Shat Gombuj Mosque
 |
| Shat Gombuj Mosque Archaeological site of Bangladesh |
The Mosque City of Bagerhat is a formerly lost city, located in the suburbs of Bagerhat city in Bagerhat District, in the Khulna Division of southwest of Bangladesh. Bagerhat is about 15 miles south east of Khulna and 200 miles southwest of Dhaka. Originally known as Khalifatabad and nicknamed the "mint town of the Bengal Sultanate", the city was founded in the 15th century by the warrior saint Turkish general Ulugh Khan Jahan.
The historic city, listed by Forbes as one of the 15 lost cities of the world, has more than 50 Islamic monuments which have been found after removing the vegetation that had obscured them from view for many centuries. The site has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 under criteria (iv), "as an outstanding example of an architectural ensemble which illustrates a significant stage in human history", of which the Sixty Pillar Mosque (Shat Gombuj Masjid in Urda), constructed with 60 pillars and 77 domes, is the most well known. Apart from these monuments, UNESCO also includes the mausoleum of Khan Jahan, the mosques of Singar, Bibi Begni, Reza Khoda, Zindavir among the unique monuments.
The mosque city is situated at the confluence of Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers, at a maximum of around 60 kilometres (37 mi) from the sea coast. The city is spread over an area of 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi), on the banks of the Moribund branch of the Bhairab River along a 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) stretch (in an east west direction and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) width in north-south direction), which was part of the Sundarbans mangrove forests. According to numismatics, it was built in the 15th century and was known by the name of Khalifatabad during the 16th century. Given the nature of the heavy forest habitat and it being inhabited by tigers, the city was developed with unique infrastructure to make it inhabitable. Today all monuments are set in the unspoilt environment of what is now farmlands, surrounded by palm trees.
The history of the present day Bagerhat is traced to the Bengal Sultanate under the rule of Sultan Nasir al-din Mahmud Shah (1442–1459). It was established by the Ulug Khan Jahan (1433–1459), an administrator under the Sultanate in the 15th century; an inscription on his tomb here mentions 1459 as his date of death, testifying the construction of the city in the mid 15th century. He was responsible for establishing a planned township with roads, bridges, and water supply tanks (ponds – two are still surviving namely the Ghoradighi and Dargadighi), cisterns, and a very large number of mosques and tombs, and also palaces and his own mausoleum, all attributed in the same style known as the “Khan Jahan Style”; Khan Jehan also lived in the town and did extensive philanthropic work. It is also mentioned that the Delhi Sultanate, for political and religious reasons, wanted to establish an outpost of Islam in the then remote part of India in Bengal and deputed Ulug Khan Jahan to brave this task.
The Sixty Pillar Mosque (the Shat Gambuj), a mosque located in Bagerhat in south Bangladesh, on the eastern bank of a sweet water tank or pond (the takur dighi) is one of the oldest mosques in the country, and is described as "historic mosque representing the Golden Era of Muslim Bengal". It is laid is over an area of 160 feet (49 m)x108 feet (33 m) size. The mosque is unique in the sense that it has 60 pillars that support 77 exquisitely curved "low squat domes" that have worn away with the passage of time; it has seven central domes that are four-sided and built in Bengali style. It was used for prayers, as an assembly hall and madrasa (an Islamic school). Seventy seven domes are over the roof and four smaller ones at the four corners are towers (the towers were used to call the faithfuls to attend prayers). The large prayer hall has 11 arched doorways on the east and 7 each on the north and south which provide ventilation and light to the hall. There are also 7 longitudinal aisles and 11 deep bays in the midst of slim columns made of stone. These columns support the curving arches that are overlaid by the domes. The west wall in the interior has eleven mihrabs that are decorated with stonework and terracotta and the flooring is of brickwork. The walls and the mihrabs were affected by sulphates. Most of the damages have been rectified. It was established in 1440 by Khan Jahan Ali. The arches are 6 feet (1.8 m) thick with a slight taper over the hollow and round walls. The mosque also functioned as the court of Khan Jahan Ali. It now attracts a large number of tourists and visitors every year. The mosque is decorated mostly with terracotta and bricks.