Architecture of India  
The End of the Delhi Sultanate – 2

Mosques

The experiment with covered-court mosques having being hastily jettisoned after the Khirki Masjid, a more conventional mosque form was resorted to in the Lodi period. Apart from the mosques attached to tombs, one large, independent structure which was to be the forerunner of a whole series of mosques was constructed during the reign of Sikander Lodi – the Moth-ki-Masjid. The complete series, chronologically, is (i) the mosque attached to the Bara Gumbad, 1494, (ii) Moth-ki-Masjid c.1505 (iii) Jamala Mosque or Jamali-Kamali, 1536, (iv) Qila-I-Kuhna Masjid c.1550. The last was built as Sher Shah’s private chapel and is a gem, the culmination of this mosque type.

A look at the first in the series, the mosque with the Bara Gumbad, shows the genesis of the form, with five arches receding arches in the façade and domes on top. However, the faulty proportions as well as clumsy handling of the arches with their weak curves indicate the hesitancy of the designers in building a new typology.

The next mosque in the series, the Moth-ki-Masjid, shows the rapid crystallization of the earlier concept. Firstly, it is considerably larger than its predecessor. Secondly, the articulation of the recessed arches is far more adept. Thirdly, embellishment has been done using elegant niches on the columns abutting the arches. Another important feature is the use of better material and color, as if the masons were trying for something more permanent and forceful.

The third of the examples of this type of tomb, and the last to be discussed here, is a gem of a structure originally called the Jamala tomb, but now popularly called Jamali-Kamali.  But the story of Jamali-Kamali lies elsewhere, for before it was finished, a cataclysmic event had taken place – the third battle of Panipat in 1526 A.D., when a small but well-led force of cavalry and artillery led by Babur defeated the fractious Afghan nobles led by the last Lodi Sultan.

And so passed into history the Delhi Sultanate. It had a long history, starting from the early days of Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, passing through numerous dynasties, sultans, intrigues, wars and defeats. The Delhi Sultanate was dead, but it had left behind its legacies. Delhi would forever be the most important city in the north, the master of whom would rule India. The city itself was dotted with symbols of kings fallen and risen again, of victories and triumphs, of despair, and in its silent tombs, of eventual death.      

– Ashish Nangia
May 4, 2002

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