Chawkbazar Shahi Mosque or Chawk Mosque ( bn, চকবাজার শাহী মসজিদ) in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

, is located in the Chowk Bazaar area of the old town of Dhaka, south of the current city centre.MA Bari
Chawk Mosque (Dhaka)

Banglapedia ''Banglapedia:'' ''the'' ''National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh'' is the first Bangladeshi encyclopedia. It is available in print, CD-ROM format and online, in both Bengali and English. The print version comprises fourteen 500-page volumes. The ...

: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh,

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

of Bangladesh,

, ''Retrieved: 2012-09-18'' The mosque was constructed in 1664 by Subahdar

Shaista Khan Mirza Abu Talib (22 November 1600 – 1694), better known as Shaista Khan, was a general and the subahdar of Mughal Bengal. A maternal uncle to the emperor Aurangzeb, he acted as a key figure during his reign. Shaista Khan initially governed ...

.*Husain, A. B. (2007). Architecture – A History Through Ages. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (page 287). The mosque is called Shahi Mosque because it was founded by Subahdar Shayesta Khan. The mosque is built above a raised platform. The three domed mosque above the platform, now transformed into a multi-storied structure was originally a copy of

's another three domed mosque at the Mitford Hospital compound near the Buriganga River. There are some square-shaped rooms maybe built for Imam and for students of the madrasa. Today the original building design has been lost most of its original form through multiple renovations and extensions.

Interior & exterior design

Central Mihrab of the Chawkbazar Shahi Mosque

The three domes of the Chawkbazar Shahi Mosque

The promenade around the three domed prayer chamber, since there was no separate structure for study purpose, might have been used for open-air classes and the vaulted room with book-shelves on their walls underneath the platform may have been designed to provide residential accommodation for those who used to teach and study here. In that context ''Chawk Mosque'' may be regarded as the first known example of Residential

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

Mosque. It is an ingenious way of accommodating two structures-a madrasa and a mosque in a single building which not only saved space but also a considerable amount of money.

History

The construction has been dated to 1664, as noted by an inscription in the

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision of th ...

over a doorway. Persian Inscription inside the Chawk Bajar Shahi Mosque

The inscription attributes the project to Subahdar

. So far known this is the earliest dated mosque in the History of Muslim Architecture in Bengal built on a high vaulted platform. Its architectural design was perhaps influenced by '' Tughlaq Architecture''s; such as Khirki Masjid or Kalan Mosque of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

. Influenced by this structure some other mosques were built in

and

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. Duri ...

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20131121010239/http://www.dhakacalling.com/archive/2009/oct/cover_story.php * https://web.archive.org/web/20161220174321/http://www.kaladarshana.com/essays/essay-tughlak.html {{Mosques in Bangladesh Old Dhaka Mosques in Dhaka Religious buildings and structures completed in 1676

Interior & exterior design

History

References

Further reading

External links