India's Waqf history finds its roots in the Delhi Sultanate when Sultan Muizuddin Sam Ghaor gave two villages for the Jama Masjid of Multan, the government said in 2024. The number of Waqf properties increased as Islamic dynasties flourished. In the late 19th century, four British judges declared Waqf as invalid, calling it "a perpetuity of the worst kind".