Qutab Minar, the 239ft sandstone tower is an Indo-Islamic architectural
wonder of ancient India. This magnificent tower of victory stands in the
Qutab Complex located at Aurabindo Marg, near Mehrauli, 14 Km south of
Connaught place in Delhi.
The complex has a number of other important monuments-
the gateway built in 1310, the Alai Darwaza, Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque; one
of the oldest existing mosques in India, the tombs of Altamish, Alauddin
Khalji and Imam Zamin; the 2000 year old 7m high Iron Pillar- the Alai
Minar; another tower 27m high, the Madrasa or School, great screen of
Qutbuddin Aibak in the mosque etc.
King Qutubuddin Aibak of Slave dynasty laid the foundation of the Qutab
Minar in 1199, adjoining the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, to proclaim
the victory of Islam, after the defeat of the last Hindu kingdom in Delhi.
It was the Afghan, Muhammad of Ghur who ousted the last Hindu king Prithviraj
Chauhan in AD 1192, but he returned to his country leaving Qutbuddin Aibak
as his viceroy. In 1206, on his masters death, Aibak crowned himself as
the Sultan of Delhi.
The word 'Qutab Minar' means 'axis minaret'. The tower
which dominates the countryside for miles around has five storeys, each
marked by a projecting balcony. The tower was built in three stages.
Qutab-ud-Din completed the first storey. Second, third and the fourth
were completed by his successor and son-in -law, Illtutmish in 1230. The
minar was first struck by lightening in AD 1368 and the fallen top storey
was replaced by two storeys's, the fourth and the fifth in 1370 AD by
Feroz Shah Tughlaq (AD 1351-88).
Qutab Minar with a height of 72.5m (239ft), is the highest
stone tower in India and has a diametre of 14.32 metres at the base and
about 2.75 metres at the top. The first three storeys are made of red
sandstone and are heavily indented with different styles of fluting, alternately
round and angular on the bottom floor, round on the second and angular
on the third. The fourth and fifth floors are made of marble and sandstone.
The decoration of the Qutab Minar is consistently Islamic
in character from base to top; though the somewhat hybrid style of Firoz
Shah's later additions is noticeably distinct. Numerous inscriptions
in Arabic and Nagari characters are seen as wide encircling bands in the
plain fluted masonry of the Minar. This inscriptions reveal the history
of Qutub, from its commencement in AD1199 to its repairs in between.
There is a door on the northern side, leading inside the tower to a spiral
stairway with 379 steps that winds its way up to the balcony in each floor
and culminating in a platform at the top. The intricate balconies held
together by stalactite vaulting technique and patterned with honey combing
is a special feature of the minar.
The minar has survived a series of lightening bolts and earthquakes during
the past centuries. After the first lighting strike way back in AD1368
knocking off the top storey and two floors replaced instead, by Firoz
Shah Tuglaq, inscriptions indicate that further repairs were done by Sultan
Sikander Lodi in 1503. Later in 1803, the cupola on the top was thrown
down and the whole pillar was seriously injured by an earthquake.
It was repaired by Major R. Smith of the Royal Engineers who restored
the Qutub Minar in 1829 replacing the cupola with a Bengal style chhattri.
The chhattri was removed in 1848, by the Viceroy Lord Hardinge as it was
criticized as not keeping in with the architectural style of the rest
of the minar. Now it stands to the left of the entry path and is known
as Smith's folly.
Today, this impressively ornate tower has a slight
tilt, but otherwise has worn the centuries remarkably well. The staircase
inside the tower to the balconies has been closed following an accident
in early 1980's when a party of school girls panicked when the lights
failed and a stampede led to a number of deaths.
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