Qadam Sharif Mosque, Delhi

The Qadam Sharif shrine lies between Paharganj and the Qutb road in Delhi, in the locality known as Nabi Karim. ^{1 2} Its large square tomb is believed to have been built by Firuz Shah Tughluq for himself, and used instead for his son Prince Fath Khan, who died before him. ² Tradition says that his spiritual guide Makhdum Jahaniyan Jahangasht brought from Mecca at his order a stone bearing the Prophet ﷺ's footprint (qadam), which was placed at Fath Khan's grave; the sultan then built a mosque and a school and enclosed the tomb within high battlemented walls. ² The author dates the tomb, mosque, madrasa and tank to 1374. ¹

The mosque is in the Firuzian style, counted among Khan-i Jahan's mosques, and stands some fifteen yards from the shrine inside the enclosure. ² It is strongly built of rubble and mortar, three bays wide on the façade and two bays deep, the compartments covered by vaults. ² North of the central mihrab is a pulpit, and next to it a small space about a yard square fenced by a wall four feet high; on the centre of the roof stands a red-stone chhatri from which the call to prayer was given. ²

The mosque is now in ruins; the author photographed its gateway, which has no arch but two pillars carrying a straight stone beam, and the good stone of its fabric lying scattered about. ^{3 4}