Behind the towering but hollow structure of the Bara Gumbad in Lodi Gardens in Delhi, is a small and compact mosque with five arched doorways of irregular size and an open prayer hall. Its walls are carved with Quranic inscriptions, and its roof is crowned with three hemispherical domes, squat and angular in shape.
Right opposite, and almost equal to its length, is a single-storied building that once served as a resting place for pilgrims and holy men. In between the mosque and the resthouse is a water reservoir of rubble masonry built into a small courtyard that at one end descends down a flight of steps to the ground.
During the reign of the Sultan Sikander Lodi, and when the Lodi Gardens was not the lush and sprawling garden it is today, but a walled town with sentry posts and residential homes of people, this mosque was a gathering point for followers of the faith of Islam.
Followers who would gather within its open five-bay prayer hall to offer prayers or to gaze upon the Quranic inscriptions that were finely carved into the walls in ancient Arabic, the language of the Prophet Muhammad.
While it is not clearly known as to who sponsored its construction, whether it was the Sultan Sikander Lodi himself, a wealthy nobleman, or if it was a community project of the residents of this town of the Lodis.
What is known is that this mosque, despite its unimpressive appearance, was a first of its kind and the precursor that started a new trend in mosque architecture.
Furthermore, this work of stucco on erected rubble masonry with its arches and three unrefined Persian hemispherical domes may not have been the work of the Persians or Arabians at all.
But more likely that of their indigenous counterparts, who as yet had not acquired the skills of building those smoothly tapering Persian-style domes, that would come about with the coming of the Gurkanis.
However, and since so little information has come down to us regarding this mosque, nothing can be said with any degree of certainty. Including answers to questions such as was this mosque planned from the beginning to be part of the Bara Gumbad structure, and with the Gumbad serving as its gateway, or was it a later addition?
Archaeology reveals, the Bara Gumbad was the first to be built, and was the first structure in the subcontinent to boast of a full dome on top. The mosque had come next, and much later had come about the resthouse.
All three structures had been built according to different architectural plans and at different points in time.
There is also practically no information available as to why the Sultanate, which had traditionally preferred colossal buildings, had suddenly chosen to build a mosque of such diminutive size.
Had the Sultanate at this stage lacked the financial resources to arrange for labour and material? Had it lost its charm to attract artisans from outside the subcontinent? Or had it simply entrusted the project to the indigenous workforce, having considered this structure of no worthwhile importance? Or, and as some have suggested, had small size and simplicity become the new trend of the period?
The Bara Gumbad mosque and the Moth ki Masjid (mosque of the lentil), located nearby at Kotla (home of the Sayyid dynasty of sultans, and who had preceded the Lodis), are the only two extant examples to go by, and provide no definite answer.
Perhaps, this mosque was indeed sponsored by a community and not by a sultan or a wealthy nobleman, and which then explains its small size.
Northern India in 1494.
When the mosque was built in 1494 CE, Islam was close to completing its third century in the Indian Subcontinent. The far grander Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at Qutub, which was sponsored by successive generations of sultans, beginning with Aibak, had taken its final form; adjacent to it, the majestic Alai Darwaza had also been built. This aside, the landscape of the subcontinent was etched with a profusion of mosques, mausoleums, cities and forts.
In this period, too, the local workforce may possibly have been a melange of many races. The workforce may have consisted of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of artisans brought in by Aibak during his invasion, men who stayed back, married local women and sired children. Settlers from afar who had arrived looking for better lives and opportunities, and men and women who had converted to Islam, either in their lifetimes or generations back.
Having built structures over the centuries, this workforce was not just highly experienced in building Islamic structures but had also become adept at infusing different cultural styles and architectural elements. The patronage of Sultans and wealthy nobles, for whom rigid rules had not mattered, had endowed the workforce with the license to experiment and construct.
Thus, while this workforce had lacked the know-how to build those smoothly tapering majestic Persian-style domes, a skill which only arrived in the subcontinent with the construction of Humayun’s Mausoleum in 1572 CE, they had nonetheless experimented and produced new forms of architectural designs.
The mosque, with its hemispherical domes, each decorated with lotus finials at the base, and with its open five-bay prayer hall, was one of the many visible signs of the continuing evolution of the cultural fusion, which had begun with the building of the Quwaat-ul-Islam mosque at Qutub, and during the construction of which artisans had relied on readily available material to save time and expenses -such as dismantled temple pillars and various parts of existing buildings.
This cultural fusion had eventually reached its apex under the emperors of the Gurkani Empire, who had taken Indo–Islamic architecture to its pinnacle.
The architecture of the Mosque.
The prototype that set in motion a new trend in mosque architecture, this mosque is a blend of two cultures with different architectural styles. The structure comprises an open five-bay prayer hall and has three hemispherical domes on top. Lotus finials decorate the base of the domes.
A Rajasthani-style lattice window graces its walls on one side with a minaret on the outside. The interior wall, roof and arched entrances bear Quranic inscriptions in Arabic. Decorations also include Persian motifs and large medallions.
Right opposite the Mosque is a single-storied building that served as a Mehaman Khana (rest house) for pilgrims, caretakers or the Imams themselves.
The rubble mound in the centre was a water reservoir that could be filled with water or collect rainwater. However, and just like everything else about this mosque, no information is available as to why it was covered or when it was covered.
Indo-Islamic architecture.
Indo-Islamic architecture is the use of Hindu and Islamic elements in combination. The trend began with the construction of the Quwaat-ul-Islam mosque, sponsored by the Turkish slave general, Qutub-ud-din-Aibak.
Under later Sultans, the trend gathered momentum. Immigrants trickling in from the Middle East (and in greater numbers during the Mongol invasions) further added to the talent pool, invigorating it with newer ideas and authentic Middle Eastern styles. The mix of styles and use of elements gradually evolved, reaching its pinnacle under the Gurkani.
The Period.
The Delhi Sultanate was a series of five short-lived Islamic dynasties that ruled large parts of the Indian Subcontinent from 1206 to 1526 CE. They ruled from their capital cities, now located within the 1,448 kms radius that makes up the expansive megacity of New Delhi.
These dynasties were largely of Turkic or Afghan stock. The sultans are credited for spreading Islam in the subcontinent and sowing the seeds of Indo-Islamic art, music and architecture.
Internal feuds, rebellions and military invasions by foreign powers largely contributed to their individual short tenures.
The Lodi dynasty.
The Lodis were the last rulers of the Delhi Sultanate. They were members of an ethic Afghan tribe, better known as the Pathans. They had migrated into the sultanate as traders and later enlisted as soldiers in the armies of the Delhi Sultanate. They had risen in power and status, and finally taken over the throne of Delhi in 1451 CE.
The dynasty was established by Bahlul Khan Lodi, the Governor of Sirhind in present-day Punjab, India. Their rule had come to an end with the defeat and death of Ibrahim Lodi, the son of Sikandar Lodi, in 1526 CE. The dynasty may have possibly ended with the death of Mahmud Lodi, a relative of Ibrahim Lodi.
The mosque was built during the reign of Sikander Lodi, a very rigid and orthodox Muslim regent, who forbade Muslim women from attending the resting place of their loved ones and took great delight in tormenting the coexisting Hindu populace. During his reign, forced conversions and persecution was the norm of the day.
The lack of recorded information, however, suggests the mosque was not considered to be of any particular significance.
