Dhar

Dhar (Hindi: धार) is a city located in the Malwa region of western Madhya Pradesh state in central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Dhar District, and was the capital of the Rajput Dhar State as Dharanagar from 1732 (previously the Raja had his seat at Multhan from 1728).

The oldest of the Mosques in Malwa is the Kamal Maula Masjid which was built in Dhar in AH 803/AD 1400.

The Lãt Masjid built in A.D. 1405, by Dilãwar Khãn, the founder of the Muhammadan kingdom of Mãlvã… is of considerable interest not only on account of the Iron Lãt which lies outside it…

This centre became Muhammadan first by him (and) all the banners of religion were spread… This lion-man came from the centre of religion to this old temple with a large force. He broke the images of the false deities, and turned the idol temple into a mosque. When Rãi Bhoj saw this, through wisdom he embraced Islãm with the family of his brave warriors. This quarter became illuminated by the light of the Muhammadan law, and the customs of the infidels became obsolete and abolished. Now this tomb since those days has become the famous pilgrimage-place of the world. Graves from their oldness became levelled (to the ground), (and) there remained no mound on any grave. There was [no place] also for the retirement, wherein the distressed dervish could take rest… - Inscription over the door at the upper gate of stairs leading to the tomb of Abdullah Shah Changal, in the historic ramparts of Dhar

…The mosque itself appears from local tradition and from the numerous indications and inscriptions found within it to have been built on the site of, and to a large extent out of materials taken from, a Hindu Temple, known to the inhabitants as Rãjã Bhoja’s school.

Quotes

• This centre became Muhammadan first by him [i.e., 'Abdullah Shah Changal], (and) all the banners of religion were spread. (I have heard) that a few persons had arrived before him at this desolate and ruined place. When the muazzin raised the morning cry like the trumpet-call for the intoxicated sufis, the infidels (made an attack from) every wall(?) and each of them rushed with the sword and knife. At last they (the infidels) wounded those men of religion, and after killing them concealed (them) in a well. Now this (burial place and) grave of martyrs remained a trace of those holy and pious people. When the time came that the sun of Reality should shine in this dark and gloomy night, this lion-man ['Abdullah Shah Changal] came from the centre of religion to this old temple with a large force. He broke the images of the false deities, and turned the idol-temple into a mosque. When Rai Bhoj saw this, through wisdom he embraced Islam with the family of all brave warriors. This quarter became illuminated by the light of the Muhammadan law, and the customs of the infidels became obsolete and abolished. Now this tomb since those old days has been the famous pilgrimage-place of a world. Graves from their oldness became leveled (to the ground), (and)there remained no mount on any grave. There was also (no place) for retirement, wherein the distressed darvish could take rest. Thereupon the king of the world gave the order that this top of Tur [Mount Sinai] be builtanew. The king of happy countenance, the Sultan of horizons (i.e., the world), the visitors of whose courts are Khaqan (the emperor of Turkistan) and Faghfur (the emperor of China), 'Alau-d-Din Wad-dunya Abu'l Muzaffar, who is triumphant over his enemies by the grace of God, the Khilji king Mahmud Shah, who is such that by become adorned like paradise, he built afresh this house with its enclosure again became new.
  • 15th-century Persian inscription on the Tomb of Abdullah Shah Changal at Dhar. [1] G. Yazdani, ed. and trans., 'The Inscription of the Changal at Dhar', Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica (1909) and in Richard Eaton: “Temple desecration and Indo-Muslim states”

• This centre became Muhammadan first by him (and) all the banners of religion were spread… This lion-man came from the centre of religion to this old temple with a large force. He broke the images of the false deities, and turned the idol temple into a mosque. When Rãi Bhoj saw this, through wisdom he embraced Islãm with the family of his brave warriors. This quarter became illuminated by the light of the Muhammadan law, and the customs of the infidels became obsolete and abolished. Now this tomb since those days has become the famous pilgrimage-place of the world. Graves from their oldness became levelled (to the ground), (and) there remained no mound on any grave. There was [no place] also for the retirement, wherein the distressed dervish could take rest… The Khaljî king MaHmûd Shãh who is such that by his justice the world has become adorned like paradise; he built afresh this old structure, and this house with its enclosure again became new… From the hijra it was 859 (AD 1455) that its (the building’s) date was written anew…
  • Shykh ‘Abdullãh Shãh Changãl in Dhar: Inscription on mosque in Dhar: Epigraphia Indica-Arabic and Persian Supplement, 1974; Epigraphia Indo - Moslemica; Copper-plate and Stone Inscriptions of South India, quoted from Shourie, A., & Goel, S. R. (1993). Hindu temples: What happened to them. Vol. II.

• An inscription dated 1455, found over the doorway of a tomb-shrine in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh [mentions] the destruction of a Hindu temple by one Abdullah Shah Changal during the reign of Raja Bhoja, a renowned Paramara king who had ruled over the region from 1010 to 1053. ... Goel does, however, consider it more likely that the event took place during the reign of Raja Bhoja II in the late thirteenth century rather than during that of Raja Bhoja I in the eleventh century.
  • Richard Eaton: “Temple desecration and Indo-Muslim states”, Essays on Islam and Indian History, p.96. Quoted from Elst, Koenraad (2002). Ayodhya: The case against the temple.
  • Longer quote: In reality, though, each scrap of evidence in the matter requires scrutiny. Consider an inscription dated 1455, found over the doorway of a tomb-shrine in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, formerly the capital of Malwa. The inscription, a 42-verse Persian ghazal, mentions the destruction of a Hindu temple by one 'Abdullah Shah Changal during the reign of Raja Bhoja, a renowned Paramara king who had ruled over the region from 1010 to 1053. In his book Hindu Temples: What Happened to Them, Sita Ram Goel accepts the inscription's reference to temple destruction more or less at face value, as though it were a contemporary newspaper account reporting an objective fact... Goel does, however, consider it more likely that the event took place during the reign of Raja Bhoja II in the late thirteenth century than during that of Raja Bhoja I in the eleventh century.

• Although Indo-Muslim epigraphs are typically recorded near in time to the events they describe, the present one is hardly contemporary, as it was composed some four hundred years after the events to which it refers. ... Central to the story are themes of conversion, martyrdom, redemption, and the patronage of sacred sites by Indo-Muslim royalty, as well as, of course, the destruction of a temple. Whether or not any temple was actually destroyed four hundred years before this narrative was committed to writing, we cannot know with certainty.
  • Richard Eaton: “Temple desecration and Indo-Muslim states”, Essays on Islam and Indian History

• …The mosque itself appears from local tradition and from the numerous indications and inscriptions found within it to have been built on the site of, and to a large extent out of materials taken from, a Hindu Temple, known to the inhabitants as Rãjã Bhoja’s school. The inference was derived sometime back from the existence of a Sanskrit alphabet and some Sanskrit grammatical forms inscribed in serpentine diagrams on two of the pillar bases in the large prayer chamber and from certain Sanskrit inscriptions on the black stone slabs imbedded in the floor of the prayer chamber, and on the reverse face of the side walls of the mihrãb.
  • Kamal Maula Mosque . Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report 1902-03, Pp. 17-18. Quoted from Shourie, A., & Goel, S. R. (1990). Hindu temples: What happened to them. [2] [Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report 1902-03, https://archive.org/details/annual_reports_of_archaeological_survey_of_india/ASI-Annual-Report-1902-03/page/19/mode/2up]

• The Lãt Masjid built in A.D. 1405, by Dilãwar Khãn, the founder of the Muhammadan kingdom of Mãlvã… is of considerable interest not only on account of the Iron Lãt which lies outside it… but also because it is a good specimen of the use made by the Muhammadan conquerors of the materials of the Hindu temples which they destroyed…
  • Lat Mosque. Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report 1903-04, p. 43. Quoted from Shourie, A., & Goel, S. R. (1990). Hindu temples: What happened to them. [3]

• Tradition attributed the Dhar Iron Pillar to Bhoja, who was well versed in iron metallurgy as is attested by his Yuktikalpataru . The pillar was double the height of the Delhi Iron Pillar and weighed at least one tonne more. It was the tallest and heaviest (7000 kg) pillar in the world.
  • Dhar iron pillar at Lat Mosque in Dhar. Jain, M. (2019). Flight of deities and rebirth of temples: Espisodes from Indian history. 159

• Outside this fort (of Dhar) there is a Jami Masjid and a square pillar lies in front of the Masjid with some portions embedded in the ground. When Bahadur Shah conquered Malwa, he was anxious to take the pillar with him to Gujarat. In the act of digging out, it fell down and was broken into two pieces (one piece 22’ long and the other 13’). I (Jahangir) have seen it lying on the ground carelessly and so ordered the bigger piece to be carried to Agra, which I hope to be used as a lamp-post in the courtyard of my father’s (Akbar’s) tomb
  • Dhar iron pillar at Lat Mosque in Dhar. Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri 1909: 406-408 quoted din Jain, M. (2019). Flight of deities and rebirth of temples: Espisodes from Indian history.160

• ...It is the tallest iron pillar so far anywhere in the world.
  • Dhar iron pillar at Lat Mosque in Dhar. Vincent Smith, quoted in Jain, M. (2019). Flight of deities and rebirth of temples: Espisodes from Indian history.168

• The oldest of the Mosques in Malwa is the Kamal Maula Masjid which was built in Dhar in AH 803/AD 1400. Both this Mosque and the slightly later Jami or Lat Masjid are clearly adaptations of ruined Hindu temple material…
  • Syed Mahmudul Hasan, Mosque Architecture of Pre-Mughal Bengal, Dacca (Bangladesh), 1979. p 43