Rani Rupavati Masjid is a mosque and tomb complex situated in the old city center of Ahmedabad, along the road that leads from the Bhadra Fort toward Delhi Gate. The complex, named after royal ladies who are supposedly buried on site, is undated but stylistically belongs to the end of the 15th/9th century AH or to the beginning of the 16th/10th century AH.
The complex comprises an irregularly shaped area whose main entrance is a gateway on the east side. Passing through the gate, one emerges onto a large open area. On the west end is the mosque, which occupies the southwestern corner of the enclosed area, and on the north side is a tank and a tomb, which occupies an extension of the enclosure to the north.
The mosque is a rectangular building closed on three sides and open through several portals on the east side. The central portal is a large arched entryway flanked by two ornate minarets. Flanking this portal on each side is a set of three smaller portals. The interior of the mosque reflects this tripartite division: it is composed of three sections, a central section and two sides, each comprised of a large domed bay supported by twelve columns. These domes are placed over the center of the hall, leaving spaces the width of a single aisle between the domed areas and the four walls, as well as in between the three domes. Smaller domes cover some of the
bays in these aisles. The central section of the prayer hall is raised higher than the two side sections and a clerestory level gallery at the base of the dome allows light to penetrate the center of the hall. Behind each of the three domed bays, a mihrab marks the direction of prayer on the qibla (west) wall. Four windows open from the qibla wall; two from the side walls as well as a door; and two on the ends of the east wall.
The tomb is a domed square pavilion seated on a larger square platform. The dome is supported by twelve pillars and this is surrounded by an ambulatory bounded by this inner set of pillars and an outer set of twenty. The ambulatory takes the form of a veranda and is open to the exterior of the building.
Source:
Burgess, James. The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmadabad. Part II, 32-34. Archaeological Survey of Western India, Vol. 8. London: W. Griggs and Sons, 1905.