Mosque City Of Bagerhat

    Mosque City Of Bagerhat

The Mosque City of Bagerhat (Bengali: মসজিদের শহর বাগেরহাট; historically known as Khalifatabad) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bagerhat District, Bangladesh. It contains several mosques built during the Bengal Sultanate in the 15th-century, of which the Sixty Dome Mosque is the largest. Other mosques include the Singar Mosque, the Nine Dome Mosque, the Tomb of Khan Jahan, the Bibi Begin Mosque and the Ronvijoypur Mosque. The mosques were built during the governorship of Ulugh Khan Jahan, a Turkic military officer appointed as governor in the Sundarbans by Sultan Mahmud Shah of Bengal.

The site was a "mint town" of the Bengal Sultanate. Bagerhat has one of the largest concentrations of sultanate-era mosques in Bangladesh. The historic city, listed by Forbes as one of the 15 lost cities of the world, has more than 50 structures built in the Bengal Sultanate style of Indo-Islamic architecture. The mosques of Bagerhat display the 'Khan Jahan Style' of the Bengal Sultanate variant. These were uncovered after removing the vegetation that had obscured them from view for many centuries. The site has been recognised by UNESCO 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 Dome Mosque with actually 60 pillars and 77 domes, is the most well known. The mosques feature terracotta artwork and arabesque.

Geography

The mosque city is situated in southern Bengal near the vast estuary of the Bengal delta. It is located 60 kilometres (37 mi) from the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The city is spread over an area of 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi),^[1] on the banks of the moribund branch of the Bhairab River along with a 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) stretch (in an east-west direction and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) width in the north-south direction), which was part of the Sundarbans mangrove forests. Today all monuments are set in the unspoilt environment of what is now farmlands, surrounded by palm trees.

History

The Bengal Sultanate appointed Ulugh Khan Jahan as its governor in the Sundarbans in southern Bengal during the 15th-century. Ulugh Khan Jahan was a person of Turkic-origin. The title of Ulugh was common to rulers from the Turco-Persian tradition. The Bengal Sultanate attracted many immigrants from the Middle East and Central Asia, who brought with them ideas of Islamic architecture.^[8] Sufism was employed by Muslim missionaries to attract the local population. The high concentration of mosques suggests the rapidity with which the local population converted to Islam.

According to sultanate taka, it was built in the 15th century and was known by the name of Khalifatabad during the 16th century.

Ulugh Khan Jahan administered an area covering parts of present-day Khulna Division and Barisal Division in Bangladesh. Inscriptions in Bagerhat indicate that the mosque was built during the reign of Sultan Mahmud Shah between 1450 and 1459. Interestingly, Mahmud Shah was also responsible for transferring Bengal's capital from Pandua to Gauda. The reign of Mahmud Shah was marked by significant architectural development. In south Bengal, the mosque city of Bagerhat displays the simplistic 'Khan Jahan Style' of Bengali Islamic architecture. Ulugh Khan Jahan was responsible for establishing a planned township with roads, bridges, and water supply tanks (of which the Ghoradighi and Dargadighi still survive), cisterns, and several mosques and tombs. Ulugh Khan Jahan was a Sufi.

In 1895, an extensive survey of the area was conducted by the Archaeological Survey of British India and restoration was put into effect in 1903–04 on the Sixty Dome Mosque. In 1907-8 part of the roof and 28 domes were restored.^[10] In 1982–83, UNESCO drew up a master plan for the Bagerhat area and it became a World Heritage Site in 1985.