OctoRER, 1873.]

2S1

DABHOL.

and, her father's consent having been obtained for the pilgrimage, she set out from Bijápur with a

Dâbul, and putting all this together it seems scarcely possible that the mosque could have

retinue of 20,000 horse under the command of the

been built at this time.

king's private minister, Bahirá Khákán, a native crossed the Western Ghâts, arrived at Dábhol, which was at that time one of the principal ports

The figures given in the account are also apparently quite mythical. It is scarcely cre dible that the mosque could in those days have

of the Konkan and held by a Subadár of the

cost fifteen lakhs, and it is certain that 20,000

of Mekkah. The princess and her party, having

Bijápur Government named Ibrāhīm Khán, who bore the title of Vezir ul Mulk. The princess in tended to have embarked here on her voyage to Mekkah. While here, however, the news of many piracies committed on the coast reached her, and

cavalry would have eaten up the whole Konkan in a week. I am not aware whether there is a Persian

inscription on the mosque or not.

I think not,

but it is said that the sº nads and other docu

after much consideration it was deemed unsafe for

her to proceed. So the pilgrimage was given up, and it only remained for the princess to determine in what manner she should spend the money she had brought with her for her expedition. The Maulavis and Qázis, who were summoned to advise her, suggested the building of a masjid at Dábhol for the glory of Islám, and to this she consented. The work was then undertaken, and completed in four years. The name of the builder was Kāmel Klán, and the cost of the building was fifteen lakhs. It is currently reported that the dome was richly gilded, and that the crescent was of pure gold. The gold and the gilt have long since disappeared, but much of the beautiful carving and tracery remains.

Eight villages—Bhopan, Širol, Visapur, Bhosté, Shaveli, Mundhar, Bhudavle, and Pangári–were granted in indin for the maintenance of the mas jid. The grants were resumed on the overthrow

of the Bijápur kingdom by Sivaji. The masjid still bears the name of its founder, the Mâ (; āheba, but it is no longer used for worship. Nothing is ever done for its maintenance or repair, and it is ten anted solely by pigeons and bats.” The Musalmáns of Dábhol are too poor to afford the cost of its preservation, and thus what is probably the only fine specimen of Muhammadan architecture in the Konkan will crumble away year by year till nothing

is left but a heap of ruins." The date A.H. 1070 corresponds to A.D. 1659 60.

Mahmūd Adil Shāh had died in 1656,

which would not of course make it impossible that his daughter should in that year have visit ed Dābul and built the mosque. But between

1656 and 1660 Aurangzib and Śivaji were in alliance against the young king of Bijäpur, and it seems scarcely possible that the kingdom could

ments referring to the Musalmān villages on this coast are chiefly among the records of the Habshi at Jinjirá, so it is possible that a search there may settle this question. It is at all events certain that the mosque cannot have been built later than 1660, nor earlier than 1508, as if it had been before that time it would certainly have been destroyed by the zealous Roman Catholics under Almeida.

In the names of two small parganäs in this

neighbourhood, one on each side of the creek, we find further traces of the Musalinán power.

They are called Haveli Ahmadābād and Haveli Jafarābād, and I believe that the term Haveli signifies that they belonged to a city which was the capital of a kingdom or government. It is

probable that the villages forming these par ganäs were attached to Dābul for the mainte nance of the Government establishments, just as in 1756 eleven villages on the Bánkot creek were ceded to our government for the support

of Fort Victoria. No villages or towns called Ahmadābād or Jafarābād exist in this neigh bourhood, that I ever heard of. The traditions of the mosque already mentioned as standing at the top of a high hill in the neighbourhood, and

known by the name of Bālā Pir (from the Ara bic bala, a hill) are vague and rather common place. The mosque is a small one, divided into two compartments, in one of which are the tombs of the Pir, his wife and son. He is said to have been named Abdul Qādr, and to have lived from 250 to 300 years ago. The mosque or tomb has a cash allowance from Government of

the cavalry force for a mere sentimental expe dition and building at Dâbul. Besides this, it

Rs. 25-8 a year, and up to fifteen or twenty years ago it used to receive from every field in the village of Wanosí a pájali of grain. The inhab

was just about this time that Śivaji plundered

itants, however, appear now to have grown too

have at that time afforded either the 15 lakhs or

• The minarets are in a tottering condition, the mortar having

consequence loosened are falling out of their places.

crumbled away, and the stones becoming in

• since

See NoTE on next page.-E.D.