Mosque of Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan

This historic mosque is located in the Chowk Bazar district of Multan near the Haram and Pak gates. It was constructed in 1753 CE by Nawab Ali Muhammad Khan Khaugani (or Khakwani), who served as a Mughal governor from 1751-58 CE and then again from 1761 CE to his execution in 1764 CE. Ali Muhammad Khan`s mosque is a stately and elegant edifice, a product of one of the brief periods of peace that Multan enjoyed ever less frequently in this turbulent era. It comprises a small three-bay mosque set at one end of a vast courtyard with a much larger gatehouse facing it, at an angle, on the opposite side. Both mosque and gate are decorated in typical late Mughal style (an irony, as the Durrani conquerors were usurping Mughal lands), with Shah-Jahani style cusped arches and wall surfaces painted throughout with floral decoration. The entrances to the mosque feature shallow muqarnas vaulting though, curiously, Multan`s distinctive specialty blue glazed tiles are used sparingly, primarily on the spandrels of the cusped arches and the engaged columns that visually separate the three bays.