Qutb al-Din Shah's Mosque is located near the north end of the old walled city of Ahmedabad on the road to the Delhi Gate. It is named for its patron, Qutb al-Din Ahmad Shah II, who reigned from 1451-1458/855-862 AH. An inscription plaque above the mihrab dates the building to 1449/853 AH.
The mosque is a long, rectangular structure with five large arched entrances on its east side. Flanking the central archway, which is taller than the other four, are two monumental minarets. The minarets take the form of engaged pillars and are lost above the level of the roof.
The interior of the mosque is a large prayer hall. Five large domes placed in line with the arched entries divide the space. These domes are supported by sixty pillars: five sets of twelve arranged in a square under the dome. The domed bays formed by the pillars are separated from the front, back, and side walls by a single aisle, and from one another by a single aisle. Ten smaller domes cover bays in these aisles, five on the aisle between the front wall and the domed bays, aligned with the domes and entrances, and five along the qibla wall aligned with the domes and entrances as well. Mihrabs mark the qibla under these five domed bays of the qibla wall. Extra light enters the mosque through windows on all four walls.
Sources:
Burgess, James. The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad. Part I - A.D. 1412 to 1520, 44-46. Archaeological Survey of Western India, Vol. 7. London: William Griggs & Sons, 1900.
