mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. Th ...

1857 Uprising The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. Th ...

Shah Jahan Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Shahjahanabad Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal Empire, Mughal Mughal emperors, emperor at the time) decided to shift t ...

, like the

Fatehpuri Masjid The Fatehpuri Mosque is a 17th-century mosque in India located at the western end of the oldest street of Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi. It is opposite the Red Fort on the opposite end of Chandni Chowk. History Fatehpuri Masjid was built in 1650 b ...

, Zeenat-ul Masjid, etc. The mosque was reportedly standing a good two centuries after its creation, before it fell to the British wrath in the aftermath of the

1857 Uprising The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

. The uprising of 1857 is one of the most important and decisive events in the history of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

.

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

– the capital of the Mughals (see

History of Delhi Delhi has a long history, and has been an important political centre of India as the capital of several empires. Earliest coverage of Delhi's history is in the onset of the Tomar's kingdom in the 8th century. It is considered to be a city bui ...

) was the epicenter of the uprising, which began in the army units posted around

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. While initially successful, the revolt subsequently withered away, due to many reasons, including lack of leadership and coordination, spying by local Indians for the British, etc. (For details, see

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

).

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

was the last landmark of 1857 to be captured back by the British. To quell the dissent against British rule from spreading further and prevent it from resurfacing, the British destroyed hundreds of structures in

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. Th ...

. The Mughal capital bore the wrath of the British reaction. Any structure that was used as the mutiny base by the sepoys was destroyed (for more details, see

Siege of Delhi The siege of Delhi was one of the decisive conflicts of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The rebellion against the authority of the East India Company was widespread through much of Northern India, but essentially it was sparked by the mass up ...

). Akbarabadi Masjid was one of the mutiny bases which was demolished by the British forces. Its existence has since been legendary and passed on generation after generation. It is not known where the mosque exactly stood, though many local

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

residents of Netaji Subhash Park in

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. Th ...

consider one particular site to be the possible ground where the mosque once stood. The debris from the demolished mosque was put on sale and somehow found a noble buyer in Syed Ahmed Khan, who bought the debris and used it in the construction of the

Sir Syed Mosque Sir Syed Mosque is a mosque located in the heart of Aligarh Muslim University campus. It is located inside Sir Syed Hall. The tomb of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan is also enclosed within the walls of the mosque. History The construction of Jama Masj ...

,

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

.

Possible discovery

On 6 July 2012, while digging earth in Netaji Subhash Park area to construct a Metro station, the officials of the DMRC came across remains of some medieval era construction buried under the ground. After investigation by the ASI, it has been confirmed that the remains belong to the Mughal era due to the material used the style of construction and other things like pottery excavated from the site. It has however, not yet been ascertained if the remains are those of Akbarabadi Masjid or are a part of it. The ASI says that its investigations to establish the exact identity of the ruins are on. The digging by DMRC has been suspended. It was part of

Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colour-cod ...

's Phase-3 plan and minor modification to the route may have to be done to adhere to the ASI construction norms in protected heritage areas. The discovery has triggered excitement among local residents, who certainly believe the remains to belong to Akbarabadi Masjid. Following the construction of an illegal brick structure – which endangered the integrity of the ASI excavations – Muslim residents started offering

namaaz (, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba with ...

at the site of the ruins. Soon after the discovery, the local MLA Shoaib Iqbal began supervising re-construction of the mosque at the same site but it was stopped after orders from the Delhi government. This led to stone pelting and minor arson when the police tried to remove copies of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and some prayer mats from the site. The local civic agency

North Delhi Municipal Corporation North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) was one of the municipal corporations in Delhi, India created after the former Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012. It occupied an area of which was further divided into 6 Zones (Ro ...

had initially banned any activity except offering namaaz at the site. However, on 20 July 2012 the

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

issued a ban on any construction and religious activities at the site, reasoning that it was not yet ascertained if the site belonged to some ancient mosque and that for over a century has no religious activity been carried out at the site. It also ordered

North Delhi Municipal Corporation North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) was one of the municipal corporations in Delhi, India created after the former Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012. It occupied an area of which was further divided into 6 Zones (Ro ...

to hand over the land to ASI for its investigations to begin. On 25 July 2012 the site was handed over to ASI but the archaeology body said that it would start excavating the site only after the monsoons. Heavy police cover shall be provided to ASI during its work. Following request by ASI, the

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

on 30 July 2012 ordered

North Delhi Municipal Corporation North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) was one of the municipal corporations in Delhi, India created after the former Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012. It occupied an area of which was further divided into 6 Zones (Ro ...

to demolish the illegal construction and asked for heavy policing to maintain law and order. On 11 October 2012, after much delay due to monsoons, the

North Delhi Municipal Corporation North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) was one of the municipal corporations in Delhi, India created after the former Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012. It occupied an area of which was further divided into 6 Zones (Ro ...

sought Paramilitary cover in a bid to start the demolition drive at the site.

References

{{reflist Mosques in Delhi Archaeological projects Destroyed mosques Religious buildings and structures completed in 1650 Indian Rebellion of 1857 Mughal mosques 1650 establishments in the Mughal Empire Former mosques in India Attacks on religious buildings and structures in India

History

Possible discovery

See also

References