Alois Anton Führer on Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh
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“The oldest building in Jaunpur is the masjid of Ibrahim Naih Barhak in the fort ; it is a long narrow building of the early Bengali type, that is, a simple arcade supported on carved Hindu pillars, with three low domes in the middle.”
“The Atala Masjid was the work of Ibrahim Shiih during the early part of his reign. It was built on the site of the Hindu temple of Atala Devi, which is said to have been erected by Jayachchhandra Deva (1175 — 1193), the last Rathor prince of Kanauj. Of all the masjids remaining at Jaunpur, the Atala Masjid is the most ornate and the most beautiful. .... As is proved by nine inscnptions found in the Atala Masjid, Piruz Shah commenced the appropriation of the Ataladevi temple in A.D. 1376 and Ibrahim Shah finished the Atala Masjid in A.D. 1408.”
“The Jami Masjid is the largest masjid at Jaunpur ; its erection was ordered for the convenience of Hazrat Khwaja Is, who used to suffer much during his walk to the Khlis Mukhlis Masjid. The foundation was laid in A.H. 8i2, or A.D. 14-38 ; it is said that the date of the completion of the masjid was found in the words Masjid Jami us sliarq which were engraved on the front of the eastern gate. This would fix the date in A.H. 852 during the reign of Mahmud Shah Sharqi, According to some people, the inscription on the eastern gate was At Masjid Jami us sa’g', which would make the date A.H. 883, during the reign of Husain Shah. The plan of the Jami Masjid is essentially the same as that of the Atala Masjid; but there are many differences, of which the most remarked is the high platform on which it stands, all the other masjids being raised but little above the ground level. Another difference is the piling up the cloisters to the height of three storeys on each side of the gateway. The shafts of the pillars are all square and plain, and on many of them there are socket holes for iron cramps which tell their own tale of ha^dng been brought from some earlier Hindu temple. The masjid proper is 235 feet long by 59 feet broad.”