Malik Alam's Mosque Explained

Building Name:Malik Alam's Mosque
Map Type:India Ahmedabad##India Gujarat
Map Size:300px
Location:Shah Alam area, Ahmedabad
Coordinates:23.0009°N 72.587°W
Religious Affiliation:Islam
State:Gujarat
Municipality:Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
Functional Status:Active
Architecture:yes
Architecture Type:Mosque and tomb
Architecture Style:Indo-Islamic architecture
Funded By:Malik Alam bin Kabir
Year Completed:1422
Dome Quantity:5
Minaret Quantity:2 (fallen)
Heritage Designation:Monument of National Importance
ASI Monument No. N-GJ-36

Malik Alam's Mosque, also known as Peer Kamaal's Mosque,[1] is a medieval mosque in the Shah Alam area of Ahmedabad, India.

History and architecture

Malik Alam's Mosque was built in 1422 by one of Sultan Ahmed Shah I's sons-in-law, Malik Alam bin Kabir, styled Vazir-ul-Mamalik. Compared with the earlier buildings in the Ahmedabad, it shows greater skill in fitting the niche and ornament of Hindu spires to the base of the Islamic minaret.[2] [3]

James Burgess wrote in 1900, in the Archaeological Survey of Western India, VII:

It will be seen that [the mosque] has five domes and the roof is supported by 72 pillars (counting those in the open sections of the façade on each side) together with 44 pilasters. The interior dimensions are 112 feet 7 inches by 31 feet 8 inches, and the end and back walls are 3 feet 3 inches thick, that in front being 5 feet 11 inches...the central dome is considerably the higher, but there is in the façade only one large pointed arch in the middle, on each side of the minarets. In the back wall were five marble mihrabs, two in each end, facing the open colonnades, and the central one facing the great arch...The minarets above the level of the façade had been shaken when the upper portions were thrown down, and together with a small canopy on four pillars that stood between the turrets, they were taken down by the Public Works Department about 1882.[4]

Both minarets were damaged in the 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake. The mosque is threatened by encroachment and illegal construction.[1]

Notes and References

  1. News: PEARLS OF PAST: Need Some Elbow Room. The Times of India. 25 November 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20141213193323/http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Layout/Includes/pastissues2/ArtWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=pastissues2&BaseHref=TOIA/2011/11/25&ViewMode=HTML&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00202&AppName=2. dead. 13 December 2014. 7 December 2014.
  2. Book: Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Ahmedabad. Government Central Press. 285–286. 1879.
  3. Book: T. V. Rama Rao. G. D. Binani. India at a glance: a comprehensive reference book on India. 1954. Orient Longmans. 754.
  4. Book: Archaeological Survey of Western India. James Burgess. Government Central Press. 1900. VII.