The Adina Mosque is a former

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

in Malda District, West Bengal, India. It was the largest structure of its kind in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

and was built during the

Bengal Sultanate The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...

as a royal mosque by Sikandar Shah, who is also buried inside. The mosque is situated in Pandua, a former royal capital. The vast architecture resembles the

hypostyle In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or und ...

of the

Umayyad Mosque The Umayyad Mosque (; ), also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. Its religious importance stems from the eschatological reports ...

in Damascus, a style that was used during the introduction of Islam in new areas. The early Bengal Sultanate harbored imperial ambitions after having defeated the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

twice in 1353 and 1359. The Adina Mosque was commissioned in 1373. Completed in 1374, it was the largest mosque in the entire Indian subcontinent at the time. The site is a

Monument of National Importance A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

Design

The design of the mosque incorporated Bengali,

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

, Persian and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

architecture. It was built with rubble masonry that was covered with

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

, coatings of stucco, plaster, concrete, glazing or lime smoothing. Stone flowers were integrated into the arches of the interior and exterior all around the building. Its construction reused materials or incorporated motifs inspired by pre-Islamic Hindu and Buddhist structures. It had a rectangular hypostyle structure with an open

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

. There were several hundred

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

s. The structure measured . The entire western wall evokes the imperial style of pre-Islamic

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

Persia. The mosque's most prominent feature is its monumental ribbed barrel vault over the central nave, the first such huge vault built in the subcontinent, and another feature shared in common with the Sasanian style. The mosque consciously imitated

Persianate A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity. The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...

imperial grandeur. The prayer hall is five aisles deep, while the north, south and east cloisters around the courtyard consist of triple aisles. In total, these aisles had 260 pillars and 387 domed bays. The interior of the courtyard is a continuous façade of 92 arches surmounted by a parapet, beyond which the domes of the bays can be seen. The interior elevated platform, which was the gallery of the Sultan and his officials, still exists. The Sultan's tomb chamber is attached with the western wall.

History

Medieval Bengal

The mosque was built during the reign of Sikandar Shah, the second Sultan of the

Ilyas Shahi dynasty The Ilyas Shahi dynasty (, ) was the first independent dynasty to set the foundations of the late medieval Sunni Muslim Sultanate of Bengal. Their rule extended from 1342 to 1487, though interrupted with interregna by their slaves as well as th ...

of the

. The mosque was designed to display the kingdom's imperial ambitions after its two victories against the

in the 14th century. Cut off from both north India and the Middle East in the late 8th/14th and early 9th/15th centuries, Muslim Bengali monarchs enthusiastically looked far to the west for cultural inspiration. Thus, for example, the inscription on the Ādīna Mosque describes Sultan Sekandar as “the exalted Sultan, the wisest, the most just, the most liberal and most perfect of the Sultans of Arabia and Persia (ʿArab o ʿAjam)” (S. Ahmed, p. 38). A few parts of the mosque's exterior wall have carvings like elephants and dancing figures. Inscriptions on the mosque proclaimed Sikandar Shah as "the exalted Sultan" and the "

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

of the faithful". The Sultan was buried in a tomb chamber attached to the wall facing the direction of

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. The mosque was located in the historic city of Pandua, a former capital of the Bengal Sultanate. Pandua was a thriving and cosmopolitan trading center during the period of the sultanate.

Colonial India

The mosque was damaged by

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s in the 19th century. It fell into disuse. Much of Pandua also became part of the

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

Independent India

Activists from

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

and

Vishva Hindu Parishad Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian Right-wing politics, right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindutva, Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Chinmayananda Saraswati, ...

have claimed that the mosque was built by demolishing an "Adinath Temple", and hence must be restored to the Hindus.

Gallery

Adina Mosque central mihrab on large basalt wall.jpg, The central

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...

of the mosque Arabic inscriptions on the stone walls inside the Adina Mosque3.jpg, Arabic inscriptions on the stone walls inside the Adina Mosque Arabic inscriptions on the stone walls inside the Adina Mosque1.jpg, Arabic inscriptions on the stone walls inside the Adina Mosque Arabic inscriptions on the stone walls inside the Adina Mosque.jpg, Arabic inscriptions on the stone walls inside the Mosque Adina Mosque at Malda district of West Bengal 13.jpg, Arches and columns in the interior of Adina Mosque. The elevated platform was the royal gallery where the Sultan prayed. Adina Mosque at Malda district of West Bengal 07.jpg, Central prayer hall in the mosque Wide view of tomb of Sikander Shah in Adina Mosque 01.jpg, Tomb of Sultan Sikandar Shah Adina Mosque Malda (25).jpg, Detailed

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 "Foliate ...

Adina Mosque through the peep hole.jpg, The building seen through a peep hole Adina Mosque, Malda, West Bengal 01.jpg, Corner of the building Adina Mosque, Malda, West Bengal 02.jpg, Arches inside the mosque Column from Adina Mosuqe.jpg, A column and an Arabic inscription from Adina Mosque, now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

References

External links

* {{Mosques in India 14th-century mosques in India Archaeological sites in West Bengal Bengal Sultanate mosques Bengali architecture Buildings and structures completed in 1375 Mosque ruins in India

Adina Adina may refer to: Places India * Adina Deer Park, a deer sanctuary in Malda district, West Bengal * Adina Kottige, a village in Karnataka * Adina Mosque, a ruined mosque in West Bengal Other countries * Adina, Ghana, a town in the ...

Islamic architecture in India Maldah Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal Mosque buildings with domes in India Mosques completed in the 1370s Mosques in West Bengal Sunni dynasties Sunni mosques in India Tourist attractions in Malda district 1375 establishments in Asia