SAMBHAL: Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Tuesday restored the “historic name” of the 16th-century Mughal-era Shahi jama masjid in Sambhal to ‘Juma masjid‘ and prepared a new blue signboard to replace the green one that stood outside the mosque for several decades. ASI officials said a sign would soon be installed to mark the site as a protected monument after a recent legal dispute and communal unrest.
A senior administrative official said, “The new blue board is not just a formal identification. It will also communicate to the people that this building is an ASI-protected monument. This step clarifies the historical identity and legal status of the site, which is now under ASI’s supervision.”
The monument was earlier marked with a green sign that read ‘Shahi jama masjid’. ASI’s lawyer Vishnu Kumar Sharma said, “The masjid is an ASI-protected structure. A few individuals allegedly removed the original ASI board and replaced it with a different one.” He added that the new sign was created using the name ‘Juma masjid’, which matches ASI’s “historical documentation”.
Advocate Tauseef Ahmad, representing the mosque committee, told TOI, “The meaning of Juma masjid and Jama masjid is the same. The ASI has changed the colour of the board to blue from green, but it doesn’t matter because it will still remain our place of worship.”
The Shahi jama masjid, constructed in 1526 by Mir Hindu Beg, a noble under Mughal emperor Babur, is one of the oldest surviving Mughal-era monuments in India. ASI designated it as a protected site under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904. Historical claims around the mosque’s origin have persisted for decades. An 1879 report by British archaeologist ACL Carlleyle recorded that local Hindus believed the mosque was originally built atop the Shri Harihar Temple or Hari Mandir.
On Nov 19, 2024, a petition was filed in the civil senior division Chandausi court by the Hindu side, asserting that the mosque was originally a temple. The court ordered a survey of the site, which took place in two phases — on Nov 19 and Nov 24. During the second phase of the survey, violence erupted in the area, leading to the deaths of five people, dozens of vehicles being set ablaze, and injuries to several police personnel. More than 80 people, including the mosque committee’s head, Zafar Ali, were arrested. None of the accused have been granted bail yet.
Following Allahabad high court orders, ASI whitewashed the mosque’s outer walls and installed over 400 LED lights in preparation for Ramzan and Eid.
