Mahabat Khan Masjid is the only structure that stands today in the old city of Peshawar, reminds the glory of Mughal Empire.
The mosque was built in 1630 under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and renovated in 1898. The mosque was named after the Mughal governor of Peshawar, Nawab Mahabat Khan Bin Ali Mardan Khan.
The mosque is 30,155square feet in size. Its open courtyard has a centrally located ablution pool and a single row of rooms lining the exterior walls. The prayer occupies the west side. Five arched portals offer entry into the main prayer hall. The central arch is the tallest and features cusped arches typical of the Mughal style. The central arch is flanked by two slighty shorter un-cusped arches, that are designed in Persian and Central Asian style.
The three central arch portals are embellished with ‘muqarnas’ above the row of seven mini-arched portals while the outermost arches are instead decorated with ‘ghalib kari’ or a network of ribs made of stucco and plaster that are applied to curved surfaces in the archways for decorative purposes.
Both the interior and exterior feature panels embellished with floral motifs and Quranic calligraphy.
The interior of the prayer hall is sheltered beneath the three low fluted domes and is eloquently painted with floral and geometric designs.
The two tall minarets of the Mahabat Khan Mosque were frequently used in Sikh times (especially that of Ranjit Singh) for hanging prisoners. Five people per day were hanged fron the minarets to corresponding the Sunni Islamic practice of praying five times per day, as a substitute for the gallows. Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, refugee tribal elders would congregate in the mosque in order to forge unity amongst Afghans against the Soviet.
