Mosque Name: Banbhore Mosque
Country: Pakistan
City: Banbhore
Year of construction (AH): 109 AH
Year of construction (AD): 727 AD
GPS: 24°45’8.64”N 67°31’21.11”E
ArchNet: http://archnet.org/sites/3976
Gibson Classification: Mecca
For a Link to the Qibla Tool Click Here
Description:
The Mosque in Banbhore, Pakistan is in an area conquered by the Arab general Muhammad Ibn Qasim in 711 AD. This mosque has a qibla wall, but no mihrab. The building is oriented east to west, but did not have a mihrab niche. Unearthed during the excavations that began in 1958 in the ancient city of Banbhore, the Jami’ Masjid of Banbhore is one of the earliest known mosques in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. Its plan, deducted from archaeological remains, closely resembles the plans of congregational mosques in Kufa (670) and Wasit (702). Inscriptions found on the site date the mosque to 727. This mosque faces within 2.5 degrees of Mecca. Note: This is the first mosque to face Mecca, where we can determine it’s original Qibla direction
Arial image of the mosque.
The Banbhore fortress with the mosque in the center.
References:
Khan, Fazal A., 1963. Banbhore: A Preliminary Report on the Recent Archaeological Excavations at Banbhore, revised edition, [Karachi]: Department of Archaeology and Museums.
Ishtiak Khan, Muhammad, 2002. “The Grand Mosque of Banbhore: A Reappraisal”, Ancient Pakistan 15: 1-9.
Ghafur, M.A., 1966. “Fourteen Kufic Inscriptions of Banbhore”, Pakistan Archaeology 3: 65-90.
Quadri, Zahira (ed.), 2019. Sindh Antiquities 5(2). https://saj.sindhculture.gov.pk/index.php/archives/19-sindh-antiquities-bi-annual-journal-vol-5-no-2-2019
Mughal, Mohammad Rafique, 2012. “Early Islamic Glazed Pottery from Banbhore and its Connections with Contemporary Cities during 8th to 11th Centuries CE”, in: Mokammal H. Bhuiyan (ed.), Studies in Heritage of South Asia, Dhaka: Heritage Management & Research, 332-341.
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