ABSTRACT
The Karao Jami Mosque in Diu
M and N Shokoohy
The historic Karao Jami' in the ex-Portuguese colony of Diu - off the coast of Gujarat - is not only an impressive early sultanate monument, but its very survival under the Portuguese throws light on their relations with their Muslim subjects. Diu was formerly governed by the powerful Gujarat sultanate, and the Portuguese could only gain a foothold there after the sultanate was fist threatened, and eventually taken over, by the Mughals. The Portuguese were notorious for wiping out the Muslim populations of their South Indian colonies, but the survival of the Karao Jami' indicates that in an area dominated by Muslims the Portuguese had to be more accommodating, perhaps to avoid confrontation with the neighbouring sultanate - a known strategy in places such as Aden and Hurmuz. The mosque itself, built in the trabeate style with stone beams and brackets surmounted by corbelled domes, is also of historical interest, as its style corresponds with mosques associated with the sultanate of Delhi, and predates those of the Gujarat sultanate. It is therefore a rare example of its kind in Gujarat. The present work, funded by the Society for South Asian Studies, is a preliminary report on the island and its monuments.