Date of establishment: 1820 (from Malacca govt accounts)
Date of build: Not known by surviving descendants whose ancestors build this masjid
Google map location: http://g.co/maps/xxtqx
The roof is set in Chinese style (bumbung Cina), much like that of the roofs of the pagoda, with eaves curved upwards.
Nobody remembers who built this mosque. History has it that the Arabs who first came here build the mosque. Eight generations had lived by this mosque when my family arrived to live in Banda Hilir in 1955. I have never been inside this mosque at all.
Its old name was Masjid Banda Hilir. Its new name is Masjid An-Nur. Even with its new name change, the Malacca people still refer to it and still call it Masjid Banda Hilir, and not Masjid An-Nur.
It is the only surviving mosque in Banda Hilir today. There are no mosques in Banda Hilir except this mosque.
History has it that the Portuguese destroyed all the mosques in Banda Hilir and took the bricks from the ruins to make their fort which is called fortaleza in Portuguese and known to the world as Porta de Santiago or A'Famosa to most Malaysians. This fort is well depicted in all Portuguese maps of Malacca.
You can try Google the following names to find ancient maps of Malacca:
Fortaleza de Malaca
A'Famosa
Porta de Santiago
O Livro das Plantas das Fortalezas, Cidades e Povoaçoes do Estado da India Oriental (1630s)
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