Mishkal Mosque

Mishkal Mosque (Malayalam: മിശ്കാൽ പള്ളി, also spelled Mithqal Mosque[1]) is a medieval mosque located in Calicut on Malabar Coast, southern India. The mosque, one of the few surviving medieval mosques in Kerala, is regarded as an important cultural, historical and architectural monument of Kerala.

Mishkāl Mosque
Mishkāl Palli
View of Mishkāl Mosque from one of its entrances
Religion
AffiliationIslam
Branch/traditionIslam (Sunni - Šāfiʿī)
Location
LocationKuttichira, Calicut, present-day India
Location in present-day Kerala
Geographic coordinates11.25°N 75.77°E / 11.25; 75.77
Architecture
TypeMosque
StyleRegional (Kerala)
Date established14th century (present structure)
Specifications
Dome(s)0
Minaret(s)0

The mosque was built by the eponymous Muslim merchant-shipowner (nakhuda) in the 14th century.[2][1] Mishkal - active in Calicut in the 1340s - possessed "great wealth" and a fleet of ships for "the trade with India, China, Yemen, and Persia".[3] Ship-owners known as the nakhudas were among the wealthiest merchants of medieval Indian Ocean world.[3]

Mishkal Mosque is located in Kuttichira neighbourhood, a part of Thekkepuram beach in Calicut.

Another view of the mosque

In 1510, the mosque was partially burned in a Portuguese attack on Calicut. The top floors of the mosque still display some of that damage.[2][4] Mishkal Mosque originally had five stories. It was rebuilt in 1578/79[1] after the 1510 arson and now has four stories.[2] Typical for similar medieval mosques in Kerala, it has no cupolas and minarets and heavily employs timber.

A large tank known as the Kuttichira tank is attached to the mosque. The mosque has 47 doors, 24 carved pillars and a big prayer hall that can accommodate around 400 people. The prayer hall is well ventilated and there is a wooden member with beautiful motifs.

References
  1. Prange, Sebastian. ''Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast". Cambridge University Press, 2018. 78-81. 135-36.
  2. "Mishkal Mosque at Kuttichira". Archived from the original on 26 April 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  3. Prange, Sebastian. ''Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast". Cambridge University Press, 2018. 78- 81.
  4. "Mishkal Mosque". Retrieved 3 November 2009.
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