The Mishkal Mosque is a historic mosque that is located in Calicut, India’s Malabar Coast. One of Kerala’s few remaining medieval mosques, the mosque is regarded as a significant cultural, historical, and architectural landmark.
The mosque was constructed in the fourteenth century by the Muslim merchant-shipowner (nakhuda) who bore his name. With “great wealth” and a fleet of ships for “the trade with India, China, Yemen, and Persia,” Mishkal was a powerful figure in Calicut in the 1340s. Nakhudas, or shipowners, were among the richest merchants in the medieval Indian Ocean.
Mishkal Mosque is located in Kuttichira neighbourhood, a part of Thekkepuram beach in Calicut.
In January 1510,the mosque was partially burned in a Portuguese attack on Calicut by Albuquerque which also occupied the Zamorin’s palace.The attack was later repulsed by the Zamorin’s Nair troops with 300 to 500 Portuguese killed and the remaining barely even surviving. The top floors of the mosque still display some of that damage.
The shattered mosque was later renovated and refurbished under Zamorin’s supervision. He used to offer land and grant permission for the Muslims to construct worship places or mosques wherever intended. The Muchundi Mosque in Kuttichira till date holds inscriptions on stone that shows his financial contribution towards its construction in the thirteenth century. This stays an immortal witness to the harmonious relationship between the Zamorins and their Muslimsubjects. The glare of Muslim history in Kozhikode!
A large tank known as the Kuttichira tank is attached to the mosque. The mosque has 47 doors, 24 carved pillars and a big prayer hall that can accommodate around 400 people. The prayer hall is well ventilated and there is a wooden member with beautiful motifs.
