This is the Seventh in the series on South Indian Mosques/ Dargah’s. This series will highlight the oldest, most popular worshipping places of Islam in this part of the country.
The city of Hyderabad has always been the centre for culmination of different cultures and communities. It has been the same for over four and half centuries and continues to be so. It is not just home for Muslims and Hindus, people of different cultures from Central Asia, Iran, Arabia, and North Africa, have adopted this city as their own.
The culmination of cultures has extended to all facets including food, architecture, living customs, language, etc. However, there are great treasures waiting to be unearthed in many corners of the city.
You all might have heard about Golkonda Fort, Mecca Masjid, Charminar, etc, but here is little known, but most enthralling place of worship, the Spanish Mosque.
Located in the heart of the city, near to old airport in Begumpet Secunderabad, you find the minarets of the Spanish Mosque, a rare example of Moorish architecture in the city. Moorish architecture is a kind of Islamic architecture that originated in the Iberian Peninsula, of which Spain is a part. With heavy Roman influences, the style is characterized by horseshoe arches, intricate calligraphy and mosaic work.
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History
This is an iconic over 110-years-old Spanish mosque or Jama Masjid Aiwan-e-Begumpet, inside the Paigah Palace. This is considered to be one of the most beautiful and unusual mosques in India, and it is located in the dewdi of Iqbal-ud-Dowla Sir Vicar-ul Umra.
Popularly known as the ‘Spanish Mosque,’ the building is believed to have been constructed under the orders of Vikar-ul-Umra, Iqbal ud Dowla in 1906. Under the rule of Nizam Mir Mahbub Ali Khan Bahadur, who ruled from 1869-1911, the Executive Council of five ministers – among whom were Salar Jung, Shams-ul-Umra (1846-1849), Asman Jah, Khurshed Jah, and Vikar-ul-Umra Iqbal ud Dowla (1894-1900) – formed the forefront of administration. These ministers formed the next tier in the hierarchy as Paigah nobles, linked to the Nizam’s family through marriage and recipients of titles such as Shams-ul-Umra and Vikar-ul-Umra. Since these titles were hereditary in nature, they repeat over two centuries, sometimes making the individuals’ specific names difficult to place.
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Architecture
Inspired by the architecture of palaces and monuments in Europe, he decided to build something on similar lines. The result was the Falaknuma Palace and the Spanish mosque which shows Spanish-Moorish influence.
The main prayer room is flanked by two side rooms that are connected through French windows. This mosque can host around 2000 people. There is, surprisingly, no area for ablutions; it is, instead, replaced by a brick drinking water stall.
Legend ties this mosque to the ‘Moorish’ style, derived from the Iberian peninsula, based on the examples of hybrid architecture that dot historical Spain: Roman engineering, basilical halls, and aspects of ‘Islamic’ architecture such as minarets, qibla walls, mihrab, and maqsuras.
It is also believed that this mosque was part of the grand estate of the Paigah noble, which included seven palaces spread over 1600 acres: the Paigah Palace, Aiwan-e-Vicar, which consists of the Mardana Palace (presently the US Consulate!) and the Zenana Palace (which are now converted into malls, function halls, clubs and tourist sites), and the more popular Falaknuma Palace, some distance away.
Despite stories of the Spanish Mosque being based on the Great Mosque at Cordoba, even a cursory look at the two structures does not suggest imitation. The present proprietor, Faiz Khan – who is also a descendant of the family – links the different elements of this mosque to Seljuk, northwest African Islamic apart from Hispanic- Islamic architecture borrowing also from Anatolia and Turkey.
The inner sanctuary is entered through French windows topped by oval pointed arches, framed by five bays, in the style of the Cordoba mosque. It won the INTACH Heritage Award for Unusual Architectural Style.
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