Standing tall for over six centuries, Shahi Atala Masjid was Commenced by Firoz Shah Tughlaq somewhere between 1364 and 1376 at the close of...
Standing tall for over six centuries, Shahi Atala Masjid was Commenced by Firoz Shah Tughlaq somewhere between 1364 and 1376 at the close of the time of construction of Jaunpur Fort but its construction was halted for about 15 Years. due to the death of his beloved son Fateh Khan and his favourite courtier Khwaja Jahan and later on Tughlaq lost power.
However, construction then again started in 1408 and was completed in 1418 by Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, Atala Masjid is a grand edifice of Sharqi Architecture of Jaunpur. Made of local Chunar sandstones and Spolia this magnificent mosque showcases a unique blend of Indo-Islamic styles, reflecting the cultural and artistic influences of its era.
Though no earliest record from Futuhat i Firozshahi to Tarikh i Firozshahi, or Manqib e Darweshiya, Manaqbat E Darwesiya originally by one Syed Ghyasuddin Darwesh who died in 1537/38 and supplemented by Syed Ismael Ali Muhammad who died in 1658, or any other earliest History record mention Temple demolition. It appears only during the Governor-Generalship of Marquis Wellesley (1798 1805) that Maulana Khairuddin Muhammad, the historian of Shah Alam, wrote a book entitled Tarikh-i-Jaunpur and Tazkirat-ul-Ulama. Still later, in 1881, another citizen of Jaunpur, named, Syed Nuruddin Zaidi, wrote Tajalli-i Nur or Tazkira-i-Mashahir-i-Jaunpur in Persian and Chiragh-i-Nur in Urdu in 3 volumes. Moulvi Fasihuddin's book entitled The Sharqi monuments of Jaunpur deals mostly with the texts of inscriptions compiled in 1988 as a sort of supplement to Dr Fuhrer's works.
Maulvi Khairuddin Mohmmad who wrote these books at the insistence of the British first mentioned the demolition of the temple but he didn't give any reference, it is clear it was based on only oral traditions and legends later on all the Urdu, English and Hindi Books mention this story citing each other without any reference. and some other Urdu Writers who don't mention it like Kazim Ali in Ahwal e Salatin and Syeed Ghaus Ali in Salatin e Jaunpur are also not exact and correct.
In his book, Syed Iqbal Jaunpuri mentioned that the reason behind the name Atala is the Exuberance of Soldiers. The area was always occupied by the Royal Army, and because of its Masjid got the name Atala, which is a Turkish Word. In support of this, he gave the example of Muhalla Ataala in Allahabad, which is known because of the same reason.
However, in my findings and research, I found that the word Atala is a Turkish word that means ancestors. Atala masjid means Mosque of ancestors which seems to be true because it was commenced by Firoz Shah Tughlaq and later built by Ibrahim Shah Sharqi.
#atalamasjid #jaunpur
