Dictionary of islamic architecture

See also:
Ajdabiya, Fatimids, Tunisia
Further reading:
A.Lezine, 
Mahdiyya: Recherches d’Archéologie Islamiques,
Paris 1965.
maidan
A large open space, or square, for ceremonial
functions.
Malaysia
Predominantly Muslim country in south-east Asia
divided into two parts, the southern half of the Malay
peninsula and the northern part of Borneo.
It seems likely that Islam came to Malaysia as early
as the ninth century although at present there is no
archaeological confirmation of this. The earliest
record of Islam in Malaysia is the Treng-ganu Stone
dated to 1303 or 1386. The stone is written in Malay
with Arabic script and records various regulations
of Islamic law.
Before the fourteenth century the southern half
of the Malay peninsula was home to a series of small
weak states which were dominated by their northern
neighbours of Cambodia and Thailand and later by
madrassa

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the Indonesian kingdom of Majapahit. By 1403,
however, the first king of Malacca had established
himself as ruler of the southern Malay peninsula
with the support of the Chinese emperor. The king
of Malacca made several friendly visits to the Chinese
emperor in return for support against the Thai
kingdom of Ayudhya which was encroaching on the
northern part of the peninsula. At this time (in the
1420s) the king of Malacca converted from Hinduism
to Islam making Malacca the main centre of Islamic
culture in south-east Asia. Under Chinese protection
the state of Malacca grew to become the most
powerful in the area with its control of the strategic
straits of Malacca which were the main route for
commerce between China and the west. By the end
of the fifteenth century Malacca’s position was
threatened by the Portuguese who saw it as a threat
to their further eastward expansion. In the early
sixteenth century China withdrew its naval support
of Malacca and in 1511 the sultanate of Malacca was
finally defeated.
The Portuguese victory was the start of a long
period of colonial rule first by the Portuguese,
followed by the Dutch after 1641 and finally by the
British from 1824 until 1957. Despite the crusading
zeal of the Portuguese the Malay inhabitants
remained Muslim throughout the colonial period.
Unfortunately there are few architectural remains
from the pre-Portuguese period and these are
mostly Buddhist or Hindu, although the surviving
fortifications of Malacca may be Islamic. Most pre-
nineteenth-century mosques in Malaysia were built
of wood and have not survived very well. The
oldest mosque in Malaysia is generally agreed to
be the Masjid Kampaung Laut in the state of
Kelantan built in the sixteenth century. The mosque
was moved from its original location in 1970 after
serious floods damaged its structure. The mosque
stands on a square raised platform and has a three-
tier pyramid roof with each tier separated by a gap
to allow air circulation. A similar mosque was built
at Demak in Indonesia by the same group of
Muslim traders. Another early mosque is the Masjid
Trengkera in Malacca built in the early eighteenth
century (1728). This is a four-tier structure on a
square base with a polygonal six-storey minaret.
The form of the minaret resembles a pagoda and
suggests strong Chinese influence. Most early
Malaysian mosques have neither minarets nor
mihrabs although these were often added in the
nineteenth century. The window frames were
usually decorated with bands of Quranic
calligraphy and there are often elaborately carved
minbars and Quran stands.
The colonization of Malaysia by Britain in the
nineteenth century introduced a new Anglo-Indian
stone- and brick-built mosque form. These mosques
are characterized by the use of domes, crenellations
and arched windows which locally are characterized
as ‘Moorish architecture’. One of the best examples
of this architecture is the Headquarters of the Malayan
Railway Company which is covered with onion
domes with arched windows and striped masonry.
This architecture which can also be seen in Singapore
seems to be derived primarily from south India.
Since Independence in 1957 there have been
attempts to move away from this Anglo—Indian
architecture to buildings that are more traditionally
Malay. The model for such buildings is usually the
traditional form of Malay houses—wooden buildings
with tall thatched roofs in three or more tiers. One of
the earliest examples of this post-colonial architecture
is the National Museum at Kuala Lumpur which uses
traditional roof forms, although many of the other
elements are built in a modern international style.
More successful as an evocation of the traditional style
is the Bank of Bumipatra which is based on the
traditional Kelantan house design. The building has
a huge three-tiered roof on a rectangular base.