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Sidi
Saiyyed
Mosque
THE
SIDI
SAIYYED
MOSQUE
IN
Ahmedabad,
Gujarat,
is
a
sublime
ode
in
stone
to
the
extraordinary
architectural
legacy
of
the
African
diaspora
in
India.
Although
their
forefathers
were
originally
brought
to
India
as
slaves
and
maritime
laborers,
the
descendants
of
these
Africans
rose
to
positions
of
power
as
military
commanders
in
the
armies
of
the
sultans
and
became
great
patrons
of
art
and
architecture.
Called
Sidis
(or
Siddis),
an
appellation
of
Africans,
or
Habshis,
from
the
Arabic-Persian
word
for
“people
from
Abyssinia
or
Ethiopia,”
one
of
them
was
Shaykh
Sayyid
al-Habshi
Sultani,
or
Sidi
Saiyyed,
who
constructed
his
eponymous
mosque.
Built
in
1573,
the
last
year
of
the
Gujarat
Sultanate
before
the
Mughals
invaded,
the
mosque
is
one
of
the
finest
specimens
of
the
prodigious
architectural
accomplishments
of
the
Sidis
in
India.
Situated
in
the
heart
of
the
600-year-old
walled
city
of
Ahmedabad,
the
design
of
the
mosque
is
entirely
in
the
arcuate
system
of
construction,
involving
arches,
domes,
squinches,
and
vaults.
The
mosque
is
set
up
like
a
theatre
without
a
fourth
wall,
celebrated
for
the
intricately
carved
filigree
work
on
its
jalis
(screen
windows).
The
20th-century
Indologist
and
art
historian
Vincent
Arthur
Smith
described
these
jalis
as
the
“most
artistic
stone
lattice-work
to
be
found
anywhere
in
the
world.”
The
ornamental
latticework
adorns
the
10
nearly
semicircular
windows
of
the
mosque,
with
some
displaying
complex
geometrical
designs
and
others
carved
in
the
manner
of
intertwined
trees
and
foliage.
The
most
impressive
of
them
all
is
the
Sidi
Saiyyed
Jali,
located
to
the
right
of
the
central
walled
arch.
Sixteen
feet
in
size,
the
carvings
on
this
jali
represent
the
Tree
of
Life
motif,
which
is
an
artistic
representation
of
a
tree
believed
to
grow
in
paradise
according
to
Islamic
mythology.
This
finely
wrought
motif
has
become
an
unofficial
symbol
of
Ahmedabad,
India’s
first
UNESCO
World
Heritage
city.
When
men
pray
in
the
speckled
light
of
the
jalis,
few,
if
any,
remember
the
man
who
built
the
mosque
or
think
about
his
remarkable
history.
Sidi
Saiyyed,
or
“Sidi
Saeed”
as
an
inscription
in
the
mosque
refers
to
him,
was
a
royal
slave
in
the
service
of
Sultan
Mahmud
III,
the
last
ruler
of
the
Gujarat
Sultanate.
Upon
the
sultan’s
death,
he
joined
the
retinue
of
the
Abyssinian
general
Bilal
Jhajhar
Khan.
By
the
time
he
retired
from
service,
Sidi
Saiyyed
had
amassed
a
considerable
fortune,
which
he
used
to
build
his
beautiful
mosque,
as
well
as
for
acts
of
philanthropic
charity,
such
as
feeding
the
poor
daily
in
his
public
kitchen.
The
mosque
stands
as
a
gateway
toward
unearthing
the
little-known
history
of
the
African
diaspora
in
India.
Drawn
from
Eritrea,
Ethiopia,
Somalia,
Lower
Egypt,
Sudan,
Kenya,
Tanzania,
Malawi
and
Mozambique,
the
descendants
of
Africans
in
India
have
been
integral
in
shaping
its
medieval
history.
Apart
from
serving
in
a
military
capacity,
their
contributions
to
art
and
architecture
in
India
are
numerous
and
spectacular.
Though
the
numbers
of
the
Sidi
community
in
India
is
virtually
insignificant
in
a
country
of
1.3
billion
people,
their
past
is
vibrantly
alive
in
the
form
of
enduring
architectural
masterpieces
such
as
the
Sidi
Saiyyed
Mosque.
Know
Before
You
Go
The
mosque
is
open
24/7.
It
is
located
in
the
middle
of
a
busy
intersection
and
parking
may
be
difficult.
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