Sat Gambuj Mosque

The Sat Gambuj Mosque is located near the north-western outskirts of Dhaka in the Jafarbad area. The mosque illustrates a fine example of the provincial mughal style of architecture introduced in Bangladesh in the 17th Century. The mosque's most notable features are its seven bulbous domes crowning the roof and covering the main prayer hall. Probably erected by Governor Shaista Khan, the monument stands in a romantic setting on a buttressed 15'-0" high bank overlooking an extensive flood plain.HistoryA few kilometers to the north of Peelkhana, for long the end of Mughal Dhaka, was the Jafarbad or Katasur area, originally part of mouza Sarai Begumpur; many of the mouzas or revenue circles were delineated during the reign of Shershah and later by Kartalab Khan. A small urban settlement on record on a route along the river, this was an alternative to reach Brahmaputra or Garh Jaripa without having to go through the hostile areas along the main stream of Sitalakhya and Brahmaputra on the east. This is evident from its geographic and strategic location, origin of the names of the locality and the remnants around it. The place where the seven-domed mosque is was variously known as Sarai Jafarbad or Katasur, under Sarai Begumpur. There was a small agricultural community in between Pilkhana and Jafarbad where the Sat Gambuj Mosque was built. The area in course of time became like a jungle due to disuse, dereliction and desertion mainly during the British period. However, in last 55 years it has become one of the most planned and most expensive residential enclaves of Dhaka. The Sat Masjid Road is the major peripheral road of the district to its west, and believed to have been built roughly along where the old Bank river Turag was.