Pandua

The medieval capital of Bengal Pandua situated to the 15 km north of Malda town, which is 340 km far-off from Kolkata. Pandua is the quiet witness of the three eras of glory - the Buddhist Palas, the Hindu Senas and the Muslim Nawabs. In the beginning of the 13th century, Muslim Nawabs displaced the Senas, the last Hindu kings of Bengal and till the Battle of Palashi in 1757, the Muslim Nawabs ruled over Bengal. In Pandua, there are no remains or trace of any shrine or structure of the Buddhist or Hindu periods and the structures of the Muslim period are practically in ruin.

The founder of the new independent government in Bengal, the Ilyas Shah Dynasty, Fakhr ad-Din moved the capital from Gaur to Pandua, where he set up a new capital in 1338. Muslims named this new capital of Bengal as Firozabad. The Ilyas Shah Dynasty constructed the huge Adina Masjid as a Jama Masjid. But, the Ilyas Shah Dynasty again transferred its capital from Pandua to Gaur in 1420 and Pandua became one of local cities of Bengal.

There are a number of historical places located in and around Pandua, some of them are listed below:

Adina Masjid - In 1369, Sultan Sikander Shah built this one of the largest mosques in India.

Qutb Shahi Masjid – This Masjid was built to honour Saint Nur Qutb-ul-Alam, which is locally known as the Chhoto Sona Masjid. Close to the Masjid Bari Darga is situated.

Eklakhi Mausoleum - The most graceful monument in Pandua, which carved with Ganesh on the entrance. Eklakhi Mausoleum is a tomb of the son of a Hindu Raja, who converted to Islam.