The Zanani Masjid or the Solah Khamb Mosque. Both these names have been given in comparatively recent times ; the first on account of the building being situated in the Zanana enclosure, adjoining the Lal Bagh towards the west, and the second on account of the presence of sixteen columns {solah khamb) in the middle part of the prayer-hall, which was screened off from the rest of the building after the latter had fallen into ruin. Originally it was the principal mosque, Masjid-i-Jami , of Bidar, and the Friday prayers, as well as State functions of a religious character, were held here. In a.d. 1656 when Aurangzeb, as Viceroy of the Deccan from the Imperial Court at Delhi, conquered Bidar, he hastened to this mosque to have the qutba recited in the name of his father Shah Jahan, as a proclamation of his sovereignty in the newly acquired territory. Muhammad Shah, the contemporary historian of Shah Jahan’s reign, who has recorded this event, describes the building as two hundred years old, having been built by the BahmanI kings. ^ khalif Khan also, who visited the Deccan during Aurangzeb’s reign and stayed for many years there, does not give the exact date of the building, but writes that it was constructed by Khan Jahan. As this title was enjoyed by several ministers of the Bahmani kings, it is difficult to say precisely which of them erected the mosque.

The Zanani Masjid or the Solah Khamb Mosque. Both these names have been given in comparatively recent times ; the first on account of the building being situated in the Zanana enclosure, adjoining the Lal Bagh towards the west, and the second on account of the presence of sixteen columns {solah khamb) in the middle part of the prayer-hall, which was screened off from the rest of the building after the latter had fallen into ruin. Originally it was the principal mosque, Masjid-i-Jami , of Bidar, and the Friday prayers, as well as State functions of a religious character, were held here. In a.d. 1656 when Aurangzeb, as Viceroy of the Deccan from the Imperial Court at Delhi, conquered Bidar, he hastened to this mosque to have the qutba recited in the name of his father Shah Jahan, as a proclamation of his sovereignty in the newly acquired territory. Muhammad Shah, the contemporary historian of Shah Jahan’s reign, who has recorded this event, describes the building as two hundred years old, having been built by the BahmanI kings. khalif Khan also, who visited the Deccan during Aurangzeb’s reign and stayed for many years there, does not give the exact date of the building, but writes that it was constructed by Khan Jahan. As this title was enjoyed by several ministers of the Bahmani kings, it is difficult to say precisely which of them erected the mosque.