Neevin Mosque, or Neevin Masjid (), is a 15th-century

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, ...

built during the

Lodi dynasty The Lodi dynasty ( ps, لودي سلسله; fa, سلسله لودی) was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he ...

of the Delhi Sultanate. It is located in the ancient

Walled City A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

, in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

province. Neevin Mosque is notable for its foundation 25 feet below street level. The mosque is further noted for being one of Lahore's few remaining pre- Mughal monuments.

Location

Neevin Mosque is situated within the

Walled City of Lahore The Walled City of Lahore ( Punjabi & ur, , ''"Inner City"''), also known as Old City, forms the historic core of Lahore, Pakistan. The city was established around 1000 CE in the western half of the Walled City, which was fortified by a mud w ...

along a small street named ''Kucha Dogran''. The mosque is located near the historic Lahori Gate, and is near the Chowk Matti square.

History

While Lahore is widely known for its Mughal-era monuments, Naveen Mosque is believed to have been built in 1460 C.E. by the

under the rule of its first king,

Bahlul Lodi Bahlul Khan Lodi (12 July 1489) was the chief of the Pashtun Lodi tribe. Founder of the Lodi dynasty from the Delhi Sultanate upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous Sayyid rule. Bahlul became sultan of the dynasty on 19 A ...

. The dynasty was founded in

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

in Pakistan's Punjab province, though the founders were of Pashtun extraction. The mosque is believed to have been built by Zulfiqar Khan, who served under Lahore's governor, Haybat Khan. Unlike the

Badshahi Mosque The Badshahi Mosque ( Urdu, Punjabi: ; literally ''The Royal Mosque'') is a Mughal-era congregational mosque in Lahore, capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab. The mosque is located west of Lahore Fort along the outskirts of the Walled ...

, Sunehri Mosque, and Mariyam Zamani Mosque which were desecrated under Sikh rule,Note: Sunehri Mosque was converted into a Gurudwara after neighbouring Sikh residents complained that the Muslim call to prayer was disturbing them. Neevin Mosque remained untouched. It also was not greatly altered in appearance under Sikh and British rule, although its minarets had to be rebuilt following an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

in the early 1900s.

Architecture

From the mosque's entrance on the street, visitors must descend a staircase to access the mosque's prayer hall. The mosque's unusual foundation below street level is atypical for Lahore's other mosques, although at one time there two such mosques - the other near Yakki Gate was rebuilt in the 20th century and is now at street-level. In contrast to usual mosque construction,

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

s are sometimes built with subterranean vaults and chambers, leading to speculation that the mosque could have possibly been built upon the remains of an earlier Hindu temple. The mosque's prayer hall can accommodate approximately 100 worshippers, and is divided into three roughly equally-sized sections. Each section features a short dome typical of the Lodi-style, as well as an archway that opens onto the mosque's central courtyard.

Administration

The mosque is run by the local community under the leadership of an Imam.

References

{{coord missing, Lahore Mosques in Lahore Walled City of Lahore Architecture of the Lodi dynasty