In the 16th century, during the reign of Adilshah, there is a record of two mosques built in Konkan region. One of them is the Hasba Mosque in Chaul and the other is Shahi Mosque on Dabhol port in Dapoli. This mosque is also called the ‘Anda Masjid’ or ‘Masaheb Masjid’. The Shahi Mosque is in a very sorry state and almost in ruins. This mosque is said to be a replica of the Shahi Jama Masjid at Vijapur. The Shahi mosque of Dapoli’s architecture is of Irani style with impeccably symmetry. The mosque’s entrance has stairs sculpted from beautiful jet-black stone.
After entering the mosque, you will find basins and fountains to wash and cleanse self before going in. The main hall of the mosque is adorned with three arches, a hand sculpted slab and four symmetrical minarets in all four corners. The part of the minarets near to the ground has simple yet beautiful handmade carvings. The slab has a circular design at its center at the back of which is a huge dome at a height of 75 inches. It is said that the old days, the dome was covered in gold sheets. It is said that, in 1659, the princess of Vijapur, Princess Aayeshabibi, Dabhol on her way to Mecca, but she couldn’t proceed due to unfavorable weather conditions. She was accompanied by her entourage and 20,000 horsemen. Once it was confirmed that the journey to Mecca won’t continue, the princess was in despair. Seeing her in despair, the Maulana and Kazi who were accompanying her, advised her to spend some wealth in the good name of religion. As per their advice, the princess gave orders to build this mosque. The completion of the construction of the mosque took almost four years. The mosque was built by a sculptor named Kamil khan. Records say that the construction had cost the princess a sum of approx. fifteen lakh rupees. Another folklore says that once there was a Fakir who owned a hen and she laid thousands of eggs. The Fakir then sold all the chicken that came out of those eggs and built a mosque out of that money. Hence, this mosque is also called as ‘Anda Masjid’. Records say that the construction of this mosque started in 1559 and was completed in 1563.
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