Shahbaz Khan Mosque is a historic mosque located 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 i ...

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 ...

. Located near Mir Jumla’s Gate, this mosque serves as an example of late Mughal architecture in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, known as the

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 ...

architectural style.

History

The

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, ...

and the adjacent

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

were built in 1679 AD by Hazi Khwaja Shahbaz Khan, an affluent merchant from Dhaka, who was buried in the shrine after his death.

Architecture

The mosque is rectangular and divided into three equal interior sections, each of which is roofed over by an

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a typ ...

. The eastern

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

of the mosque has three arched openings, and the northern and southern façades have single-arched openings leading to the prayer hall. The prayer hall houses three semi-octagonal mihrabs, each aligned with one opening through the eastern façade. The central mihrab is larger and highly ornamented with Cyprus-filled kanjuras (decorative

merlons A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...

), ornate

arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

plastic relief on the

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

s, a cusped arch, and engaged colonettes standing on bulbous floral bases. At the four corners, there are four ribbed, octagonal turrets, capped with plastered

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

s. In 1950, the Eastern circle of the Pakistan Directorate of Archaeology (DOA) took over the mosque for restoration.

Gallery

Image:Shahbaz Khan Mosque.jpg, Dargah (shrine) of Shahbaz Khan Image:Shahbaz_Khan_Mosque_20.jpg, alt=, center, This is a picture of the Shahbaz Khan Mosque taken on September 26, 2016 Image:Shahbaz_Khan_Mosque_13.jpg, alt=, center, Shahbaz Khan Mosque September 26, 2016

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading