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The Great
Mosque
of
Herat
or
"Jami
Masjid
of
Herat", is
a mosque in
the
city
of Herat,
in
the Herat
Province of
north-western Afghanistan.
It
was
built
by
the
Ghurids,
under
the
rule
of
the
Sultan Ghiyath
al-Din
Muhammad Ghori,
who
laid
its
foundation
in
1200 CE,
and
later
extended
by
several
rulers
as
Herat
changed
rulers
down
the
centuries
from
the Timurids to
the Safavids, Mughalsand
then
the Uzbeks,
all
of
whom
supported
the
mosque.
Though
many
of
the
glazed
tiles
have
been
replaced
during
subsequent
periods,
the Friday
Mosque in
Herat
was
given
its
present
form
during
the
closing
years
of
the
fifteenth
century.
Apart
from
numerous
small
neighborhood
mosques
for
daily
prayer,
most
communities
in
the
Islamic
world
have
a
larger
mosque,
a congregational
mosque for
Friday
services
with
a
sermon.
The Jama
Masjid was
not
always
the
largest
mosque
in
Herat;
a
much
larger
complex
the
Mosque
and
Madressa
of
Gawharshad,
also
built
by
the
Timurids,
was
located
in
the
northern
part
of
the
city.
However,
those
architectural
monuments
were
dynamited
by
officers
of
the
British
Indian
Army
in
1885,
to
prevent
its
use
as
a
fortress
if
a
Russian
army
tried
to
invade
India.
The
Masjid-i
Jami
of
Herat,
the
city's
first
congregational
mosque,
was
built
on
the
site
of
two
smaller Zoroastrian fire
temples that
were
destroyed
by
earthquake
and
fire.
A
mosque
was
begun
by
the Ghurid ruler Ghiyas
ad-Din
Ghori in
1200
(597
AH),
and,
after
his
death,
the
building
was
continued
by
his
brother
and
successor Muhammad
of
Ghor.
This
is
confirmed
both
by
an
inscription
on
the
eastern
Ghurid
portal
uncovered
in
1964
during
a
restoration,
and
by
the
sixteenth
century
Timurid
historian Khwandamir in
his Khulasat
al-Akhbar.
In
1221,
Genghis
Khan
conquered
the
province,
and
along
with
much
of
Herat,
the
small
building
fell
into
ruin.
It
wasn't
until
after
1245,
under Shams
al-Din
Kart[2] that
any
rebuilding
programs
were
undertaken,
and
construction
on
the
mosque
was
not
started
until
1306.[1] However
a
devastating
earthquake
in
1364
left
the
building
almost
completely
destroyed,
although
some
attempt
was
made
to
rebuild
it.[1] After
1397,
the Timurid rulers
redirected
Herat's
growth
towards
the
northern
part
of
the
city.
This
suburbanization
and
the
building
of
a
new congregational
mosque in
Gawhar
Shad's
Musalla
marked
the
end
of
the
Masjid-i
Jami's
patronage
by
a
monarchy.
Replacement
of
the
small
ruined
mosque
was
done
by
construction
of
an
entirely
new
building
with
surrounding
gardens,
which
was
completed
by
Jalal
al-Din
Firuzshah,
one
of
the
most
prominent
emirs
under Shah
Rukh (1405–1444).
The
decorations
alone
took
over
five
years
to
complete,
as
the
emir
brought
in
workers
from
all
over
the
empire.
The
mosque
was
later
given
a
final
renovation
under
the Mughal
Empire,
when
Prince
Khurram
(Shah
Jahan)
was
fighting
for
control
of
the
region
against
the
Uzbek
tribes.
Modern
Developments
Little
of
the
medieval
Mosque
remains,
after
the
Anglo-Afghan
wars
much
of
the
mosque
was
left
destroyed.
A
program
launched
in
1945
rebuilt
walls
and
rooms,
expanded
the
northeastern
section
of
the
mosque
from
a
length
of
approximately
101
meters
to
121
meters
and
replaced
expensive
materials
from
all
over
the
medieval
Timurid
and
Mughal
Empires
with
locally
available
cheap
materials.
Overall,
the
mosque's
multiple
reconstructions
and
restoration
programs
have
left
little
to
authenticate
as
original.
However
the
inscribed
Ghorid
portal
remains,
south
of
the
existing
main
entrance
to
the
mosque.
In
2012,
some
fifty
Afghan
traders
promised
funds
for
the
renovation
of
the
mosque.
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