Muazzampur Shahi Mosque (, ar, المسجد الشاهي معظمفور) is a medieval six-domed

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, ...

located in the historic city of

Sonargaon Sonargaon ( bn, সোনারগাঁও; pronounced as ''Show-naar-gaa''; lit. ''Golden Hamlet'') is a historic city in central Bangladesh. It corresponds to the Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division. Sonargaon is one ...

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 ...

Location

The mosque is located in the village of Mohzumpur/Mazampur (formerly Muazzampur) in Jampur Union,

Sonargaon Upazila Sonargaon ( bn, সোনারগাঁও) is an upazila of Narayanganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Demographics As of the 1991 Bangladesh census, Sonargaon has a population of 261,881 in 44,405 households. Males constitute 5 ...

Narayanganj District Narayanganj District ( bn, নারায়ণগঞ্জ, Narayoṇgonj) is a district in central Bangladesh which is a part of the Dhaka Division. It is home to the ancient city of Sonargaon and is one of the oldest industrial districts in the ...

. It is 10 kilometres southeast of the Madanpur Bus Stand situated on the

Dhaka-Chittagong Highway The N1 or Dhaka–Chittagong Highway is a main transportation artery in Bangladesh, between Dhaka and Chittagong. Approximately in length, the road links the country's two largest cities, Dhaka and Chittagong. The highway is known along variou ...

History

According to an inscription at the back of the mosque, it was built during the reign of the

Sultan of Bengal The Sultanate of Bengal (Middle Bengali language, Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centu ...

Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah Shamsuddīn Aḥmad Shāh ( bn, শামসউদ্দীন আহমদ শাহ, fa, ; r. 1433–1436) was the last Sultan of Bengal belonging to the House of Ganesha. He was the son and successor of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. Afte ...

between 1432 and 1436. Although the inscription is broken, some parts have been deciphered. Its construction is attributed to officers Firuz Khan and Ali Musa. South of the mosque, lies the one-storey

mazar (mausoleum) A ''mazār'' ( ar, مزار), or ''darīh'' () in the Maghreb, is a mausoleum or shrine in some places of the world, typically that of a saint or notable religious leader. Medieval Arabic texts may also use the words ''mašhad'' or ''maqām'' ...

of Shah Langar, who is also referred to by locals as Shah Alam. He was said to have been a religious nobleman from

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

who gave up his riches to live an ascetic lifestyle. He settled in Sonargaon, where he died and was buried. There are many other paved structures around the mosque whose identity has not been confirmed.

Description

The historic mosque still survives after various stages of reform. A modern mosque has been built by renovating this mosque with an eastern extension by a

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

and a newly built

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

to its northeast. At present the area of the mosque is about 12.92 meters by 9.3 meters. It is long on the northern and southern boundaries. The mosque has 3 isles and 2 bays. The mosque has a total of 6 domes.আবুল কালাম মোহাম্মদ যাকারিয়া, ২০০৭, বাংলাদেশের প্রত্নসম্পদ, ঢাকা, দিব্যপ্রকাশ, পৃষ্ঠা -৪৯৮ The interior size of the mosque is 9.3 m by 6.8 m. The walls are 1.8 meters thick. There are 3 arched doors on the east wall and 1 similar door on the north and south walls. The central mihrab on the west wall is adorned with black stone pillars and other crafts including bells and chains. The 6 domes of the mosque are built on 2 inner pillars and surrounding walls. The size of the bricks used in the mosque is 7 by 7 by 1.5 inches. Most of the terracotta slabs on the back wall of the central mihrab still survive.

Gallery

File:Back design.jpg, Back design of mosque File:Interior of the Mosque (main mihrab).jpg, Interior of mosque (main

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

)

References

External links