Khairul Manazil or Khair-ul-Manazil () is a historical

masjid 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, i ...

built in 1561 in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The masjid is situated in the opposite of

Purana Qila Purana Qila () is one of the oldest forts in Delhi, India. Built by the second Mughal Emperor Humayun and Surid Sultan Sher Shah Suri, it is thought by many to be located on the site of the ancient city of Indraprastha. The fort formed the inn ...

Mathura Road Mathura Road is a road in Delhi and a part of the NH 2 (Delhi-Howrah) Highway. Some of it is part of the Grand Trunk Road passing through Faridabad, and it leads right up to the holy town of Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna. In 1723 p ...

, south east to Sher Shah Gate. The gateway of the masjid was made by red sandstone following Mughal architecture, but the inside structure of the building was made in Delhi Sultanate pattern. Currently the masjid is protected and maintained by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

(ASI).

History

This structure was built by one of the most influential and powerful women of Akbar's court

Maham Anga Maham Anga (died 1562) was the foster mother and chief wet nurse of the Mughal emperor Akbar. She was the political adviser of the teenage emperor and the de facto regent of the Mughal Empire from 1560 to 1562. Biography Maham Anga was Akbar's ...

who was Emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

's wet nurse cum foster mother. It is stated that in 1564, Akbar was attacked near the masjid by an assassin while he was returning from

Nizamuddin Dargah Nizamuddin Dargah is the dargah (mausoleum) of the Sufi saint Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya (1238–1325 CE). Situated in the Nizamuddin West area of Delhi, the dargah is visited by thousands of pilgrims every week. The site is also known for its e ...

. Later it was used as

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 '' ...

. Presently the building is under protection of

. The epigraphy in Persian carved on the marble plaque above the arch of the central gate is a chronogram penned by Emperor Akbar's court historian and poet Maulana Shihabuddin Ahmad Khan (Pen name: Baazil) who is also accredited as the composer of the eulogy on the tombstone of Amir Khusrau at the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin, some two hundred and ten years after Khusrau's death. The letters forming the words "Khairul Manazil" in Arabic when translated in their numeric equivalent by the rule of ٲٻڄݚ and summed up to give the numerals of Hijri year 969 equivalent to 1561 AD.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Sir Syed Ahmad Khan KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he ...

"Asaar-us-sanadeed"

References

{{Commons category, Khair-ul-Manzil Archaeological monuments in Delhi Mosques in Delhi Mughal mosques Sandstone buildings in India Monuments of National Importance in Delhi