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Khairul Manzil Masjid |
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| Located opposite the Purana Qila and the Delhi
Zoo entrance on the Western side of Mathura Road, Khairul Manzil
Masjid was built in 1561 by Maham Anga, one of the most influential
wet nurses of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. She was the mother of
Adham Khan, a nobleman and a general in Akbar's army. Adham
Khan’s tomb is in Mehrauli, and is built in the Lodi style.
According to the historian Percival Spear, Maham Anga was the
foster-mother of Akbar, and ruled the Mughal Empire for some
time when Akbar was a boy. The Masjid was built with the assistance
of Shiha-bud-Din Ahmad Khan, a powerful courtier and friend
and relation of Maham Anga. |
| Considered one of 'the most auspicious of houses',
this 16th-century mosque is made of rubble covered with plaster
and have five arched openings in its prayer hall. The main features
of the structure are an imposing gateway of red sandstone on
the east and double-storeyed cloisters, which were used as a
madrasa (Islamic School). There is a dome at the central bay
of the prayer hall while the other bays have been roofed with
vaults. It is believed that originally the facade of the prayer
chamber was profusely decorated with enameled tiles. The central
arch of the prayer chamber contains the inscription that the
mosque was built by Maham Anga. |
| Sher Shah Gate |
| Next to the mosque in the north lies the baronial
Sher Shah’s gate, believed to be one of the gates of the
extensive city of Delhi built by Sher Shah in front of his citadel
of Purana Qila. The gate lies west of the Purana Qila or Old
Fort. Also known as ‘Lal Darwaza’ or red gate, it
is believed to have been the southern gateway of the city. The
gate is built with rich red sandstone with some use of local
gray quartzite. It seems later, a series of apartments fronted
by a verandah were provided as an arcade, where the local people
established shops, adjacent to this gate into the city. |
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