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Mahmud Khan's Mosque stands on the top of a mound at Zolapara in the Pahartali locality of Chittagong city. The mosque has undergone a series of extension and repair works by the local people, which caused the disappearance of many of its original features.
Emphasised with octagonal towers on the four exterior angles,
this brick built mosque is oblong in plan having an internal dimension
of 7.47m by 4.19m. The corner towers rise above the horizontal parapet
ending in cupolas with kalasa finials. Access to the mosque is
provided through arched doorways- three in the east and one each on north
and south sides. The three eastern doorways, each opening under a half-dome,
consist of two successive arches - the outer one higher and wider than
the inner one. The qibla wall is internally recessed with three
mihrabs - the central one semi-octagonal and the side ones rectangular.
The central doorway and the central mihrab are bigger than the flanking
ones and show the usual rectangular projections on the outside, bordered
by slender octagonal turrets, which rise above the parapet terminating
in cupolas with kalasa finials. Of the three bays in the inside the large
central square one is covered with a large dome. The flanking rectangular
bays are internally covered with large half-domed vaults, but on the outside
there is a small false dome on each half-dome. The central dome is carried
on these two half-domed vaults and the blocked arches over the central
doorway and central mihrab. It thus appears from the outside that the
roof of the mosque consists of three domes - a large central dome and
a small one on each side, but in the inside the large central dome is
flanked on either side by a half-domed vault. The three domes, each being
placed on an octagonal drum, are crowned with lotus and kalasa finials.
The parapets and the drums are faced with rows of blind merlons. The apex of the central dome is internally embossed with a prominent tiered rosette. The walls are internally and externally plastered over with a thin coating of lime work. A Persian inscription fixed over the central doorway of the mosque records its construction by Mahmud Khan. Unfortunately however the date of erection has been obliterated. It is locally said that Diwan Mahmud Khan, a subordinate officer of Muzaffar Khan, the Mughal ruler of Chittagong, erected this mosque in 1688. There may be some truth in this local tradition, for the building, both in plan and constructional details, appears to be a copy of the nearby
Hamza Khan's Mosque (1682). [MA Bari]
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