Shah-e-Alam's Tomb and Mosque, also known as Rasulabad Dargah or Shah Alam no Rozo, is a medieval mosque and tomb complex (''Roza'') in Shah Alam area of Ahmedabad, India.

History

Shah e Alam was the son of Syed Burhanuddin Qutub-ul-Alam and the great grandson of Syed Makhdoom

Jahaniyan Jahangasht Mīr Sayyid Jalāl ad-Dīn an-Naqwī al-Bukhārī ( fa, ; 1308-1384), better known as Jahāniyān Jahāngasht ( fa, ), was a Sufi saint from South Asia. Biography Mir Sayyid Jalaluddin Bukhari was born into a Muslim family on 8th Februar ...

. Attracted to the court of

Ahmed Shah I Ahmad Shah I, born Ahmad Khan, was a ruler of the Muzaffarid dynasty, who reigned over the Gujarat Sultanate from 1411 until his death in 1442. He was the grandson of Sultan Muzaffar Shah who has been variously described as a Tank Rajput or a ...

, his father settled at Vatva and died there in 1452. Shah e Alam succeeded his father and, till his death in 1475, was the guide of

Mahmud Begada Sultan Mahmud Begada or Mahmud Shah I (), was the most prominent Sultan of the Gujarat Sultanate. Raised to the throne at young age, he successfully captured Pavagadh and Junagadh forts in battles which gave him his name ''Begada''. He establish ...

's youth, and afterwards one of the most revered of Muslim religious teachers of Ahmedabad.

''Roza''

A group of buildings, a tomb, a mosque, and an assembly hall, enclosed by a lofty and bastioned wall, was erected in the sacred to the memory of Shah e Alam. From the north the enclosure is entered through two handsome stone gateways. Within the second gate on the left is an assembly hall built by Sultan Muzaffar Shah III. (1561–1572), and partly destroyed by the British in 1779 to furnish materials for the siege of the city during the

First Anglo-Maratha War The First Anglo-Maratha War (1775–1782) was the first of three Anglo-Maratha Wars fought between the British East India Company and Maratha Empire in India. The war began with the Treaty of Surat and ended with the Treaty of Salbai. The w ...

. On the right are some other buildings of which the date has not been traced. In front of these buildings, to the right is a reservoir, and to the left of the reservoir in the centre of the enclosure, is Shah e Alam's tomb. This, the oldest of the buildings, is said to have been constructed soon after the saint's death in 1475 (880AH) and completed in 1483 (888AH) by Taj Khan Nariali, a nobleman of

's court. It is of very pleasing design and has much of the special character of the buildings of that time. Early in the seventeenth century Asaf Khan, the brother of

Nur Jahan Nur Jahan, born Mehr-un-Nissa P ersian: نورجهان (; – 18 December 1645) was the wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir from 1620 until his death in 1627. Nur Jahan was born Mehr-un-Nissa, as the daughter of a Mirza Gh ...

, ornamented the dome with gold and precious stones. The tomb of Shah e Alam is situated roughly in the center of the east end of roza. The tomb is on a square plan with 12 pillars and a high dome in the centre of the roof, surrounded by double corridors with 24 small domes on top. It has arch-shaped entrance on all sides. The main entrance on the west having a small dome projects out from the wall. On each wall of the mausoleum, there is an entrance in the center. On either side of the entrance, there are three arch-shaped windows, over which an arch-shaped part covered by perforated stone windows. The floor of the tomb is inlaid with black and white marble, the doors are of open cut brass work, and the frame in which the doors aro set, as well as what shews between the door frame and the two stone pillars to the right and left, is of pure white marble beautifully carved and pierced. The tomb itself is completely enclosed by an inner wall of pierced stone. The outer wall in the north is of stone trellis work of the most varied design.Captain Lyon, 14. In this mausoleum is buried Shaikh Kabir, renowned for learning, who died in 1618 (1026 H.). Blochmann's Ain-i-Akbari, I. 547. West of the tomb is the mosque, built by Muhammad Salah Badakhshi, with minarets at either end begun by Nizabat Khan and finished by Saif Khan in 1620. The mosque though pleasing in outline and with skilfully constructed domes has much of the ordinary

Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ...

found in other parts of India, and scarcely belongs to the special Ahmedabad style. To the south of the mosque, a tomb on a plan similar to that of the chief mausoleum having twenty four small domes, is the burying of Shah e Alam's family including Saiyyd Makhdum Alam, the sixth grandson of Shah e Alam. Outside of the wall to the west is an argo reservoir built by the wife of Taj Khan Nariali. The minarets of the mosque were damaged by the

1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake The 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake occurred at about 18:45 to 18:50 local time on 16 June. It had an estimated magnitude ranging from 7.7 to 8.2 on the moment magnitude scale and a maximum perceived intensity of XI (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli in ...

but were restored in 1863.

Gallery

File:Tomb Assembly Hall Entrance Shah Alam Roza Ahmedabad 1866.jpg, The tomb, assembly hall and entrance, 1866 File:HAZRAT SHAHEALAM.jpg, Plan of the tomb of Shah e Alam File:Shah alam complex.jpg, The entrance of Roza in 1860s File:Ahmedabad Shah Alam Mosque.jpg, The Mosque File:Interior Mosque Shah Alam Roza Ahmedabad 1866.jpg, Interior of the mosque, 1866 File:Tomb of Shah Alam Ahmedabhad 1860s.jpg, Tomb of Shah-e-Alam in 1860s File:Tomb Shah Alam Roza Ahmedabad 1866.jpg, Tomb in 1866 File:Tomb near Shah Alam Roza Ahmedabad 1866.jpg, The small tomb near Roza File:Shah Alam Mosque from South 1866 Ahmedabad.jpg, Shah Alam Mosque from South File:Gate Shah e Alam Roza Ahmedabad India Drawing 1856.jpg, Drawing of Gate of Shah e Alam Roza, 1856

References

* This article includes public domain text from {{Ahmedabad topics, status=collapsed Mosques in Ahmedabad Religious buildings and structures completed in 1620 Monuments of National Importance in Gujarat