Chamkatti Mosque, Gaur

The Chamkatti mosque stands on the west side of the Dinajpur road a little east of the Lukachuri Gate, the eastern entrance of the citadel of Gaur; with the Rajbibi and Lattan mosques it forms a connected group of square domed mosques. ¹ Its name links it with a group of mendicants who tortured themselves and were called Chamkattis, "skin-cutters", and some say Yusuf Shah built it in honour of a famous faqir who performed before him. ^{1 2} The author notes that this sultan, known as just and virtuous, prohibited wine and built three mosques at Gaur: Chamkatti (AH 883), Darasbari (884) and Tantipara (885). ²

It is a cubical building whose inner chamber is 23 feet 8 inches each way, buttressed by octagonal corner towers; its brick walls were faced with stone, and it measures 50 feet 4 inches by 33 feet 8 inches overall. ^{2 3} Brick squinches lead from square to octagon, the octagon carries a sixteen-sided gallery, and the dome rises in three receding stages. ³ To the square plan begun by the Eklakhi tomb it adds an eastern verandah 9 feet 11 inches wide with three arches, tunnel-vaulted at the centre and groin-vaulted at the sides; the chain-and-bell motif dominates the facade, and the cornice is curved as in most Bengali mosques. ³ Its inscription of AH 883 is in the British Museum and was republished by the author in 1966. ^{3 4}