 The 400 year old Dhaka city has a plethora of heritage buildings and sites dating from the medieval ages to boast off. Starting from the time of the Mughals, the city has always been a significant site for commercial, political and religious reasons, and subsequently many important structures have been erected on its soil. The structures of the Mughal period show the powerful influence of Islamic architecture, dominated by mosques of various sizes and magnificence. Perhaps, Dhaka’s fame as the city of mosques owes its origin to the Mughal period. Some of the famous mosques from that age which still survive across the city include, Lalbag Fort Mosque (1649 A.D.), Khawaja Ambar Mosque (1680 A.D.), Kar Talab Khan’s Mosque (1701-04 A.D.), Khan Muhammad Mirdha’s Mosque (1706 A.D.), Haji Khwaja Shahbaz Mosque (1679 A.D.), Satgumbad (seven domed) Mosque (1680 A.D.), Musa Khan’ Mosque (18th century), Star Mosque (18th century), Chawkbazar Mosque (1676 A.D.) etc.
Lalbagh Fort Mosque: The Lalbagh Fort was built in 1678 A.D. by Prince Mohammad Azam, son of Mughal emperor Aurangazeb. The fort was the scene of bloody battle during the first war of independence (1857) when 260 soldiers stationed here backed by the people revolted against British forces. Along with the famous 3 doomed Lalbagh Mosque, the premise also holds the tomb of Pari Bibi - the reputed daughter of Nawab Shaista Khan, Audience Hall and “Hammam” of Nawab Shaista Khan now serving as a museum.
Star Mosque: This beautiful mosque is situated just west of Armanitola Govt. High School in Old Dhaka. This five-domed mosque with hundreds of big and small twinkling stars as surface decorations consists of immaculate Mughal style architecture. The stars have been created by setting pieces of chinaware on white cement. The interior is even more beautiful that the exterior - lovely mosaic floor and excellent tiles with many floral patterns set on the walls are all in complete harmony. The mosque is decorated with imported Japanese and English china clay tiles. The Star Mosque (known as Sitara Masjid in Bengali) was originally built with three domes in the early 18th century by Mirza Ghulam Pir, a highly respectable Zamindar of Dhaka.
Koshaituli Mosque: The inscriptions on this mosque express the name as "Qassabtuly Jame Masjid” now known as Koshaituli Mosque. Built in Hijri 1338, this is one of the most ornate mosques in Old Dhaka. The exquisitely beautiful mosque surface is done with colored broken pieces of ceramic. The Mihrab's decoration is characterized by floral motifs in dazzling yellow, green, blue, pink and brown colors. The mosque is known for its artistic designs and decorative ingenuity of exquisite fineness, thought to be of Persian origins.
Seven Domed Mosque: The Saat Gambuj Masjid (Seven Domed Mosque) situated in Mohammadpur, Dhaka is about 300 years old. Archeologists of Bangladesh claim that the Masjid was made by Shaista Khan, the great army general of the Mughal time. Though the accurate year of construction of the Mosque is unknown, it is assumed to be built between 1664 and 1688 during the reign of the Mughals in the Bengal region. Size of the mosque is about 17.67 meters X 6.22 meters. It has three domes stretching from northern to southern side and four dooms in the four corners. In total it has seven domes, and hence gets its name.
Musa Khan Mosque: This mosque, named after Musa Khan - son of the famous Bara Bhuiyan chief Isa Khan, is located on the western side of the Shahidullah Hall of Dhaka University, and is less than half a km to the south of the Khwaja Shahbaz's Mosque. The mosque complex consists of a three-domed mosque mounted on a high vaulted pitch and the grave of Musa Khan to the northeast. Underneath the raised platform, a series of vaulted rooms with book-shelves on the walls have been found, suggesting that it may have originally been built as a 'madrasa mosque'. The vaulted platform, 3.05m high, gives an outside measurement of 17.68m from north to south and 14.02m from east to west. Though the mosque is traditionally ascribed to Musa Khan (died in 1623), the architectural style of the building does not quite conform to his period. Alternative thoughts suggest that the mosque was possibly built in the time of Shaista Khan or even later by Dewan Manawar Khan - grandson of Musa Khan who probably named it in the memory of his grandfather.
Chawk Mosque: Located in the Chawkbazar area of old Dhaka, this is perhaps the earliest dated mosque in Bengal that was built on a high vaulted platform. The vaulted rooms underneath the platform must have been originally devised for providing residential accommodation for students and teachers, as in other mosques in Dhaka like Kartalab Khan's mosque (1700-04) and Khan Muhammad Mirdha's Mosque (1704-05). So, this three domed mosque may be said to have been originally built as a 'Residential Madrasa Mosque'. A Persian inscription over the central doorway of the mosque records its construction by Subahdar Shaista Khan in 1676 AD.
Rafia Afrin
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