Krue Se Mosque

Krue Se Mosque ( ms, Masjid Kerisek; th, มัสยิดกรือเซะ, ) also called Gresik Mosque, Pitu Krue-ban Mosque ( th, มัสยิดปิตูกรือบัน) or Sultan Muzaffar Shah Mosque, is a mosque in Pattani Province, Thailand. Its construction may have begun in the 16th century. The surviving structure features a mixture of Middle Eastern and European architectural styles.

History

It is unclear when the mosque was first constructed, although a mosque may have been rebuilt several times at the same location. According to ''Hikayat Patani'', a history of the Pattani Kingdom, two mosques were constructed during the reign of Sultan Muzaffar Shah (d. 1564). One of the mosques was built outside the main gate ("Pintu Gerbang") of the citadel beside the town square (''padang''), likely the location of the present Krue Se Mosque. It is also said that it was built around the time of the Ayutthaya king Naresuan the Great, but left incomplete due to a power struggle between the Sultan of Patani and his brother. At the base of the mosque are bricks in the style of the Dvaravati period. Some believe that the mosque was built by the Chinese pirate Lim Toh Khiam, who according to local lore married the daughter of the Sultan of Patani, claimed to be Raja Hijau, and converted to Islam. Next to the mosque is a garden as well as the gravestone of Lim Ko Niao, said to be the sister of Lim Toh Khiam, who in this tale placed a curse so the dome of the mosque could not be completed.

A mosque was known to be have been constructed by the early 17th century; Jacob van Neck wrote in a Dutch report in 1603 that the then principal mosque of Patani "was very neatly constructed by Chinese workers from red bricks". A later 17th century account by Dutch traveler Johan Nieuhof says of the mosque in Patani:

The mosque may have been left in ruins after Pattani was captured and sacked by the Siamese in 1785, and the centre of Pattani was later relocated a few miles west to its present location. An attempt to repair or rebuild the mosque was undertaken in the 19th century by Tuan Sulong who governed Pattani from 1816 to 1832. The mosque became known as Krue Se Mosque (Masjid Kerisik in Malay) after the Ban Krue Se (Kampung Kerisik) area it is located. The mosque was designated a historical site by the Department of Fine Arts of Thailand in 1935 and a minor renovation was undertaken two years later. Major restoration works on its structure were conducted in 1957 and 1982. Further renovation was completed in 2005.

Krue Se Mosque incident

On 28 April 2004, during Thaksin Shinawatra's premiership and in a period of insurgency by Islamic nationalists in the southernmost provinces, 32 gunmen took shelter in the mosque, after more than 100 militants carried out attacks on 10 police outposts across Pattani, Yala, and Songkhla Provinces. After a seven-hour stand-off with Thai military personnel, soldiers attacked and killed all 32. The attack contravened orders from the Minister of Defence to end the confrontation peacefully, and has been the subject of an international inquiry, which concluded the military used excessive force.

In 2013, a replica of Phaya Tani, a cannon taken to Bangkok after Pattani was captured by Siam in 1785, was created and placed in front of Krue Se Mosque. However, it was damaged due to bombing by separatists who saw it as 'faked' and wanted the return of the original cannon regarded as the symbol of Pattani.

See also

*Islam in Thailand

References

{{Mosques in Thailand

Mosques in Thailand
Buildings and structures in Pattani province
Registered ancient monuments in Thailand