#ranjitsinghkhalsa #punjab #wazirkhanmosque
Mai Moran was born in a Muslim family in Makhan Windi, near Amritsar[1] She later married Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a year after he became the maharaja of Lahore at the age of 21 and was officially given a name as Maharani Sahiba. She was a nautch girl. Maharaja Ranjit Singh used to meet her in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. She used to dance for him at the Baradari of Maharaja Ranjit Singh halfway between Amritsar and Lahore. The place was since called Pul Kanjri but now its name has been changed to 'Pul Moran'.[6] She later married Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a year after he became the maharaja of Lahore at the age of 21 and was officially given a name as Maharani Sahiba.
She was considered to be very learned in arts and letters. She was known for her philanthropic[7] acts and in bringing Maharaja's attention to many problems.
The Maharaja at Moran's request, built a mosque called as Masjid-e-Tawaifan, which was renamed in 1998 as Mai Moran Masjid in Lahore.[8] This is located in Lahore's bazaar now called Pappar Mandi near Shah Almi Gate
Prior to his rise, the Punjab region had numerous warring misls (confederacies), twelve of which were under Sikh rulers and one Muslim.[7] Ranjit Singh successfully absorbed and united the Sikh misls and took over other local kingdoms to create the Sikh Empire. He repeatedly defeated invasions by outside armies, particularly those arriving from Afghanistan, and established friendly relations with the British.[10]
Ranjit Singh's reign introduced reforms, modernisation, investment into infrastructure and general prosperity.[11][12] His Khalsa army and government included Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Europeans.[13] His legacy includes a period of Sikh cultural and artistic renaissance, including the rebuilding of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar as well as other major gurudwaras, including Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Bihar and Hazur Sahib Nanded, Maharashtra under his sponsorship.[14][15] Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his son Kharak Singh
Considered to be the most ornately decorated Mughal-era mosque,[3] Wazir Khan Mosque is renowned for its intricate faience tile work known as kashi-kari, as well as its interior surfaces that are almost entirely embellished with elaborate Mughal-era frescoes. The mosque has been under extensive restoration since 2009 under the direction of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Government of Punjab,[4] with contributions from the governments of Germany, Norway, and the United States
Construction of the mosque began under the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in either 1634 or 1635, and was completed in approximately seven years. In the late 1880s, John Lockwood Kipling, father of Rudyard Kipling, wrote about the mosque and its decorative elements in the former Journal of Indian Art.[16][17] The British scholar Fred Henry Andrews noted in 1903 that the mosque had fallen into disrepair.