"At a principal junction in the centre of the mediaeval city stands the Mosque and Tomb of Sultan Qansuh al-Ghouri, the last of the Mamluk sultans to enjoy a substantial reign. The waqla or khan is one of the most important and unusual of this series of buildings. It rises through six storeys and is built around a courtyard. The lower two floors are incorporated into an arcade and the upper levels have handsome oriel windows with intricate mushrabiye, the brise-soleil screens common throughout the Muslim world. The adjacent madrassa, on a four-iwan plan, demonstrates the final evolution of the prayer-chamber into a congregational mosque. Here it has been widened until its total width is nearly three times that of the courtyard." - Sir Banister Fletcher

Written by  George Monkhouse.

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