Explanation

The mosque has a strange story of being razed and plundered during Sikh rule. The top minarets were destroyed by a great fire in June 1895. Paolo Bartolomeo Avitabile (Abu Tabela), an Italian mercenary serving as governor of Peshawar under Ranjeet Singh used to hang a local tribesman each day at the top of the minaret. However, local faithfuls and later on the British rebuilt the historic mosque.