Wazir Khan Mosque

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Wazir Khan Mosque
Inside view of Wazir Khan Mosque, Lahore..jpg
Mosque Wazir Khan
Basic information
Affiliation Islam
Province Punjab
District Lahore
Ecclesiastical or organizational status Mosque
Architectural description
Architectural type Mosque
Architectural style Indo-Islamic/Mughal
Completed 1635 A.D.
Specifications
Minaret height 100 feet

The Wazir Khan Mosque (Punjabi/Urdu: مسجد وزیر خان Masjid Wazīr Khān) in Lahore, Pakistan, is famous for its extensive faience tile work. It has been described as 'a mole on the cheek of Lahore'. It was built in seven years, starting around 1634–1635 AD, during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. It was built by Hakim Shaikh Ilm-ud-din Ansari, a native of Chiniot, who rose to be the court physician to Shah Jahan and a governor of Lahore. He was commonly known as Wazir Khan, a popular title bestowed upon him (the word Wazir means 'minister' in Arabic through which it came into Urdu)[1] The mosque is inside the Inner City and is easiest accessed from Delhi Gate. The mosque contains some of the finest examples of Qashani tile work from the Mughal period.

Location

The mosque is located in Lahore, Punjab in Pakistan. It is situated in the road connecting the Lahore Fort to the Delhi Gate where Wazir Khan built a mazar.[2]

History

Wazir Khan was the governor of the Punjab province in Mughal times and was also one of the Mughal court physicians.[3] He built many buildings in the city of Lahore.[3] The mosque was built in 1635 to enclose the tomb of Miran Badshah (a Sufi saint) and currently, his tomb lies in the courtyard of the mosque.[3] The mosque replaced the Mosque of Mariyam Zamani Begum as the city's Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque).[4]

Khan allotted the various shops as well as the houses on the sides of the streets adjacent to the mosque as waqf to the mosque.[5] The income of the waqf along with the money raised from the sarais and baths nearby were used to built the mosque.[5] Historian Stephen Alter writes that the "mosque itself is virtually impossible to see from outside" due to the various buildings surrounding the mosque.[6]

A Pakistani Lollywood movie "Khuda Ke Liye (For God Sake)" was shot in the mosque.[7] The movie portrays themes of religion, religious perceptions and religious hypocrisy in Islamic Pakistani society.[7]

Features

The mosque covers an area of 279 feet (85 m) x 159 feet (48 m).[8] It has a single aisle and five bays.[3] The mosque stands on an elevated plinth and is entered through a gate in the eastern side of the complex which has an octagonal interior chamber.[3] The prayer chamber of it is modelled on that of the Mosque of Mariyam Zamani Begum which is located in the same city.[3] High arched galleries surrounds its central brick paved courtyard - a typical feature of Iranian four aiwan mosque.[3] It is also flanked on its four sides by 32 hijras (guestrooms).[8] There are four minarets of the mosque, each located in one corner of the courtyard.[3]

The mosque is constructed of bricks which are laid in kankad lime.[8] It is adorned with fresco paintings and tile decoration.[2] The decoration also reflects the regional style, a concept which is uncommon in mosques of Mughal capitals.[4] The details in the mosque's minarets and kiosks as well as the engraved patterns of honeycomb on the ceiling is similar to that of Alhambra.[9] It is the first one in Lahore in which minarets were built - as previous ones did not have it.[4]

The mosque is decorated in Punjab's kasha kari works which is not seen in the Jama Masjids of Delhi and Agra.[4] The work is named so because of the tiles were imported from kasha, a city in Persia. This work was first used in Mughal buildings first time under Shah Jahan's reign at this mosque. The colours used in this work are lajvard (cobalt), firozi (corulean blue), green, orange, yellow,purple.[10]

The domes of the mosque are built in the Lodi style.[11] The walls are divided into compartments "for the reception of glazed pattern".[11] The walls also contain calligraphy in Arabic and Persian languages.[9] Besides pottery decoration is also done on the walls. The grills of the mosque are made up of terracotta.[12] A strange feature of it is that of the incorporation of 22 shops in its ground plan. These shops forming are located on the two sides of a brick paved passage leading to the mosque which exists even now.[13]

Located on the western side of the mosque, the prayer chamber is divided into five compartments by "massive piers" which bears the four arches. Moreover, there is a dome on top of each compartment.[8] In the prayer chamber's north and south ends, there stands a small room, whereas the spiral staircase which leads to the roof is located in the eastern end.[8]

Gallery

  • Wazir Khan Mosque, 1866 water colour by William Carpenter

  • Wazir Khan Mosque, February 1895 by William Henry Jackson

  • Pigeons flying over the mosque

  • A painting by Edwin Lord Weeks c. 1889 of the marketplace near Wazir Khan Mosque

  • The main gate.

  • The main gate from the inside.

  • A minaret.

  • Looking right on entry.

  • Tomb of Syed Muhammad Ishaq, in the mosque.

  • Close-up of a hujras (a separate room within the mosque for prayer in solitude) door.

  • Row of hujras lining the courtyard.

  • Praying niche (mihrab).

  • Rows of shops outside the mosque (one of the earliest mosques to introduce such a concept).

  • Arabic calligraphy on glazed tile.

  • Arabic calligraphy on glazed tile.

  • Arabic calligraphy on glazed tile: "God is aplenty".

  • Fresco in prayer chamber.

  • Fresco in prayer chamber.

  • Plaque at Wazir Khan Mosque.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Shelomo Dov Goitein. Studies in Islamic History and Institutions BRILL, 2010 ISBN 9004179313 p 170
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Westcoat, p.160
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Asher, p.225
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Gharipour, p.87
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Haig, p.561
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

References

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External links

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