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Chawkbazar Shahi Mosque or Chawk Mosque ( bn, চকবাজার শাহী মসজিদ) in
Chawk Mosque (Dhaka)
The promenade around the three domed prayer chamber, since there was no separate structure for study purpose, might have been used for open-air classes and the vaulted room with book-shelves on their walls underneath the platform may have been designed to provide residential accommodation for those who used to teach and study here. In that context ''Chawk Mosque'' may be regarded as the first known example of Residential
The inscription attributes the project to Subahdar
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, is located in the Chowk Bazaar
Chawk Bazaar is a bazaar in Chowkbazar Thana, Old Dhaka, Bangladesh. It dates back to the Mughal period.
Shai Mosque
Chowk Bazaar Shai Mosque was built in 1676. This three domed mosque was made by Shaista Khan. Made on 10 feet high platform, 9 ...
area of the old town of Dhaka, south of the current city centre.MA BariChawk Mosque (Dhaka)
Banglapedia
''Banglapedia:'' ''the'' ''National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh'' is the first Bangladeshi encyclopedia. It is available in print, CD-ROM format and online, in both Bengali and English. The print version comprises fourteen 500-page volumes. The f ...
: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society
The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...
of Bangladesh, Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
, ''Retrieved: 2012-09-18'' The mosque was constructed in 1664 by Subahdar Shaista Khan
Mirza Abu Talib (22 November 1600 – 1694), better known as Shaista Khan, was a general and the subahdar of Mughal Bengal. A maternal uncle to the emperor Aurangzeb, he acted as a key figure during his reign. Shaista Khan initially governed ...
.*Husain, A. B. (2007). Architecture – A History Through Ages. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (page 287). The mosque is called Shahi Mosque because it was founded by Subahdar Shayesta Khan. The mosque is built above a raised platform. The three domed mosque above the platform, now transformed into a multi-storied structure was originally a copy of Shaista Khan
Mirza Abu Talib (22 November 1600 – 1694), better known as Shaista Khan, was a general and the subahdar of Mughal Bengal. A maternal uncle to the emperor Aurangzeb, he acted as a key figure during his reign. Shaista Khan initially governed ...
's another three domed mosque at the Mitford Hospital
The hospital, originally named after the philanthropist Robert Mitford of the civil service, who served many years in Dhaka as collector and later, as judge of the Provincial Court of Appeal, was the most important medical institution, not only in ...
compound near the Buriganga River
The Buriganga River ( bn, বুড়িগঙ্গা, ''Buŗigônga'', ) is a river in Bangladesh which flows past the southwest outskirts of the capital city, Dhaka. Its average depth is and its maximum depth is . It ranks among the most p ...
. There are some square-shaped rooms maybe built for Imam and for students of the madrasa. Today the original building design has been lost most of its original form through multiple renovations and extensions.
Interior & exterior design
The promenade around the three domed prayer chamber, since there was no separate structure for study purpose, might have been used for open-air classes and the vaulted room with book-shelves on their walls underneath the platform may have been designed to provide residential accommodation for those who used to teach and study here. In that context ''Chawk Mosque'' may be regarded as the first known example of Residential Madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
Mosque.
It is an ingenious way of accommodating two structures-a madrasa and a mosque in a single building which not only saved space but also a considerable amount of money.
History
The construction has been dated to 1664, as noted by an inscription in thePersian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
over a doorway. The inscription attributes the project to Subahdar Shaista Khan
Mirza Abu Talib (22 November 1600 – 1694), better known as Shaista Khan, was a general and the subahdar of Mughal Bengal. A maternal uncle to the emperor Aurangzeb, he acted as a key figure during his reign. Shaista Khan initially governed ...
. So far known this is the earliest dated mosque in the History of Muslim Architecture in Bengal built on a high vaulted platform. Its architectural design was perhaps influenced by ''Tughlaq
The Tughlaq dynasty ( fa, ), also referred to as Tughluq or Tughluk dynasty, was a Muslim dynasty of Indo- Turkic origin which ruled over the Delhi sultanate in medieval India. Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the ...
Architecture''s; such as Khirki Masjid
Khirki Mosque, approached from the Khirki Village in South Delhi and close to the Satpula or the seven arched bridge on the edge of southern wall of Jahanpanah (the fourth city of Medieval Delhi), was a mosque built by Khan-i-Jahan Junan Shah, ...
or Kalan Mosque Kalan may refer to:
* The sea otter, also called kalan, a large otter native to the North Pacific
* Kalan Müzik, Kalan Music, Istanbul, Turkish independent record label of ethnic and folk music
People
* Elliott Kalan (born 1981), U.S. comedy ...
of 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 ...
. Influenced by this structure some other mosques were built in Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
and Murshidabad
Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district.
During ...
.
References
Further reading
* Mamoon, M. (1993). Dhaka-Smriti Bismritir Nogori. Dhaka: Anannya (page 78) * Husain, A. B. (2007). Architecture – A History Through Ages. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (page 287) * Karim, Abdul. (1992) Corpus of the Arabic and Persian Inscriptions of Bengal. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (page 469)External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20131121010239/http://www.dhakacalling.com/archive/2009/oct/cover_story.php * https://web.archive.org/web/20161220174321/http://www.kaladarshana.com/essays/essay-tughlak.html {{Mosques in Bangladesh Old Dhaka Mosques in Dhaka Religious buildings and structures completed in 1676