Jama Mosque, Jaunpur

Jama Masjid or Jama Mosque or Jami Masjid or Badi Masjid, one of the largest Mosques in India, is a 15th-century mosque built by Hussain Shah Sharqi of the Jaunpur Sultanate in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is one of the chief tourist attractions in Jaunpur. The mosque is 2.2 km north-northeast of Jaunpur, 7.3 km northwest of Zafarābād, 16.8 km north-northeast of Mariāhū, 26.3 km west-northwest of Kirākat.[1] It is 1 km from the Atala mosque.

Jama Masjid
Jaunpur Jama Masjid
Religion
AffiliationIslam
DistrictJaunpur
Ecclesiastical or organizational statusMasjid
Location
LocationIndia Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
TerritoryUttar Pradesh
Geographic coordinates25°45′32.41″N 82°41′6.23″E
Architecture
Architect(s)Husain Shah Sharki
TypeMosque
StyleIslamic, Jaunpur architecture, Indo-Islamic architecture
Completed1470
Dome dia. (inner)11.4m

Special prayers are held every Friday. Regular prayers for five times are offered every day.

Plan of Western Half of Jami Masjid Jaunpur India

History

The mosque was built by the Sharqi dynasty of the Sunni Jaunpur Sultanate in the 15th century. The dynasty was established by the powerful eunuch Malik Sarwar (also known as Malik-as-Sharq, meaning "peer of the east") in Jaunpur after the decline in Tughlaq dynasty power, precipitated by both internal decline due to factors such as profligate spending by Firuz Tughlaq and by the sack of Delhi by Timur in 1398.[2] Malik-as-Sharq seized control of Jaunpur, a city founded in 1360 by Firuz Shah near a Hindu town whose temples he desecrated, in 1394 and declared himself an independent Sultan in 1398 after the sack of Delhi.[3] The Jaunpur Sultanate controlled territory in the Bihar and Uttar Pradesh regions of India and was a cultural center of Islam, known as Shiraz-e-Hind (the Shiraz of India), in India with its rulers being important patrons of the arts who created what is arguably distinctive style of architecture.[4]

The foundation of the mosque was laid in 1438 by Ibrahim Shah but the first steps of construction above ground level only began in 1440 with his death. The purpose for its construction is unknown but two prevalent stories are that Ibrahim Shah constructed the mosque to save a hermit from having to walk barefoot to a far off mosque or that he created it to boost employment during a famine.[5][6] The complex was built in stages but was finally completed in 1473 by the final Sharqi Monarch Hussain Shah.[7][8]

After being at peace during the Sayyid dynasty, the rise of the Lodi dynasty in Delhi caused several wars between Hussain Shah Sharqi and both Bahlul Lodi and Sikandar Lodi, which led to the fall of the Jaunpur Sultanate to the Delhi Sultanate.[9][10] In most sources, these wars cause Sikandar Lodi to destroy or damage most of Hussain Shah's public works including the East Gate of the Jama Mosque, almost the entirety of the Jhanjri Mosque, and the majority of non-religious Sharqi buildings.[11][12][13][14] In contrast to this view, Ram Nath argues that Sikandar Lodi's status as a devout Muslim precluded him from damaging mosques and that the absence of non-religious buildings is due to their not having ever existed on account of Sharqi incompetence.[15]

Under the British

The Jama Mosque as well as other elements of Jaunpur's architecture were reinterpreted under British rule. In 1783, William Hodges made a sketch of the entrance of the mosque, published in his book Select Views in India.[16][17][18] Hodges was influenced by the picturesque school of painters that focused on the importance of ruins and numerous paintings focused on ruins surrounded by nature.[19]

Within the Indian context this focus on ruins contributed to a portrayal of India as a civilization in decline. Michael S. Dodson argues that while the picturesque painters used this theme to speculate about the impermanence of the British Empire a latent aspect of the identification of India with ruin was the idea that the colonial government should take charge of restoration. This second idea gained in prominence as the colonial government carried out numerous surveys of India such as those of the Architectural Survey of India (ASI). The latter was carried out a detailed survey by Albert Führer on Jaunpur's architecture, including the Jama Mosque. This trend, according to Dodson, culminated in George Curzon's passing of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904 which included the Jama Mosque under its jurisdiction in 1919 but did not include other, less monumental works.[20]

At that time, there was no daytime adhan in Jaunpur, it could only be heard with the rising and setting of the sun. Karamat Ali Jaunpuri reformed this un-Islamic ritual and with great effort issued adhan in Jaunpur's mosques. There were also concerns behind the management of the historic Jama Mosque. Instead of adhan and prayers, this mosque was used for worldly gatherings like baraat, clubbing and marriage ceremonies regardless oreligion. Cattle were also tied in some parts of the Jama Mosque. It continued for many years after until Jaunpuri managed to re-establish the five daily prayers at the mosque. Similarly, after Jama Masjid Jaunpur, he started a series of Friday sermons which continued for many years after his death. Due to his preaching efforts, attempts were made to kill him several times but he escaped due to his skill in martial arts.[21][22][23]

Architecture
Part of a series on the
Jaunpur Sultanate
سلطنت جونپور
Rulers
  • Malik Sarwar 1394-1399
  • Malik Qaranfal 1399-1402
  • Shamsuddin Ibrahim Shah 1402-1440
  • Mahmud Shah Sharqi 1440-1457
  • Bhikhan 1457-1458
  • Hussain Shah Sharqi 1458-1479
Architecture
Warfare
Historiography
Tarikh-i-Dawudi
Southern gaate of Jaunpur Jama Masjid
Panoramic view of the compoind of Jaunpur Jama Masjid
Compound of Jaunpur Jama Masjid

The Jama Mosque is one of the three most famous mosques in Jaunpur, the others being the Atala Mosque and the Lal Darwaza Mosque. Of these it is both the largest and most recent. The Jama Mosque and the Lal Darwaza Mosque are heavily based upon the model of the Atala Mosque. According to Michael S. Dodson the focus of this style is the enormous and visually dominating pishtaq (portal) which obscures the dome behind it.[24] All mosques in this style are arranged around a courtyard with four large gateways facing North, South, East, and West. The most significant of these faces West (towards Mecca) and contains the pishtaq and dome.[25]

The mosque is built on a base that is nearly 20 feet high and is accessible by a flight of steps.[26] This fact distinguishes it from the Atala Mosque which has no base and is similar to many mosques in Delhi with such a base. Although the general style is influenced by Delhi, some of the arches flanking the pishtaq are believed to be derived from Bengal.[27] The courtyard is surrounded on all sides by cloisters that A. A. Führer claims were two stories high before the second story was destroyed by Sikandar Lodi when he conquered Jaunpur. In the west wall are several mihrabs, each of which are flanked by ornately carved plates.[28] The pishtaq is over 200 feet tall and the dome behind it is 38 feet in diameter. On each side of the portal are two dominating propylons 70 feet long decorated with several arches.[29][30] The mosque is made of brick, some of which was gathered from pre-existing Hindu temples. Although the general style of the Sharqis contains minimal ornamentation some of these fragments of Hindu temples were heavily ornamented.[31]

A. A. Führer's survey of the mosque notes several Greek elements such as Greek crosses. This may tie into the project of Orientalist James Prinsep, creator of the AIS (Führer's patron organization), to argue that Indian artistic traditions were derivative of Greek art.[32][33][34]

The entire Sharqi royal family is unostentatiously buried near the mosque. This lack of sepulchral architecture, as opposed to the Lodi dynasty is interpreted by Abha Narain Lambah as symbolizing the military simplicity of the Sharqi monarchs.[35] It is interpreted by Ram Nath as evidence of the lack of concern by the Sharqis with non-religious or military architecture, evidencing what he sees to be the lack of a distinct Jaunpuri style of architecture.[36]

Inscriptions

The Jama Mosque contains several inscriptions. Around the central mihrab are two Quranic verses, one from the Surah Al-Fath in Tughra characters describing conversion and one from the Surah Al-Baqara in Arabic characters praising the omnipotence of Allah. Another inscription is a 6th-century Sanskrit text from Maukhari dynasty.[37] It was originally attributed to Iśvaravarman but Hans Bakker argues that it actually comes from the reign of his son Iśanavarman. The inscription describes and praises the first four Maukhari rulers.[38] The presence of this inscription speaks to the reuse of local Hindu materials in the construction of mosques.[39]

Analysis

Abha Narain Lambah argues that the Jama Mosque functioned as a continuation and fulfillment of the Tughlaq style of architecture. He cites the general layout of Tughlaq mosques, the general sparseness of decoration, and the prominent pashtaq. He remarks on the unadorned militaristic style of the architecture, something he sees as speaking to the militaristic character of the Tughlaqs and Sharqis. This interpretation is part of a broader project of seeing the architecture of pre-Mughal sultanates as being a period of architectural diversity of style.[40]

Ram Nath also remarks on militaristic style, comparing the cloisters to barracks. However, he considers it out of place in the mosque. He also considers the monumentality of the pishtaq obscuring the dome to be a mistake. Generally he considers the Jama Mosque to be a series of failed experiments with a pre-existing style, rather than a new distinct style. He considers the value of the mosque to be in the individual stonework, which he attributes to local craftsmen or previous Hindu temples that stones for the mosques were taken from.[41]

Miscellany

Bernard O'Kane, Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the American University in Cairo, included the Jama Mosque in his book Mosques: the 100 Most Iconic Islamic Houses of Worship.[42]

See also

References
  1. ACME MApper
  2. Askari, S. H. (1960). Discursive notes on the Sharqi monarchy of Jaunpur. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 23(1), 152-163
  3. Abha Narain Lambah, "The Sharqis of Jaunpur," in The Architecture of the Indian Sultanates, ed. Abha Narain Lambah and Alka Patel (Mumbai: Mārg̲ Publications, 2006), 43-56.
  4. Behl, Aditya. "The Magic Doe: Desire and Narrative in a Hindi Sufi Romance, circa 1503." In India's Islamic Traditions, edited by Richard M. Eaton, 180-209. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 2003.
  5. Abha Narain Lambah, "The Sharqis of Jaunpur," in The Architecture of the Indian Sultanates, ed. Abha Narain Lambah and Alka Patel (Mumbai: Mārg̲ Publications, 2006), 43-56.
  6. Führer, A. Anton., Burgess, J., Smith, E. W. (1971). The Sharqi architecture of Jaunpur: with notes on Zafarabad, Sahet-Mahet and other places in the north-western provinces and Oudh. Varanasi, India: Indological Book House pp. 53-8.
  7. Abha Narain Lambah, "The Sharqis of Jaunpur," in The Architecture of the Indian Sultanates, ed. Abha Narain Lambah and Alka Patel (Mumbai: Mārg̲ Publications, 2006), 43-56.
  8. Datta, Rangan (22 April 2023). "Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh — the land of 'Shahi' forts, mosques and more". No. The Telegraph. My Kolkata. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  9. Ram Nath, History of Sultanate Architecture (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications., 1978), 98-107.
  10. Behl, Aditya. "The Magic Doe: Desire and Narrative in a Hindi Sufi Romance, circa 1503." In India's Islamic Traditions, edited by Richard M. Eaton, 180-209. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 2003.
  11. Jama Masjid. (n.d.). Government of Uttar Pradash. https://jaunpur.nic.in/tourist-place/jama-masjid/
  12. Führer, A. Anton., Burgess, J., Smith, E. W. (1971). The Sharqi architecture of Jaunpur: with notes on Zafarabad, Sahet-Mahet and other places in the north-western provinces and Oudh. Varanasi, India: Indological Book House pp. 53-8. This source is not ideal. It is mentioned as a source by various reliable secondary sources. That said the author frequently plagiarized and while he did engage in some important archaeological digs some later work of his was completely fabricated. That said I could find no evidence that his descriptions of this mosque were fabricated. I will try to only use this source if it is collaborated later on or as a primary source in the final draft. (This source is usually corroborated where I've used it so far. The only things dependent on it were a few facts about the mosques architecture and the Quranic inscriptions)
  13. Behl, Aditya. "The Magic Doe: Desire and Narrative in a Hindi Sufi Romance, circa 1503." In India's Islamic Traditions, edited by Richard M. Eaton, 180-209. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 2003.
  14. Abha Narain Lambah, "The Sharqis of Jaunpur," in The Architecture of the Indian Sultanates, ed. Abha Narain Lambah and Alka Patel (Mumbai: Mārg̲ Publications, 2006), 43-56.
  15. Ram Nath, History of Sultanate Architecture (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications., 1978), 98-107.
  16. Wright, Colin. "A View of a Musjid, i.e. Tomb at Jionpoor". www.bl.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2020. This is plate 13 from William Hodges' book, 'Select Views in India'. In 1783 Hodges went to Jaunpur and sketched the mosques built by the kings of the Sharqi dynasty in the 15th century. This picture shows the entrance gateway to the Atala Mosque, which was built in 1408, making it the earliest of all the Sharqi buildings at Jaunpur. The arched entrance to the Atala mosque is over 22 metres high. Along with the arch of the Friday Mosque at Jaunpur, it is the highest in India.
  17. Tillotson, G. H. R. (1992). "The Indian Travels of William Hodges". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 2 (3): 377–398. doi:10.1017/S1356186300003011. ISSN 1356-1863. JSTOR 25182573. S2CID 161701714. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  18. India a modern idők elött
  19. Dodson, M. S. (n.d.). Jaunpur, ruination, and conservation during the Colonial Era. In I. Sengupta & D. Ali (Eds.), Knowledge production, pedagogy, and institutions in Colonial India (pp. 123-146). doi:10.1057/9780230119000_7
  20. Dodson, M. S. (n.d.). Jaunpur, ruination, and conservation during the Colonial Era. In I. Sengupta & D. Ali (Eds.), Knowledge production, pedagogy, and institutions in Colonial India (pp. 123-146). doi:10.1057/9780230119000_7
  21. Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi (1980). Karvan-e-Iman o Azimat (in Urdu). Lahore: Syed Ahmad Shahid Academy.
  22. Chowdhury, Abdul Batin. سیرت مولانا کرامت علی جونپوری (in Urdu).
  23. Nadvi, Mujibullah (2009). তাযকেরায়ে হযরত মাওলানা কারামত আলী জৌনপুরী (in Urdu). Raibareli, India: Sayyid Shahid Academy. pp. 35–40.
  24. Dodson, M. S. (n.d.). Jaunpur, ruination, and conservation during the Colonial Era. In I. Sengupta & D. Ali (Eds.), Knowledge production, pedagogy, and institutions in Colonial India (pp. 123-146). doi:10.1057/9780230119000_7
  25. Abha Narain Lambah, "The Sharqis of Jaunpur," in The Architecture of the Indian Sultanates, ed. Abha Narain Lambah and Alka Patel (Mumbai: Mārg̲ Publications, 2006), 43-56.
  26. Jami Masjid of Jaunpur. (n.d.). Archnet. https://archnet.org/sites/5268
  27. Abha Narain Lambah, "The Sharqis of Jaunpur," in The Architecture of the Indian Sultanates, ed. Abha Narain Lambah and Alka Patel (Mumbai: Mārg̲ Publications, 2006), 43-56.
  28. Führer, A. Anton., Burgess, J., Smith, E. W. (1971). The Sharqi architecture of Jaunpur: with notes on Zafarabad, Sahet-Mahet and other places in the north-western provinces and Oudh. Varanasi, India: Indological Book House pp. 53-8.
  29. Jami Masjid of Jaunpur. (n.d.). Archnet. https://archnet.org/sites/5268
  30. Jama Masjid. (n.d.). Government of Uttar Pradash. https://jaunpur.nic.in/tourist-place/jama-masjid/
  31. Ram Nath, History of Sultanate Architecture (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications., 1978), 98-10
  32. Führer, A. Anton., Burgess, J., Smith, E. W. (1971). The Sharqi architecture of Jaunpur: with notes on Zafarabad, Sahet-Mahet and other places in the north-western provinces and Oudh. Varanasi, India: Indological Book House pp. 53-8.
  33. Huxley, Andrew. "Dr Führer's Wanderjahre: The Early Career of a Victorian Archaeologist." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3rd ser., 20, no. 4 (October 2010): 489-502.
  34. Dodson, M. S. (n.d.). Jaunpur, ruination, and conservation during the Colonial Era. In I. Sengupta & D. Ali (Eds.), Knowledge production, pedagogy, and institutions in Colonial India (pp. 123-146). doi:10.1057/9780230119000_7
  35. Abha Narain Lambah, "The Sharqis of Jaunpur," in The Architecture of the Indian Sultanates, ed. Abha Narain Lambah and Alka Patel (Mumbai: Mārg̲ Publications, 2006), 43-56.
  36. Ram Nath, History of Sultanate Architecture (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications., 1978), 98-107.
  37. Führer, A. Anton., Burgess, J., Smith, E. W. (1971). The Sharqi architecture of Jaunpur: with notes on Zafarabad, Sahet-Mahet and other places in the north-western provinces and Oudh. Varanasi, India: Indological Book House pp. 53-8.
  38. Bakker, Hans. "The So-called 'Jaunpur Stone Inscription of Īśānavarman.'" Indo-Iranian Journal 52, no. 2 (2009): 207-16.
  39. Ram Nath, History of Sultanate Architecture (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications., 1978), 98-107.
  40. Abha Narain Lambah, "The Sharqis of Jaunpur," in The Architecture of the Indian Sultanates, ed. Abha Narain Lambah and Alka Patel (Mumbai: Mārg̲ Publications, 2006), 43-56.
  41. Ram Nath, History of Sultanate Architecture (New Delhi: Abhinav Publications., 1978), 98-107.
  42. O'Kane, Bernard. Mosques: The 100 Most Iconic Islamic Houses of Worship. New York, NY: Assouline, 2018.
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Notes
  • Nath, R. 1978. History of Sultanate Architecture. New Delhi, Abhinav Publications, 102-104.
  • Williams, John A. and Caroline. 1980. Architecture of Muslim India. Set 4: The Sultanate of Jaunpur, about 1360-1480. Santa Barbara, California: Visual Education, Inc.
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