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{{Short description|Mosque in Bidar, Karnataka, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Solah Khamba Mosque
| native_name =
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| image = Solah Khamba.jpg
| image_upright = 1.4
| alt =
| caption = A wide-angle view of the [[façade]], showing 15 of the 16 arches, in 2015
| religious_affiliation = [[Islam]]
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| organisational_status = [[Mosque]]
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| functional_status = Active
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| location = [[Bidar Fort]], [[Bidar]], [[Karnataka]]
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| country = [[India]]
| map_type = India Karnataka
| map_size = 250
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| map_relief = 1
| map_caption = Location of the mosque in [[Karnataka]]
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| coordinates = {{coord|17.9208|77.5281|region:IN-KA_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}}
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| architecture_type = {{nowrap|[[Mosque architecture]]}}
| architecture_style = {{ubl|[[Indo-Islamic architecture|Indo-Islamic]]|[[Architecture of the Deccan sultanates|Deccan]]}}
| founded_by = [[Bahmani Kingdom|Bahmani Sultanate]]
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| year_completed = {{AH|827|link=yes}}
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| dome_quantity = 41 {{small|(estimate)}}
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}}
The '''Solah Khamba Mosque''' is a [[mosque]] within the [[Bidar Fort]] in [[Bidar]], in the state of [[Karnataka]], India.

==Background==
The original name of the building is not known. It has been described as the ''Zanani Masjid'' (mosque of the [[zenana]]) owing to its presence in the women's enclosure. The name ''Solah Khamba'' ''(sixteen pillars'') refers to the presence of sixteen columns in the middle of the hall.<ref name=Yazdani/>

The building has been traditionally considered to be the [[congregational mosque]] of Bidar. However, Helen Philon argues that the building was intended to be a royal ceremonial hall, rather than a congregational mosque. She claims that the mosque is located well within Bidar Fort, and would not have been accessible to the general public.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Philon |first=Helen |title=Sultans of the South : arts of India's Deccan Courts, 1323-1687 |chapter=The Solah Khamba Mosque at Bidar as the Ceremonial Hall of the Bahmanis}}</ref>

== Architecture ==
An inscription, written in [[Arabic language|Arabic]], found during the clearing of debris from a decayed part of the building reads, when translated into [[English language|English]]:
{{Quote|text=During the time of the viceregent of God; Prince Muhammad, who has no equal; 'In {{AH|827|link=yes}} Qubli Sultani was the auspicious founder of this mosque.’}}

The eastern [[façade]] is {{convert|310|ft|m|order=flip}} wide. An arcade of nineteen{{clarify|date=January 2025|reason=Is it 19 or 16?}} uniform arches forms the façade of the mosque. The span of each of the arches is approximately {{convert|11|ft|4|in|m|order=flip}}, and their height approximately {{convert|20|ft|m|order=flip}}. A [[parapet]] wall rises above the mosque, considered to be a later addition. The mosque is well known for the symmetry of its arches, its [[clerestory]] windows with perforated geometrical screens, completed in the [[Architecture of the Deccan sultanates|Deccan]] style.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dsource.in/resource/bidar-fort-karnataka/solah-khamba-mosque#:~:text=Marking%20the%20second%20phase%20of,his%20father%20Shah%20Jahan%20suddenly. |title= Bidar Fort - Karnataka / Solah Khamba Mosque |work=D'source India |date= |access-date=12 January 2025 }}</ref>

The mosque is surmounted with a massive dome. The dome rests on a circular drum, with [[trefoil]] [[crenellation]]s in relief. The prayer hall measures {{convert|294|ft|9|in|m|order=flip}} long, and {{convert|80|ft|m|order=flip}} wide. It is divided into ninety-five bays by means of nineteen aisles, each five bays deep. Royal palaces that were constructed towards the east of the mosque blocks light from entering. As a result, five of the smaller domes have openings at their apexes.<ref name=Yazdani>{{Cite book |last=Yazdani |first=Ghulam |author-link=Ghulam Yazdani |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.279710/page/n69/mode/2up |title=Bidar Its History And Monuments |date=1947 |pages=54–56 }}</ref>

Recessed into the western wall is the pentagonal [[mihrab]], entered through a cusped arch.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Bidar - Fort (4278998017).jpg|The smaller domes on the roof are hidden from view by the [[parapet]] wall
File:Sola Kaman.jpg|Inside the arches
File:Plan of the prayer hall of the Solah Khamb Mosque.png|Plan of the prayer hall
File:Inside view of the mosque.jpg|The western wall; the central niche is the [[mihrab]]
File:Solah Khamba Mosque of Bidar fort.jpg
File:Front View- Solah Khamba Mosque.jpg
File:Hypostyle Wall in Solah Khamba Mosque, Bidar fort, Bidar.JPG
File:Bidar Fort, by KalyanD.jpg
File:The Great Mosque or Sola Khamb Masjid at Bedar.jpg
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{stack|{{portal|India|Islam}}}}
* [[Islam in India]]
* [[List of mosques in India]]

==References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons cat-inline|Solah Khamba Masjid}}

{{Mosques in India}}

[[Category:15th-century mosques in India]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1424]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Bidar district]]
[[Category:Mosque buildings with domes in India]]
[[Category:Mosques completed in the 1420s]]
[[Category:Mosques in Karnataka]]

Solah Khamba Mosque - Revision history

Xtromirit: added new stub