Mughal Mosques in Bangladesh

Description

Sl.	Name of the components	State, Province or Region (Sub-district, District, Division)	Latitude and Longitude, or UTM coordinates	Construction Period
A	Mosques with single dome
A1	Bibi Chini Mosque	Betagi, Barguna, Barisal	22°28'22.2"N 90°12'02.6"E	17th century CE
A2	Srirampur Moque	Sadar, Patuakhali, Barisal	22°25'20.8"N 90°22'22.9"E	17th – 18th century CE
A3	Amirullah Munshibari Jame Mosque	Dashmina, Patuakhali, Barisal	22°20'16.8"N 90°32'04.9"E	18th century CE
A4	Khanbari Old Jame Mosque Complex	Rajapur, Jhalakathi, Barisal	22°32'48.8"N 90°09'07.3"E	18th century CE
A5	Shah Muhammad Mosque	Pakundia, Kishoregonj, Dhaka	24°15'41.1"N 90°39'50.0"E	18th century CE
A6	Sadi Mosque		24°15'44.9"N 90°39'34.8"E	1652 CE
B	Mosques with three domes
B1	Shah Niamatullah Wali Mosque	Shibganj, Chapai Nawabganj, Rajshahi	24°49'05.0"N 88°08'21.7"E	Mid-17th century CE
B2	Kismat Maria Mosque	Durgapur, Rajshahi, Rajshahi	24°26'40.8"N 88°46'29.3"E	18th – 19th century CE
B3	Shahi Mosque	Chatmohar, Pabna, Rajshahi	24°13'38.8"N 89°17'27.6"E	1582 CE
B4	Chandamari Mosque	Rajarhat, Kurigram, Rangpur	25°46'35.8"N 89°32'07.5"E	17th century CE
B5	Nayabad Mosque	Kaharol, Dinajpur, Rangpur	25°46'54.7"N 88°39'31.0"E	1793 CE
B6	Sheikpura Jame Mosque	Keshabpur, Jashore, Khulna.	22°49'54.0"N 89°10'03.3"E	17th century CE
B7	Jhaudiya Shahi Mosque	Sadar, Kushtia, Khulna	23°46'29.9"N 89°03'18.6"E	17th century CE
B8	Kamalapur Mosque	Gouranadi, Barisal, Barisal	23°02'47.9"N 90°13'40.7"E	17th century CE
B9	Karapur Miya Bari Mosque	Sadar Upazila under the district of Barisal in Barisal Division	22°43'27.2"N 90°17'20.3"E	18th century CE
B10	Khan Mohammad Mridha Mosque	Sadar Upazila, Dhaka, Dhaka	23°43'15.1"N 90°23'02.8"E	1704-5 CE
B11	Lalbagh Fort Mosque		23°43'07.6"N 90°23'13.0"E	17th century CE
B12	Haji Khwaja Shahbaz Mosque		23°43'45.6"N 90°24'01.2"E	1679 CE
B13	Musa Khan Mosque		23°43'36.4"N 90°24'02.9"E	17th century CE
B14	Bakshi Hamid Mosque	Banshkhali, Chattagram	22°04'43.6"N 91°54'07.7"E	17th century CE
B15	Mohammad Ali Chowdhury Mosque	Sadar. Feni, Chattagram	23°03'34.9"N 91°20'28.6"E	17th century CE
B16	Chandgaji Bhuiyan Mosqueal	Chagalnayya, Feni, Chattagrsham	23°05'03.4"N 91°29'45.8"E	17th century CE
B17	Bajra Shahi Mosque	Begamgonj, Noakhali, Chattagram.	23°00'14.4"N 91°05'35.1"E	1741 CE
B18	Ramjan Miya Jame Mosque	Kabirhat, Noakhali, Chattagram	22°51'07.9"N 91°13'58.2"E	18th century CE
B19	Ulchapara Shahi Mosque	Sadar, Brahmanbaria, Chattagram Division	23°57'02.0"N 91°05'48.5"E	1728 CE
B20	Arifail Mosque	Sarail, Brahmanbaria, Chattagram	24°04'11.8"N 91°06'26.7"E	1670 CE
C	Mosques with four domes
C1	Probajpur Shahi Mosque	Kaligonj Upazila, Satkhira, Khulna	22°25'40.5"N 89°01'48.5"E	17th century CE
C2	Atia Mosque	Delduar, Tangail, Dhaka	24°11'02.7"N 89°54'41.1"E	1609 CE
D	Mosques with five domes
D1	Qutub Mosque	Astogram Kishoregonj, Dhaka Division	24°16’44.3"N 91°06’39.1"E	16th century CE
E	Mosque with seven domes
E1	Sat Gambuj Mosque	Sadar, Dhaka, Dhaka	23°45’27.7"N 90°21’32.3"E	17th century CE

Mughal mosques in Bangladesh as an architectural ensemble

The Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent (including present-day Bangladesh, India and Pakistan) is renowned for the initiation and development of new architectural concepts, forms and symbols. The Mughals were the patrons of architectural enterprise which can be considered one of the most creative and richest representations of the global, regional, and local aspects. The empire building processes were initiated by the first ruler Babur in 1526 CE, and the empire began to disintegrate after the death of the ruler Aurangzeb in 1707 CE. Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan were the rulers and patrons of various elaborate, astounding, and splendid monuments along with Aurangzeb. With its differential fusion of cultures, religions, and traditions from various parts of the globe, the empire went on to integrate different territories of the subcontinent through warfare, treaty and diplomacy. The architectural assemblage of the Mughals in the Indian subcontinent synthesised various heterogeneous elements from Transoxanian (land between Oxus and Jaxartes Rivers), Timurid, Indian, Persian and European regions.

The Mughals gradually assimilated different regional architectural and artistic traditions. Mughal monuments, therefore, went through spatiotemporal changes and continuity. Emperor Akbar’s appointed historian Qandahari contended that a good name for a king is [achieved by means] of lofty buildings; that is to say, the measure of men is assessed by the worth of their buildings. Subsequently, a historian during the reign of Shah Jahan explicitly proclaimed that an increase in such buildings was necessary for the good rule. The buildings and their surroundings (e.g., gardens adorned with fountains), in his words, created the esteem of the rulers in the eyes of the people and increased respect for the rulers in the peoples’ hearts. The elaborate, grand, and lofty monuments constructed by the Mughals and their subsidiaries, therefore, were not merely religious, administrative, or commemorative ones. They acted for asserting the authority and legitimacy of the rulers. The religious monuments performed as a symbol for the establishment and continuity of a new political, religious, and social order in different parts of the subcontinent.

The eastern part of the subcontinent – characterized by the Ganges-Brahmaputra- Meghna rivers and their numerous tributaries and distributaries – was officially recognized as part of the Mughal empire as Subah Bangla only during the reign of Akbar in 1576 CE. Present-day Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, were part of the subah (an administrative and revenue extracting unit). The Mughals, ruling from their capital in Delhi, had consistent difficulties and resistance in this riverine delta. After persistent expeditions, they successfully annexed a larger part of the eastern part of Bengal or present Bangladesh in 1609 and established their provincial capital in Dhaka by Islam Khan, the provincial governor (subahdar). It was in 1666 that Mughal provincial powers in Bengal were able to conquer present-day Chattagram. The Mughal realm in Bangladesh was subject to continuous conflicts with various internal and external forces. The independent landlords from riverine deltaic fronts, Ahom kings of present-day Assam (India), and Arakanese and Portuguese pirates were the dominant forces of conflicts over territoriality and control over the fluvial routes of trade and commerce. The contestation for the throne in Delhi and internal competition among the elites were persistent.

The period of Mughal expeditions to incorporate the region and the period after the annexation were also characterised by intensified interaction with various European traders, travellers, and missionaries. The empire fell to the colonial conquest of the British East India company in 1757, though the puppet rulers continued for a considerable time. In the popular imagination, the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar became the epitome of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. After the suppression of the uprising, the Indian subcontinent finally became a colony of the British empire. Most importantly, Bengal, with its later capital in Murshidabad (since 1707 CE) in present-day West Bengal, India, was one of the most thriving economies within the subcontinent, vibrant with external and internal trade and commerce, even during the period of disintegration and decline of other parts of the Mughal empire.

Dhaka and Chattogram continued to be the centre of trade and commercial activities. The rural commercialization of the area of present-day Bangladesh continued to intensify and spread during the 18th century despite continuous raids and attacks by Portuguese and Arakanese pirates and mercenaries. The Mughal realm in the eastern part of Bengal or present-day Bangladesh was, understandably, a period of activities of multiple agents, including the environmental variables such as monsoon rain, rivers, floods, and new formation of land in the active delta region and river valleys. This period is characterized by the construction of hundreds of mosques all over Bangladesh. This proposed property represents thirty mosques, each as a component for serial nomination. Situated in different parts of the county, these monuments represent a distinct architectural style and morphology with shared and common attributes and heterogeneity. These mosques represent an adaptation of the imperial Mughal architectural assemblages of the north and western part of the Indian subcontinent to local and religious landscape, traditions, and artistic lineage. These mosques, therefore, are global, regional, and local at the same time. The components of the property are categorised based upon the number of domes by which these primarily religious monuments are generally recognised.

Mughal mosques of Bangladesh: commonalities and lineage

Unlike the mosques built in the Sultanate period, these mosques were developed within a simplified and humble ground plan, characterised by a single-aisled plan with one or more bays. During the Sultanate period, the architecture of mosques had already acquired a regional character by incorporating curved cornices, terracotta decoration and subdued elevation with stone-paved façades. Mughal mosques, keeping in the continuity of the preceding architectural attributes, incorporated the North Indian imperial style as well as the  regional traditions. Simultaneously, the entire building tradition went through an evolution spanning three hundred years. There were spatial variations in the minute stylistic and morphological features and treatment of the outer surface. Bricks were the main construction materials. Some of the key morphological attributes of the Mughal mosques in Bangladesh are:

• The internal space of the square or rectangular structure was divided by lateral arches, with the central one often being the largest and making the plan single-aisled with one or three bays.
• The concave arched mihrab to the west was located centrally and it was outlined by cusped arches and often terracotta or stucco floral decoration.
• The structures were invariably attributed with four circular or octagonal turrets at four corners with ribbed copula at the top and often bulbous base.
• The domes were either bulbous or ribbed, placed upon an octagonal drum decorated with blind merlons. The finial of the domes featured an inverted lotus design and a kalasa (an earthenware made especially for storing water and considered sacred to both Islam and Hinduism) form.
• The façade on the east and the mihrab were decorated by engaged colonettes with a bulbous base on both sides of the entrances, and featured cusped arches.
• The external surface of the façade was embellished with panels, stucco decorations, articulations of terracotta floral motifs and plaster.
• Although three bays and a single-aisled structural layout capped by three domes on a rectangular form became the most popular variety during the late 17th century and 18th century, the single-domed structure was popular in different areas.
• The parapets were decorated with blind merlons, and these slender yet sombre buildings had straight or curved cornices.

Spatiotemporal heterogeneity and proliferation of mosque building

The common and shared architectural morphology of the basic Mughal mosques had gone through differential modifications, adaptations, and reconfigurations in different parts of the country in different periods. Many mosques have in situ inscriptions, mostly in Persian, while many others do not have one. These inscriptions refer to the name of the patron and the date of the construction. Many other such inscriptions, on stone slabs or terracotta, were found from scattered find spots or the reused context of other mosques. The proportional comparison among these inscriptions suggests that the heydays of the constructions of these mosques were the latter part of the 17th to the 18th centuries CE. Hundreds of such mosques are yet to be owned and protected by the state.

These mosques illustrate interesting modifications of the single-domed or three-domed varieties. For example, B10 and B11 are constructed upon a raised podium composed of several chambers which were probably used as educational institutions (madrasa). At the same time, C2 is an excellent example of the extension of a single-domed mosque into a four-domed one. The northern and eastern façade of this mosque  display exquisite terracotta ornamentations with many traditional motifs. The corner towers of this mosque are octagonal and crowned by flat fluted copulas. A1 does not have any corner turrets and instead has offsets on the corner and carefully curved cornices as is found in the early Sultanate mosques - a feature appropriated from the traditional wattle-dub huts of Bengal. Many of these mosques are associated with auxiliary buildings in the same compound and they were intricately connected to these sacred built spaces. For example, B2 has a double-storied small axillary structure with do-chala (like the traditional huts) roof. A5 is within a walled compound the entrance of which is through a do-chala structure. A4 is composed of three tiny mosques in a row and their functional use as a prayer space seems improbable considering their size. B16 has two octagonal structures with a single dome on both sides of the entrance. E1 is a spatial and structural elaboration of the basic three-domed variety. Four circular corner towers or pavilions are crowed by four separate domes. These spatial variations of morphology and decoration were related also to the social, economic, religious and landscape contexts. Many mosques have one or more tombs which are considered as the burial places of Sufi saints or a holy person. They enhanced the sacredness of the monuments not only as a holy place of worship and congregation but also as a sacred space of the manifestation of the miraculous acts of these Sufi saints.

Mughal mosques in their contexts

There was a marked proliferation of mosque building activities in the late 17th to 18th century CE. This proliferation and divergence of mosques were related to the growing social stratification and rural commercialization of Bangladesh in that period. The fluvial network marked by numerous rivers enabled the connection between the centre and peripheries to be more intimate. Social mobility was increased by the new merchant groups who traded with local big merchants as well as European traders. Mughal dominion had attracted several groups of people from different professions, both military and civil, to Bengal. They developed into a class of elites known as ashraf and the locals were relegated to the atraf stage. The social differentiation and mobility of the lower class to the upper echelons or their attempts to ameliorate their position and status were reflected by the construction of mosques. The construction of mosques in various parts of the area where there was no brick-built structure before was a modality to assert their authority, status, and legitimacy in the developing and transforming social order. The mosque-building activities were also intimately linked to the formation and expansion of settlements in the area which were either forested and fluvially dynamic or occupied by other religious groups. The tombs or mazars of the Sufi saints or pirs, with their essential association with the mosques, gave a multidirectional purpose in settlement formations, legitimacy, and power to the monuments. Mughal mosques, thereby, became a holy place as the embodiment of the sacred and supernatural abilities of the Sufi saint or pirs who played a crucial role in giving the syncretistic and pluralist worldview of Islam in Bangladesh.

Interestingly, the same period in Bangladesh witnessed the proliferation of Hindu temple building activities. The exchange of structural forms such as do-chala and other ornamentation motifs clearly illustrate a dynamic environment of appropriation and rejection of artistic and architectural symbols. The coastal belts with their connectivity and tidal dynamic terrain saw the construction of many three-domed and single-domed mosque as they were structurally suitable for adapting to the landscape and ecology. Mughal mosques in Bangladesh, therefore, embody the complex articulation of power, piety and society during the early modern period and the stylistic lineage continued even during the colonial period. These monuments were religious as well as political. They represent the dynamic and active engagement with exchange of ideas and traditions between two religious’ communities – Muslims and Hindus in Bangladesh. Despite their fundamental character as Islamic places of worship, these monuments are the evidence of the expansion of Islam in Bangladesh and the formation of a pluralistic and inclusive religious tradition. Mughal mosques, moreover, are the signatures of the intimate relationship between landscape and architectural forms. The representational aspect of the monuments took a turn into humble and disperse structures in the active riverine terrain of Bangladesh to facilitate commerce and the religious community.

Justification of Outstanding Universal Value

The proposed property with thirty components for serial nomination possesses various characteristics in terms of its historical and regional developments. Their outstanding universal value can be justified in reference to the following criteria:

Criterion (ii): Mughal mosques in Bangladesh convincingly exhibit the interchange of monumental art, technology as well as human values for more than three hundred years. Mughal monuments and buildings in general and Mughal mosques, especially in northern and western India with the epicentre in Delhi (present India) are one of the richest examples of the synthesis and fusion of various ideas, technology and architectural traditions of Transoxanian (land between Oxus and Jaxartes Rivers), Timurid, Indian, Persian, and European origins over a long span of time.

The Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent and the later annexation of Bangladesh (under the administrative and revenue gathering unit of Subah Bangla) paved the way for the interchange of ideas, artistic traditions and architectural technology and elements from various regions. As has been mentioned in the previous section, Mughal mosques in Bangladesh incorporated various technologies and elements from the North Indian style and gave birth to a regional tradition through the medium of bricks, terracotta, and stucco. Instead of representing grandeur, solidity and exhibitionist power, the Bengal mosques represented the ideas of pluralism and syncretism through subtle modest, and simple structures by adopting the soft soils in the changing alluvial terrain of the region.

The interchange was not one way. The curved cornices, terracotta decorations, motifs, and façade articulations of the mosques, were adopted and articulated in the monuments of north India through the stone. This bi-directional exchange and interaction among various traditions from different times and spaces are exhibited in these mosques. The interchange of technology and art were also active on the regional and local level. Interaction of Islam and Hindu religious traditions of architecture during the 17th-19th century is overtly detectable in the craftmanship, use of architectural elements, interchange of ideas, and in the appropriation of decorative motifs. It is quite probable that the exchange took place by the mobile and skilled group of artists and architects who cultivated the skill and efficiency of the hereditary occupational practice.

The accentuated acts of mosque construction also blurred social stratification and differences because of ethnic and economic mobilities and power. The groups in the lower echelons and upper strata interacted with each other, perhaps involuntarily, through these monuments. These mosques linked with auxiliary buildings and tombs (mazars) turned into objects with the power to express the   newly   acquired   position   and status and reflected the  space of interaction, even symbolically. Imitation and actions to be equal with the landed nobles and merchants by constructing mosques opened a window through which ideas, artistic traditions and social networks were built and exchanged.

The Mughal mosques in Bangladesh, in another way, attest to the interaction among the rural and the urban, the merchants and the producers, and the administrator-military ruler and the ruled. Their different worldviews fused together in these monuments through terracotta motifs, mazars of Sufi saints and the ideas of expressing power and status. With the growing rural commercialization through the intricate fluvial network of Bangladesh, many mosques coincided with the rural marketplaces and settlements. Such mosques in the 17th-18th centuries became the core around which the interaction and exchange of ideas and things were facilitated among people from various regions and localities.

Criterion (iv): As an ensemble of primarily religious monuments, the Mughal mosques of Bangladesh represent an extraordinary enterprise with evolution, transformation, and adaptation in the history of humankind. There are few examples in the world where fluvial dynamics and monument building together and in reciprocity acted in the development of a new genre of monuments with bricks and other construction materials available on an alluvial terrain. This extraordinary flexibility of construction technology and adaptation in an intimate relationship with the landscape is rare in a global context. The ways in which these mosques acted in the formation and expansion of a religious tradition and human settlements for over three hundred years are exceptional as an example of intimate and interactive connection among society, economy, power, and piety.

Statements of authenticity and/or integrity

Authenticity

All the proposed components for serial nomination have maintained their original character to a certain extent. They are enlisted as protected monuments under the Antiquity Act of Bangladesh.

The main construction materials – bricks and lime-surki mortar – have been kept untouched in most cases. As many of these mosques are living religious monuments and community participation is inevitable in the process of performing prayers and other religious rituals, a few mosques have been intervened with later additions of mosaics and tiles in the late 19^th or early 20^th century CE. According to the Nara Documents, these renewals and renovations must be accepted as authentic as they were performed during the living periods of these monuments. Because of the population growth and scarcity of lands, several mosques have been encroached by the locals and some parts have been damaged or left uncared for. The authenticity of the monuments with their substance, function and primary purpose has been largely unaffected.

Integrity

A few buildings on the coastal belts are threatened by the effect of salinity and by the weathering of clay-made bricks. The superstructures, especially the domes, are prone to damage. The intervention by the local community for the restoration and renovation in the manner of putting plasters or colours over the surfaces have had an impact on the integrity of the mosques. The boundary walls and auxiliary structures in several cases have been damaged. Nevertheless, these protected and state-owned buildings represent unhindered integrity in terms of history and artistic traditions.

Comparison with other similar properties

There are few such examples of nomination from the enlisted World Heritage properties. Among them, a close analogy can be made to the Baroque Churches of the Philippines. The components of this property, as a serially nominated one, are distributed over a regional scale. They represent a rare tradition of monument building traditions as a group of religious monuments in a specific temporality.

Another comparable property is the Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of the Fars Region (Iran). In this property of serial nomination, eight monuments on a broader and heterogeneous landscape context have been nominated as a World Heritage site. Although the buildings represent both religious and non-religious types of specific historicity and tradition of architecture, Mughal mosques cover a similar spatial scale with different building type belonging to a similar synthesized architectural tradition.