5/5 Shahid A. 1 year ago on Google
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 across
Gujarat,
the
Sarkhej
Roza
is
the
most
revered.
Sarkhej
was
once
a
prominent
centre
of Sufi culture
in
the
country,
where
influential
Sufi
saint
Shaikh
Ahmed
Ganj
Baksh
lived.
It
was
on
the
saint's
suggestion
that
Sultan Ahmed
Shah set
up
his
capital
on
the
banks
of
the Sabarmati,
a
few
miles
away
from Sarkhej.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]
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
ugly
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.
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