Masjid Akhonji | |
---|---|
مسجد اخونجی | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Islam |
Status | Demolished |
Location | |
Location | Mehrauli, Delhi, India |
Geographic coordinates | 28°31′36″N77°10′35″E / 28.5266810°N 77.1764680°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Mosque |
Style | Islamic |
Masjid Akhonji was a historic mosque located in the Mehrauli area of Delhi, India. It was estimated to be approximately 600-700 years old. [1] The mosque was a vital religious and cultural site in the area until its demolition in January 2024. [2] [3] [4]
The exact date of the mosque's construction is uncertain, though it is widely believed to have been built during the Sultanate period, possibly under the reign of Razia Sultana or later rulers. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) listed the mosque in a 1920 catalog of historical monuments. Known for its modest design, the mosque had a three-arched entrance, carved stone pillars, and rubble masonry walls plastered for protection. [5]
On January 30, 2024, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) demolished Masjid Akhonji. The demolition also included a madrasa and a graveyard adjacent to the mosque. The DDA claimed that the structures were encroachments on public land. [6] [2] [7]
On February 5, 2024, the Delhi High Court intervened after the January 30 demolition of Masjid Akhonji. The court directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to maintain the status quo on the land where the mosque stood. The mosque's demolition was criticized by the Delhi Waqf Board, which claimed that the action was conducted irreverently, with records and religious texts destroyed, and the mosque's imam left homeless. The court's ruling applies only to the specific land where the mosque existed, not the surrounding areas [4] [5]
The mosque was modest in size but featured traditional Indo-Islamic architectural elements. Its three-arched facade, intricately carved stone pillars, and plastered rubble masonry reflected the architectural style of Delhi's Sultanate period. [8]
Babri Masjid was a mosque in Ayodhya, India. It has been claimed to have been built upon the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, the legendary birthplace of Rama, a principal deity of Hinduism. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 19th century. According to the mosque's inscriptions, it was built in 1528–29 by Mir Baqi, a commander of the Mughal emperor Babur. Before the 1940s, the masjid was officially known as "Masjid-i-Janmasthan". The mosque was attacked and demolished by a Hindu nationalist mob in 1992, which ignited communal violence across the Indian subcontinent.
The Qutb Minar complex are monuments and buildings from the Delhi Sultanate at Mehrauli in Delhi, India. Construction of the Qutub Minar "victory tower" in the complex, named after the religious figure Sufi Saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who later became the first Sultan of Delhi of the Mamluk dynasty. It was continued by his successor Iltutmish, and finally completed much later by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, a Sultan of Delhi from the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1412) in 1368 AD. The Qubbat-ul-Islam Mosque, later corrupted into Quwwat-ul Islam, stands next to the Qutb Minar.
Ram Janmabhoomi is the site that, according to Hindu religious beliefs, is the birthplace of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The Ramayana states that the location of Rama's birthplace is on the banks of the Sarayu river in a city called "Ayodhya". Modern-day Ayodhya is in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is contested whether the Ayodhya mentioned in the Ramayana is the same as the modern city.
Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, Delhi, India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurugram and next to Vasant Kunj.
The Ayodhya dispute is a political, historical, and socio-religious debate in India, centred on a plot of land in the city of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The issues revolve around the control of a site regarded since at least the 18th century among many Hindus to be the birthplace of their deity Rama, the history and location of the Babri Masjid mosque at the site, and whether a previous Hindu temple was demolished or modified to create the mosque.
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Jahanpanah was the fourth medieval city of Delhi established in 1326–1327 by Delhi Sultan, Muhammad bin Tughlaq. To counter the persistent threat of Mongol invasions, Tughlaq constructed the fortified city of Jahanpanah, incorporating the Adilabad Fort, built in the 14th century, along with all the establishments located between Qila Rai Pithora and Siri Fort. Neither the city nor the fort has survived. Many reasons have been offered for such a situation. One of these is exemplified by the idiosyncratic rule of Mohammed bin Tughlaq, who inexplicably decreed the capital to be moved to Daulatabad in the Deccan, only to return to Delhi soon after.
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