The Sidi Saiyyed Mosque, known locally as Sidi Saiyyid ki/ni Jali, built in 980AH (1572/1573 CE), is a mosque in Ahmedabad.
As attested by the marble tablet fixed on the wall of the mosque, it was built by Shaikh Sa'id Al-Habshi Sultani. Sidi Sa'id was originally a slave of Rumi Khan, a Turkish general who had come to Gujarat from Yemen, bringing along with him his Habshi slaves. Sidi Sa'id later servedSultan Mahmud III, and upon his death, joined theAbyssinian general Jhujhar Khan. Upon Sidi Sa'id's retirement from military service, Jhujhar Khan granted him ajagir. Sidi Sa'id over his career became a prominent nobleman: he collected a library, owned over a hundred slaves, performed theHajj pilgrimage, and instituted a langar (public kitchen). Previously at the site there was a smaller brick mosque, which was rebuilt by Sidi Sa'id, and he was buried near the mosque when he died in 1576.[2][3] The mosque was built in the last year of the existence ofGujarat Sultanate.[2]
During the British colonial period, it served as an office orkachery for the Mamlatdar of Dascrohi taluka. During its time as an office, doors were installed, themihrabs were converted into presses, and the interior was whitewashed. During an official visit to Ahmadabad,Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, ordered the Mamlatdar's office to vacate the premises, as part of his wider policies of preserving historic monuments.[3]
The mosque is entirelyarcuated and is known for its ten intricately carved stonelatticework windows (jalis) on the side and rear arches. The rear wall is filled with square stone pierced panels in geometrical designs. The two bays flanking the central aisle have reticulated stone slabs carved in designs of intertwined trees and foliage and a palm motif. This intricately carved lattice stone window is the Sidi Saiyyed Jali, the unofficial symbol of city of Ahmedabad and the inspiration for the design of the logo of theIndian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.[4]
The central window arch of the mosque, where one would expect to see another intricate jali, is instead walled with stone.[5] This is possibly because the mosque was not completed according to plan before theMughals invaded Gujarat.[5][3]
^abNawrath, E. A. (1956).Immortal India; 12 colour and 106 photographic reproductions of natural beauty spots, monuments of India's past glory, beautiful temples, magnificent tombs and mosques, scenic grandeur and picturesque cities, ancient and modern.Bombay: Taraporevala's Treasure House of Books.
^abcCommissariat, M. S. (1938).History of Gujarat. Vol. I. Longman, Greens & Co. pp. 337–339,502–505.
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