<p>Sunehri Masjid in Chandni Chowk is the mosque from where Nadir Shah had witnessed qatle-aam<br /><br /></p>.<p>The date March 22nd 1739 has a special significance in Delhi’s history. It was on this day, exactly 273 years ago, that Nadir Shah ordered a qatle-aam of the Capital’s citizens. More than 20,000 men, women and children were killed in cold blood in a matter of six hours. Nadir Shah ordered his soldiers to commence mass murder and himself inspected the execution from Sunehri Masjid in Chandni Chowk.<br /><br />Today, more than two centuries after Delhi witnessed this horror, Sunehri Masjid, stands unaffected by its bloodied past. Overshadowed by the majestic Sis Ganj Gurdwara on the left and a row of various shops on the right, its copper gilded domes from which it takes its name, are now faded and eclipsed by the ugly constructions surrounding it.<br /><br />The mosque itself is situated on the first floor of an unreliable two-storey structure, the ground floor of which is occupied by shops. A narrow staircase, which wouldn’t allow more than two people to climb at a time, leads you to Sunehri Masjid’s modest courtyard. Once here, the first thing one notices is the spacious balcony with an ornate grill. It overlooks the whole of Chandni Chowk and its spine-chilling to think that Nadir Shah stood here inspecting the killings.<br /><br />The Imam here Maulana Mohammad Furqan Qasmi here is glad to brief you of this mosque’s past. “This masjid and its adjoining madarsa were built by nobleman Raushan-ud-Daula during the reign of Mughal king Muhammad Shah in 1721. At the time, it stood next to the Shahi Kotwali (police station) and was surrounded by a thick jungle. On its front side, where we have Chandni Chowk today, flowed a big neher. The emperor’s wives and daughters would come down to Chandni Chowk from Lal Qila by boat and shop at the shops adjoining the canal. At the time, the Masjid’s height stood at 25 feet. That is why when Nadir Shah’s general was looking for a spot for the emperor to inspect the massacre he chose the Sunehri Masjid.”<br /><br />At that time, of course, there were none of these crowded buildings, aabadi or traffic, Maulana Qasmi adds. One imagines that Nadir Shah must have got a good view of the thousands of corpses and bloodied streets which littered Delhi after the inhumane killings. Today, traders, porters, tourists and residents pass by this nondescript mosque oblivious of its frightful beginnings. Keertans play at the neighbouring Sis Ganj gurdwara even as Azaan is offered at Masjid.</p>
<p>Sunehri Masjid in Chandni Chowk is the mosque from where Nadir Shah had witnessed qatle-aam<br /><br /></p>.<p>The date March 22nd 1739 has a special significance in Delhi’s history. It was on this day, exactly 273 years ago, that Nadir Shah ordered a qatle-aam of the Capital’s citizens. More than 20,000 men, women and children were killed in cold blood in a matter of six hours. Nadir Shah ordered his soldiers to commence mass murder and himself inspected the execution from Sunehri Masjid in Chandni Chowk.<br /><br />Today, more than two centuries after Delhi witnessed this horror, Sunehri Masjid, stands unaffected by its bloodied past. Overshadowed by the majestic Sis Ganj Gurdwara on the left and a row of various shops on the right, its copper gilded domes from which it takes its name, are now faded and eclipsed by the ugly constructions surrounding it.<br /><br />The mosque itself is situated on the first floor of an unreliable two-storey structure, the ground floor of which is occupied by shops. A narrow staircase, which wouldn’t allow more than two people to climb at a time, leads you to Sunehri Masjid’s modest courtyard. Once here, the first thing one notices is the spacious balcony with an ornate grill. It overlooks the whole of Chandni Chowk and its spine-chilling to think that Nadir Shah stood here inspecting the killings.<br /><br />The Imam here Maulana Mohammad Furqan Qasmi here is glad to brief you of this mosque’s past. “This masjid and its adjoining madarsa were built by nobleman Raushan-ud-Daula during the reign of Mughal king Muhammad Shah in 1721. At the time, it stood next to the Shahi Kotwali (police station) and was surrounded by a thick jungle. On its front side, where we have Chandni Chowk today, flowed a big neher. The emperor’s wives and daughters would come down to Chandni Chowk from Lal Qila by boat and shop at the shops adjoining the canal. At the time, the Masjid’s height stood at 25 feet. That is why when Nadir Shah’s general was looking for a spot for the emperor to inspect the massacre he chose the Sunehri Masjid.”<br /><br />At that time, of course, there were none of these crowded buildings, aabadi or traffic, Maulana Qasmi adds. One imagines that Nadir Shah must have got a good view of the thousands of corpses and bloodied streets which littered Delhi after the inhumane killings. Today, traders, porters, tourists and residents pass by this nondescript mosque oblivious of its frightful beginnings. Keertans play at the neighbouring Sis Ganj gurdwara even as Azaan is offered at Masjid.</p>
