Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh

"The oldest building in Jaunpur is the masjid of Ibrahim Naih Barhak in the fort ; it is a long narrow building of the early Bengali type, that is, a simple arcade supported on carved Hindu pillars, with three low domes in the middle."

"The Atala Masjid was the work of Ibrahim Shiih during the early part of his reign. It was built on the site of the Hindu temple of Atala Devi, which is said to have been erected by Jayachchhandra Deva (1175 — 1193), the last Rathor prince of Kanauj. Of all the masjids remaining at Jaunpur, the Atala Masjid is the most ornate and the most beautiful. .... As is proved by nine inscnptions found in the Atala Masjid, Piruz Shah commenced the appropriation of the Ataladevi temple in A.D. 1376 and Ibrahim Shah finished the Atala Masjid in A.D. 1408."

"The Jami Masjid is the largest masjid at Jaunpur ; its erection was ordered for the convenience of Hazrat Khwaja Is, who used to suffer much during his walk to the Khlis Mukhlis Masjid. The foundation was laid in A.H. 8i2, or A.D. 14-38 ; it is said that the date of the completion of the masjid was found in the words Masjid Jami us sliarq which were engraved on the front of the eastern gate. This would fix the date in A.H. 852 during the reign of Mahmud Shah Sharqi, According to some people, the inscription on the eastern gate was At Masjid Jami us sa’g', which would make the date A.H. 883, during the reign of Husain Shah. The plan of the Jami Masjid is essentially the same as that of the Atala Masjid; but there are many differences, of which the most remarked is the high platform on which it stands, all the other masjids being raised but little above the ground level. Another difference is the piling up the cloisters to the height of three storeys on each side of the gateway. The shafts of the pillars are all square and plain, and on many of them there are socket holes for iron cramps which tell their own tale of ha^dng been brought from some earlier Hindu temple. The masjid proper is 235 feet long by 59 feet broad."

"During the period of Government of Sultan Ibrahim, the Hindus were prohibited from openly worshipping idols, sounding nakus, and leaving their houses in the rainy season for the purpose of burning their dead on the banks of the river near the city. He also levied a tax on them, and at length, in the year of the Hijri 806 or AD 1403-04 ordered them to leave Jaunpur, and to take up their residence in its vicinity. Their houses were given to the professors of the faith, and the Hindus, being without friend or assistant, were obliged to abandon their homes and to reside in the circumjacent villages. This is quoted from Khair-ud-din's History of Jaunpur translated by Pogson and reported by Cunningham. ... Khair-ud-din, in his History of Jaunpur, observed that the Sultan then gave an order for the destruction of the Dewal (temple) A tala, the Dewal of Bijay Manda! and the Dewal of Chachakpur ... He also commended mosques should be built on their foundations. He continued that Bijay Mandai be converted into Khalis-Mukhlis and Chachakpur into Jhanjhari (chain like) masjid."

"The work of demolition was so complete that hardly a vestige remains of this early epoch; but it is clear that Jaunpur must have been a place of considerable size, at any rate in the days of the last Hindu kings of Kannauj."

"Thanks that by the guidance of the Everlasting and Living (Allãh), this house of infidelity became the niche of prayer (i.e. mosque). As a reward for that, the generous Lord, constructed an abode for its builder in paradise: The Pen of Reason wrote (the words): the mosque of Nawwãb Muhsin Khãn for the date of its construction."

"The Mosque at Jaunpur : This was built by Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi with chiselled stones. Originally it was a Hindu temple after demolishing which he constructed the mosque. It is known as the Atala Masjid. The Sultan used to offer his Friday and Id prayers in it, and Qazi Shihabud-Din gave lessons in it… Jami (Masjid) at Etawah : This mosque stands on the bank of the Jamuna at Etawah. There was a Hindu temple at this place, on the site of which this mosque was constructed. It is also patterned after the mosque at Qanauj. Probably it is one of the monuments of the Sharqi Sultans. The Mosque at Qanauj : This mosque stands on an elevated ground inside the Fort of Qanauj. It is well-known that it was built on the foundations of some Hindu temple (that stood) here. It is a beautiful mosque. They say that it was built by Ibrahim Sharqi in H. 809 as is (recorded) in ‘Gharabat Nigar’."