The Shaikpet Mosque and Sarai 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 ...

and a sarai (rest house) in a partial ruinous state, located near

Golconda Golconda is a fortified citadel and ruined city located on the western outskirts of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparudra in the 11th century out of mud walls. It was ceded to the Bahmani ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, in the Hyderabad District of the state of

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

, India. The former mosque and serai are listed as a state protected monument.

History

It was built by

Abdullah Qutb Shah Abdullah Qutb Shah (also transliterated in different ways) was the seventh ruler of the kingdom of Golconda in southern India under the Qutb Shahi dynasty. He ruled from 1626 to 1672. Abdullah, son of Sultan Muhammad Qutb Shah, was a polyglot, ...

in for the benefit of various travellers to

and was located on the way to

Bidar Bidar ( ) is a city and headquarters of the Bidar district in Karnataka state of India. Bidar is a prominent place on the archaeological map of India, it is well known for architectural, historical religious and rich heritage sites. Pictures ...

. It is a heritage structure and, , was in need of restoration.

Architecture

Mosque

The former mosque stands upon a rectangular plinth. The plinth measures , and has a height of . The mosque is constructed out of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

has three arched entrances, each being about high and wide. Above the entrances is a band, approximately with, of blue, green, and yellow enameled tiles, with white text. Most of the tiles have fallen off. The roof of the mosque is supported by three shallow domes. There are traces of enameled tile-work in the interior of the mosque. The western wall contains six panels of inscriptions, carved in black

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

. Four of these contain

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

verses, one contains an excerpt from the Quran, and the final panel records the date of its construction as .

Sarai

The sarai had 30 rooms, stables for horses and camels, and a tomb of an unknown

Sufi saint The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God in Islam, God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press ...

. It could accommodate 500 people.

Gallery

Shaikpet Mosque.png, Shaikpet Mosque Mosque and sarai in Shaikpet (1).jpg, Shaikpet mosque and Sarai

References

External links

{{Qutb Shahi monuments 17th-century mosques in India Caravanserais in India Monuments and memorials in Hyderabad, India Mosque buildings with domes in India Mosque buildings with minarets in India Mosques completed in the 1630s Mosque ruins in India Mosques in Hyderabad, India Qutb Shahi architecture Religious buildings and structures completed in 1634