Tomb and mosque of Khundar Muhammad Yusuf, 1872’s Sonargaon

Tomb and mosque of Khundar Muhammad Yusuf, 1872’s Sonargaon

Tomb and mosque of Khundar Muhammad Yusuf, 1872’s Sonargaon

Photograph of the tomb and mosque of Khundar Muhammad Yusuf, at Sonargaon in Bangladesh, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections, taken by W.Brennand in 1872. The province of Dhaka was brought under Islamic rule in the 13th century, first by the Delhi Sultanate then by the independent sultans of Bengal, after which it was taken by the Mughals in 1608. Sonargaon was the capital of sultans of Bengal from the 13th century until 1608 when Islam Khan, the Mughal Governor, transferred the capital of the whole province to the nearby city of Dhaka, now the capital of Bangladesh. In the 18th century the city of Dhaka was eclipsed by Murshidabad under the Nawabs of Bengal and its population diminished. In 1858 all the territories held by the East India Company (including Dhaka) were brought under British rule. This is a view of a domed mosque and two tombs with curved, Bengali-style eaves, off to the left. The buildings are described in J. Wise, Notes on Sunargaon, Eastern Bengal (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. XLIII, part I, Calcutta, 1874), p. 89: '...This latter is called the dargah of Khundar Muhhamad Yusuf. It contains the tombs of the saint, of his father, and of his wife. It consists of two elongated, dome-roofed buildings, each surmounted by two pinnacles covered with or formed of gold...These tombs are destitute of any ornament inside...Close to the tombs is a modern Masjid with a 'kitabah', or inscription, dated A.H. 1112 (A.D. 1700). It was probably erected by the Pir Muhammad Yusuf...'