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Delhi Metro stumbles upon 17th century mosque demolished by Britishers
Archaeological remains of a mosque, supposed to be the 17th century Akbarabadi Masjid, have been found at Subhash Park, a site Delhi Metro had identified for the Jama Masjid station as part of its Central Secretariat-ITO-Delhi Gate-Kashmere Gate corridor under phase 3
expansion.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials said they had already altered the plan for the station in view of this development. We found archaeological remains three days ago and now stumbled upon this wall, said a DMRC official.
Digging at the almost 7.5-acre plot, off Subhash Road in the Walled City area, led to an almost 200-feet long stone wall, buried 10-12 feet below the ground.
On Thursday, Shoaib Iqbal, Matia Mahal MLA, claimed, These are the remains of the Akbarabadi Mosque, built by Shahjahan in 1650 in the name of his wife Akbarabadi Begum. The British had destroyed it after the 1857 revolt as it had become a prominent centre for revolutionaries meetings.
Iqbal said the DMRC had no objection if he wanted to verify the presence of the monument.
Jitender Tyagi, DMRCs director (works) said, We have already agreed to shift the location of the Jama Masjid station and modified the plan to avoid this area. But the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has not received any formal request yet.
Medieval history literature has ample references to the Akbarabadi Mosque. But it would need proper study to establish that this is the same mosque. When we receive a formal request, our excavation branch will carry out the work, said DN Dimri, ASIs Delhi circle chief.
DMRCs proposal for this line under phase 3 is pending with the National Monument Authority (NMA).
We had asked the DMRC to get a heritage impact assessment report for the line. We had also warned both DMRC and ASI that digging should not begin as the proposal had not been cleared yet, said Pravin Shrivastava, member secretary of the NMA.
The Akbarabadi Mosque is believed to be the first place where the holy Quran was translated from Arabic to Urdu. We will now rebuild this mosque, declared Iqbal.
DMRC stumbles upon 17th century mosque - Hindustan Times
Jama Masjids twin
With the ongoing construction of Jama Masjid Metro station having yielded the remains of Akbarabadi Masjid, R.V. Smith feels it might be worthwhile to reconstruct the mosque built by one of Shah Jahans wives, whose loyalty to him equalled her devotion to God
News that the remains of the Akbarabadi Masjid had been discovered in Subhas Park, opposite the Red Fort, brings an echo of the happenings in the late 1960s when it was known as Edward Park. The Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Abdullah Bukhari, father of the present one, had started a campaign for the digging up of a mound in the park under which he claimed, with good evidence, the ruins of the mosque could be found. The masjid had been built by one of Shah Jahan's wives, Bibi Akbarabadi in 1650, about the same time that the Jama Masjid came up.
Two other wives of the emperor had built mosques in the vicinity: Matia Begum in Matia Mahal locality and Fatehpuri Begum in Fatehpuri, at the end of Chandni Chowk. Bibi Akbarabadi, as the name suggests, belonged to Akbarabad, as Agra had been named by Emperor Akbar. This mosque, it is said, was demolished in the aftermath of the 1857 revolt.
Surely it was, for many other buildings in between the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid met a similar fate. Among them were the palaces of the Mughal nobles in what is now Parade Ground, the khankah or hermitage of Sheikh Kalimullah Sahib, a sufi of the time of Aurangzeb, whose shrine is still situated opposite the fort, the big building in Chawari Bazar which finds mention in Ghalib's letters where, according to the poet, Buddhe Mian was generally found. No one has yet been able no identify this person who seemed to be a well-known character of Ghalib's times. Not content with what they had done, the British solders wanted to demolish the Fatehpuri mosque and even the Jama Masjid. But saner counsels prevailed and the worst that happened to Fatehpuri Masjid was that it was let out to Lala Chunna Mal, the famous financier, while the Jama Masjid was occupied by British troops and later handed over to some mutawwalis or trustees. Incidentally, the British action to destroy Akbarabadi Masjid followed a fatwa by two teachers at the mosque, Shah Waliullah and Shah Abdul Aziz, against the atrocities of the firangis.
Bibi Akbarabadi, also known as Aziz-un-Nisa Begum, was the one who laid the Shalimar Garden in Delhi, which came to be known as Aizzabad and where she spent time with the emperor. She belonged to a noble family of Agra which had been settled in that city since the time of Akbar. She caught Shah Jahan's eye while picking roses in the royal garden outside the Agra Fort. From the beginning she was of a religious bent of mind and gave much comfort to Shah Jahan after the death of Mumtaz Mahal, which had left the fifth Moghul emperor so devastated that Byron's famous lines for The Prisoner of Chillon aptly describe his state : His hair is gray, but not with years / Nor grew it white in a single night / As men's have grown from sudden fears
When Shah Jahan decided to move his capital to Delhi, Bibi Akbarabadi was loath to leave the place of her birth but in deference to her husband's wishes, she accompanied the other wives to Shahjahanabad. Here she decided to build a twin of the Jama Masjid, to go to which Shah Jahan had to pass through her mosque which, by some accounts, was no mean rival of the exalted one coming up on Pahari Bhojla (an extension of the Ridge).
Recreating the Akbarabadi Masjid, after excavating the mound being cleared to make way for the Jama Masjid Metro Station, may be difficult, unless the DMRC changes its plans. But it would be worthwhile to do so, though Subhas Park will lose much of its greenery in the process. Bibi Akbarabadi's grave is probably in Agra for, like Shah Jahan she wanted to be buried in the city of the Taj. Though the mound in the park may harbour her soul!
The Hindu : Arts / History & Culture : Jama Masjid
Relics at Metro site are from Mughal era: Archaeological Survey of India - Times Of India
The Hindu : Cities / Delhi : Remains of 17th Century mosque discovered near Delhi Metro corridor
The mosque was destroyed by the British in 1857 because a large group of freedom fighters had assembled there during the uprising.
Archaeological remains of a mosque, supposed to be the 17th century Akbarabadi Masjid, have been found at Subhash Park, a site Delhi Metro had identified for the Jama Masjid station as part of its Central Secretariat-ITO-Delhi Gate-Kashmere Gate corridor under phase 3
expansion.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials said they had already altered the plan for the station in view of this development. We found archaeological remains three days ago and now stumbled upon this wall, said a DMRC official.
Digging at the almost 7.5-acre plot, off Subhash Road in the Walled City area, led to an almost 200-feet long stone wall, buried 10-12 feet below the ground.
On Thursday, Shoaib Iqbal, Matia Mahal MLA, claimed, These are the remains of the Akbarabadi Mosque, built by Shahjahan in 1650 in the name of his wife Akbarabadi Begum. The British had destroyed it after the 1857 revolt as it had become a prominent centre for revolutionaries meetings.
Iqbal said the DMRC had no objection if he wanted to verify the presence of the monument.
Jitender Tyagi, DMRCs director (works) said, We have already agreed to shift the location of the Jama Masjid station and modified the plan to avoid this area. But the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has not received any formal request yet.
Medieval history literature has ample references to the Akbarabadi Mosque. But it would need proper study to establish that this is the same mosque. When we receive a formal request, our excavation branch will carry out the work, said DN Dimri, ASIs Delhi circle chief.
DMRCs proposal for this line under phase 3 is pending with the National Monument Authority (NMA).
We had asked the DMRC to get a heritage impact assessment report for the line. We had also warned both DMRC and ASI that digging should not begin as the proposal had not been cleared yet, said Pravin Shrivastava, member secretary of the NMA.
The Akbarabadi Mosque is believed to be the first place where the holy Quran was translated from Arabic to Urdu. We will now rebuild this mosque, declared Iqbal.
DMRC stumbles upon 17th century mosque - Hindustan Times
Jama Masjids twin
With the ongoing construction of Jama Masjid Metro station having yielded the remains of Akbarabadi Masjid, R.V. Smith feels it might be worthwhile to reconstruct the mosque built by one of Shah Jahans wives, whose loyalty to him equalled her devotion to God
News that the remains of the Akbarabadi Masjid had been discovered in Subhas Park, opposite the Red Fort, brings an echo of the happenings in the late 1960s when it was known as Edward Park. The Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Abdullah Bukhari, father of the present one, had started a campaign for the digging up of a mound in the park under which he claimed, with good evidence, the ruins of the mosque could be found. The masjid had been built by one of Shah Jahan's wives, Bibi Akbarabadi in 1650, about the same time that the Jama Masjid came up.
Two other wives of the emperor had built mosques in the vicinity: Matia Begum in Matia Mahal locality and Fatehpuri Begum in Fatehpuri, at the end of Chandni Chowk. Bibi Akbarabadi, as the name suggests, belonged to Akbarabad, as Agra had been named by Emperor Akbar. This mosque, it is said, was demolished in the aftermath of the 1857 revolt.
Surely it was, for many other buildings in between the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid met a similar fate. Among them were the palaces of the Mughal nobles in what is now Parade Ground, the khankah or hermitage of Sheikh Kalimullah Sahib, a sufi of the time of Aurangzeb, whose shrine is still situated opposite the fort, the big building in Chawari Bazar which finds mention in Ghalib's letters where, according to the poet, Buddhe Mian was generally found. No one has yet been able no identify this person who seemed to be a well-known character of Ghalib's times. Not content with what they had done, the British solders wanted to demolish the Fatehpuri mosque and even the Jama Masjid. But saner counsels prevailed and the worst that happened to Fatehpuri Masjid was that it was let out to Lala Chunna Mal, the famous financier, while the Jama Masjid was occupied by British troops and later handed over to some mutawwalis or trustees. Incidentally, the British action to destroy Akbarabadi Masjid followed a fatwa by two teachers at the mosque, Shah Waliullah and Shah Abdul Aziz, against the atrocities of the firangis.
Bibi Akbarabadi, also known as Aziz-un-Nisa Begum, was the one who laid the Shalimar Garden in Delhi, which came to be known as Aizzabad and where she spent time with the emperor. She belonged to a noble family of Agra which had been settled in that city since the time of Akbar. She caught Shah Jahan's eye while picking roses in the royal garden outside the Agra Fort. From the beginning she was of a religious bent of mind and gave much comfort to Shah Jahan after the death of Mumtaz Mahal, which had left the fifth Moghul emperor so devastated that Byron's famous lines for The Prisoner of Chillon aptly describe his state : His hair is gray, but not with years / Nor grew it white in a single night / As men's have grown from sudden fears
When Shah Jahan decided to move his capital to Delhi, Bibi Akbarabadi was loath to leave the place of her birth but in deference to her husband's wishes, she accompanied the other wives to Shahjahanabad. Here she decided to build a twin of the Jama Masjid, to go to which Shah Jahan had to pass through her mosque which, by some accounts, was no mean rival of the exalted one coming up on Pahari Bhojla (an extension of the Ridge).
Recreating the Akbarabadi Masjid, after excavating the mound being cleared to make way for the Jama Masjid Metro Station, may be difficult, unless the DMRC changes its plans. But it would be worthwhile to do so, though Subhas Park will lose much of its greenery in the process. Bibi Akbarabadi's grave is probably in Agra for, like Shah Jahan she wanted to be buried in the city of the Taj. Though the mound in the park may harbour her soul!
The Hindu : Arts / History & Culture : Jama Masjid
Relics at Metro site are from Mughal era: Archaeological Survey of India - Times Of India
The Hindu : Cities / Delhi : Remains of 17th Century mosque discovered near Delhi Metro corridor
The mosque was destroyed by the British in 1857 because a large group of freedom fighters had assembled there during the uprising.
