Muslim Architecture of South India: The Sultanate of Ma'bar and the Traditions of Maritime Settlers on the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa)

351 Pages·2011·34.812 MB·English

by  Mehrdad Shokoohy

MUSLIM ARCHITECTURE OF SOUTH INDIA
This book reinterprets the Muslim architecture and urban planning of South India, looking beyond the
Deccan to the regions of Tamil Nadu and Kerala - the historic coasts of Coromandel and Malabar, for the
first time a detailed survey of the Muslim monuments of the historic ports and towns demonstrates a rich
and diverse architectural tradition entirely independent from the better known architecture of North India
and the Deccan sultanates. The book, extensively illustrated with photographs and architectural drawings,
widens the horizons of our understanding of Muslim India and will no doubt pave new paths for future
studies in the field.
Mehrdad Shokoohy is an architect and specialist in the conservation of urban environments. He is Chair of
Architecture and Urban Studies at the University of Greenwich, and has a particular interest in the architec­
ture and planning of the Middle East, South and Central Asia. His expertise extends to the fields of
literature, history, archaeology, epigraphy and numismatics of these regions. For his contributions to South
Asian studies he has been awarded the Degree of Doctor of Science by Heriot-Watt University and the
Edinburgh College of Art.
ROUTLEDGECURZON STUDIES IN SOUTH ASIA
Editor: Michael Willis
The British Museum
RoutledgeCurzon publishes a monograph series in association with
The Society for South Asian Studies, London.
BOATS OF SOUTH ASIA
Sean McGrail
MUSLIM ARCHITECTURE OF SOUTH INDIA
Mehrdad Shokoohy
MUSLIM ARCHITECTURE OF
SOUTH INDIA
THE SULTANATE OF MA'BAR AND THE TRADITIONS
OF THE MARITIME SETTLERS ON THE MALABAR
AND COROMANDEL COASTS
(TAMIL NADU, KERALA AND GOA)
Mehrdad Shokoohy
RoutledgeCurzon
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
This edition published 2011 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, 0X14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by RoutledgeCurzon
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2003 Mehrdad Shokoohy
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Shokoohy, Mehrdad
Muslim architecture of South India: the sultanate of Ma'bar and the traditions of the maritime settlers on the Malabar
and Coromandel coasts (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa) / Mehrdad Shookohy
p. cm. - (RoutledgeCurzon studies in South Asia)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Architecture-India-Malabar Coast-14th century. 2. Architecture-India-Coromandel Coast-14th century. 3.
Architecture, Islamic-India-Malabar Coast. 4. Architecture, Islamic-India-Coromandel Coast. 5. Muslims-
India, South-History. I. Title. II RoutledgeCurzon-IIAS Asian Studies series
NA1507.M35S55 2003
720'.954'8-dc21 2002037174
ISBN 0-415-30207-2
EDITORIAL NOTE
The system employed in this book for the transliteration of modern Persian and Arabic is as given
below. The system reflects the written form of the words, although the pronunciation of some vowels
and consonants differs in Persian and Arabic.
Vowels Consonants
T a b j r J* f
I a 4r P j z J q
j
1 u o t A z k
J
i o th cT s g
m
1 i c j O0 sh J 1
I £ ch O* s f m
ai c h d 0 n
C51 aiy t kh 1 J w
au s- khw z § h
4- a 3 d t (S y
1 an 3 dh gh »
t
For Sanskrit and Hindi words the method of transliteration used for Moeier Williams’s Sanskrii-English
Dictionary, Oxford, 1893, and Platts’s A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi and English, 1930, has
been followed with slight modifications. Modern spelling is used for towns and other geographical
locations.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE 1
INTRODUCTION 5
Indian Ocean maritime settlements 8
Early sites 11
Bhadresvar 11
Junagadh 18
PART ONE: THE COROMANDEL COAST (TAMIL NADU)
MADURA AND THE SULTANATE OF MA‘BAR 23
Ma‘bar in the Muslim records 23
The Sultanate of Ma‘bar 25
Madura: its origin and urban form 27
Islamic buildings of Madura 32
Monuments in the 4Ala al-din and Shams al-dln complex 34
The Shrine of ‘Ala al-din and Shams al-dln 35
The Mosque of ‘Ala al-dln 42
Chatri of Sayyid Husain Quddus’ullah 46
Octagonal tomb of Bara Mastan Sada Plr 47
Domed pavilion with portico 48
Mosques in Madura town 50
The mosque of QadI Taj al-dln 50
Tiruparangundram 5 7
Shrine of Sikandar Shah 58
KAYALPATNAM, THE RENOWNED MUSLIM PORT OF QA’IL 67
History 68
Town plan 73
Monuments 76
The Jami‘ al-Kablr or Khutba Parriapalli 76
The Jamf al-SaghTr or Khutba Sirupalli 87
Ahmad Nainar Masjid 94
Sirunainarpalji or Qadiriya Masjid 98
Makhdum Masjid 104
Rettaikulampalli 107
Marakkayarpalli and the Dargah of Shaikh Sulaiman 113
Appapalli and the Dargah of Shaikh Sam Shahab al-dln Wali’ullah 117
Later monuments 121
Koshmurai Appa or Koshmeri Shrine 121
Other mosques and shrines 122
Qadiriya Madrasa and Mahlara Mosque 125
Kattupalli or Makhdumpalli 129
AN OVERVIEW OF THE ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE OF MA‘BAR 131
PART TWO: MALABAR (KEEALA AND GOA)
MALABAR 137
Quilon: the Jamf Mosque 138
Cranganur: the Cheraman Jamf Masjid 139
CALICUT 143
Old port 148
The Muslim settlement 151
The Mithqalpalli or Nakhuda Mithqal Masjid 154
Ground level 156
The inscribed minbar 162
Wooden upper tiers 169
The Jamf Masjid 176
Historical inscriptions 176
The mosque 183
The minbar 190
The roof structure 191
The Muchchandipalli 193
Inscriptions 193
The mosque 195
Other mosques and the Dargah of Sayyid ‘Abd’ullah 200
Hadarapalli 200
Tadruspalli 205
Idrlspalli 205
Dargah of Sayyid ‘Abdullah Mastan Vidu 207
COCHIN 211
Town plan 215
The Shlfff Jamf or Chembattapalli 221
The inscriptions 222
The mosque 224
The mihrab 231
The minbar 231
The wooden upper structure 234
Other monuments 238
The shrine of Sayyid Isma‘Il Bukharl and Sayyid Fakhr al-dln Bukharf 238
Dargah of Shaikh Zain al-dln Makhdum al-Ma‘ban 241
Zain al-dln’s family 241
The shrine and other buildings 242
MUSLIM MALABAR: A CROSSROADS WITH SOUTH-EAST ASIA AND BEYOND 247
PONDA, GOA 253
History 253
The Safa Masjid 255
The tank 258
The mosque 261
PART THREE: APPENDICES, LISTS, BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INDEX
I Inscription of Shams al-dln ‘Adil Shah at Madura 269
II Inscribed epitaphs of Kayalpatnam 275
III Inscription of the Shrine of Zain al-dln at Cochin: Quranic texts and translations 291
IV The proportion of population and its relation to the size of jamV mosques 295
V The Jamf mosque of Gulbarga 299
LIST OF FIGURES 305
LIST OF PLATES 310
BIBLIOGRAPHY 321
INDEX 331
ABBREVIATIONS
ARIE: Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy
ASI: Archaeological Survey of India
ASIAR: Archaeological Survey of India Annual Reports
ASWI: Archaeological Survey of Western India
Barbosa: Duarte Barbosa, A description of the coasts of East Africa and Malabar, tr. Henry E. J. Stanley,
Hakluyt Society, London, 1866, reprinted New Delhi-Madras, 1995
Bhadresvar: M. Shokoohy, Bhadresvar: the oldest Islamic monuments in India, Leiden-New York, 1988
Al-Bukharl: Abl ‘Abd’ullah Muhammad Isma‘Il b. Ibrahim b. Bardizbah al-Ju‘fI (maulahum) al-Bukhari, Sahih
al-Bukhari, Cairo, 1386-1397 (1966-1977) (7 volumes)
Burton: Richard F. Burton, Goa and the Blue Mountains or six months of sick leave, London, 1851, reprinted
Berkeley-Los Angeles-Oxford, 1992
Danvers: Frederick Charles Danvers, The Portuguese in India, London, 1894 (2 volumes)
ElAPS: Epigraphia Indica, Arabic and Persian Supplement
Firishta: Muhammad Qasim b. Hindu Shah known as Firishta, Gulshan-i Ibrdhimi known as Tarikh-i
Firishta, Lucknow, 1864 (2 volumes with addenda bound together)
Hornell: James Hornell, The Indian Pearl Fisheries of the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, Madras, 1922
Ibn Battuta: Muhammad b. ‘Abd’ullah called Ibn Battuta, Tuhfat al-nuzzar fi ghard’ib al-amsar wa ‘aja’ib
al-asfar known as Rahla, ed. Talal Harb, Beirut, 1987
Ibn Hanbal: Imam Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal (164-241/780-855), Al-Musnad, ed. Ahmad Muhammad
Shakir, Cairo, 1949-1955 (13 volumes)
JASB: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal
JASP: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan
JRAS: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
Marco Polo: Marco Polo, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels
of the East, ed. and tr. by Henry Yule, 3rd edition, revised by H. Cordier, London, 1903 (2 volumes)
Muslim: Imam Abi’l-Husain Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushairl al-Nlsabarl, Sahih Muslim, ed. Muhammad Fu’ad
Abd’ul-baqI, Beirut, 1978 (5 volumes)
SAS: South Asian Studies
Topographical list: Z. A. Desai, A Topographical list of Arabic, Persian and Urdu inscriptions of South
India, New Delhi, 1989
Yahya’l-dln: Yahya’l-dfn AM Zakarrlya b. Sharaf al-NawwawI al-Shafi‘I, Sharh-i Sahih Muslim, ed. Shaikh
Khalil al-Mais, Beirut, 1987 (19 volumes)
Zain al-dln: Zain al-dln, Tuhfat al-mujahidin fi bald ahwal al-purtakaliyin, Arabic text in David Lopes,
Historia Portugueses no Malabar, Lisboa, 1898; English translation, Tohfut-ul-Mujahideen, an
historical work in the Arabic language, tr. by M. J. Rowlandson, London, 1833
English quotations from the Qur’an are given from Arthur J. Arberry, The Koran interpreted, London
(Unwin) and New York (MacMillan), 1955 (2 volumes)
PREFACE
I met with a merchant who had a hundred and fifty Persia and Arabia and may have known the sharp­
camels of burthen and forty slaves and servants. One eyed, sharp-tongued Shaikh Sa‘dl.
night, in the island of Kish, he took me to his Along with the historical sources, Arabic and
chamber, and did not cease the whole night from
Persian literature provide a wealth of material
talking in a rodomontade fashion, and saying, ‘I have
waiting to be explored to provide us with a deeper
such a correspondent in Turkistan and such an
understanding of the cultural history of Muslim
agency in Hindustan; and this paper is the title-deed
of such a piece of ground, and for such a thing I maritime trade. As far as the physical environment
have such a person as security’. At one time he said, — the architecture and urban planning — of the
‘I intend to go to Alexandria, as the climate is settlements is concerned, literary description alone
agreeable’. At another, ‘No! for the western sea1 is may, however, be of little help, unless we can cor­
boisterous; O Sa‘dl I have one more journey before relate the narrative with existing remains, not a
me: when that is completed I shall retire for the rest
simple task. Three or four centuries have now
of my life and give up trading’. I said, ‘What journey
passed since the decline of Muslim sea trade and, in
is that?’ He replied, ‘I shall take Persian sulphur to
most sites, later local and colonial urban develop­
China, for I have heard that it brings a prodigious
price there; and thence I shall take China-ware to ments have covered or removed the traces of the
Greece,2 and Grecian brocade to India, and Indian earlier settlements. In the Indian subcontinent there
steel to Aleppo, and the glass-ware of Aleppo to the has been no archaeological excavation of such sites,
Yemen, and striped cloth of the Yemen to Persia, while the architectural studies (mainly by the pre­
and after that I shall give up trading and sit at home
sent author) have been confined to papers published
in my shop’.
during the last ten years in the specialist journals.
Sa‘dfs3 satire on the ambitions and mentality of a The time has come to bring together as much as
13th century maritime merchant reminds us not possible of the information on the urban environ­
only of the vanity of worldly pursuits, but of the ment and the architectural monuments of the Mus­
scale of the enterprises of the international entre­ lim trading posts in South Asia and examine the
preneurs trading across the Indian Ocean eight architectural and archaeological evidence closely
centuries ago. This ancient trade route —- which with the aid of the historical accounts, local records
eventually lured the Portuguese and other Euro­ and the surviving inscriptions.
peans to South and South-East Asia — is well known In 1977 two pieces of evidence led to the identi­
and many studies have been made covering its fication of the earliest surviving Islamic monuments
history, the early travel accounts and even the in India, the first being a brief passage in an 1875
methods of navigation and types of vessels used.4 report by James Burgess5 on, amongst many sites, a
There has, however, been little discussion of the 12th century Jain temple in the small village of
culture, customs and habits of the maritime traders Bhadresvar on the coast of Kachh in Gujarat. In
themselves and the nature of their settlements. The addition to the temple Burgess mentioned two
famous poet’s anecdote, unlike the travellers’ mosques, as well as a shrine which he called Pir Lai
accounts, was not intended as a record of the nature Shobah, and noted:
of the trade and types of merchandise, but gives a
Round the architrave, above the vine-ornamented
wider portrait of the merchants’ way of life, outlook
wall-head course, is a deep line of Arabic inscription
and prospects. Many of the international traders
in square Kufic characters. There are two lines of
circulated among the intellectual elite of the lands of
this on the right-end wall. The mehrab is a small
1 Darya-yi Maghrib (Sea of Maghrib): the Mediterranean. Kama Shastra Society, 1888, revised ed. by W. G. Archer, London,
2 Rum: Anatolia and the Byzantine territory. 1964, 160-1.
3 Text given with minor amendments from: Shekh Muslihu’din Sa‘dl 4 For example see G. R. Tibbetts, Arab navigation in the Indian
of Shiraz, The Gulistan or Rose-garden, tr. Edward B. Eastwick, Ocean before the coming of the Portuguese, London, 1971, reprinted
Hartford, 1852, 171-2; for the original Persian text (composed in London, 1981.
656/1258-9) see Shaikh Muslih al-dln Sa‘dl, Gulistan, in Kulliyat-i 5 James Burgess, Memorandum on the remains at Gumli, Gop, and
Sa'di, ed. Muhammad ‘Ali Furughi, 4th edition, Tehran, 1363 (1984), in Kachh, ASWI, Memoirs, III, 1875, 11-19; James Burgess, Report on
109; for other translations see those of Francis Gladwin, London the antiquities of Kathiawad and Kachh, 1874-5, ASWI, II, 1876, 18­
1822, 143-4; John T. Platts, London, 1873, 157-8; Edward Rehatsek, 19.
1