar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb used to get ice without refrigerators

Mughals invaded India in the 1500s and ruled the country for roughly 300 years. Apart from their cruelty, Mughals were known for their interesting hobbies and marvellous structures. During their rule, Mughlai food also became popular in India. Mughal emperors liked to eat delicious food and ice cream in the desert. Yes, you read that right — Mughal kings from Babar, Jahangir to Shah Jahan were all fond of ice creams. But without refrigerators, how were they making ice or keeping things cool? It’s quite fascinating that despite technological boundaries, the Mughals still managed to get ice through resourceful methods. Mughal-era methods of summer food and drink preservation involved the use of ice. Let us know how they got ice at that time.

During that era, ice was transported from one place to another from frozen lakes and rivers located in Himalayas. People used to collect ice from cold places such as Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Garhwal. The ice was collected in the winter season and stored until the summer season.

Ice from Kashmir was transported to Delhi via specially constructed routes along the Yamuna River during the reigns of Humayun and Akbar.

The Mughals built special underground icehouses to preserve and store big rocks of ice for a long time. Ice was stored in heavily insulated underground chambers or cellars, often wrapped in ash or cloth to prevent melting.

Mughal emperors built these underground icehouses in places such as Delhi, Agra, and Lahore.

Notably, Jahangir wrote the storage of ice and its royal use in his book – Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri.

In ancient India, a method of ice preservation involved exposing water in shallow containers to freezing nighttime temperatures during the winter months (December-January). Specialised individuals, known as Aabdars, were tasked with maintaining and transporting this ice to the royal kitchens.

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