The holy Shah-e-Alam complex, Ahmedabad - dedicated to a great Muslim saint

Navrang India October 02, 2019
Shah-e-Alam complex, Ahmedabad, India/timesofindia.indiatimes.com


Above image: Sanctum of Shah-e-Alam, Ahmedabad - It is to be noted that  Muslim women from various parts of the city as well as other places visit this holy place and  reverentially  offer their prayers in the durgah's sanctum  with flowers on Wednesday. The day marks the 23rd day of the Islamic month when ‘Bibi ka mela’ is organized outside the durgah. This is the only day each year women are allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of  Shah-e-Alam. After the azaan is sung around 5 pm, women move out of the sanctum and then only men are allowed to go inside the sanctified place...................................
Shah-e-Alam complex, Ahmedabad, India soalanmudaha.blogspot.com
Among the places of interest in  Ahmedabad,  the Shah-e-Alam's tomb complex (Roza), consisting of Tomb and Mosque, also known as Rasulabad Dargah or Shah Alam no Rozo is  an interesting one considering the place's antiquity and sanctity.  It is a medieval  structure (Roza) in Shah Alam area of  Ahmedabad city, Gujarat, India.
Shah-e-Alam complex, Ahmedabad, India. facebook.com
Shah e Alam, son of Hazrath Syed Burhanuddin Qutub-ul-Alam and the great grandson of popular  Hazrath Syed Jalal uddin Hussaini Bukhari of Uch, became  the guide of ruler Mahmud Begada in his young age and continued his spiritual guidance till his demise in 1475.  His highly respected father was active in the court of  Ahmed Shah I. Because of his scholarship and  erudition in matters related to religion, he was one of the most revered of Muslim religious teachers of Ahmedabad at that point of time.

Shah-e-Alam complex, Ahmedabad, India.facebook.com
In memory of this great teacher Shah-e -Alam  a huge walled enclosure was built with a  group of buildings, a tomb, a mosque, and an assembly hall. It can be accessed through two  well-built   stone gateways. The assembly hall built by Sultan Muzaffar Shah III (1561–1572) was destroyed in 1779 by the British in the siege of  the city during the First Anglo-Maratha War.

Shah-e -Alam's tomb is close to the reservoir in the complex. Commenced after the death of the saint in 1475, the work was completed in 1483 by Taj Khan Nariali, a nobleman of Mahmud Begada's court. Roughly in the center of the east end of roza, the  tomb of Shah-e-Alam in the 17th century received the attention of Asaf Khan, brother of Nur Jahan. Being generous and had great respect for the saint, he  decorated the dome with gold and precious stones.


The tomb itself is enclosed by an inner wall of pierced stone and the outer wall in the north consists of  stone trellis work of various design. The tomb, with a square plan and 12 pillars, has a high dome in the centre of the roof, surrounded by double corridors with 24 small domes on top. On all sides, it has arched  entrance. An interesting feature is on each wall of the structure - mausoleum, there is an entrance in the center and there are three arched windows covered by perforated stone windows. The flooring  of the tomb is inlaid with black and white marble stones adding beauty to the interior. The doors are impressive with fine  open cut brass work, and the frame in which the doors are fixed, has two well-pierced marble stone pillars on either side.

The mosque with minarets at either end on the west side of the tomb was built by Muhammad Salah Badakhshi.  Nizabat Khan started the work and Saif Khan in 1620 finished it. The mosque has a simple appearance and is neither  embellished  nor does it have impressive architectural style.  The mausoleum has  twenty four small domes and, here  Shah-e-Alam's family  members are also buried including Saiyyd Makhdum Alam, the sixth grandson of Shah e Alam. The  reservoir close-by was  built by the wife of Noble man Taj Khan Nariali. The minarets of the mosque that were damaged during the 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake were rebuilt  in 1863.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/women-offer-prayers-at-inner-sanctum-of-shah-e-alam-dargah/articleshow/57781207.cms
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah-e-Alam%27s_Roza