20 
Maulavi ‘Abdul Wall— Jami 1 Masjid at Sailkupa. [No. 1, 
a masonary ghat or steps, is silted up. There is still to be seen the 
foundation of a pakka wall which was intended to go round the mosque 
and the Rauza. The traces of a Bhandar-Khaua, as well as 
(whatever it may mean) as stated in several Imperial Parwanas, have 
well-nigh vanished. The Jami‘ Masjid is now in ruins. Neither it, 
nor the Rauza has any inscription. It appears that the work was 
suddeuly stopped, before it was finished. 
The common folk of Sailkupa know little about the early history 
of the Masjid. They are, however, fond of telling beautiful stories 
regarding the—what they call, ‘ roofless 51 3 * 5 * —mosque, the stone pillars, and 
the black stone lying close by. The mosque, they say, was made in one 
night, by some supernatural agent, who after having built the masjids, 
at both the Panduas (Bara Pandua near Maldah, and Chota Pandua 
in the Hugli District) and other places, commenced building the 
Sailkupa mosque. Very early in the morning, while it was dark, 
and the work was nearly completed, sounds of grinding cird (prepared 
of rice) by gayals, or cirkutis by means of DJienki —a sign of the 
approaching dawn—were heard, and the work was left half done. 
The above story is an old one and I have heard it told in other 
places. It only means that the mosque is very old, beyond the memory 
of any living man, and that all traces of its origin are lost. This 
tradition rightly says that the work was left in an unfinished state, as 
surely it was. 8 
The alleged descendants of the disciples who originally came with 
the Maulana Sahib, except those of the Faqzr z (that became extinct 
some four years ago) still survive, but they cannot correctly trace up 
their descent, and compared with other prominent residents of the 
Mauza‘, have held rather very inferior positions. 
It is popularly believed that a boastful man cannot lift the black 
stone, but one, with humility and faith, would do so. Women are 
admitted into the mosque, who rub their breasts to the stone-pillars for 
the preservation of children about to be born, or for the recovery of 
diseases. 
1 As the domes are of conical shape and very high, and till lately covered with 
rubbish and vegetation, the report, that the mosque had no roof and in spite of it 
the rain-water did not fall within it, found credence among the credulous. 
3 The mosque was partially repaired in 1896-97 by the writer, but abandoned 
for want of support and co-operation of the local Mnsalmans. The Rauza of 
Maulana Sahib, and that of the Wazir, were repaired by MunshI Qaimud-Din, in 
1889. 
5 It is said that the name of the Fuqir was Caudan Sikka, but this I could not 
find in any of the documents examined by me. 
