Pandua, Malda

Pandua
পান্ডুয়া
Shown within West Bengal
Alternative name Hazrat Pandua, Firuzabad
Location West Bengal, India
Coordinates 24°52′N 88°08′E / 24.867°N 88.133°E / 24.867; 88.133Coordinates: 24°52′N 88°08′E / 24.867°N 88.133°E / 24.867; 88.133
Type Settlement
History
Founded 14th century
Abandoned 15th century

Pandua is a ruined city in the Malda district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Pandua is now almost synonymously known as Adina, a small town located about 18 km North of English Bazar (or Malda Town).

History

The city was probably founded by Sams-ud-Din Firuz Shah.[1] In 1339, Ala-ud-Din Ali Shah transferred his capital from the nearby (and now ruined) town of Lakhnauti or Gaur (32 km from Pandua) to Pandua.[2] Later, Haji Shamsuddin Iliyas Shah, the first independent Sultan of Bengal, made the city the capital of his (unified) Bengal Sultanate. However, Pandua's glory was short-lived. In 1453, the capital was transferred back to Gaur[3] by Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah, perhaps necessitated by a change in the course of the river on which Pandua stood.[4]

Geography

Pandua is located at 25°08′N 88°10′E / 25.13°N 88.16°E / 25.13; 88.16.[5]

Monuments

The monuments of Pandua were built in the Bengal provincial style of the Indo-Islamic architecture. Pandua's most celebrated monument is the Jami Mosque or the Adina Mosque, which was described by James Fergusson as the finest example of Pathan architecture in existence,[3] though some believe it to be a conversion of a temple. This great mosque (similar in plan to the great mosque at Damascus) was built by Sikandar Shah in 1369.[3] Other important monuments of this city are the Eklakhi mausoleum (the mausoleum of Jala-ud-Din Muhammad Shah) and the Qutb Shahi Mosque (built in the memory of Sufi saint Nur Qutb-ul-Alam). The Eklakhi mausoleum is a single-domed square type of structure, whose fabric is of brick, occasionally interspersed with hornblende slabs collected from older Hindu monuments.[6] Pandua is now (like Gaur) almost entirely given over to the wilderness.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Majumdar, R.C. (ed.)(2006). The Delhi Sultanate, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.193
  2. ↑ Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). History of Medieval India, Part I, New Delhi: S. Chand, ISBN 81-219-0364-5, p.274
  3. 1 2 3 4 Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pandua". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 675.
  4. ↑ Majumdar, R.C. (ed.)(2006). The Delhi Sultanate, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.212
  5. ↑ "Yahoo maps location of Pandua". Yahoo maps. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  6. ↑ Majumdar, R.C. (ed.)(2006). The Delhi Sultanate, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.690


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