Mirzapur Shahi Mosque (মির্জাপুর শাহী মসজিদ)

Mirzapur Shahi Mosque stands in the village of Mirzapur in Atwari Upazila of Panchagarh District, in the far north of Bangladesh. It lies about 17 kilometres south-west of Panchagarh town and is still used for daily prayers by the village.

An uncertain date and a likely Mughal origin

The exact date of construction and the name of its builder are not recorded with certainty. The mosque is treated as a Mughal-era building because of its style. The Daily Star has noted that its design closely resembles the mosque in the High Court premises in Dhaka, which is believed to date from around 1679, and historians therefore place Mirzapur in roughly the same period. Archaeologists quoted by the state news agency BSS date it to around 1656 from Persian inscriptions on its walls, and local tradition names Malik Uddin, founder of the village, as its builder.

Three domes and four minarets

The rectangular prayer hall measures about 40 by 25 feet and is covered by three domes set in a single row. A slender minaret rises at each of the four corners. Local tradition says an earthquake once damaged parts of the building and that craftsmen from Iran were brought in to repair it. In the 1990s the mosque was renovated under government supervision. The building is protected by the Department of Archaeology.