In 1359, Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq stopped at a place called Zafarabad on the river Ganga on his way to campaign against the Ilyas Shahi rulers of Lakhnauti in Bengal. Zafarabad was a strategic point on the road to Bengal and the Delhi Sultans had long been fighting with the rulers of Lakhnauti. This probably prompted the Sultan, a prolific builder, to think of building a new city near Zafarabad. The city was built on the river Gomti and was named Jaunpur after the Sultan’s cousin and predecessor, Jauna Khan, who had ruled as Sultan Mohammad bin Tughlaq.

I went exploring there a couple of years ago.

Ramzan #masjid #jaunpur

Pasande

( family recipe from Jaunpur /Banares the region to which my mother belonged)
Ingredients
Mutton cut into parcha cut 3/4 Kg
green papaya 125 g ( ground)
Red chilli to taste
Cummin seeds 1 1/2 tsp ( ground)
coriander powder 1 1/2 tsp
ginger half inch piece (ground)
onion one large ground into paste
posta ( khus khus) 1 1/2 tsp- ground

Add to the meat and marinate for 2 hours

Then heat mustard oil in kadhai or if you want a short cut pressure cooker, but kadhai cooking is tastier.
Let the mustard oil cook so smell goes.
Sim the fire and add 1 onion sliced finely.
Fry golden brown.
Add the marinated mix
And
Laung -5
Bari elaichi ( only seeds) -2
Peppercorns 1 1/2 tsp
( all spices to be ground)
Besan 1tbsp – dry roasted on griddle/ Browned ( this is to add saundhapan : you can avoid if you want)

Cook on slow fire till meat is tender. The parcha or cuts will break and become crumbly

In case you use pressure cooker then give it one whistle or 5 minutes then cook in a kadhai

It has side galleries running around a courtyard of 177 feet diameter.

These galleries are 5 aisle deep and two storey high. I had fun exploring it, trying to imagine what was.

There are entrances on each side with the north and south having domes.

The western side hsa the main prayer hall with the Mehrab and mimbar while the eastern side has a huge ornamental doorway through which I had entered. The north & south also have entrances.

As is the characteristic of Sharqi architecture sloping pylons is the main feature of the main prayer hall.

The pylon is 75 feet high and 55 feet wide at the base.

As I was to find in this common theme in my explorations in Jaunpur, within the pylon is the great recessed Arch, through which we enter the main prayer hall. It is 11 feet deep and has arcade window openings for illumination.

This hall is three storeyed with beautiful recessed arches.

The ground level us the mimbar surrounded by arches, the second level is 8 sided with arches out of which four form the squinch arches bridging across the angles, thus changing it into an octagon.

It is through screened openings within these arches that light is admitted to its upper part.

The upper level is 16 sided with brackets each containing an arch and forming the drum of the dome.

The dome which is 57 feet high inside, is made up of circular layer of brick courses and covered by cement outside to give the circular shape.

He was with Syed Faisal Ali Nizami and both were United by the huge turquoise rings they were wearing.

Gifted to Maharaj by an Iranian disciple some 20 years ago.

Syed Nizami gifted one to me too.

I’m blessed to have met them