View source for Babri Masjid

{{short description|Destroyed mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India}}
{{pp|reason=Persistent addition of [[WP:INTREF|unsourced or poorly sourced content]]; long-term problem, as per [[WP:RFPP]] request|small=yes}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox religious building
| building_name         = Babri Masjid
| native_name           = 
| native_name_lang      = 
| image                 = Babri Masjid (cropped).jpg
| image_upright         = 1.4
| caption               = 19th century photo by [[Samuel Bourne]]
| religious_affiliation = [[Islam]] 
| status                = {{ubl|[[Mosque]] {{small|(16th century&ndash;1992)}}|''[[Muhammad bin Abdullah Masjid]] {{small|(planned)}}''}}
|governing_body=[[Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board]]
| functional_status     = [[Demolition of the Babri Masjid|Demolished]] 
| location              = [[Ayodhya]], [[Ayodhya district]], [[Uttar Pradesh]]
| sect                  =
| country               = [[India]]
| map_type              = India Uttar Pradesh
| map_size = 250
| map_relief = 1
| map_caption           = Location of the former mosque in [[Uttar Pradesh]]
| coordinates           = {{coord|26.7956|82.1945|region:IN-UP_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| architecture_type     = {{nowrap|[[Mosque architecture]]}}
| architecture_style    = [[Tughlaq dynasty|Tughlaq]]
| creator               = [[Mir Baqi]]
| funded_by             = [[Babur]]
| established           = {{AH|935|link=yes}}
| date_demolished       = {{start date|1992|12|6|df=y}} in the [[Demolition of the Babri Masjid]]
| religious_features_label = Fate
| religious_features    = 
| footnotes = <ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url= https://www.britannica.com/place/Babri-Masjid |title=Babri Masjid |encyclopedia=Britannica|date=21 October 2024 |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref>
}}
{{Ayodhya debate}}

The '''Babri Masjid''' ([[ISO 15919|ISO]]: Bābarī Masjida; meaning ''Mosque of [[Babur]]'') was a [[mosque]] located in [[Ayodhya]], in the state of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]. It was claimed that the mosque was built upon the site of [[Ram Janmabhoomi]], the legendary birthplace of [[Rama]], a principal [[Hindu deities|deity]] of [[Hinduism]].<ref name="bbc1">{{Cite web |title=BBC |date=16 October 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50065277.amp |access-date=8 September 2023}}</ref> The [[Ayodhya dispute]] has been a disputed focal point between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11436552 |title=Timeline: Ayodhya holy site crisis |work=BBC News |date=6 December 2012 |access-date=8 August 2020 |archive-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210110209/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11436552 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to [[#Inscriptions|the mosque's inscriptions]], it was built in {{AH|935}} by [[Mir Baqi]], a commander of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor [[Babur]]. Before the 1940s, the masjid was officially known as "Masjid-i-Janmasthan" ("the mosque of the birthplace").<ref>{{Cite book |title=Writing Fundamentalism |author1=Stähler, Axel |author2=Stierstorfer, Klaus |date=2009-05-27 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=9781443811897 |location= |pages=63 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Ethics of Terrorism: Innovative Approaches from an International Perspective (17 Lectures) |author1=Gilly, Thomas Albert |author2=Gilinskiy, Yakov |author3=Sergevnin, Vladimir |date=2009 |publisher=Charles C. Thomas Publisher |isbn=9780398079956 |location= |page=25 |language=en}}</ref> [[Demolition of the Babri Masjid|The mosque was attacked and demolished]] by a [[Hindutva|Hindu nationalist]] mob in 1992, which ignited communal violence across the [[Indian subcontinent]].

The mosque was located on a hill known as Ramkot ("[[Rama]]'s fort").<ref name="Hiltebeitel2009">{{cite book |author=Hiltebeitel, Alf |title=Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMFdosx0PokC&pg=PA227 |year=2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-34055-5 |pages=227–}}</ref> According to Hindu nationalists, Baqi destroyed a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site. The existence of this temple is a matter of controversy.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Udayakumar |first=S. P. |date=August 1997 |title=Historicizing Myth and Mythologizing History: The 'Ram Temple' Drama |journal=Social Scientist |volume=25 |issue=7 |pages=11–26 |doi=10.2307/3517601 |jstor=3517601}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jaffrelot |first=Christophe |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781118663202 |title=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism |date=2015-12-07 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-4051-8978-1 |editor1=Smith, Anthony D. |edition=1 |language=en |chapter=Ayodhya Issue |pages=1–3 |doi=10.1002/9781118663202.wberen644 |editor2=Hou, Xiaoshuo |editor3=Stone, John |editor4=Rutledge, Dennis |editor5=Rizova, Polly}}</ref> The [[Archaeological Survey of India]] conducted an excavation of the disputed site on the orders of the [[Allahabad High Court]]. The excavation period was short due to court time constraints, lasting only 15 days. The report of the excavation concluded that there were ruins of "a massive structure" beneath the ruins of the mosque which was "indicative of remains which are distinctive features found associated with the temples of north India", but found no evidence that the structure was specifically demolished for the construction of the Babri Masjid. The report received both praise and criticism, with some other archaeologists contesting the results of the report.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Varghese |first=Rachel A. |date=2023-07-19 |title=Archaeology for the courtroom: the Ayodhya Case and the fashioning of a hybrid episteme |journal=Journal of Social Archaeology |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=109–129 |language=en |doi=10.1177/14696053231190374 |issn=1469-6053|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Etter |first=Anne-Julie |date=2020-12-14 |title=Creating Suitable Evidence of the Past? Archaeology, Politics, and Hindu Nationalism in India from the End of the Twentieth Century to the Present |url=http://journals.openedition.org/samaj/6926 |journal=South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal |issue=24/25 |doi=10.4000/samaj.6926 |issn=1960-6060|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Starting in the 19th century, there were several conflicts and court disputes between Hindus and Muslims over the mosque. In 1949, idols of Rama and Sita were placed inside the mosque, after which the government locked the building to avoid further disputes.{{sfnp|van der Veer|1992|pp=98–99}} Court cases were filed by both Hindus and Muslims asking for access.<ref name=outlookindia-01Dec17>{{Cite news |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/tracing-the-history-of-babri-masjid/299597 |title=Tracing The History of Babri Masjid |newspaper=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)]] |date=1 December 2017 |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=2 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202212508/https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/tracing-the-history-of-babri-masjid/299597 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 6 December 1992, a large group of Hindu activists belonging to the [[Vishva Hindu Parishad]] and allied organisations [[Demolition of the Babri Masjid|demolished the mosque]], triggering riots all over the [[Indian subcontinent]], resulting in the death of around 2,000–3,000 people.<ref name="Haar Busuttil 2005"/><ref name="Tablet Publishing Company"/><ref>{{citation |last=Fuller |first=Christopher John |title=The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=To6XSeBUW3oC&pg=PA262 |year=2004 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-12048-X |page=262}}</ref><ref name="Guha2007a">{{cite book |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |title=India After Gandhi |year=2007 |publisher=MacMillan |pages=582–598}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://thewire.in/south-asia/pakistan-babri-majid-ayodhya-hindus |title=How the Babri Masjid Demolition Upended Tenuous Inter-Religious Ties in Pakistan |first=Haroon|last=Khalid |date=14 November 2019 |work=The Wire |access-date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=15 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815205948/https://thewire.in/south-asia/pakistan-babri-majid-ayodhya-hindus |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themorningchronicle.in/as-a-reaction-to-babri-masjid-demolition-what-had-happened-in-pakistan-and-bangladesh-on-6-december-1992/ |title=As a reaction to Babri Masjid demolition, What had happened in Pakistan and Bangladesh on 6 December, 1992 |date=6 December 2018 |work=The Morning Chronicle |access-date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203234625/http://www.themorningchronicle.in/as-a-reaction-to-babri-masjid-demolition-what-had-happened-in-pakistan-and-bangladesh-on-6-december-1992/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In September 2010, the [[Allahabad High Court]] upheld the claim that the mosque was built on the spot believed to be Rama's birthplace and awarded the site of the central dome for the [[Ram Mandir|construction of a Rama temple]]. Muslims were also awarded one-third area of the site for the construction of a mosque.<ref name="Outlook 2010">{{cite web |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/the-three-way-divide/267309 |title=The Three Way Divide |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018103743/https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/the-three-way-divide/267309 |archive-date=18 October 2019 |work=Outlook |date=30 September 2010 |access-date= }}</ref><ref name="BBC 2019">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50065277|title=Ayodhya dispute: The complex legal history of India's holy site|work=BBC News|date=16 October 2019 |access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=17 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017092145/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50065277|url-status=live}}</ref> The decision was subsequently appealed by all parties to the [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]], wherein a five [[judge]] bench heard a title suit from August to October 2019.<ref name="BBC 2019" /><ref name=hindubusinessline-16Oct19>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/supreme-court-hearing-ends-in-ayodhya-dispute-orders-reserved/article29710840.ece |title=Supreme Court hearing ends in Ayodhya dispute; orders reserved |date=16 October 2019 |work=The Hindu Business Line |agency=Press Trust of India |access-date=18 October 2019 |archive-date=23 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023101322/https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/supreme-court-hearing-ends-in-ayodhya-dispute-orders-reserved/article29710840.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court quashed the lower court's judgement and ordered the entire site ({{convert|2+3/4|acre|ha|1|order=flip|disp=or}} land) to be handed over to a trust to build the Hindu temple. It also ordered the government to give an alternative {{convert|5|acre|ha|0|order=flip|adj=on}} plot to the [[Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board]] to replace the Babri Masjid that was demolished in 1992.<ref name=timesofindia-09Nov19>{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ayodhya-babri-masjid-ram-mandir-case-verdict-highlights-supreme-court-declared-verdict-on-ram-janmabhoomi-case/articleshow/71978918.cms |title=Ram Mandir verdict: Supreme Court verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case |date=9 November 2019 |work=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=9 November 2019 |archive-date=9 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109143026/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ayodhya-babri-masjid-ram-mandir-case-verdict-highlights-supreme-court-declared-verdict-on-ram-janmabhoomi-case/articleshow/71978918.cms |url-status=live }}</ref> The government allotted a site in the village of [[Dhannipur]], in Ayodhya District, {{convert|18|km|mi}} from Ayodhya City and {{convert|30|km|mi}} by road from the site of the original Babri Masjid.<ref name=indiatoday-05Feb20 /><ref name=businessstandard-14Feb2020>{{Cite news |title=The mood in Dhannipur, a village in Ayodhya, chosen for the 'Babri Masjid' |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/the-mood-in-dhannipur-a-village-in-ayodhya-chosen-for-the-babri-masjid-120021401728_1.html |date=14 February 2020 |work=[[Business Standard]] |first1=Ritwik |last1=Sharma |access-date=28 August 2020 |archive-date=31 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731225249/https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/the-mood-in-dhannipur-a-village-in-ayodhya-chosen-for-the-babri-masjid-120021401728_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The great breaking ceremony for the [[Ayodhya Mosque, Dhannipur|mosque]] was held on 26 January 2021.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Razak |first=Hanie Abdul |date=19 January 2021 |title=Construction of Ayodhya mosque to begin with flag-hoisting on Republic Day |url=https://www.siasat.com/construction-of-ayodhya-mosque-to-begin-with-flag-hoisting-on-republic-day-2070951/ |access-date=26 January 2021 |website=The Siasat Daily |language=en-GB |archive-date=31 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131052215/https://www.siasat.com/construction-of-ayodhya-mosque-to-begin-with-flag-hoisting-on-republic-day-2070951/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ayodhya Mosque Work Starts On Republic Day With Tricolour Hoisting|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ayodhya-mosque-work-starts-on-republic-day-with-tricolour-hoisting-tree-plantation-2358171 |access-date=26 January 2021 |website=NDTV.com |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126131952/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ayodhya-mosque-work-starts-on-republic-day-with-tricolour-hoisting-tree-plantation-2358171 |url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2024 it was reported that construction of the mosque had not commenced due to lack of funds and community antipathy towards the proposed mosque.<ref name="not commenced">{{cite news |author=Dhingra, Sanya |title=Just Rs 90 lakh raised in 5 years, why not a single brick has been laid for Ayodhya mosque |work=The Print |url=https://theprint.in/india/just-rs-90-lakh-raised-in-5-years-why-not-a-single-brick-has-been-laid-for-ayodhya-mosque/2259763/ |date=10 September 2024 |access-date=8 March 2025 }}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The name "Babri Masjid" comes from the name of the [[Mughal emperor]] [[Babur]], who is said to have ordered its construction.<ref name="Colin">{{cite book |last=Flint |first=Colin |title=The geography of war and peace |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-516208-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ms5N7NhGXIC&pg=PA165 |page=165 |access-date=15 August 2016 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414061243/https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ms5N7NhGXIC&pg=PA165 |url-status=live }}</ref> Before the 1940s, it was called ''Masjid-i Janmasthan'' ("mosque of the birthplace") including in official documents.<ref name="janmasthan">Multiple sources state this fact:
*{{citation |last=Griffiths |first=Gareth |chapter=Open Spaces, Contested Places: Writing and the Fundamentalist Inscription of Territory |editor1=Axel Stähler |editor2=Klaus Stierstorfer |title=Writing Fundamentalism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFxJDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 |year=2009 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-1189-7 |page=63}}
*{{citation |first=K. |last=Jaishankar |chapter=Communal Violence and Terrorism in India |editor1=Thomas Albert Gilly |editor2=Yakov Gilinskiy |editor3=Vladimir Sergevnin |title=The Ethics of Terrorism: Innovative Approaches from an International Perspective (17 Lectures). |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w5SlnZilfMMC&pg=PA25 |year=2009 |publisher=Charles C Thomas Publisher |isbn=978-0-398-07995-6 |page=25 |quote=Before the 1940s, the Mosque was called Masjid-i Janmasthan}}
*{{harvnb|Narain, The Ayodhya Temple Mosque Dispute1993|pp=19, 27, 104}}</ref>

== Architecture ==
=== Background ===
{{Main|Indo-Islamic architecture}}

The rulers of the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and their successors, the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]], were great patrons of art and architecture and constructed many fine tombs, mosques and [[madrasa]]s. These have a distinctive style which bears influences of "later [[Tughlaq dynasty|Tughlaq]]" architecture. Mosques all over India were built in different styles; the most elegant styles developed in areas where indigenous art traditions were strong and local artisans were highly skilled. Thus regional or provincial styles of mosques grew out of local temple or domestic styles, which were conditioned in their turn by climate, terrain, materials, hence the enormous difference between the mosques of [[Bengal]], [[Kashmir]] and [[Gujarat]]. The Babri Mosque followed the architectural school of [[Jaunpur Sultanate]]. When viewed from the west side, it resembled the [[Atala Masjid, Jaunpur|Atala Masjid]] in [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MURuAAAAMAAJ |title=Babri-Masjid Ramjanambhoomi controversy |editor=Asgharali Engineer |publisher=Ajanta Publications |year=1990 |page=37 |isbn=9788120202832 }}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=May 2017}}

=== Architectural style ===
[[File:Ayodhya disputed site map.png|thumb|Site map of Babri Masjid]]
The architecture of the mosque is completely a replica of the mosques in the Delhi Sultanate. Babri was an important mosque of a distinct style, preserved mainly in architecture, [[Indo-Islamic architecture#Architecture of the Delhi Sultanate|developed after the Delhi Sultanate was established]], seen also in the Babari Mosque in the southern suburb of the walled city of Gaur, and the [[Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb|Jamali Kamili Mosque]] built by [[Sher Shah Suri]]. This was the forerunner of the [[Mughal architecture]] style adopted by Akbar.<ref>Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', p. 421, 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, {{ISBN|0300062176}}</ref>

=== Acoustics ===
"A whisper from the Babri Masjid [[mihrab]] could be heard clearly at the other end, 200 feet [60&nbsp;m] away and through the length and breadth of the central court" according to Graham Pickford, architect to [[Lord William Bentinck]] (1828–33). The mosque's acoustics were mentioned by him in his book ''Historic Structures of Oudhe'' where he says "for a 16th-century building the deployment and projection of voice from the pulpit is considerably advanced, the unique deployment of sound in this structure will astonish the visitor".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Memoirs+of+a+Mosque/1/113887.html |title=Memoirs of a Mosque |last1=Shankar |first1=Ravi |date=4 October 2010 |work=[[India Today]] |access-date=19 April 2017 |archive-date=20 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420045629/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Memoirs+of+a+Mosque/1/113887.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/446468/young-girls-rally-safeguard-secularism.html |title=Young girls rally to safeguard secularism |work=[[Deccan Herald]] |access-date=19 April 2017 |first1=Azaan |last1=Javaid |date=9 December 2014l |archive-date=19 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119132506/https://www.deccanherald.com/content/446468/young-girls-rally-safeguard-secularism.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== History ==
=== Construction ===
The date of construction of the Babri Masjid is uncertain. The inscriptions on the Babri Masjid premises found in the 20th century state that the mosque was built in 935&nbsp;[[Hijri year|AH]] (1528–29) by [[Mir Baqi]] in accordance with the wishes of Babur.{{sfn|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|page=xxix}} However, these inscriptions appear to be of a more recent vintage.{{sfn|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|loc=Chapter 5}}

There are no records of the mosque from this period. The ''[[Baburnama]]'' (Chronicles of Babur) does not mention either the mosque or the destruction of a temple.<ref name="KE_1995">{{cite book |author=K. Elst |title=Indian Epic Values: Rāmāyaṇa and Its Impact |publisher=Peeters Publishers |year=1995 |isbn=9789068317015 |editor=Gilbert Pollet |pages=28–29 |chapter=The Ayodhya Debate |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVnK3q48dL0C&pg=PA28}}</ref> The ''[[Ramcharitamanas]]'' of [[Tulsidas]] (1574) and ''[[Ain-i-Akbari|Ain-i Akbari]]'' of [[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak]] (1598) made no mention of a mosque either.{{sfn|Narain, The Ayodhya Temple Mosque Dispute|1993|p=17}}{{sfn|Jain, Rama and Ayodhya|2013|pp=165–166}} [[William Finch (merchant)|William Finch]], the English traveller who visited Ayodhya around 1611, wrote about the "ruins of the Ranichand [Ramachand] castle and houses" where Hindus believed the great God "took flesh upon him to see the ''tamasha'' of the world." He found ''pandas'' (Brahmin priests) in the ruins of the fort, recording the names of pilgrims, but there was no mention of a mosque.{{sfn|Jain, Rama and Ayodhya|2013|p=9, 120, 164}} [[Sir Thomas Herbert, 1st Baronet|Thomas Herbert]] described in 1634 the "pretty old castle of Ranichand built by a Bannyan Pagod of that name" which he described as an antique monument that was "especially memorable". He also recorded the fact of Brahmins recording the names of pilgrims.{{sfn|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|p=xv}}
[[File:Ram Janmsthan in Tarah 179 Ayodhya.jpg|thumb|The earliest map of Ram Janmasthan at Ayodhya (1717 CE)]]
The earliest record of a mosque at the site traditionally believed by Hindus to be the [[Ram Janmabhoomi|birthplace of Rama]] comes from [[Jai Singh&nbsp;II]] (or "Sawai Jai Singh") – a Rajput noble in the Mughal court who purchased land and established a ''Jaisinghpura'' in the area surrounding the mosque in 1717 (as he had also done in several other Hindu religious places). The documents of Jai Singh preserved in the Kapad-Dwar collection in the [[City Palace, Jaipur|City Palace Museum]] of [[Jaipur]],{{efn|Professor [[Ram Nath|R.&nbsp;Nath]], who has examined these records, concludes that Jai Singh had acquired the land of ''Rama Janmasthan'' in 1717. The ownership of the land was vested in the deity. The hereditary title of the ownership was recognised and enforced by the Mughal State from 1717. He also found a letter from a ''gumastha'' Trilokchand, dated 1723, stating that, while under the Muslim administration people had been prevented from taking a ritual bath in the Saryu river, the establishment of the ''Jaisinghpura'' has removed all impediments.{{sfn|Jain, Rama and Ayodhya|2013|pp=112–114}}}} include a sketch map of the Babri Masjid site. The map shows an open court yard and a built structure with three temple spires (''sikharas'') resembling today's Babri Masjid with three domes. The courtyard is labelled ''janmasthan'' and shows a ''Ram chabutra''. The central bay of the built structure is labelled ''chhathi'', which also denotes birthplace.{{sfn|Jain, Rama and Ayodhya|2013|pp=112–115}}

[[Joseph Tiefenthaler]], a European Jesuit missionary who lived and worked in India for 38 years (1743–1785), visited Ayodhya in 1767. He noted one Ramkot fortress — comprising the house that was considered as the birthplace of Rama by Hindus — to have been demolished by [[Aurangzeb]] (r.&nbsp;1658–1707); however, "others" said it to have been demolished by Babar. A mosque with three domes was constructed in its place but Hindus continued to offer prayers at a mud platform that marked the birthplace of Rama.<ref name="Robert_2003">{{cite book |author=[[Robert Hugh Layton|Robert Layton]] and [[Julian Thomas]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEOFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |title=Destruction and Conservation of Cultural Property |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-134-60498-2 |pages=2–9}}</ref>{{efn|{{harvnb|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|pp=xvi}} quotes from [[Joseph Tiefenthaler|Tiefenthaler]]'s ''Descriptio Indiae'' ({{circa}} 1772): "Emperor Aurangzeb got the fortress called Ramcot demolished and got a Muslim temple, with triple domes, constructed at the same place. Others say that it was constructed by 'Babor'. Fourteen black stone pillars of 5 span high, which had existed at the site of the fortress, are seen there. Twelve of these pillars now support the interior arcades of the mosque. Two (of these 12) are placed at the entrance of the cloister. The two others are part of the tomb of some 'Moor'.... On the left is seen a square box, raised five inches from the ground, with borders made of lime, with a length of more than 5 ells and a maximum width of about 4. The Hindus call it Bedi, i.e., 'the cradle'. The reason for this is that once upon a time, here was a house where Beschan [Vishnu] was born in the form of Ram. It is said that his three brothers too were born here. Aurangzeb or Babor, according to others, got this place razed in order to deny them the noble people, opportunity of practising their superstitions..."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tiefenthaler |first=Joseph |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.143241/page/n299/mode/2up |title=Description historique et géographique de l'Inde |volume=1. ''La Géographie de l'Indoustan'' |location=Berlin |publication-date=1786 |pages=253–254 |language=fr |translator-last=Bernoulli |translator-first=Jean}}</ref>}}

=== Inscriptions ===
''The Disputed Mosque: A Historical Inquiry'' by Sushil Srivastava mentions that the Babri Masjid has three inscriptions in Persian,  in different styles of [[calligraphy]], two outside and one inside the mosque-just above the pulpit. [[Annette Beveridge|A.S. Beveridge]]'s translation of the  inscription inside the mosque, mentions that by the order of Babar, Mir Baqi constructed the mosque in the year AH 935 (AD 1529).<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=The Babri Masjid Question, 1528-2003: 'A Matter of National Honour' |date=2014 |publisher=[[Tulika Books]] |isbn=9789382381457 |editor-last=Noorani |editor-first=A.G. |volume=1 |pages=89}}</ref> The summary of the findings of [[B. B. Lal]]'s excavating team by [[Swaraj Prakash Gupta|S. P. Gupta]] is in agreement with this inscription.<ref name=":1" /> Only six lines of one of the two external inscriptions are legible. The legible inscription has apparently been written in praise of God, prophet [[Muhammad]] and Babar, who has been called a [[Qalandar (title)|qalandar]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Srivastava |first=Sushil |title=The Disputed Mosque: A Historical Inquiry |publisher=[[Vistaar Publications]] |year=1991 |location=New Delhi}}</ref>

[[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton]] (Buchanan) did a survey of the Gorakhpur Division in 1813–14 on behalf of the British East India Company. His report was never published but partly reused by [[Robert Montgomery Martin|Montgomery Martin]] later. Kishore Kunal examined the original report in the [[British Library]] archives. It states that the Hindus generally attributed destruction "to the furious zeal of Aurangzabe". Yet, it was ascertained to have been built by Babur by relying upon "an inscription on its walls". The said inscription in Persian was said to have been copied by a scribe and translated by a Maulvi friend of Buchanan. The translation however contained five pieces of text, including ''two'' inscriptions. The first inscription said that the mosque was constructed by Mir Baqi in the year 935&nbsp;AH or 923&nbsp;AH.{{efn|{{harvnb|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|loc=Chapter 5}}: "By order of King Babur whose justice is a building reaching to the mansions of heaven, this alighting place of the angels was erected by Meer Baquee a nobleman impressed with the seal of happiness. This is lasting Charity in the year of its construction what declares in manifest "that good works are lasting." The anagram "good works are lasting" represented the year 935. "From the Tughra: There is no God but God, and Mohammad is the Prophet of God. Say, O'Mohammad, that God is one, that God is holy, unbegetting and unbegotten, and that he hath no equal."}} The second inscription narrated the genealogy of Aurangzeb.{{efn|{{harvnb|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|loc=Chapter 5}}:"The victorious lord, Mooheyoo Din, Aulumgir, Badshah, the destroyer of infidels, the son of Shah Juhan, the son of Juhangeer Shah; the son of Ukbar Shah; the son of Humayoon Shah, the son of Babur Shah; the son Oomer Sheikh Shah; the son of Soolatan Uboo Saeed; the son of Soolatan Moohammad Shah; the son of Meeran Shah, the son of Shaib-i-Qiran Meer Tymoor." "From the Tughra: In the name of God, most merciful I testify that there is no God but God. He is one, and without equal. I also testify that Mohammad is his Servant and Prophet." "Upon the propitious date of this noble erection, by this weak slave Moohummud Funa Ullah."}} In addition to the two inscriptions and their monograms (''tughras''), a fable concerning a dervish called Musha Ashiqan was also included. The translator doubted that the fable was part of the inscription but recorded that the scribe "positively says that the inscription was executed at the erection of this building". The translator also had a difficulty with the anagram for the date, because one of the words was missing, which would have resulted in a date of 923 AH rather than 935 AH. These incongruities and mismatches made no impression on Buchanan, who maintained that the mosque was built by Babur.{{sfn|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|loc=Chapter 5}}

In 1877, Syed Mohammad Asghar the Mutawalli (guardian) of the "Masjid Baburi at Janmasthan" filed a petition with the Commissioner of Faizabad asking him to restrain the Hindus that raised a chabutara on the spot regarded as the birthplace of Rama. In the petition, he stated that Babur had inscribed one word "Allah" above the door. The district judge and the sub-judge visited the mosque in the presence of all parties and their lawyers and confirmed this fact. No other inscriptions were recorded.{{sfn|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|loc=Chapter 5}} In 1889, archaeologist [[Alois Anton Führer|Anton Führer]] visited the mosque and found three inscriptions. One was a Quranic verse. The inscription XLI was Persian poetry in the metre Ramal, which stated that the mosque was erected by a noble 'Mir Khan' of Babur.{{efn|{{harvnb|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|p=168}}:
# By the order of Babur, the king of the world;
# This firmament-like, lofty;
# Strong building was erected;
# By the auspicious noble Mir Khan;
# May ever remain such a foundation;
# And such a king of the world.}} The inscription XLII was also Persian poetry in metre Ramal, and said that the mosque was founded in year 930&nbsp;AH by a grandee of Babur, who was (comparable to) "another King of Turkey and China".{{efn|{{harvnb|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|p=169}}:
# In the name of God, the merciful, the clement.
# In the name of him who...; may God perpetually keep him in the world.
# ....
# Such a sovereign who is famous in the world and in person of delight for the world.
# In his presence one of the grandees who is another King of Turkey and China.
# Laid this religious foundation in the auspicious Hijra 930.
# O God! May always remain the crown, throne and life with the king.
# May Babar always pour the flowers of happiness; may remain successful.
# His counsellor and minister who is the founder of this fort masjid.
# This poetry, giving the date and eulogy, was written by the lazy writer and poor servant Fath-Allah-Ghori, composer.}} The year 930 AH corresponds to 1523, three years before Babur's conquest of Hindustan. Despite the apparent contradiction, Führer published the date of "A.&nbsp;H.&nbsp;930 during the reign of Babar", in his book of 1891.{{sfn|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|loc=Chapter 5}}

Writer Kishore Kunal states that all the inscriptions claimed were fake. They were affixed almost 285 years after the supposed construction of the mosque in 1528, and repeatedly replaced.{{sfn|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|p=143}} His own assessment is that the mosque was built around 1660 by governor Fedai Khan of Aurangzeb, who demolished many temples in Ayodhya. Lal Das, who wrote ''Awadh-Vilasa'' in 1672 describes the ''janmasthan'' (Rama's birthplace) accurately but does not mention a temple at the site.{{sfn|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016|p=xxvii}}

These developments were apparently known to local Muslims. In mid-nineteenth century, the Muslim activist Mirza Jan quoted from a book ''Sahifa-I-Chihil Nasaih Bahadur Shahi'', which was said to have been written by a daughter of the emperor [[Bahadur Shah I]] (and granddaughter of [[Aurangzeb]]) in the early 18th century. The text mentions mosques having been constructed after demolishing the "temples of the idolatrous Hindus situated at [[Mathura]], [[Banaras]] and Awadh etc." Hindus are said to have called these demolished temples in Awadh "''Sita Rasoi''" (Sita's kitchen) and "Hanuman's abode."{{Sfn|Narain, The Ayodhya Temple Mosque Dispute|1993|pp=23–25}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEOFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |title=Destruction and Conservation of Cultural Property |author=[[Robert Hugh Layton|Robert Layton]] and [[Julian Thomas]] |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-134-60498-2 |page=8 }}</ref> While there was no mention of Babur in this account, the Ayodhya mosque had been juxtaposed with those built by Aurangzeb at Mathura and Banaras. The manuscript, ''Sahifa-I-Chihil Nasaih Bahadur Shahi'', has not yet been found, and scholar Stephan Conermann has stated that Mirza Jan book, ''Hadiqa-yi shuhada'', is not reliable.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/iaf/article/view/1588 |title=Muslimische Quellen in der Ram Janmabhumi Mandir-Babri Masjid Debatte |work=[[International Quarterly for Asian Studies|Internationales Asienforum]] |date=1994 |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-date=8 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008015139/https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/iaf/article/view/1588 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some historians like [[Ram Sharan Sharma|R.S. Sharma]], [[M. Athar Ali]], [[D. N. Jha|D.N. Jha]] and Archeologist [[Suraj Bhan (archaeologist)|Suraj Bhan]] have concluded in their work, ''A Historians' Report to the Nation,'' that It is very likely, that the work (''Sahifa-I-Chihil Nasaih Bahadur Shahi'') or the passage (quoted above in this paragraph) was a figment of Mirza Jan's imagination.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Babri Masjid Question, 1528-2003: 'A Matter of National Honour' |date=2014 |publisher=[[Tulika Books]] |isbn=9789382381457 |editor-last=Noorani |editor-first=A.G. |volume=1 |pages=45}}</ref>

=== 1880s temple construction attempts ===
In 1853, a group of armed Hindu ascetics from [[Hanuman Garhi Temple|Hanuman Garhi temple]] occupied the Babri Masjid.<ref name="Roma_2014">{{citation |last=Chatterji |first=Roma |title=Wording the World: Veena Das and Scenes of Inheritance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJOUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT406 |year=2014 |publisher=Fordham University Press |isbn=978-0-8232-6187-1 |page=406}}: "British administrative records show that the dispute began around 1853, when armed Hindu ascetics occupied the birthplace."</ref> Periodic violence erupted in the next two years, and the civil administration had to step in, refusing permission to build a temple or to use it as a place of worship. Gulam Hussain led a group of [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]] who asserted that the mosque site was home to the Hanuman temple in 1855. After a Hindu-Muslim clash, a boundary wall was constructed to avoid further disputes. It divided the mosque premises into two courtyards; the Muslims offered prayers in the inner courtyard. In 1857, the ''mahant'' of the Hanuman Garhi temple erected a raised platform and marked the site of Rama's birth.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ludden |first=David |title=Contesting the nation : religion community, and the politics of democracy in India |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-8122-1585-0 |location=Philadelphia |pages=38 |language=English}}</ref> The Hindus offered their prayers on a raised platform, known as "Ram Chabutara", in the outer courtyard.<ref name="Roma_2014" /><ref name="SGopal_1993">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=47AARF595dUC&pg=PA65 |title=Anatomy of a Confrontation: Ayodhya and the Rise of Communal Politics in India |author=[[Sarvepalli Gopal]] |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=1993 |isbn=978-1-85649-050-4 |pages=64–77 }}</ref>

In 1883, the Hindus launched an effort to construct a temple on the platform. After Muslim protests, the deputy commissioner prohibited any temple construction on 19 January 1885. On 27 January 1885, Raghubar Das, the Hindu [[mahant]] (priest) of the Ram Chabutara filed a civil suit before the Faizabad Sub-Judge. In response, the ''mutawalli'' (Muslim trustee) of the mosque argued that the entire land belonged to the mosque.<ref name="Roma_2014" /> On 24 December 1885, the Sub Judge Pandit Hari Kishan Singh dismissed the suit. On 18 March 1886, the District Judge F.E.A. Chamier also dismissed an appeal against the lower court judgment. He agreed that the mosque was built on the land considered sacred by the Hindus, but ordered maintenance of [[status quo]], since it was "too late now to remedy the grievance". A subsequent appeal before the Judicial Commissioner W. Young was also dismissed on 1 November 1886.<ref name="SGopal_1993" />

On 27 March 1934, a Hindu–Muslim riot occurred in Ayodhya, triggered by cow slaughter in the nearby Shahjahanpur village. The walls around the Masjid and one of the domes of the Masjid were damaged during the riots. These were reconstructed by the [[British Raj|British Indian government]].{{Citation needed|reason=Your explanation here|date=October 2016}}

=== Shia–Sunni dispute ===
In 1936, the [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]] government enacted U.P. Muslim Waqf Act for the better administration of [[waqf]] properties in the state. In accordance with this act, the Babri Masjid and its adjacent graveyard (Ganj-e-Saheedan Qabristan) were registered as ''Waqf no.&nbsp;26 Faizabad'' with the [[Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board|UP Sunni Central Board of Waqfs]]. The [[Shia Islam|Shias]] disputed the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] ownership of the mosque, claiming that the site belonged to them because Mir Baqi was a Shia.<ref name="Roma_2014" /> The Commissioner of Waqfs initiated an inquiry into the dispute. The inquiry concluded that the mosque belonged to the Sunnis, since it was commissioned by [[Babur]], who was a Sunni. The concluding report was published in an official gazette dated 26 February 1944. In 1945, the Shia Central Board moved to court against this decision. On 23 March 1946, Judge S. A. Ahsan ruled in favour of the UP Sunni Central Board of Waqfs.<ref name="SGopal_1993" />

=== Placement of Hindu idols ===
In December 1949, the Hindu organisation Akhil Bharatiya Ramayana Mahasabha organised a non-stop nine-day recitation of the ''[[Ramacharitamanas]]'' just outside the mosque. At the end of this event, on the night of 22–23 December 1949, a group of 50–60 people entered the mosque and placed idols of [[Rama]] there. On the morning of 23 December, the event organisers asked Hindu devotees to come to the mosque for a ''[[darśana|darshan]]''. As thousands of Hindus started visiting the place, the Government declared the mosque a disputed area and locked its gates.<ref name="SGopal_1993" />

Home Minister [[Vallabhbhai Patel]] and Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] directed the state's [[Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh|Chief Minister]]  [[Govind Ballabh Pant]] to remove the idols, however Pant was not willing to remove the idols. Pant wrote in response that "there is a reasonable chance of success, but things are still in a fluid state and it will be hazardous to say more at this stage".<ref name="Godbole 1996">{{cite book | last=Godbole | first=M. | title=Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant | publisher=Orient Longman | year=1996 | isbn=978-81-250-0883-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ItQF4g08KbwC&pg=PA332 | access-date=2024-01-04 | pages=332–333}}</ref><ref name="Gehlot 1998 p. 203">{{cite book | last=Gehlot | first=N.S. | title=Current Trends in Indian Politics | publisher=Deep & Deep Publications | year=1998 | isbn=978-81-7100-798-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-c0nGTRxRIC&pg=PA203 | page=203}}</ref> By 1950, the state took control of the structure under section 145 CrPC and allowed Hindus, not Muslims, to perform their worship at the site.<ref name="Chatterji">{{cite book | last=Chatterji | first=Roma  | title=Wording the World: Veena Das and Scenes of Inheritance | publisher=Fordham University Press | series=Forms of Living | year=2014 | isbn=978-0-8232-6187-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJOUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT408 | page=408}}</ref>

On 16 January 1950, Gopal Singh Visharad filed a civil suit in the Faizabad Court, asking that Hindus be allowed to worship Rama and Sita at the place. In 1959, the [[Nirmohi Akhara]] filed another lawsuit demanding possession of the mosque. On 18 December 1961, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board also filed a lawsuit, demanding possession of the site and removal of idols from the mosque premises.<ref name="SGopal_1993" />

== Demolition ==
{{Main|Demolition of the Babri Masjid}}
{{Further|Ram Rath Yatra}}

In April 1984, the [[Vishwa Hindu Parishad]] (VHP) initiated a campaign to gather public support for Hindu access to the Babri Masjid and other structures that had been allegedly built over Hindu shrines. To raise public awareness, VHP planned nationwide ''rath yatra''s (chariot processions<ref>*{{citation |last=Jaffrelot |first=Christophe |author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot|title=The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-85065-301-1 |page=417}}</ref>), the first of which took place in September–October 1984, from [[Sitamarhi]] to Ayodhya. The campaign was temporarily suspended after the [[assassination of Indira Gandhi]], but was revived in 25 places on 23 October 1985. On 25 January 1986, a 28-year-old local lawyer named Umesh Chandra Pandey appealed to a court to remove the restrictions on Hindu worship in the Babri Masjid premises.<ref name="SGopal_1993" /> Subsequently, the [[Rajiv Gandhi]] government ordered the locks on the Babri Masjid gates to be removed. Earlier, the only Hindu ceremony permitted at the site was a Hindu priest performing an annual [[puja (Hinduism)|puja]]. After the ruling, all Hindus were given access to the site, and the mosque gained some function as a Hindu temple.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article/what-if-rajiv-hadnt-unlocked-babri-masjid/224878 |title=What If Rajiv Hadn't Unlocked Babri Masjid? |work=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)]] |date=23 August 2004 |access-date=20 June 2012 |first1=Koenraad |last1=Elst |archive-date=27 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127100259/http://www.outlookindia.com/article/what-if-rajiv-hadnt-unlocked-babri-masjid/224878 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Communal tension in the region worsened when the VHP received permission to perform a ''shilanyas'' (stone-laying ceremony) at the disputed site before the national election in November 1989. A senior [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) leader, [[L K Advani]], started a ''[[Ram Rath Yatra|rath yatra]]'', embarking on a 10,000&nbsp;km journey starting from the south and heading towards Ayodhya. On 6 December 1992, BJP, VHP and [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS) leaders gathered at the site to offer prayers and perform a symbolic ''[[kar seva]]''. At noon, a teenage ''Kar Sevak'' (volunteer) was "vaulted" on to the dome and that signalled the breaking of the outer cordon. Soon after, a large number of kar sevaks demolished the mosque.

=== Aftermath ===
Communal riots between Hindus and Muslims ensued across India immediately following demolition of the mosque. Rioting in the immediate aftermath resulted in the deaths of an estimated 2,000–3,000 people.<ref name="Haar Busuttil 2005">{{cite book | last1=Haar | first1=G.T. | last2=Busuttil | first2=J.J. | title=Bridge Or Barrier: Religion, Violence, and Visions for Peace | publisher=Brill | series=International Studies in Religion and Society | year=2005 | isbn=978-90-04-13943-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_cYI2EH0uHwC&pg=PA57 | access-date=2024-01-21 |quote=In the 1992 Babri Masjid incident, Hindu-Muslim massacres claimed at least 3,000 lives.| page=57}}</ref><ref name="Tablet Publishing Company">{{cite book | title=The Tablet | publisher=Tablet Publishing Company | year=2002 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2nhAAAAMAAJ | access-date=2024-01-21 | page=4|quote=Babri Masjid mosque at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, the site of appalling communal vio- lence in 1992. In that year Hindu zealots tore down the 400 - year - old mosque, triggering violence which led to the deaths of 3,000 people.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11436552 | work=BBC News | title=Timeline: Ayodhya holy site crisis | date=30 September 2010 | access-date=20 June 2018 | archive-date=26 December 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226123626/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11436552 | url-status=live }}</ref> Six weeks of riots further [[Bombay riots|erupted in Bombay]], resulting in the deaths of an estimated 900 people.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-bookreview/the-mumbai-riots-in-historic-context/article3395359.ece |title=The Mumbai riots in historic context |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |first1=Asghar Ali |last1=Engineer |access-date=21 January 2016 |archive-date=4 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204135511/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-bookreview/the-mumbai-riots-in-historic-context/article3395359.ece |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/jyoti-punwani-why-theres-no-noise-about-the-mumbai-riots/20140204.htm |title=Why there's no noise about the Mumbai riots |work=[[Rediff.com]] |date=4 February 2014 |first1=Jyoti |last1=Punwani |access-date=21 January 2016 |archive-date=29 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129170545/https://www.rediff.com/news/column/jyoti-punwani-why-theres-no-noise-about-the-mumbai-riots/20140204.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Jihadist outfits like [[Indian Mujahideen]] and [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] have cited the demolition of Babri Masjid as justification for attacks directed against India.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article/the-latest-indian-mujahideen-mail/268602 |title=The Latest 'Indian Mujahideen Mail' |first1=B. |last1=Raman |work=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)]] |date=9 December 2010 |access-date=20 June 2012 |archive-date=22 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022185833/http://www.outlookindia.com/article/The-Latest-Indian-Mujahideen-Mail/268602 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/blast-a-revenge-for-babri-mail/361167/1 |title=Blast a revenge for Babri: mail |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=14 September 2008 |access-date=20 June 2012 |first1=Amitabh |last1=Sinha |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225031327/http://archive.indianexpress.com/static/sorry/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Gordon /> [[D-Company]] Crime Boss [[Dawood Ibrahim]], wanted in India for his alleged ties to the [[1993 Bombay bombings]] which killed 257 people, is believed to have been infuriated by Babri Masjid's demolition.<ref name=Gordon />

The site has since become a magnet for pilgrims.<ref name="eco">{{cite news|title=The unfinished Partition of India and Pakistan|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21726729-seventy-years-after-two-countries-split-many-hindus-and-muslims-are-still-trying|access-date=19 August 2017|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=17 August 2017|archive-date=19 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819100557/https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21726729-seventy-years-after-two-countries-split-many-hindus-and-muslims-are-still-trying|url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''[[The Economist]]'', "Among its souvenir stalls, those doing the briskest trade are the ones playing videos on a loop of Hindu fundamentalists demolishing the mosque."<ref name="eco" />

=== Regional impact ===
Riots in the aftermath of Babri Masjid's demolition extended to [[Bangladesh]], where hundreds of shops, homes and temples of Hindus were destroyed.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,MARP,,BGD,,469f3869c,0.html |title=Refworld &#124; Chronology for Hindus in Bangladesh |date=16 October 1993 |access-date=20 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018084907/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country%2C%2CMARP%2C%2CBGD%2C%2C469f3869c%2C0.html |archive-date=18 October 2012 }}</ref> Widespread retaliatory attacks against scores of Hindu and Jain temples also took place across neighbouring [[Pakistan]], with police not intervening.<ref name="NYT1992">{{cite news |title=Pakistanis Attack 30 Hindu Temples |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/world/pakistanis-attack-30-hindu-temples.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |language=en |date=8 December 1992 |quote=In Lahore, Muslims used a bulldozer, hammers and hands to demolish the Jain Mandar temple near Punjab University. The police did not intervene. |access-date=2 February 2019 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225202434/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/world/pakistanis-attack-30-hindu-temples.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gordon">{{cite book|last1=Gordon|first1=Sandy|last2=Gordon|first2=A. D. D.|title=India's Rise as an Asian Power: Nation, Neighborhood, and Region|date=2014|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=978-1-62616-074-3|pages=54–58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xllmBAAAQBAJ&q=pakistan+hindu+temple+babri&pg=PA54|access-date=27 May 2017}}</ref> Reprisal attacks against Hindus in both countries, in turn, entered the discourse of [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]] [[Hindu nationalist]]s – for example, in 1995, the VHP appealed to the [[United Nations]] to protect Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and [[Kashmir]].<ref name=Gordon /> Babri Masjid's demolition and its violent repercussions have negatively affected relations between India and Pakistan, and remain strained until the present day.<ref name=Gordon />

=== Liberhan Commission ===
{{See also|Liberhan Commission#Findings}}
The [[Liberhan Commission]] set up by the Government to investigate the demolition later blamed 68 people including senior BJP, RSS and VHP leaders for the demolition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/report_sequence_of_events_on_december_6.php |title=Report: Sequence of events on December 6 |publisher=Ndtv.com |access-date=20 June 2012 |archive-date=4 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104100817/http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/report-sequence-of-events-on-december-6-11977 |url-status=live }}</ref> Among those criticised in the report were [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]], the party's chief LK Advani, and chief minister [[Kalyan Singh]].<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/11/2009112454918803725.html Uproar over India mosque report: Inquiry into Babri mosque's demolition in 1992 indicts opposition BJP leaders] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131082341/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/11/2009112454918803725.html |date=31 January 2010 }} Al-Jazeera English – 24 November 2009</ref> A 2005 book by the former [[Intelligence Bureau (India)|Intelligence Bureau]] (IB) Joint Director [[Maloy Krishna Dhar]] claimed the senior leaders of RSS, BJP, VHP and [[Bajrang Dal]] had planned the demolition 10 months in advance. He also suggested that the Indian National Congress leaders, including prime minister [[P V Narasimha Rao]] and home minister [[Shankarrao Chavan|S B Chavan]], had ignored warnings about the demolition for deriving political benefits.<ref name="newindpress.com">[http://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/babri-masjid-demolition-was-planned-10-months-in-advance-book/276473 Babri Masjid demolition was planned 10 months in advance – PTI] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202030501/http://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/babri-masjid-demolition-was-planned-10-months-in-advance-book/276473 |date=2 February 2017 }}, Outlook, 30 January 2005.</ref>

== Archaeological excavations ==
{{Main|Archaeology of Ayodhya}}

In 2003, by the order of an Indian court, the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (ASI) was asked to conduct a more in-depth study and an excavation to ascertain the type of structure that was beneath the rubble.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ratnagar |first=Shereen |date=April 2004 |title=Archaeology at the Heart of a Political Confrontation: The Case of Ayodhya |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/5696/1/5696.pdf |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=239–259 |doi=10.1086/381044 |jstor=10.1086/381044 |s2cid=149773944 |access-date=20 April 2018 |archive-date=24 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724224106/http://dro.dur.ac.uk/5696/1/5696.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The excavation was conducted from 12 March 2003 to 7 August 2003, resulting in 1360 discoveries. The ASI submitted its report to the Allahabad high court.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/22ayo.htm |title=ASI submits report on Ayodhya excavation |work=[[Rediff.com]] |date=22 August 2003 |access-date=20 June 2012 |agency=PTI |archive-date=26 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026011030/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/22ayo.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The summary of the ASI report indicated what appears to be the presence of a 10th-century shrine under the mosque.<ref name="week">{{cite news |url=http://www.the-week.com/23sep07/events1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050323101829/http://www.the-week.com/23sep07/events1.htm |last1=Prasannan |first1=R. |archive-date=23 March 2005 |date=7 September 2003 |title=Ayodhya: Layers of truth |work=[[The Week (Indian magazine)]]}}</ref><ref name="trib">{{cite news | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030826/main6.htm | last=Suryamurthy | first=R | title=ASI findings may not resolve title dispute | newspaper=The Tribune | date=26 August 2003 | access-date=29 July 2007 | archive-date=11 April 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411193402/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030826/main6.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> According to the ASI team, the human activity at the site dates back to the 13th century BC. The next few layers date back to the [[Shunga dynasty|Shunga]] period (2nd-1st century BC) and the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] period. During the early medieval period (11–12th century), a short-lived structure of nearly 50 metres with north–south orientation was constructed. On the remains of this structure, another massive structure was constructed: this structure had at least three structural phases and three successive floors attached with it. The report concluded that it was over this construction that the disputed structure was constructed during the early 16th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/25ayo1.htm |title=Proof of temple found at Ayodhya: ASI report |work=Rediff.com |date=25 August 2003 |access-date=20 June 2012 |archive-date=26 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926043755/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/25ayo1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Muslim groups immediately disputed the ASI findings. The Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat) criticised the report saying that it said that "presence of animal bones throughout as well as of the use of 'surkhi' and lime mortar" that was found by ASI are all characteristic of Muslim presence "that rule out the possibility of a Hindu temple having been there beneath the mosque." The report claimed otherwise on the basis of 'pillar bases' was contested since no pillars were found, and the alleged existence of 'pillar bases' has been debated by archaeologists.<ref name=thehindu-03Oct10>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article809521.ece| title=Ayodhya verdict yet another blow to secularism: Sahmat|date =3 October 2010|newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India |access-date=1 November 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101006063051/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article809521.ece| archive-date= 6 October 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> Syed Rabe Hasan Nadvi, chairman of the [[All India Muslim Personal Law Board]] (AIMPLB) alleged that ASI failed to mention any evidence of a temple in its interim reports and only revealed it in the final report which was submitted during a time of national tension, making the report highly suspect.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2019/stories/20030926005412900.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117033841/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2019/stories/20030926005412900.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=17 November 2007|author=Muralidharan, Sukumar|date=September 2003|title= Ayodhya: Not the last word yet|publisher=Frontline}}</ref>

The Allahabad High Court, however, upheld the ASI's findings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/How-Allahabad-HC-exposed-experts-espousing-Masjid-cause/articleshow/6716643.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104114435/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-10-09/india/28254384_1_asi-excavations-experts-waqf-board |url-status=live |archive-date=4 November 2012 |title=How Allahabad HC exposed 'experts' espousing Masjid cause|newspaper=[[The Times of India]] |date=9 October 2010|first1=Abhinav |last1=Garg |access-date=1 November 2010}}</ref>

== Title cases verdict ==
A land title case on the site was lodged in the [[Allahabad High Court]], the verdict of which was pronounced on 30 September 2010. In their verdict, the three judges of The Allahabad High Court ruled that the {{convert|2+3/4|acre|ha|order=flip}} of Ayodhya land be divided into three parts, with one-third going to the [[Rama|Ram Lalla]] or Infant Lord Rama represented by the [[Hindu Maha Sabha]] for the construction of the Ram temple, one-third going to the Islamic [[Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board]] and the remaining one-third going to [[Nirmohi Akhara]], a Hindu religious denomination. While the three-judge bench was not unanimous that the disputed structure was constructed after demolition of a temple, it did agree that a temple or a temple structure predated the mosque at the same site.<ref>[http://www.allahabadhighcourt.in/ayodhyabench4.html Ram Janm Bhumi Babri Masjid: Gist of Judgments] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928085435/http://www.allahabadhighcourt.in/ayodhyabench4.html |date=28 September 2011 }}</ref> The excavations by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] were heavily used as evidence by the court that the predating structure was a massive Hindu religious building.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://elegalix.allahabadhighcourt.in/elegalix/ayodhyafiles/hondvsj-gist-vol1.pdf |title=Issues For Briefing |publisher=Allahabad High Court |access-date=11 June 2012 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225023953/http://elegalix.allahabadhighcourt.in/elegalix/ayodhyafiles/hondvsj-gist-vol1.pdf%20 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The five judge [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]] bench heard the title dispute cases from August to October 2019. The Court observed that archaeological evidence from ASI shows that the Babri Masjid was constructed on a "structure", whose architecture was distinctly indigenous and non-Islamic.<ref name="BBC 2019" /><ref name=hindubusinessline-16Oct19 /> The court concluded that no evidence was found that the structure was specifically demolished for the construction of the Babri Masjid.<ref name="Daniyal 2019">{{cite web | last=Daniyal | first=Shoaib | title=No, the Supreme Court did not uphold the claim that Babri Masjid was built by demolishing a temple | website=Scroll.in | date=2019-11-11 | url=https://scroll.in/article/943337/no-the-supreme-court-did-not-uphold-the-claim-that-babri-masjid-was-built-by-demolishing-a-temple}}</ref> On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the land to be handed over to a trust to build the Hindu temple. It also ordered the government to allot an alternative {{convert|5|acre|ha|0|order=flip|adj=on}} plot to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board to build a mosque,<ref name=timesofindia-09Nov19 /> which the government allotted in [[Dhannipur]], Ayodhya.<ref name=indiatoday-05Feb20>{{Cite news|title=Where is Dhannipur? All about the site allotted to Sunni Waqf Board for a mosque|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/30-km-from-where-babri-masjid-stood-here-s-all-you-need-to-know-about-dhannipur-1643583-2020-02-05|date=5 February 2020|work=[[India Today]]|access-date=28 August 2020|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801101213/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/30-km-from-where-babri-masjid-stood-here-s-all-you-need-to-know-about-dhannipur-1643583-2020-02-05|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=businessstandard-14Feb2020 /> {{asof|2024|09}}, construction of the new mosque had not commenced.<ref name="not commenced"/>

== See also ==
{{stack|{{portal|India|Islam|Hinduism}}}}
* [[Islam in India]]
* [[Hinduism in India]]
* [[List of mosques in India]]
* [[Conversion of mosques into non-Islamic places of worship]]
* [[Conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques]]
* [[Conversion of non-Hindu places of worship into temples]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist|30em}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== General sources ===
* {{cite web|author=Allahabad High Court |title=Decision of Hon'ble Special Full Bench hearing Ayodhya Matters |date=30 August 2010 |url=http://elegalix.allahabadhighcourt.in/elegalix/DisplayAyodhyaBenchLandingPage.do |access-date=27 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140827003623/http://elegalix.allahabadhighcourt.in/elegalix/DisplayAyodhyaBenchLandingPage.do |archive-date=27 August 2014}}
* {{cite book |last=Jain |first=Meenakshi |author-link=Meenakshi Jain |title=Rama and Ayodhya |publisher=Aryan Books |location=New Delhi |year=2013 |isbn=978-8173054518 |ref={{sfnref|Jain, Rama and Ayodhya|2013}}}}
* {{citation |first=Kishore |last=Kunal |title=Ayodhya Revisited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKKaDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA335 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |year=2016 |isbn=978-81-8430-357-5 |ref={{sfnref|Kunal, Ayodhya Revisited|2016}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Narain |first=Harsh |title=The Ayodhya Temple Mosque Dispute: Focus on Muslim Sources |location=Delhi |publisher=Penman Publishers |year=1993 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheAyodhyaTempleMosqueDisputeHarshNarain |ref={{sfnref|Narain, The Ayodhya Temple Mosque Dispute|1993}}}}
* {{cite journal |last1=van der Veer |first1=Peter |title=Ayodhya and Somnath: Eternal Shrines, Contested Histores |journal=Social Research |date=1992 |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=85–109 |jstor=40970685 |issn=0037-783X}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Ram Sharan Sharma]]. ''Communal History and Rama's Ayodhya'', People's Publishing House (PPH), 2nd Revised Edition, September 1999, [[Delhi]]. Translated into [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Hindi]], [[Kannada]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and [[Urdu]]. Two versions in [[Bengali language|Bengali]].
* [[Sita Ram Goel]]: ''[[Hindu Temples – What Happened to Them]]'', Voice of India, Delhi 1991. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120106215501/http://voi.org/books/htemples1/ 1] [https://web.archive.org/web/20120111100933/http://voi.org/books/htemples2/ 2]

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.thehindu.com/news/article54082.ece Report of Liberhan Enquiry Commission on Demolition of Babri Masjid] 
* {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anD8395IUnY |title=Babri Masjid Todne Ki Asli Kahani |date=2025-10-18 |last=Dr. Ruchika Sharma |access-date=2025-10-18 |via=YouTube}}

{{Mosques in India}}
{{Faizabad division topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:16th-century mosques in India]]
[[Category:Attacks on mosques in India]]
[[Category:Ayodhya dispute]]
[[Category:Ayodhya]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1992]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in India]]
[[Category:Destroyed mosques]]
[[Category:Former mosques in India]]
[[Category:Mosques completed in the 1520s]]
[[Category:Mosques in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Mughal mosques]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1529]]