Islam beyond Empires – Mosques and Islamic Landscapes in India and the Indian Ocean

Abstract

This chapter discusses the mosque architecture of Muslims who lived beyond Islamic polities, beyond the lands of Islam, it focuses in particular on coastal South Asia where many areas were never durably incorporated into Islamic polities and Muslims retained a large degree if community autonomy. Re-situating these mosques within their original social context, the chapter underlines the unique status of mosques in this environment as multifunctional centres of community life; the collaborative, multi-faith social networks that underpinned their construction and maintenance and the consequences of this deep local embededness for the architectural forms and ground plans of such structures.