Archaeological Remains of the Muslim Era (Part 6)
Writing toward the end of the nineteenth century historian A.K. Nairne observed that "the remains of Musalman buildings in the Konkan are few and unimportant. Dabhol was so frequently burnt by the Portuguese, and Chaul so thoroughly destroyed by Shivaji that there is little more than enough to show that they were once great places. At both there are a number of tombs scattered about, but none of great pretension. At Dabhol there is a fine mosque with dome and minarets standing close to the water's edge, and now almost buried in coconut trees. It is of considerable size, and its situation is striking, but is should not be thought very much of in Gujarat or any other district rich in Muslim remains. The site of the Muslim city of Chaul is even more covered by coconut gardens than Dabhol. The most striking ruin is a hammam khana or bath, containing one large central chamber and two smaller ones, all octagonal and each lighted by a circular opening in the cupola which covers it. At Kalyan formerly called Islamabad, there is a large Musalman population and several mosques in use. There is however nothing either old or remarkable except one mosque, which would be very fine if it had a dome in proportion to its other parts. This stands on the edge of a noble pond, round which there are many tombs and other indistinguishable remains, as well as one considerable building said to be the tomb of a governor named Mohrtada Khan, on which is the date H. 1108.
This is probably the person called by the Portuguese Mortada Khan, Nawab of Bhiwandi, who ravaged their territories at various times about 1690. The absence of other buildings is due to the ravages to which this district was subjected in the early days of Shivaji. [ John] Fryer, who traveled in India from 1673 to 1676, speaks of the remains of the Musalman city of Kalyan, then only recently destroyed, as noble and striking, and goes so far as to call them "the most glorious ruins the Mahommedans in the Deccan ever had occasion to deplore." At Kharepatan, there are the foundations of a large Musalman town in a fine situation and a great number of tombs, but no building remains standing. At Rajpuri near Janjira, now a wretched looking village, there are the tombs of four of the [Siddi] Nawabs situated in a pretty glen and close to the creek. There are, of course, tombs and mosques of an ordinary description in many places, but none architecturally remarkable. The tomb of a saint at Bhiwandi, said to have been previously a diwan of Bijapur, and that of a princess at Lanja said to have been the daughter of one of the Bijapur kings, may be mentioned." Speaking of the various forts, Nairne says, " at Vijaydurg, the most massive of the buildings within and in the fort walls are evidently Musalman. At Avchitgad, the crenelated battlements of the outer wall seem to prove the same origin. The island fort of Arnala near the mouth of the Vaitarna appears to be entirely Musalman, with domes, Saracenic arches, octagonal recesses,and other features never seen in Maratha forts, though there are also marks inside of its Hindu occupation. But there is scarcely any mention to be found of any of the Konkan forts in the records of the Musalman time... The picturesque bridge at Nagothna ... is said to have been built about 1582 by... Kazi Alauddin of Chaul and as this date is between the siege of Chaul during the alliance of Musalman kings against the Portuguese and the activity of Nizam Shahi troops at the same place twenty years later, it may without improbability be assumed that the bridge was built to facilitate the march of the troops from Ahmadnagar to Chaul... The chief peculiarity of the bridge is its narrowness, the space between the parapets being only nine feet nine inches.
Villages with Musalman names are often met with, of the origins of which nothing can be heard. Two small districts, close to Dabhol retain the names they received from the Mahommedans, though everywhere else the ancient Hindu names of prants and tarafs have been preserved. These are Haveli Jaafarabad containing thirty seven villages, and Haveli Ahmadabad containing twenty-one, and the probability is that when Dabhol was first taken by the Musalmans these villages were assigned for the support of the governor and his establishment."
