Lāṭ masjid
Interior of the Lāṭ masjid
Religion
AffiliationIslam
Location
LocationMadhya Pradesh, India
Geographic coordinates22°35′02″N 75°17′53″E / 22.584°N 75.298°E / 22.584; 75.298
Architecture
Typemosque
FounderDilawar Khan
Date established1405 CE
Dhar (Madhya Pradesh). Lāṭ masjid, inscription over the entrance.
The mosque is located in the south-eastern part of the former fortified city of Dhar

Lat Mosque (IAST: Lāṭ Masjid, literally "Pillar Mosque") is a mosque in Dhar town of Madhya Pradesh, India. Named after the Iron pillar of Dhar (called "lāṭ" in Hindi), it is also known as Lat ki masjid, Ladh Masjid, or Lath Masjid.

Current Status

The Lāṭ masjid is a Monument of National Importance protected by the Archaeological Survey of India under the Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, otherwise known as the AMASR Act. The building carries the number N-MP-118 in the List of Monuments of National Importance in Madhya Pradesh/West.

History

The mosque was built in 1405 CE by Dilawar Khan as the Jami Masjid to mark his declaration of independence from Delhi and the establishment of the Malwa Sultanate. The location of the new Jami' masjid on the edge of the city, rather than the centre, is a pattern found in other towns, for example Chanderi. The mosque's current name comes from the fragmentary iron pillar (lāṭ in Hindi), located in the compound.[1] Exactly when this name became current is not recorded.

Architecture

The mosque consists of a large courtyard with post-and-lintel arcades on all sides. The arcades on the north, south and east are shallow and only one bay deep. The prayer hall has four bays and a dome over the miḥrāb. The raised platform inside the prayer hall is similar to that found in the Adina Mosque in Pandua. As there, the platform probably served as a royal gallery for the use of the Sultan. The miḥrāb and minbar are modest harbingers of the Jama Masjid, Mandu, built some fifty years later by Hoshang Shah. The mosque is entered through domed gatehouses built in the electic style favored of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and seen at other sites such as Mān Mandir, Gwalior fort, Datia, Chanderi and Agra. Some of the pillars and lintels used in the contruction were purpose-made for the mosque, others were recycled from older temples and, most likely, other structures.[1] In his study of the iron pillar, Ramamurthy Balasubramanian (1961-2009) of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, made some unsubstantiated assertions about the origin and communal identity of the pillars; in actual fact, the original location, likely uses and dates of the pillars remains unexplored.[2]

Iron Pillar

The mosque takes it name for the iron pillar, fragments of which are lying outside the building in the compound's gardens.[3] The pillar does not bear an inscription mentioning date, purpose or patron. The early grafitti on the pillar has not been deciphered. Henry Cousens suggested that the pillar was made under the later Paramāra king Arjunavarman in 1210 CE from the molten arms of an enemy force.[4]

The use of historic pillars in Jami' mosques follows a pattern set under the early rulers in Delhi and seen most famously in the Qutb Minar complex. Another instance is found at Hissar in the Punjab, the building there tellingly referred to as the "Lat ki Masjid."[5]

In 1531 CE, Dhār came under the sway of Bahādur Shāh of the Gujarat Sultanate. While attempting to carry away a large piece to Gujarat, the pillar toppled and broke into pieces.[6] Documentation from 1912 shows the pillar lying diagonally against the platform.[7]

Main article: Dhar iron pillar

Documentation and repair

Dhār (Madhya Pradesh). Fragments of the Iron pillar of Dhar, as positioned and conserved by the Archaeological Survey of India

The Lāṭ mosque has drawn the attention of visitors, scholars and government officers from an early time. The earliest visitor of importance of whom there is a record was emperor Akbar himself who left a Persian inscription on the iron pillar. In the colonial period, Captain E. Barnes noted the considerable expenditure on repairs to the monument carried out by Dhar Durbar (i.e the Powars), and the urgent need for further conservation work.[8]

In 1939-40, the traveller and adventurer Annemarie Schwarzenbach visited Dhār. Her photographs are now visible online, and are an important record of the state of monument at that time.

The iron pillar at the site was originally lying at an angle against the platform, in which position it had been since attempts were made by the Sultan of Gujarat to remove it in the sixteenth century. In the 1980s, the Archaeological Survey of India shifted the remains to a newly-built platform where all the parts can now be seen. The large stone footing for the pillar is displayed nearby.

References

  1. ^ a b "Lat ki masjid". Archaeological Survey of India, Bhopal Circle. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  2. ^ Balasubramaniam 2002.
  3. ^ Ray, Amitava (2007). "Microstructural Manifestations of the Ancient 11th Century Iron Pillar at Dhar, India." Microscopy and Microanalysis 13, S02, pp. 1102-1103; Ray, Amitava, Dhua, S. K., Prasad, R. R., Jha, S., & Banerjee, S. (1997). "The ancient 11th century iron pillar at Dhar, India: a microstructural insight into material characteristics." Journal of materials science letters, 16, no. 5, pp. 371-375; Saxena, V. K., Kapoor, S., & Tewari, S. K. (1996). "Metallographic studies of iron pillar, Dhar," Conservation of cultural property in India 29, pp. 259-267.
  4. ^ Balasubramaniam 2002, p. 117.
  5. ^ Anthony Welch, "Architectural Patronage and the Past: The Tughluq Sultans of India," Muqarnas 10 (1993), pp. 311-322.
  6. ^ Balasubramaniam 2002, p. 119.
  7. ^ For the photograph, Vernon & Company (Bombay). (1912). Dhār धार دهار (Madhya Pradesh). Lāṭ masjid. Iron pillar. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10825359.
  8. ^ Government of India. Proceedings of the Foreign Department, Internal B, 1904. Grant of Rs. 40,000 to the Dhar State for expenditure during 1904-05 on restoration and maintenance of historical buildings at Mandu, to which is appended a report on Archaeological Work at Dhar by Captain E. Barnes, Political agent, Bhopawar, and minute no. 5225 of 1904 addressed to the First Assistant to the Agent of the Governor General in C.I., Indore, from Captain E. Barnes, I.A., Political Agent, Bhopawar, Sirdarpur. Archived online at: Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10809072.

Bibliography

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