Posted on: 3 August 2011

Mosque, Monghyr (Bihar). View from the river with country boats and budgerow in foreground - 1814

Watercolour of a view from the river of the mosque in Monghyr by Robert Smith (1787-1873) betwen 1814 and 1815. Inscribed on the mount in pencil is: 'Mosque at Monghar.' On the reverse (not by Smith) is: 'Gentoo temple at Monghyr.'

Monghyr is situated on the south bank of the Ganges River in Bihar. From the rule of Akbar in the late 16th century, Monghyr was controlled by the Mughal Emperors. However, Monghyr was also occupied by Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, during his conflict with the English in the second half of the 18th century. The small sailing ship on the right of the watercolour is a 'budgerow'. These vessels had a long cabin running the length of the boat from the foremast to the stern, which could be divided into separate sections with the aid of partitions. The mosque in this view is made up of a large domed structure surrounded by a high outer wall with domed corner towers.

Source : British Library


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Must Say Subbiah Sir, it's Always a Real Pleasure going through Ur Updates in Rare Book Society of India Page. U Really make the wait 4 Ur Updates Most Rewarding & Satisfying Sir. Hats Off To U :) >:D<

Very interesting picture! I am interested in the ground plan which to me seems to be linked to the Tantric mandalas. The 'guardians of the four corners' theme may be as old as the Indus-Saraswati era as some seals have mandala-like motifs.

I like the architectural symmetry of this beautiful mosque, and it seems to be Persian in design. Who built it? The most interesting site in Monghyr is supposed to be the ditch constructed by Shah Shuja in panic to stop the advancing army of Aurangzeb.

Thanx Philippa Ji & Sumita Ji :)

Tantrism was a world-wide phenomenon. The ground plan of of a Bronze age palace at Dashly-3 in Afghanistan (~2000 B.C.) has been seen by experts as a prototype of the later Tantric mandala. Dr. Pran Nath, who had a D. Litt. from London University, wrote about Tantric influence in ancient Egypt. In my book have written about Tantric words such as 'Ekassura', 'Antessura' etc. from Mesopotamia in the late third millennium B.C. Some finds from Tell Asmar in Mesopotamia remind me of the four-fold Kaya-Sadhana. But I may be wrong. I have even fancied that this may be the crux of the Swastika symbol which is also found in the Indus-Saraswati area. Prof. T. McEvilley has very similar ideas in his book "The Shape of Ancient Thought".

wonderful, the two smaller ones are typical fishing boats of ganga infact we still see some of them in bengal with their spritsail, low forward to run against current and high stern for a clear lookout..... it is also evident from the fishing net at the foreground....the bigger boats generally have square sails with unique paddle oar which is alternately used as a rudder......I wish we can rejuvinate the inland waterways and give these beauties a new lease of life.

So much of Indian history over the past three centures is centred around the Ganga and the boats in it.