Qutb Minar complex

Coordinates: 28°31′28″N 77°11′08″E / 28.524382°N 77.185430°E / 28.524382; 77.185430
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Qutub Minar
LocationMehrauli, India
CriteriaCultural: iv
Reference233
Inscription1993 (17th Session)
Coordinates28°31′28″N 77°11′08″E / 28.524382°N 77.185430°E / 28.524382; 77.185430
Qutb Minar complex is located in Delhi
Qutb Minar complex
Location of Qutb Minar complex in Delhi
Qutb Minar complex is located in India
Qutb Minar complex
Qutb Minar complex (India)

The Qutb Minar complex are monuments and buildings from the

Sultan of Delhi from the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1412) in 1368 AD. The Qubbat-ul-Islam Mosque (Dome of Islam), later corrupted into Quwwat-ul Islam,[2] stands next to the Qutb Minar.[3][4][5][6]

Many subsequent rulers, including the

Alauddin Khalji and the British added structures to the complex.[7] Apart from the Qutb Minar and the Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque, other structures in the complex include the Alai Darwaza gate, the Alai Minar and the Iron pillar
. Inside the complex lie the tombs of Iltutmish, Alauddin Khalji and Imam Zamin.[4]

Today, the adjoining area spread over with a host of old monuments, including

INTACH has restored some 40 monuments in the Park.[8] It is also the venue of the annual 'Qutub Festival', held in November–December, where artists, musicians and dancers perform over three days.[9]

Alai Darwaza

Main article: Alai Darwaza
Close up of the inscriptions on entrance arch, Alai Darwaza built by Alauddin Khalji

The Alai Darwaza is a main gateway from southern side of the qutub.

Ala-ud-din Khalji in 1311 AD, who also added a court to the pillared to the eastern side. The domed gateway is decorated with red stone and inlaid white marble decorations, inscriptions in Naskh script, latticed stone screens and showcases the remarkable craftsmanship of the Turkish artisans who worked on it. This is the first building in India to employ Islamic architecture principles in its construction and ornamentation.[4]

The

Delhi sultanate
period. With its pointed arches and spearhead of fringes, identified as lotus buds, it adds grace to the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque to which it served as an entrance.

Qutb Minar

Qutb Minar and Alai Darwaza (Alai Gate), the entrance to the Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque
Main article: Qutb Minar

The

Indo-Islamic Architecture. The Qutb Minar is 72.5 metres (239 ft) high, making it the tallest minaret in the world built of bricks.[12] It has five distinct storeys, each marked by a projecting balcony carried on muqarnas corbel and tapers from a diameter 14.3 metres at the base to 2.7 metres at the top, which is 379 steps away. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with surrounding buildings and monuments.[13]

Built as a Victory Tower, to celebrate the victory of

Aibak to that of Tughlaq dynasty.[17]
The inside has intricate carvings of the verses from the Quran.

The

namaz.[19][20] Also marking a progression in era, is the appearance of inscriptions in a bold and cursive Thuluth script of calligraphy on the Qutb Minar, distinguished by strokes that thicken on the top, as compared to Kufic in earlier part of the construction.[21]

Inscriptions also indicate further repairs by Sultan

Sikander Lodi in 1503, when it was struck by lightning once again. In 1802, the cupola on the top was thrown down and the whole pillar was damaged by an earthquake. It was repaired by Major R. Smith of the Royal Engineers who restored the Qutub Minar in 1823 replacing the cupola with a Bengali-style chhatri which was later removed by Governor General, Lord Hardinge in 1848, as it looked out of place, and now stands in the outer lawns of the complex, popularly known as Smith's Folly.[3][19][22][23]

After an accident involving school children, entry to the Qutub Minar is closed to public since 1981, while Qutub archaeological area remains open for public.[24] In 2004, Seismic monitors were installed on the minar, which revealed in 2005 Delhi earthquake, no damage or substantial record of shakes. The reason for this has been cited as the use of lime mortar and rubble masonry which absorbs the tremors; it is also built on rocky soil, which further protects it during earthquakes.[22]

Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque

Quwwat-ul-Islam (or Might of Islam) mosque started in 1193 CE by Qutb-ud-din-Aibak to mark his victory over the Rajputs

The Quwwat-ul-Islam (

Qutb-ud-din Aibak, founder of the Mamluk or Slave dynasty and built using spolia from 27 temples.[25] It was built near the site of a pre-demolished large temple located in the centre of a citadel.[26]

'The conqueror entered the city and its vicinity was freed from idols and idol-worship; and in the sanctuaries of the images of the gods, mosques were raised by the worshippers of the one God.'

— Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak's chronicler, Hasan Nizami, Taj-ul-Maasir[27]

It was the first mosque built in Delhi after the Islamic conquest of India and the oldest surviving example of

qutub, an Axis or Pole of Islam.[29] It is reminiscent in style and design of the Adhai-din-ka Jhonpra or Ajmer mosque at Ajmer, Rajasthan, also built by Aibak during the same time, also constructed by demolishing earlier temples and a Sanskrit school, at the site.[30]

Intricate stone carvings on the cloister columns at Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque, Qutb complex, Delhi – Hindu pillars sporting Hindu iconography[27]

Of the site selected by Aibak for the construction of a mosque,

Mamluk Sultan Iltutmish, rather than to Qutb ud-Din Aibak as is commonly accepted.[33] Ibn Batuta also states that near the eastern gate of the mosque were two very big idols of copper connected together by stones. Every one who left the mosque treaded over them.[34]

The mosque is one of the earliest extant mosques in India. The original dimensions of the mosque had a courtyard measuring 43 m (141 ft) by 33 m (108 ft). The prayer hall, located on the west measures 45 m (148 ft) by 12 m (39 ft). The mosque has grey colonnades made of greystone with three bays in east and two bays deep on the north and the south. Extensions were made to the mosque during 1296 when its dimensions in north and south were extended by 35 m (115 ft). The famous iron pillar is located on the stone pavement in front of it, while

Qutub Minar is located west of the main entrance. The central arch of the mosque is ogee in shape and is 6.5 m (21 ft) wide and 16 m (52 ft) tall. The side arches are smaller in size. The screen is sculpted with religious texts and floral patterns. Desai believes that the mosque was not constructed in scientific style but in Corbel style as indicated by the variations in the pattern of the arches.[35]

The mosque is built on a raised and paved courtyard, measuring 141 ft (43 m) × 105 ft (32 m), surrounded by pillared

mandap dome from temples, whose pillars are used extensively throughout the edifice, and in the sanctuary beyond the tall arched screens. What survives today of the sanctuary on the western side are the arched screens in between, which once led to a series of aisles with low-domed ceilings for worshippers.[28] Expansion of the mosque continued after the death of Qutb. Qutbuddin's successor Iltutmish, extended the original prayer hall screen by three more arches. By the time of Iltutmish, the Mamluk empire had stabilised enough that the Sultan could replace most of his conscripted Hindu masons with Muslims. This explains why the arches added under Iltutmish are stylistically more Islamic than the ones erected under Qutb's rule, also because the material used was not from demolished temples. Some additions to the mosque were also done by Alauddin Khalji, including the Alai Darwaza, the formal entrance to the mosque in red sandstone and white marble, and a court to the east of the mosque in 1300 AD.[citation needed
]

The mosque is in ruins today but indigenous

motifs, and geometric patterns can be seen among the Islamic architectural structures.[36] To the west of the Quwwat ul-Islam mosque is the tomb of Iltutmish
which was built by the monarch in 1235.

Iron pillar

Main article: Iron pillar of Delhi
The Iron pillar in the Qutb Complex

The iron pillar is one of the world's foremost metallurgical curiosities. The pillar, 7.21-metre high and weighing more than six tonnes, was originally erected by

Anangpal
built a Vishnu Temple here and wanted this pillar to be a part of that temple.

The estimated weight of the decorative bell of the pillar is 646 kg while the main body weighs 5,865 kg, thus making the entire pillar weigh 6,511 kg.[37] The pillar bears an inscription in Sanskrit in Brahmi script dating 4th century AD, which indicates that the pillar was set up as a Vishnudhvaja, standard of god, on the hill known as Vishnupada in memory of a mighty king named Chandra, believed to Chandragupta II. A deep socket on the top of this ornate capital suggests that probably an image of Garuda was fixed into it, as common in such flagpoles.[38]

Tombs

Tomb of Iltutmish

Tomb of Shams al-Din Iltutmish

The tomb of the

squinches, suggesting the existence of a dome, which has since collapsed. The main cenotaph, in white marble, is placed on a raised platform in the centre of the chamber. The facade is known for its ornate carving, both at the entrance and the interior walls. The interior west wall has a prayer niche (mihrab) decorated with marble, and a rich amalgamation of Hindu motifs into Islamic architecture, such as bell-and-chain, tassel, lotus, diamond emblems.[3]

In 1914, during excavations by Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) Gordon Sanderson, the grave chamber was discovered. From the north of the tomb 20 steps lead down to the actual burial vault.

Tomb of Imam Zamin

Main article: Tomb of Imam Zamin
Tomb of Imam Zamin

The Tomb of Imam Zamin is a 16th-century tomb located in the Qutb Minar complex, Mehrauli, Delhi in India. It houses the tomb of Mohammad Ali (popularly known as Imam Zamin), an Islamic cleric who migrated from Turkestan to India during the reign of Sikandar Lodi. The tomb was built by Ali himself during the reign of Mughal emperor Humayun. This tomb has no relation with the other monuments of the complex.

Ala-ud-din Khilji's tomb and madrasa

Main article:
Madrasa and tomb of Alauddin Khilji
Alauddin Khalji's Madrasa, which also has his tomb to the south, ca 1316 AD

At the back of the complex, southwest of the mosque, stands an L-shaped construction, consisting of

Sultan of Delhi from Khalji dynasty, who ruled from 1296 to 1316 AD.[39]

The central room of the building, which has his tomb, has now lost its dome, though many rooms of the seminary or college are intact, and since been restored. There were two small chambers connected to the tomb by passages on either side. Fergusson in his book suggested the existence, to the west of the tomb, of seven rooms, two of which had domes and windows. The remains of the tomb building suggest that there was an open courtyard on the south and west sides of the tomb building, and that one room in the north served as an entrance.

It was the first example in India, of a tomb standing alongside a madrasa.[3] Nearby stands the Alai Minar, an ambitious tower, he started constructing to rival the Qutb Minar, though he died when only its first storey was built and its construction abandoned thereafter. It now stands, north of the mosque.

The tomb is in a very dilapidated condition. It is believed that Ala-ud-din's body was brought to the complex from Siri and buried in front of the mosque, which formed part of the madrasa adjoining the tomb.

Firoz Shah Tughluq, who undertook repairs of the tomb complex, mentioned a mosque within the madrasa.[40]

Alai Minar of Khalji

Alai Minar

Alauddin Khalji started building the

Amir Khusro in his work, Tarikh-i-Alai, mentions Ala-ud-din's intentions to extend the mosque and also constructing another minar.[42]

Other monuments

A short distance west of the enclosure, in Mehrauli village, is the

Balban's tomb, Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb
.

There are some Mughal summer palaces in the area: the

Mughal emperor of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar who died in exile in Rangoon, Burma, in 1862, following his implication in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Also standing nearby is the Moti Masjid
mosque in white marble.

Gallery

  • Qutb Minar
    Qutb Minar
  • Remains of Hindu temple ruins in Qutb Minar
    Remains of Hindu temple ruins in Qutb Minar
  • A map of the Qutb complex (click to see large)
    A map of the Qutb complex (click to see large)
  • Ruins near Qutb Minar
    Ruins near Qutb Minar
  • Translation of iron pillar inscription
    Translation of iron pillar inscription
  • Tomb of Iltutmish
    Tomb of Iltutmish
  • Tomb of Iltutmish
    Tomb of Iltutmish
  • Ruins of Hindu temple in Qutb Minar
    Ruins of Hindu temple in Qutb Minar
  • Interior of Tomb of Iltutmish
    Interior of Tomb of Iltutmish
  • Tomb of Imam Zamin, Qutb Minar Complex
    Tomb of Imam Zamin, Qutb Minar Complex
  • Statues from the destroyed Hindu temples
    Statues from the destroyed Hindu temples
  • View of Qutb Minar
    View of Qutb Minar
  • Ganesha idol in Qutb Minar
    Ganesha idol in Qutb Minar
  • Upper stories of Qutb Minar, in white marble and sandstone
    Upper stories of Qutb Minar, in white marble and sandstone
  • Another view of Qutb Minar, with a Hindu temple reused pillar in view
    Another view of Qutb Minar, with a Hindu temple reused pillar in view
  • Interior of Alai Darwaza, resembling Timber ornamentation, Qutb complex
    Interior of Alai Darwaza, resembling Timber ornamentation, Qutb complex
  • Tomb of Alauddin Khalji, Qutb Minar complex
    Tomb of Alauddin Khalji, Qutb Minar complex
  • An idol of cow with her calf while another layer has defaced idol of Krishna
    An idol of cow with her calf while another layer has defaced idol of Krishna
  • Dome interior
    Dome interior
  • The Qutb Minar, looking up from its foot
    The Qutb Minar, looking up from its foot
  • Quran verses written on the exteriors of the Qutb Minar
    Quran verses written on the exteriors of the Qutb Minar
  • Architectures of Qutb Complex
    Architectures of Qutb Complex
  • Ancient ruins of Hindu temple, with figure of a female dancer inside the Quwwat-ul Islam mosque
    Ancient ruins of Hindu temple, with figure of a female dancer inside the Quwwat-ul Islam mosque
  • Alai Darwaza Arch Carvings
    Alai Darwaza Arch Carvings
  • Plaque at the entrance providing visitors a background of Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid
    Plaque at the entrance providing visitors a background of Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid
  • Qutb Minar path view
    Qutb Minar path view

See also

References

Citations

  1. ISBN 8188305030
    ..
  2. doi:10.1484/aaa.2004.0004
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87586-482-2
    . Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d Qutub Minar; Qutub Minar Government of India website.
  5. ^
    ISBN 9780875864846. Retrieved 26 May 2009. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
  6. ^ a b Epigraphia Indo Moslemica, 1911–12, p. 13.
  7. ^ Page, J. A. (1926) "An Historical Memoir on the Qutb, Delhi" Memoirs of the Archaeological Society of India 22: OCLC 5433409; republished (1970) Lakshmi Book Store, New Delhi, OCLC 202340
  8. ^ "Discover new treasures around Qutab". The Hindu. 28 March 2006. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2009..
  9. Indian Express
    . 25 July 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  10. ^ QutubMinarDelhi.com. "" Archived 25 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved on 5 August 2015.
  11. ^ World Heritage Sites – Humayun's Tomb: Characteristics of Indo-Islamic architecture Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
  12. ^ "World's tallest buildings, monuments and other structures". CBS News. 11 May 2011.
  13. ^ QutubMinarDelhi.com. "Qutub Minar" Archived 23 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved on 5 August 2015.
  14. ^ "The Kutub [Qutb] Minar & great arch, Delhi".
  15. ^ "Rao Petarah's Temple, Delhi".
  16. ^ Nath, R. (1978). History of Sultanate architecture. Abhinav Publications. p. 22.
  17. ISBN 90-04-06479-6
    .
  18. ISBN 81-7305-108-9
    .
  19. ^
    ISBN 81-900601-2-0
    . Page 181-182.
  20. ^ Plaque at Qutub Minar
  21. ISBN 1-86189-185-7
    . Qutub Minar.
  22. ^
    Indian Express. 15 October 2005. Archived from the original
    on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  23. Indian Express. 14 December 2004. Archived from the original
    on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  24. ^ "No decision on re-opening Qutub Minar for public: Government". The Times of India. 23 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  25. ^ Southern Central Asia, A.H. Dani, History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol.4, Part 2, Ed. Clifford Edmund Bosworth, M.S.Asimov, (Motilal Banarsidass, 2000), 568.
  26. ISBN 978-1-4474-9482-9
    .
  27. ^
    ISBN 9788187780076
    .
  28. ^ a b Sharif, Mian Mohammad (1963). A History of Muslim Philosophy: With Short Accounts of Other Disciplines and the Modern Renaissance in Muslim Lands. Harrassowitz. p. 1098.
  29. ^ William Pickthall, Marmaduke; Muhammad Asad (1975). Islamic culture, Volume 49. Islamic Culture Board. p. 50.
  30. ^ Adhai-din-ka Jhonpra Mosque Archived 14 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine archnet.org.
  31. ^ Maulana Hakim Saiyid Abdul Hai "Hindustan Islami Ahad Mein" (Hindustan under Islamic rule), Eng Trans by Maulana Abdul Hasan Nadwi
  32. ^ Index_1200-1299: Qutb ud-Din Aibak and the Qubbat ul-Islam mosqueColumbia University
  33. ^ Vikramjit Singh Rooprai (14 November 2012). "Untold story of the Qutub Minar". Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  34. ^ Rizvi. Tughlaq Kalin Bharat. Vol. I. p. 175.
  35. ISBN 81-230-1001-X
    .
  36. ^ QutubMinarDelhi.com. "Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque" Archived 25 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 5 August 2015.
  37. ^ QutubMinarDelhi.com. "Iron Pillar of Delhi" Archived 25 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 5 August 2015.
  38. ^ "Iron pillar at Qutub Minar weighs 6,511 kg: study". The Hindu. 5 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  39. ^ QutubMinarDelhi.com. "Ala-ud-din's Madrasa and Tomb" Archived 25 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 5 August 2015.
  40. ^ Bhalla, A.S. Royal Tombs of India: 13th to 18th Century
  41. ^ QutubMinarDelhi.com. "Alai Minar" Archived 25 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved on 5 August 2018.
  42. ^ File:Plaque for Alai Minar, Qutub Minar complex.jpg

Sources

Further reading

External links

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