Curated playlist
Mughal mosques
- Musa Khan MosqueThe Musa Khan Mosque sits in the southern part of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on the grounds of the University of Dhaka. It stands next to Shahidullah Hall and behind Curzon Hall. Three domes mark it as a Mughal structure raised in the 18th…
- Kartalab Khan MosqueThe Kartalab Khan Mosque stands in the Begum Bazar area of Old Dhaka, Bangladesh, and it holds a secret beneath its floor. Nawab Diwan Murshid Quli Khan, the man who ordered its construction, chose to be buried directly under the entrance.…
- Sat Gambuj MosqueSat Gambuj Mosque rises from a 15-foot buttressed bank on the northwestern outskirts of Dhaka, overlooking a wide flood plain that stretches to the horizon. Seven bulbous domes crown its roof, giving the structure its name: Sat Gambuj…
- Dhanmondi Shahi EidgahThe Dhanmondi Shahi Eidgah stands on Saat Masjid road in Dhaka's Dhanmondi residential area, and it has been welcoming worshippers for Eid prayers since 1640. That makes it the oldest surviving Mughal monument in Dhaka city. No other…
- Chawk Mosque, DhakaThe Chawkbazar Shahi Mosque rose from the earth in 1664 under the command of Shaista Khan. He served as the Subahdar, or governor, of Mughal Bengal during this period. A Persian inscription over a doorway confirms his role in commissioning…
- Mahabat Khan MosqueThe Mahabat Khan Mosque stands in Peshawar, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. During Sikh rule, the minarets were used for hanging prisoners. Sikh rulers had banned the five daily calls to prayer, known as Azan. The minarets became a…
- Wazir Khan MosqueWazir Khan Mosque stands in the Walled City of Lahore, along the ancient road Mughal nobles once traveled toward the Lahore Fort. Completed in 1641, it is considered the most ornately decorated mosque of the Mughal era. In the late 1880s,…
- Badshahi MosqueThe Badshahi Mosque rises from the edge of Lahore's ancient Walled City, its red sandstone walls catching the light across a courtyard large enough to hold one hundred thousand people at prayer. Built between 1671 and 1673, it was the…
- Jama Masjid, DelhiJama Masjid, Delhi stands at the highest point of the old walled city of Shahjahanabad, elevated ten metres above the surrounding streets on a massive stone plinth. Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who commissioned the Taj Mahal, ordered its…
- Shah Jahan Mosque, ThattaShah Jahan sought refuge in Thatta from his father, Emperor Jahangir, after he had rebelled against him. The Sindhi people offered the exiled prince hospitality that impressed him deeply. He ordered construction of a mosque as a token of…
- Shahbaz Khan MosqueThe Shahbaz Khan Mosque stands in Dhaka as a tangible record of a merchant's ambition and the architectural flourishing of late Mughal Bengal. Built in 1679, it was commissioned by Hazi Khwaja Shahbaz Khan, a wealthy trader from the city.…
- Begum Shahi MosqueThe Begum Shahi Mosque stands in the walled interior of Lahore, and on its northern gate, a Persian inscription names its founder plainly: "Queen Mariyam Zamani, founder of the edifice, the place of salvation." That inscription also…
- Taj MahalThe Taj Mahal stands on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, an ivory-white marble mausoleum that has drawn more than five million visitors a year. It was not built as a palace, a temple, or a monument to power alone. It was built…