The elevated entrance to this imposing, stark mosque.

Though Many historians and websites say that these mosques (or some of them) were built by Khan-i-Jahan Maqbool Tilangani (Malik Maqbool),  The ASI Publication “Delhi and its Neighbourhood” says that “….the Begumpuri-Masjid,(is)….reputed to have been built by Khan-e-Jahan Juna Shah….” Even Sir Syed in his seminal work Asarus Sanadeed attributes the Begumpur Mosque to Khan e Jahan Ferozshahi ( Junior)

The famous mosques made by Telingani are:

• Khirki Mosque.
• Begampur Mosque.
• Masjid Kalu Sarai.
• Kalan Masjid (Hazrat Nizamuddin).
• Masjid Firoz Shah Kotla.
• Masjid Wakya (Lahori gate).
• Kalan Masjid (Turkaman gate).
• There is a dispute whether Telingani was indeed the builder of these mosques but i am going with the public view)

Once inside the visitor is greeted by the sight of a huge courtyard with prayer corridors on three sides.

andheron men khanDar sotaa padaa hai
abaabiilon ke lashkar jaagte hain

The mosque measures 307ft by 295ft  and included within its walls a madrasa and a treasury. 

The central pishtaq is supported by pillons on both sides and houses the central mehrab.
In Islamic architecture, a rectangular frame around an arched opening, usually associated with an iwan, a vaulted space used as an entrance.

The mehrab : the only part of the mosque in some semblqnce of order ans maintenance.

Till 1921 there were villagers living inside along with their cattle. In 1921 the ASI evacuated them but they continued to use it as a dumping ground and as a toilet and the state of disrepair bears testimony to it.

ye aur baat ki ‘aKHtar’ haveliyaa.n na rahiin
khanDar men kam to nahiin apnii aabruu raushan

It has been built in the austere style of rubble masonry. Sir Syed describes it as strong and ugly . No doubt it is sans any embellishment we are used to seeing in medieval buildings but  there is a grandeur in its starkness to me

Some of the walls have fallen to let the sun in

 

har shaKHs yahaan gumbad-e-be-dar kii tarah hai
aavaaz pe aavaaz do suntaa nahiin koii

The mosque contains 64 domes, with one central one with a height of 9ft. 

The domes today afford a place for lOcals to hang out in and at dusk to ‘party’.

khaDaa huun zer-e-falak gumbad-e-sadaa men ‘muniir’
ke jaise haath uThaa ho koii duaa ke liye

On the roof.

A view from the top. The five domes in the rear belong to the ladies mosque

The Begumpur Mosque is known as the first Indian example of the “Brhatmukhi” mosque type: at the center of the 24 arches on its main façade, an extremely large arch stands out, flanked by massive tapering pylon-minarets. 

Resting after the climb up the steep, narrow and dark stairs to the roof

Up close with the main dome

This is the mehrab in the Mullah Khana  : possibly a rare ladies mosque attached to Begumpur. Unfortunately its used as a toilet by the locals. I had to cover my nose to overcome the stench there and having failed to see clearly in the dark stepped on filth and dirtied my shoes.

What was once a mehrab now bears testimony to some Raakhee’s self obsession or her admirer’s stupidity.

The inside of the ladies mosque.

I cannot describe my feelings at seeing such deep dosdain for our architectural heritage and magnificent places of worship.

A mute spectator to what must have once been glory days

According to legend one of Sultan Firoz Shah’s courtiers was a devotee of Shah Turkman Bayabani. This Sufi Saint had his khanqah and then tomb in the wilderness near the River Yamuna which flowed past modern Turkman Gate where the saint is buried. The bayabani sect lives outside city precincts. Of course today it is the heart of the old city!
Anyway to cut a long story short he requested Firoz Shah to extend the boundaries of the new city of Firozabad which he was building all the way to This area to include the saints dargah and thus ensure his blessings for the Empire. As per land records of Firozabad the village near it was bought. This included Bulbulikhana which housed Sultan Raziya’s tomb who was also the saints devotee.
The Kalan Masjid is located in Mohalla Qabristan near Turkman Gate is entered from Turkman gate .

The facade of the projecting entrance is very distinctly Tughlaq style, with it’s characteristic sloping towers and high plinth. Its high stairway resembles the Khidki, Begumpur and Kotla Jami Masjid built by Telingani. Though this is now painted green, the mosques of the Tughlaq era were solid monuments shorn of ornamentation of any kind including calligraphy.

From British Library Shelfmark: Add.Or.4817
Item number: 4817
Lady Hastings is holding a party in the foreground.
“Watercolour of Kalan Masjid from ‘Views by Seeta Ram from Delhi to Tughlikabad Vol. VII’ produced for Lord Moira, afterwards the Marquess of Hastings, by Sita Ram between 1814-15. Marquess of Hastings, the Governor-General of Bengal and the Commander-in-Chief (r.1813-23), was accompanied by artist Sita Ram (flourished c.1810-22) to illustrate his journey from Calcutta to Delhi between 1814-15.
Idealised view of the entrance courtyard and east facade to the Kalan Masjid with its vertiginous flight of steps to the entrance gateway. A group of elephants, soldiers and retainers in the foreground. The Kalan Masjid, located in Delhi, was built in 1387 by the son of Khan-i-Jahan Junan Shah, Prime Minster of Feroz Shah Tughlaq (r.1351-88). The mosque was built in Ferozabad, a section of Delhi, the city built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq but was later included in Shahjahan’s new city Shahjahanabad. Inscribed below: ‘Another view of the same to the West,’ with an illegible pencil inscription along the bottom unused edge of the drawing paper.” (BL site)

This mosque is one of the seven built by Khan e Jahan Telingani and his son Juna Khan in Delhi.
The 7mosques are
1. Khidki ki Masjid
2. Begumpuri Masjid (mosque).
3. A small of mosque in Kalu Sarai
4. A mosque near Hazrat Nizammuddin Aulia Dargah which has a date of 17 years after Delhi’s Kalan Masjid
5. The Jami Masjid in Feroze Shah Kotla
6. A mosque between Lahori & Ajmeri Gates which is mingled with town’s wall
7. Kalan Masjid near Turkman Darwaza in Mohalla Bulbuli Khana.

The word Kalan means big though today it has been corrupted by some to mean Kali or black. It is one of the few functioning medieval mosques in Delhi. The one in Firoz Shah Kotla is also functioning though that is in ruins.
This mosque is under the Delhi Waqf Board who have painted it a bright green and are doing. Good job of maintaining it well
As we enter the steps we see a beautiful hauz /tank for ablutions

The mosque is covered and the aisles are painted white and green and kept scrupulously clean. As in other mosques of Firoz Shah Tughlaq era this too has small domes all along the top.

In case you forget to bring a topi you can get that there too!
There is provision for old fashioned lotas

Or if you are modern for running water

One feature i have noticed in all Delhi dargahs, mosques and monuments is water and feed kept for birds and animals

Till the 50s this area was relatively uncrowded but today it is surrounded by high rise and as you can see from the first photograph taken in 1858 by Major Christpher Tytler and his wife Harriet it has shrunk in size too!

It is a must visit mosque

Add.Or.5475, f.53
Mazhar ‘Ali Khan (fl.1840s), and studio; The Kalan Masjid. From the ‘Metcalfe Album.’
opaque watercolour 1842 British Library

Location: On Kalan Road, near Turkman Gate. Its on the left after Teliyon ka Phatak.