Shahi Mahal and Mosque

[1] Built on a rectangular plan, the maḥal has four corner towers and a two-storey elevation, with a suite of rooms disposed around two interlinked courtyards, all decorated in the simple and elegant stonecarving style of the 17th century.

[1][2] A Persian inscription carved on a slab measuring 65 by 42 centimetres (26 by 17 in), affixed on the central mihrab of the mosque, records its foundation by Qāḍi Awliyā b. Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ṣamad al-Ḥasanī on 4 Rajab 1026 Hijrī, or 28 June 1617 CE, at the time when Emperor Jahāngīr was on a visit to Mandu.

[2] A second Persian inscription carved on a slab measuring 1.24 metres (4 ft 1 in) by 2.5 centimetres (1 in), in a balcony projecting from the north wall of the mosque records that the mosque was only half complete when both king and qāḍi passed away, and that it was finally completed by Sayyid Ḥāmid and Sayyid Dāʾūd, sons of Qāḍi Awliyā, on 10 Dhū'l-Ḥijja 1041 Hijrī, or 18 June 1632 CE, during the reign of Emperor Shāhjahān.

[3] Both inscriptions show that this mosque served as the main Jama Masjid of Udaypur in the Mughal period and was the seat of the town's state-appointed qāḍi.

The epigraphs are also significant for the political geography of the times, showing that qasba Udaypur was then part of sarkar Chanderi and subah Malwa, on the border of Gondwana.