Sawi Masjid

Name of Monument: Sawi Masjid

Location: Multan

Date of Construction: 1006 AH

Material and Method of Construction: Brick construction, Finished with fairface brickwork and Glazed tiles.

The so-called Sawi Masjid is situated on a raised platform in an old quarter of the city popularly known as Mohalla Tolay Khan.The platform is 8 feet 6 inches high from the street level. The mosque consists of entrance vestibule and a rectangular quadrangle or court. The mosque is enclosed by a high wall and strengthened by two towering bastions at northeastern and northwestern corners. The enclosed quadrangle is rectangular in plan and possesses four graves, three of which have elaborate cenotaphs and headstones. The internal walls on the either side of the vestibule have embellished with a series of panels and freezes filled with glazed bricks having Qur’anic verses in bold and exquisite thuluth and Naksh characters within flat border. The recessed panels are best specimen of calligraphy having Quranic verses and the name of the scribe and date of execution.

The quadrangle is square in plan and enclosed with high wall. The western wall is most elaborate and contain a mihrab in the form of deep recessed arch. The western wall and mihrab is decorated with recessed arched panels, freezes and frames in faience having epigraphical, floral and geometric ornamentation. The wall is crowned by blind mudakhil pattern in high relief. The inscription on various panels and graves form the salient feature of the mosque. One of inscription s on the gravestone reads as follows:

Alfaqir (rahmat ul Allah) ibn Nadir ul Asr ibn ustad Muhammad ibn syed Ismail alhasni albakri ibn e Ustad Jiwan Multani Naqash 1006 AH.

According to the popular tradition Ustad Jiwan Multani was the Architect of the tomb of Hazrat Baha ud Din Zakariya Multani but this there is no evidence of this in the written sources.