Saleh Kamboh Mosque, Lahore: A 1659 Mosque Inside Mochi Gate

The Saleh Kamboh Mosque is a small working mosque a few steps inside Mochi Gate, on the southern side of the Walled City of Lahore. It was built in 1659 by Muhammad Saleh Kamboh, the calligrapher and court historian who wrote the official history of Shah Jahan's reign, and although it went up in the first years of Aurangzeb's rule, its tile work, frescoes and multifoil arches are in the style of Shah Jahan's Lahore. The front has been rebuilt and the interior is worn, but it is a worthwhile ten-minute stop on a walled-city walk.

Who was Muhammad Saleh Kamboh?

Muhammad Saleh Kamboh, often called Saleh Kamboh Lahori, was a calligrapher and official biographer of the emperor Shah Jahan. Around 1659 to 1660 he completed the Amal-i-Salih, also known as the Shahjahan-nama, a history of Shah Jahan's life and reign that is still one of the main sources for the period. Dawn has described its Persian as excellent.

He came from a family of calligraphers. His father was Mir Abdullah Mushkin Qalam, and his elder brother Inayatullah Kamboh was also a writer at court. In Lahore he worked in the administration as a diwan under the provincial governor, and he later served Aurangzeb. He died in Lahore, but the site of his grave is disputed, which makes the mosque the clearest physical trace he left in the city.

When was the mosque built, and why does it look Shah Jahani?

The mosque is dated to 1659. Shah Jahan had been deposed the year before and Aurangzeb was on the throne, so strictly it is an Aurangzeb-period building. Its decoration, though, belongs to the earlier taste. The Punjab heritage listing notes floral arabesques, interlaced kashi (glazed tile) work, frescoes and multifoil arches, all features of Shah Jahan's buildings in Lahore.

The nineteenth-century historian Rai Bahadur Kanhaiya Lal wrote that this small mosque "was once very comprehensive and beautiful", and that its inner walls were decorated much like the Wazir Khan Mosque and the Sunehri Masjid. For a calligrapher's mosque, the writing is the point: the arches and walls carried Quranic passages and Persian verses in enamelled tile, which Dawn called poetry work "of the best type".

What does the mosque look like now?

The building is small. A 2016 report in Pakistan Today described a prayer hall one aisle deep and three bays wide, each bay under its own dome, reached up a few steps and facing a brick-paved courtyard. There is so little room that the pulpit is movable. Inside, look up at the corners for the stalactite squinches (muqarnas) that carry the domes, and at the arches for the multifoil outline.

The front is the least original part. It has been rebuilt and faced with modern tiles, but the inscription bearing the mosque's name was kept. Inside, fragments of fresco and tile survive, though Pakistan Today found them deteriorating for lack of proper care.

Is the mosque protected?

On paper, yes. It is protected under the Punjab Special Premises (Preservation) Ordinance, 1985, and the Auqaf department owns it. In practice it has been altered. In 2004 Dawn reported that local residents and shopkeepers had pooled money to extend the mosque for more prayer space, damaging old fabric in the process; a committee was formed but had not met. Shops also press in on the premises, as they do around most of the old mosques in the Walled City.

Day-to-day upkeep has been in the hands of the Anjuman-e-Tajran Mochi Gate, the local traders' body, which Pakistan Today reported in 2016 was doing it without government funding. We have not found a more recent report on its condition, so expect a well-used neighbourhood mosque rather than a restored monument.

How do I get to the Saleh Kamboh Mosque?

Mochi Gate is on Circular Road on the south side of the Walled City, between Akbari Gate and Shah Alam Gate. The gate itself no longer stands, but the name is used for the whole quarter and every rickshaw driver knows it.

1. Take a rickshaw or ride-hailing car to Mochi Gate on Circular Road. There is nowhere sensible to park a car inside.
2. Walk straight in from the gate. Pakistan Today's directions are simply that you reach the mosque "after a few steps".
3. If you miss it, ask for "Saleh Kamboh wali masjid".

Our 13 gates of Lahore guide shows where Mochi Gate sits among the others.

Tips for visiting

The mosque is in daily use, so time your visit between prayers and wait until a congregation has left before going in. Take off your shoes, dress modestly, and keep photography quiet and respectful; women should cover their heads. Our mosque etiquette guide covers the basics.

Mochi Gate is a dense trading quarter known for dried fruit and, in the short legal window before Basant, kites. During Muharram and Safar, Mohalla Shia next door holds its annual commemorations and the lanes become very crowded. Go on a weekday morning outside those months for the easiest visit.

What else is near Mochi Gate?

• Mochi Bagh, just outside, the ground that has hosted many of Lahore's big political rallies.
• Mubarak Haveli and Nisar Haveli, old family mansions in the lanes behind the gate, used for Muharram gatherings.
• The Mochi Gate kite market, busiest in the days before a legal Basant.
• The tomb of Malik Ayaz in Rang Mahal, a short walk north into the old city; see our guide to Malik Ayaz's tomb.
• The bigger sights of the Walled City of Lahore, including Wazir Khan Mosque and the Shahi Hammam, further north and east.

Is it worth the stop?

For anyone interested in Mughal decoration or Lahore's history, yes: it is free, it is right by the gate, and it is a rare mosque you can tie to a named writer whose book historians still read. If you only have a few hours in Lahore, though, the Badshahi Mosque and Wazir Khan Mosque show the same Shah Jahani style on a far grander scale. Our experiences page has more ideas.

Frequently asked questions