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Kartalab Khan Mosque

Kartalab Khan's Mosque situated in the Begum Bazar area in old Dhaka, was built by Diwan MURSHID QULI KHAN alias Kartalab Khan in 1701-04. It is also known as the 'Begum Bazar Mosque'.

Content

1. History
2. Architectural significance
3. Conclusion

History

Very little is known about Kartalab Kahn family and parenthood. Haji Shafi of Ispahan brought him up in Iran and gave him useful education. After Haji Shafi's death, he entered the Mughal service in India as diwan and faujdar of Golkonda. When Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was looking for an honest and efficient diwan for Bengal, his choice fell on this young man. He was transferred to Bengal in 1701 as diwan and was honoured with the title of ‘Kartalab Khan’.

He was honest and faithful to the emperor, proved to be very efficient in matters of revenue and financial administration. But while safeguarding imperial interests, he came into conflict with Azim-us-Shan, the nazim and grandson of the emperor. He was about to lose his life, but faced the problem with fortitude and courage. The emperor intervened with warning to his grandson and allowed Kartalab Khan to shift his office to Makhsudabad on the Ganges in 1702. In 1703, Kartalab Khan visited the emperor in the Deccan where he got the title of ‘Murshid Quli Khan’ and an elevation in rank. The emperor also allowed him to rename Makhsudabad as Murshidabad after his new title.

After Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the Mughal Empire was in turmoil and faced dismemberment. Bengal was, at that time, being governed by absentee governors through their deputies. Murshid Quli Khan was recalled from Deccan in 1710 and became the deputy subehdar, on behalf of the absentee son of Farrukh Siyar, and then, after his death, of the absentee subehdar. But he continued to stay at Murshidabad. Being the highest officer present in the station, the control of affairs in the province fell in his hands. He was raised to the post of nazim of Bengal in 1716. He was loaded with titles. He secured the imperial title of "Motamul-ul-Mulk, Alauddowla Jaffer Khan, Noseri Nasir Jang (Guardian of the country, promoter of the State, Helper in War, the Defender). He transferred the capital of the province from Dhaka to Murshidabad in 1717 and reigned over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

He was true to his salt and did not yield to pressure, he didn't allow the East India Company to purchase more villages around Calcutta even after the company's receipt of the imperial farman. Murshid Quli Khan was also a good builder. Kartalab Khan's Mosque/ Begam Bazar Mosque at Dhaka and the Murshidabad Mosque bear his name. He also opened a mint and introduced the "Zurbe Murshidabad” coin. In private life, he was extremely religious and never deviated from the path of shariat. After a successful tenure of office, he died in Murshidabad on 30 June 1727.

Architectural significance

The mosque is two-storeyed, the lower level of the west side is divided into storefronts while the east side has a madrasa at the lower level and the prayer area located on the upper level. Internally the mosque is divided into five bays which are marked on the exterior by corresponding domes and blind kiosks delineating the divide between each bay. The unusual placement of a graceful do-chala hut shaped room on its north face, which with its distinctive curvilinear eaves, renders the mosque unique. To the side of the mosque is a stepped well or baoli, the only surviving example of its kind in Bangladesh but common in upper India.

The mosque with a do-chala annexe occupies the western half of a high vaulted platform and there was a Vav or baoli (stepped well) to the east of the platform. The northern edge of the raised platform, 39.62m from north to south and 13.41m from east to west, has an apse-like appearance. The apse-like part of the platform is cut in the centre to accommodate a tomb-a surcophagus ascribed to the first Imam of the mosque. Underneath the platform are a series of square and rectangular rooms, which are now let out to shopkeepers. On the eastern side of the platform there is a renovated arched-gateway approached by a flight of steps.

The mosque proper and the do-chala annexe occupy the western half of the vaulted terrace. The remaining part of the terrace was originally kept open, but is now covered with a masonry verandah.

The mosque proper, inclusive of its corner towers, measures 28.65m by 8.23m and is entered from the east through five arched doorways - each opens out under a half-dome and is flanked by slender octagonal turrets which rise above the parapets. There is one doorway each in the middle of the north and south walls. The western wall is internally recessed with five semi-octagonal mihrabs, all showing outward projections with bordering turrets. There is a three-stepped masonry pulpit beside the central mihrab.

The interior of the mosque, forming a large elongated hall (25.60m by 5.18m), is divided into five bays by four transverse arches of plain four-centred design. The central bay is square and bigger than a couple of smaller rectangular ones on either side. All the bays are covered with domes on octagonal drums and crowned with lotus and kalasa finials. The device adopted for the support of the domes is the same as in the LALBAGH FORT mosque and the SATGUMBAD MOSQUE, both in the city of DHAKA. The four octagonal corner towers, all rising above the horizontal parapets and having kalasa bases, are topped by renovated solid kiosks with copulas and finally crowned with lotus and kalasa finials. Each of these towers is again flanked to right and left by a slender turret, which rises above the parapet and ends in a small copula and kalasa finial.

The rectangular annexe of the mosque in the north is covered with a Bengali type of do-chala hut roof, the eaves of which are pronouncedly curved and drooping. The annexe (6.10m by 2.13m) has two doorways - one in the centre of the east wall, now renovated, and the other in the middle of the south side. It is through this latter opening that the annexe and the mosque are interconnected. A window has been put in recently in the northern wall of the annexe. Internally the four walls of the room are marked with rectangular and square deep niches, perhaps devised originally as shelves. The curved ridge is exteriorly crowned with five kalasa finials at intervals. This annexe was thought to be a tomb, but probably it was originally meant for the Imam's accommodation since it is still used for that purpose.

In decorating the building greater emphasis was given to architectural elements, such as flanking ornamental turrets of the doorway and mihrab projections, kiosks, cupolas, and lotus and kalasa finials. The doorways and the mihrabs are framed, with crowning rows of merlons. The parapets and octagonal drums are also enriched with merlon motifs. The inside of the domes have basal leaf ornamentation, while there are large medallions containing a rosette motif in the centre. The half-domed vault of the central archway is ornamented with muqarnas work in stucco, now in a crude form. Save these, the entire building is covered with plain plaster, a distinguishing feature of Mughal architecture in Bengal.

Conclusion

The baoli of this mosque, which appears to be a monument by itself, deserves special mention. It is the only one of its kind in Bengal. Its origin may be traced to the Deccan, where Kartalab Khan had long stayed before coming to Bengal.

Bibliography

-Ahmed, Nazimuddin. 1984. Discover the monuments of Bangladesh. Dhaka: University Press Limited, 179.

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