History of the Building

Patron, Date and Architect

The patron of al-Adiliyya Mosque (Jami’ al-‘Adiliyya) is Mohammed Pasha Dukakinzade who governed Aleppo between 1551 and 1553. The local name of the mosque, however, has derived from its proximity at the time of construction to the governor palace known as the House of Justice (Dar al-‘Adl) or the House of Felicity (Dar al-Sa’ada).

Descending from an aristocratic family of an Albanian origin, Mohammed Pasha (d. 1557) was the son of the grand vizier Ahmed Pasha and Gevher Malikshah Sultan, a granddaughter of Sultan Beyazid II.[1] He was educated in the imperial palace and married Gevher al-Muluk Sultan, an Ottoman princess descending also from Beyazid II’s family. After his tenure in Aleppo, he was appointed as the governor general of Egypt and then returned to Istanbul and died there. [2]

Mohammed Pasha started to build his complex in Aleppo during his tenure as the governor of the city [3] and the trust deed of the foundation (waqfiyya) was registered in 1556. [4] However, the construction of the mosque began after the registration of the deed and was completed posthumously in 1565-1566 according to chronogram of the inscription above its portal (Fig. 1). The Ottoman inscription refers to the founder as:

“the governor-general Mehmed Pasha Dukakin for whose soul this Friday mosque had been built and completed with great care. May the station and home of the deceased [pasha] be paradise”. [5]

Among the buildings of the complex, only the mosque is attributed to the Ottoman architect Sinan (1490-1588), the head of the Imperial architectural office in Istanbul. [6]In fact, the actual contribution of Sinan in the design and construction of the mosque cannot be confirmed by written sources. However, similar to the majority of provincial mosques listed among the works of the chief architect the plan of the mosque could have been designed by Sinan in Istanbul and supervised either by an architect sent from the Imperial office or by a local architect from Aleppo. [7]

Footnotes

[1]

The mother of Mohammed Pasha passed away in Aleppo after returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1552 and was buried in a small mausoleum on the site of the house she had stayed in. The mausoleum is located to the east of the Mohammed Pasha’s complex and it may have been one of the reasons behind choosing the location of the complex. Look Ibn al-Hanbali, Durr al-Habab, 2:1, 69 and Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 475.

[2]

For more information on the life and career of Mohammed Pasha Al-Tabbakh, Iʿlam al-Nubalaʾ, 3: 166, Watenpaugh, The Image of an Ottoman City, 77-78 and Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 475.

[3]

For more information on the complex’s construction phases, see Ibn al-Hanbali, Durr al-Habab, 2:1, 263-264, Al-Tabbakh, Iʿlam al-Nubalaʾ, 3: 166-167, Watenpaugh, The Image of an Ottoman City, 79-80 and Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 476-477.

[4]

One copy of the trust deed is preserved in the Archives of Endowments (Vakıflar Genel Mudürlüğü Arşivi) in Ankara, defter 607, p. 1-3. The deed was summarized by al-Ghazzi, Nahr al-Dhahab, 2: 89-92.

[5]

For the complete Ottoman text of the inscription and its Arabic translation see ʿUthman, Dirasat Naqaʾish, 58. For the English translation, quoted in the text, see Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 476. Another less prominent inscription is engraved on the strap hinges nailed to the upper part of the two wooden door panels. Each half of the undated Arabic inscription names a craftsman and asks God’s forgiveness for him. The craftsmen are: Mohammed ibn Mohammed al-Shami (the Damascene), an inlayer, and al-Hajj Khalil ibn al-Hajj Yusuf al-Halabi (the Aleppine). The inscription is cited by Watenpaugh, The Image of an Ottoman City, 1 and Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 476.

[6]

Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 475.

[7]

For more information on the organization of architecture and construction activities in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire during the classical period see Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 157-161 and Kafesçioğlu, In the Image of Rum, 82-84.