Akbarabadi Masjid




Akbarabadi Masjid, also known as Akbarabadi mosque, got its name from the person who was responsible for its construction, Akbarabadi Begum. She was one of the wives of the great Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan. This mosque was built by her during 1650. Eventually, this mosque was brought to ruins by the British during the 1857 Mutiny. Today, most of the Muslims believe that Netaji Subhash Park area of Old Delhi could have been the place where the original mosque stood.

History

Akbarabadi Begum, one of countless wives of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the Akbarabadi mosque during 1650. This mosque was the result of two years of toil and hardship. It was at this place that the Empress is believed to have translated the Holy Quran from Arabic into the native language of the Mughals, Urdu. Due to the sacred nature of her work, she decided to build a mosque in the very place where the translation happened. During this time, the Akbarabadi Mosque was one of the many mosques that were built by members of Mughal royal families like the Fatehpuri Masjid and Zeenat-ul-Masjid in Shahjahanabad.

This mosque served to be a place of worship for the Muslims for 200 years before it was brought to ashes by the British during the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857. This mutiny has a lot of historical significance in the lifespan of British India. Delhi was the capital of the Mughal kingdom those days and hence bore the brunt of attack. Indian sepoys formed mutiny bases at many spots including these mosques and tried to plan an attack against the British. They did face success during the initial phase of the mutiny, however, later on, the sepoys lacked guidance and clarity and some of them turned spies for the British authorities so the Indians lost their way too soon. The British attacked everywhere and especially those spots that acted as mutiny bases suffered a lot of damage.

Akbarabadi Mosque was a mutiny base those days and hence it was brought to ruins within no time by the British rulers. This was one of the worst attacks on Delhi during the Pre-Independence times. Since this mosque was completely destroyed, not much information is available about its original location, though some Muslims believe that Old Delhi’s Subash Chandra Park could have housed the mosque earlier.

Nearby Places

  • Fatehpuri Masjid
  • Shah Jahan
  • Old Delhi
  • History of Delhi
  • Indian Rebellion of 1857
  • Siege of Delhi
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