Sarkhej Roza

Coordinates: 22°59′32″N 72°30′16″E / 22.992136°N 72.504573°E / 22.992136; 72.504573
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sarkhej Roza
Indo-Saracenic
Funded byGujarat Sultanate rulers
Groundbreaking1445
Completed1451
Website
http://www.sarkhejroza.org

Sarkhej Roza is a mosque and tomb complex located in the village of Makarba, 7 km south-west of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, India.

Although there are many rozas

Sabarmati, a few miles away from Sarkhej
.

Monuments

Plan of Sarkhej Roza

The architecture of the complex is credited to Azam and Muazzam Khan; two Persian brothers who are buried in the

tomb near Vasna, Ahmedabad. The complex was originally spread over 72 acres, surrounded by elaborate gardens on all sides. Over time, human settlements came around it, eating into the gardens and reducing the area to 34 acres.[citation needed
]

Aḥmad K̲h̲attū Maghribī Ganjbakhsh was a Ṣūfī of the Maghribī and was born into a noble family in Dehli in 1336. He was separated from his family in a dust storm and then was adopted by a Maghribī Ṣūfī named Bābā Isḥāq in the village of K̲h̲attū in Rajasthan. After the death of his teacher Aḥmad K̲h̲attū travelled to Arabia, Iraq, and Iran. When the Mongol Tīmūr attacked Delhi Aḥmad K̲h̲attū was captured and later released. According to Badāʾūnī Aḥmad K̲h̲attū convinced Tīmūr to spare Delhi, who then took him back to Samarqand. Under the request of Ẓafar Khān, Aḥmad K̲h̲attū settled in Gujarat and began living in Sarkhej.[2][3]

Shaikh Ahmed Khattu Ganj Bakhsh of

Anhilwad Patan, the friend and adviser of Ahmad Shah I, retired to Sarkhej in his later life and died here in 1445. In his honour a tomb, begun in 1445 by Muhammad Shah II, was, in 1451, finished by his son Qutbuddin Ahmad Shah II. The next Sultan Mahmud Begada was fond of the place and expanded the complex greatly. He dug a large Sarkhej lake, surrounded it with cut stone steps, built on its south-west corner a splendid palace, and finally, opposite to the Ganj Baksh's tomb, raised a mausoleum for himself and his family, where he, his son Muzaffar Shah II
, his great-grandson Mahmud Shah III and his queen Rajbai are buried.

Entering the covered eastern gateway on the north bank of the Sarkhej lake, the building to the right with a handsome stone pavilion in front of it, is the mausoleum of Shaikh Ahmed Khattu Ganj Bakhsh. This, the largest of its kind in Gujarat, has along its whole length its sides filled with stone trellis work, and inside, round the tomb, has a beautifully cut open metal screen. Across the courtyard on the left are two mausoleums with a connecting porch, the east mausoleum containing the tombs of Mahmud Begada, and of his son Saltan Muzaffar II, and the west, the tomb of Rajabai, Muzaffar's queen. Beyond the Ganj Bakhsh mausoleum is a courtyard, covering more than an acre of ground, surrounded by cloisters, with a mosque only slightly smaller than the Jama mosque. The want of minarets and the shallowness of its caves rather mar the outside effect. But inside 'it is the perfection of simple grace unrivaled in India except by the Moti mosque at Agra.' Looking across the lake the ruined buildings at the south-west corner are Mahmud Begada's palace and harem. The Sarkhej lake covers 17 acres. Oblong in shape, it is surrounded by flights of stone steps, and has a most richly decorated supply sluice.

Besides the chief group of remains, the country round is studded with mosques and other old buildings. A little to the south of the lake is a small whitewashed tomb, the burial place of Baba Ali Sher, a saint held in higher respect even than Ganj Bakhsh. Close by are the remains of Fatehwadi or Victory Garden, laid out in 1584 by

Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana (1583-1590) to mark his defeat of Muzaffar Shah III, the last of the Gujarat Sultanate. In the 17th century Sarkhej was so famous for its indigo that in 1620 the Dutch established a factory in the village.[4][5]

Architecture

"The gallery that opens into the Tombs of the Queens" (15th century) at Sarkhej Roza, Ahmedabad
Outlet of Sarkhej Roza Tank, 1855

Like many monuments built during that period, the Sarkhej Roza fused both non-Indian and Indian principles of architecture. While the ringed domes, the profusion of

Indo-Saracenic architectural style.[6]
The mosque, with its courtyard, creates a religious milieu; the royal connection is made through the tombs and palaces; the great tank, platforms and pavilions were used by the common man.

The complex is called "Acropolis of Ahmedabad", due to 20th century architect Le Corbusier's comparison of this complex's design to the Acropolis of Athens.[7]

In popular culture

Some scenes of 2016 Hindi film Raees was shot in Sarkhej Roza.[8][9][10]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sarkhej Roza.
  1. ^ Narhari K. 1909- Bhatt, Gujarat, 1972
  2. ^ Balachandran, Jyoti Gulati (2019). "Maghribī, Aḥmad K̲h̲attū". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Stewart, Devin J. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Brill.
  3. ^ Nizami, K.A. "AḤMAD KHATTŪ". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  4. ^ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Ahmedabad. Government Central Press. 1879. pp. 291–292. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Subodh Kapoor, Indian Encyclopaedia, Volume 1
  6. ^ Bharadwaj.S,DNA,Ahmedabad,11 May 2008
  7. ^ Vashi, Ashish (21 November 2009). "When Corbu compared Ahmedabad to Acropolis". The Times of India. Ahmedabad. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  8. ^ "ASI stops Shah Rukh Khan's 'Raees' shoot in Ahmedabad". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  9. ^ "SRK's 'Raees' shoot halted by ASI". The Tribune. India. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Raees". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2017.

External links

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