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By Iftikhar Ahmad
MULTAN, Dec 22 (APP): A historical mosque that once served as school for renowned Sufi poet Hazrat Mian Muhammad Bakhsh has been conserved and now stands as grand and beautiful as it was centuries ago at Samwal Sharif village in Mirpur district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
However, the process of conservation raised a question of which era the mosque was first built, said Malik Ghulam Muhammad, a noted conservation expert who retired few years back when he was serving as Incharge archaeology department Multan. Haji Abul Rasheed, a landlord and philanthropist from AJK was irked by the dilapidated condition of the mosque whose main structure was built with stones but minarets had special size bricks.
He expressed willingness to fund its restoration and got a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Archaeology department of AJK. The mosque was restored/conserved to its original shape in June 2024 under a project completed in 18-month period at a cost of Rs 10.45 million under supervision of Malik Ghulam Muhammad, the man credited with restoration/conservation of over 50 monuments during his 37 years long career with Archaeology department Punjab.
This included around 40 monuments conserved in south Punjab alone during his 19-years long stint in Multan as SDO Archaeology. “When I first reached the site as conservation consultant following my retirement, an introductory description on the entrance showed that the mosque was built in 1730 AD which makes it nearly three centuries old. However, the size of the bricks used in minarets tells a different story,” Malik told APP by phone.
“According to the size of bricks used in minarets, this edifice must have been built during Sher Shah Suri period 1486-1540 AD,” Malik added. This makes the mosque around five centuries old, he added. The mosque is built with stones, however, the two missing Minarets were built with special bricks of size 6”x4”x1”, the same size bricks that were used to build shrines including that of Mir Chakar Khan Rind, some Baoli along GT Road and mosques during the reign of Sher Shah Suri. Different size bricks were used during Muslim rule in the subcontinent including Mughal reign (9”x6”x1.5” and 9”x6”x1.25”), Ghiasul Haq Tughlaq reign (10”x7”x2”) and Ghauri reign (13.5”x7”x2”), the consultant said.
According to a brief history the conservation expert made part of his report, Mian Muhmmad Bukhsh was a Sufi and Punjabi/Pahari poet of great repute, especially renowned as the author of a book of poetry called Sayful Malook as well as the romance tragedy ‘Mirza Sahiban’. The poet was born in a village Khari Sharif, situated near Mirpur, and received his early education there. However, later he was sent along with his elder brother, Mian Bahawal, to nearby village of Samwal Sharif to study religious sciences, especially the science of Hadith in this Masjid.
His funeral prayers were also held at the same mosque led by Hafiz Mateeh Ullah, the then
Imam of this historical Masjid. This Mosque is rectangular in plan with three domes atop the structure. The middle one is larger in size and the side domes smaller but of same size.
The damaged Pinnacles on domes were replaced. The edifice had 45 feet high two minarets but both were missing and had to be rebuilt. Missing Minarets were reconstructed in original shape with special bricks of 6”x4”x1” molded and baked in Multan. This followed the application of lime mortar and finishing with glazed plaster. He said that the geometrical designs that decorated the facade were also restored with application of glazed lime plaster. Masjid is decorated with fresco work on its interior and fresco lining in panels on its exterior. Two arches of central bay inside the Masjid appeared to be different compared to rest of arches which had same curvature, the expert said and added that he had to investigate it before restoration to original shape. The roof level of Masjid was raised many times upward leaving parapet wall smaller in height, he said adding the height of parapet wall was brought to normal and lime terracing was provided on original roof level with special type spouts for rain water.