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Qila-i-Kuhna
Mosque
(Mosque
of
the
Old
Fort)
is
a
mosque
located
inside
the
premises
of
Purana
Qila
(Old
Fort)
in
Delhi,
the
capital
of
India.
After
Sher
Shah
Suri
defeated
Humayun,
he
occupied
Purana
Qila.
There,
he
built
the
mosque
for
his
private
use,
which
became
a
"symbol
of
his
royal
aspiration".The
mosque
is
believed
to
have
been
constructed
in
1541
CE.
The
mosque
is
located
inside
Sher
Shah
Suri's
fort,
Purana
Qila,
which
became
his
fortification
after
he
won
Delhi.
It
is
one
of
the
structures
beside
the
Sher
Mandal
(which
is
attributed
as
Humayun's
library)
present
in
the
fort.The
fort
is
located
near
the
Delhi
zoo.
The
mosque's
history
is
derived
from
various
accounts
of
contemporary
historians.
The
Tarikh-i-Sher
Shahi,
written
by
Abbas
Sarwani,
says
that
Sher
Shah
Suri
built
the
mosque
in
1540,
from
"gold,
lapis
lazuli"
and
other
precious
stones.
He
is
said
to
have
built
the
mosque
to
"revive"
the
city's
status
"as
a
major
city".
Historian
MC
Joshi
argues
that
although
Sher
Shah
completed
the
mosque,
it
was
originally
"designed"
and
its
construction
was
started
by
Humayun.
Joshi
believes
that
Sher
Shah
built
the
upper
part
of
the
mosque
which
included
the
dome.
The
marble
works
of
the
exterior
walls
could
be
attributed
to
his
son
Akbar,
because
the
geometric
works
are
of
his
time
and
not
of
pre-Akbar
era.
The
use
of
half-dome,
pointed
arches
represents
"A
strong
Mughal
association".Humayun
is
credited
with
"introducing
pietra
dura"
works
in
the
liwan
and
mihrab.
The
mosque
is
built
in
the
Afghan
style
of
a
congregational
mosque.
It
is
a
symbol
of
the
architectural
tradition
of
"a
five
bay
mosque",
a
concept
which
was
developed
during
the
Sayyid
and
Lodi
dynasty
times.
The
mosque
lacks
any
inscription.
Its
length
and
breadth
is
51
metres
(167
ft)
and
13.5
metres
(44
ft),
respectively.
It
has
a
height
of
20
metres
(66
ft)
(which
includes
the
dome).
The
mosque
was
built
by
"core
masonry"
with
stone
rubble
"bonded
with
lime
mortar".
Blocks
of
quartzite,
marble
and
red
sandstone
were
also
used
in
the
construction
process.
The
internal
rectilinear
hall
is
laterally
divided
by
five
arches.
The
external
facade
comprises
the
same
number
of
arches.
The
central
arch
is
sunken
"in
an
arched
recess"
which
is
contained
within
a
rectangular
frontage
called
liwan.The
mosque
was
originally
intended
to
be
constructed
from
marble
but
as
it
ran
out
of
supply,
red
sandstone
had
to
be
used.
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