The Roza of Muhafiz Khan is named after Jamal al-Din Silahdar who became wazir under Sultan Mahmud Shah I Begra and received the title Muhafiz Khan. An inscription dates the building to 1492/897 AH. It is located in the Gheekanta neighborhood on the north side of the old walled city of Ahmedabad.
The mosque is a small rectangular building adjoining an open platform on its east side. The facade (east side) is flanked by two tall and ornately carved minarets, and is a solid wall except for three arched entrances and three balconies above them, as the facade is elevated two stories high. The interior of the mosque is a simple pillared prayer hall, with two rows of four columns dividing the space into five aisles perpendicular to the qibla, each three bays deep. The corner bays are domed, as are the three bays along the center aisle. Five mihrabs aligned with each aisle of the prayer hall mark the qibla on the back wall. The side walls are equipped with a large balcony window and two smaller screened (jali) windows.
The minarets are large and imposing, and intricately decorated. The bases are engaged buttresses with vertical flanges giving them an articulated form. After passing the level of the roof, the shafts taper and are divided into three sections by two elegant balconies. The roofs of the minarets are conical.
On the north side of the platform adjoining the mosque is a tomb in the form of a canopy supported by sixteen pillars, open on all sides.
Sources:
Burgess, James. The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad. Part I - A.D. 1412 to 1520, 78-81. Archaeological Survey of Western India, Vol. 7. London: William Griggs & Sons, 1900.
47 x 24 3/4 ft. (interior area)
