The Shah-e-Alam's Tomb and Mosque, also known as Rasulabad Dargah or Shah Alam no Rozo, is a

dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...

and

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 ...

complex (''roza''), located in the Shah Alam area of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

, in the state of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

History

Shah e Alam was the son of Syed Burhanuddin Qutub-ul-Alam and the great grandson of Syed Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahangasht. Attracted to the court of Ahmed Shah I, 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 Abu'l Fath Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah I ( Gujarati: અબુલ ફત નાસીર ઉદ દિન મહમુદ શાહ), more famously known as Mahmud Begada, was a Sultan of the Gujarat Sultanate. Raised to the throne at a young age ...

's youth, and afterwards one of the most revered of Muslim religious teachers of Ahmedabad. In 1670,

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

assigned several villages to the Roza and its custodians, the Saiyads of Vatva. In 1724, Trimbak Rao Dabhade Gaekwad assigned several villages as well. In 1867, the British government in Bombay paid for repairs and upkeep of the roza.

''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 conflict 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. As per the treaty, th ...

. 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 A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

, 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 and completed in 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 (; 31 May 1577 – 18 December 1645), born Mehr-un-Nissa was the twentieth wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Jahangir. More decisive and proactive than her husband, Nur Jahan is considered by certain historians to have be ...

, 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 Secularity, secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Muslim world, Islamic world encompasse ...

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 but were restored in 1863.

Gallery

Sahe Aalam Dargaah Ahemadabad.jpg, The tomb domes in 2018 Tomb Assembly Hall Entrance Shah Alam Roza Ahmedabad 1866.jpg, The tomb, assembly hall, and entrance, 1866 HAZRAT SHAHEALAM.jpg, Plan of the tomb Shah alam complex.jpg, The entrance to the ''roza'' in Ahmedabad Shah Alam Mosque.jpg, The mosque Interior Mosque Shah Alam Roza Ahmedabad 1866.jpg, Interior of the mosque, 1866 Tomb of Shah Alam Ahmedabhad 1860s.jpg, Tomb of Shah-e-Alam in Tomb Shah Alam Roza Ahmedabad 1866.jpg, Tomb in 1866 Tomb near Shah Alam Roza Ahmedabad 1866.jpg, The small tomb near the ''roza'' Shah Alam Mosque from South 1866 Ahmedabad.jpg, Shah Alam Mosque from the south Gate Shah e Alam Roza Ahmedabad India Drawing 1856.jpg, Drawing of Gate of Shah e Alam Roza, 1856

References

Attributions

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External links

{{Ahmedabad topics, status=collapsed 16th-century religious buildings and structures in India 17th-century mosques in India Dargahs in Gujarat Monuments of National Importance in Gujarat Mosque buildings with domes in India Mosque buildings with minarets in India Mosques in Ahmedabad Mosques completed in the 1620s Religious buildings and structures completed in 1575 Religious buildings and structures completed in 1620