Miyan Khan Chishti Masjid

Ahmedabad, India

The mosque of Miyan Khan Chishti sits on the left bank of the Sabarmati River in the Shahibag (Shah-i Bagh) neighborhood of Ahmedabad. The mosque honors the memory of Miyan Khan Chishti, a member of the Sufi Chishtiyya order. Sources indicate that construction of the mosque took place in 1465.

The mosque is a rectangular containing a hypostyle prayer hall. Three large domed bays divide the hall into three sections: a central wing and two flanking wings. The eastern facade of the building reflects this internal division, with the central wing rising to a higher level than the two side wings. This central wing opens onto the east through a large archway flanked by two minarets in the form of tapering cylindrical shafts. The side wings open onto the eastern facade through a triple arch with the central arch being slightly larger than the two side arches.

Inside, the three large domes rest on groups of twelve pillars arranged in the form of a square. Smaller domes cover every other bay in the aisles surrounding the large domed bays. Thes smaller bays are formed by the pillars supporting the domes and engaged pillars along the qibla wall and side walls. 

In the mid nineteenth century, the southern half of the qibla wall and the entire south side wall were rebuilt in brick when the mosque fell into the hands of a private owner. Only one of the original mihrabs remained at the time the building was surveyed at the turn of the twentieth century.

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