Sacralizing the City: The Begums of Bhopal and their Mosques

Princely building ventures in post 1857 colonial India included, among others,
construction of religious buildings, even as their patrons enthusiastically pursued the
colonial modernist agenda. This paper examines the architectural patronage of the
Bhopal Begums, the women rulers of Bhopal State, who raised three grand mosques
in their capital, Bhopal, in the 19th and early 20th century. As Bhopal marched on the
road to progress under the Begums’ patronage, the mosques heralded the presence
of Islam in the city in the post uprising scenario where both Muslims and mosques
were subjected to retribution for fomenting the 1857 insurrection. Bhopal’s mosques
were not only sacred sites for the devout but also impacted the public realm of the
city. Their construction drew significantly on the Mughal architectural archetype,
thus affording the Begums an opportunity to assert themselves, via their mosques,
as legitimate inheritors of the Mughal legacy, including taking charge of the latter’s
legacy of stewardship of Islam. Today, the Bhopal mosques constitute an integral part
of the city’s built heritage corpus. It is worth underscoring that they are not only
important symbols of the Muslim faith but also markers of their patrons’ endeavour to
position themselves at the forefront in the complex political and cultural scenario of
post uprising colonial India.