The Qutb Minar, also spelled Qutub Minar and Qutab Minar, is a tower and a symbol of victory. It was built during the Delhi Sultanate and is part of the Qutb complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Mehrauli, South Delhi, India. Most of the tower was built between 1199 and 1220. It has 399 steps and is one of the most visited historical places in the city. Qutab-ud-din Aibak started building the tower after defeating Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Hindu ruler of Delhi before the Ghurid conquest. He completed only the first level of the tower. The tower was built to mark the beginning of Islamic rule in the region. Later rulers of the Delhi Sultanate continued the construction. In 1368, Firuz Shah Tughlaq rebuilt the top parts of the tower and added a dome.

The Qutb Minar can be compared to the 62-meter Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, which was built around 1190, about a decade before the Qutb Minar likely began construction. Both towers have surfaces decorated with writing and geometric designs. The Qutb Minar has a shaft that is striped and features decorative brackets shaped like stalactites above each level. In general, minarets were not commonly used in India and are often separate from the mosques they are associated with.

Architecture

The tower combines features of traditional Islamic architecture with design elements from the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Elizabeth Lambourn’s book Islam Beyond Empires: Mosques and Islamic Landscapes in India and the Indian Ocean examines how Islam spread to South Asia and how the region shaped Islamic religious buildings. Some Muslims who arrived from the Islamic West fled the Mongol Empire and moved to India, where they built religious centers. The Qutb Minar acts as a key symbol for these new Muslim communities and shows the presence of Islam in the region. The design of the minaret is different from the usual style of mosques in the Middle East. Local architecture, such as temples from the Indian subcontinent, influenced the materials, methods, and decorations used in building the Qutb Minar.

Historically, minarets were not common in South Asian Islamic design until the 17th century, as the typical Middle Eastern style was adopted slowly in India. The Qutb Minar is separate from the main mosque, showing how local culture influenced the design of a Middle Eastern structure. According to Ved Parkash in his essay The Qutb Minar from Contemporary and Near Contemporary Sources, the Qutb Minar is considered the "earliest and best example of combining Hindu and Muslim traditions." Like many mosques built in South Asia during this time, the minaret was constructed by Hindu workers and Muslim architects. This led to a design that blends Hindu and Islamic architectural styles. Some of the workers were Hindu and unfamiliar with the Quran, so the inscriptions on the minaret include a mix of Quranic texts and other Arabic phrases.

History

The Qutb Minar was built on the remains of the Lal Kot, the fortress of Dhillika. Construction of the Qutb Minar began after the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque was built. Inspired by their Ghurid homeland, Qutub-ud-Din Aibak and Shamsu’d-Din Iltutmish created a minaret (a tall tower) at the southeast corner of the Quwwat-ul-Islam between 1199 and 1503.

It is commonly believed that the tower was named after Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, who started its construction. However, it may also be named after Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, a 13th-century Sufi saint, because Shamsuddin Iltutmish was a follower of him.

The Minar is surrounded by several important buildings in the Qutb complex. The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, located northeast of the Minar, was built by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak in A.D. 1199. It is the oldest surviving mosque built by the Delhi Sultans. The mosque has a rectangular courtyard enclosed by cloisters, made using carved columns and parts from 27 Jain and Hindu temples that were destroyed by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak, as noted in an inscription on the main eastern entrance. Later, a tall arched screen was added, and the mosque was expanded by Shams-ud-Din Iltutmish (A.D. 1210–35) and Ala-ud-Din Khalji. An Iron Pillar in the courtyard has an inscription in Sanskrit written in Brahmi script from the 4th century A.D. This inscription states that the pillar was placed as a Vishnudhvaja (a standard of the god Vishnu) on a hill called Vishnupada to honor a powerful king named Chandra.

The mosque complex is one of the earliest surviving examples of its kind in the Indian subcontinent.

A nearby pillared cupola called "Smith's Folly" is a remnant of the tower’s 19th-century restoration, which included an unsuccessful attempt to add more levels to the tower.

In 1505, an earthquake damaged the Qutb Minar, and it was repaired by Sikander Lodi. On September 1, 1803, a major earthquake caused serious damage. Major Robert Smith of the British Indian Army restored the tower in 1828 and added a pillared cupola over the fifth story, creating a sixth. The cupola was later removed in 1848 by order of The Viscount Hardinge, the Governor General of India at the time. It was placed at ground level to the east of the Qutb Minar, where it remains today. This is known as "Smith's Folly."

The Qutb Minar was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1993.

The Ghurids

The Qutb Minar was planned and built by the Ghurids, a group who moved to India and introduced Islam there. The Ghurids, also called the Shansabanis, were a family from Tajik heritage that came from Ghur, a mountain area in western Afghanistan. From the late 1000s to the early 1100s, members of this group came together and stopped living as nomads. During this time, they also adopted Islam.

The Ghurids expanded into India and took control of large areas. They added the cities of Multan and Uch in western Punjab in 1175–76, the area around Peshawar in 1177, and the region of Sindh in 1185–86. In 1193, Qutb al-Din Aibak captured Delhi and set up a Ghurid rule there. The Qutb Minar complex, which includes a large mosque, was built in 1193. Earlier, scholars thought the complex was built to encourage people to adopt Islam and to show the Ghurids’ commitment to a religious and social system. However, new evidence suggests that spreading Islam was not the main goal. Instead, the Ghurid rulers tried to combine local traditions with Islam through discussion and cooperation.

Patrons and architects

Qutb-ud-din Aibak, an assistant to Muhammad of Ghor, began building the first level of the Qutb Minar in 1199 after Muhammad of Ghor passed away. Aibak’s successor and son-in-law, Shamsuddin Iltutmish, added three more levels to the structure. In 1369, a lightning strike damaged the top level. At that time, the ruler Firuz Shah Tughlaq repaired the damaged level and added one more. Later, during his rule, Sher Shah Suri added an entrance to the minaret while the Mughal emperor Humayun was in exile.

Architecture

The Qutb Minar has writings in Persian-Arabic and Nagari scripts on different parts of its structure. These writings show when it was built and later fixed and rebuilt by Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1351–88) and Sikandar Lodi (1489–1517).

The Qutb Minar is 72.5 meters tall, which makes it the tallest brick minaret in the world. The tower gets narrower as it goes up, starting with a base that is 14.3 meters wide and ending with a top that is 2.7 meters wide. Inside, there is a spiral staircase with 379 steps.

At the bottom of the tower is the Quwat Ul Islam Mosque. The Qutb Minar leans slightly more than 65 centimeters from being perfectly straight, but this tilt is still considered safe.

The Qutb Minar influenced the design of many other minarets and towers. The Chand Minar and Mini Qutub Minar look similar to the Qutb Minar and were inspired by it.

Levels

The Qutb Minar has different stories, each built by various architects and builders. These differences are seen in the size, style, and materials used for each section.

The Qutb Minar has five stories made of red and grey sandstone. The bottom story, called the basement, was completed during the lifetime of Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, a sultan from the Ghurid dynasty.

This story is covered with twelve semicircular pillars and twelve pillars with flanges, placed alternately. It is separated by flanges and balconies supported by Muqarnas corbels. The story sits on a low circular base with a twelve-pointed star, and a semicircle is placed at each angle of the star.

There are also six horizontal bands with writing in naskh, a style of Islamic calligraphy. The writing includes parts of the Quran, such as Sura II, verses 255–60; Sura LIX, verses 22–23; and descriptions of God. It also includes the name and titles of Ghiyath al-Din, parts of Sura XLVIII, verses 1–6; the name and titles of Mu’izz al-Din; and quotes from the Quran. The text also honors Muhammad of Ghor, the sultan of the Ghurids.

The second, third, and fourth stories were built by Sham ud-Din Iltutmish, the first Muslim ruler to govern Delhi. He was the first leader of the Delhi Sultanate ruling family. The second and third stories are also covered with twelve semicircular pillars and twelve pillars with flanges, placed alternately. These red sandstone pillars are separated by flanges and balconies supported by Muqarnas corbels. Before being rebuilt and shortened, the fourth story had semicircular pillars. It was later rebuilt using white marble and has a simpler design.

In 1369, the fourth story was repaired after lightning damaged the minaret. During the repair, Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq decided to make the fourth story smaller and split it into two separate stories.

Controversy

On 14 November 2000, newspapers in Delhi reported that Hindu nationalist groups, Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, planned to hold a yajna, a religious ceremony meant for cleaning or purifying, at the Qutb Minar complex, where the minaret is located. Delhi Police detained 80 individuals, led by Ram Krishan Gaur, who gathered near the Qutb Minar and were prevented from performing the yajna inside the tower. Because of a police barrier, the group instead conducted the ritual on the streets outside the mosque complex. Since parts from old Jain and Hindu temples were used to build the minaret, the right-wing Hindu groups claimed they needed to perform a cleansing at the site to "free" Hindu symbols that were "trapped" in the minaret and mosque complex.

On 18 May 2022, Dharamveer Sharma, a former Regional Director of the Archaeological Survey of India, stated that Qutb Minar was built by Raja Vikramaditya in the fifth century to observe the movement of the sun. However, he did not provide evidence to support this claim.

On 21 May 2022, Govind Mohan, the Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, announced plans to excavate and study idols found at Qutb Minar. The Ministry requested the Archaeological Survey of India to prepare a report on the excavation. Excavation work may begin in the area south of the minaret, 15 meters away from the mosque.

Accidents

On December 8, 1946, Tara Devi, a Czech actress and the sixth wife of Maharaja Jagatjit Singh, fell from the tower and died along with her two Pomeranian dogs.

Before 1976, the public could visit the first floor of the minaret using the internal staircase. Access to the top of the tower stopped in 2000 because of suicides.

On December 4, 1981, the lights in the staircase went out. Between 300 and 400 visitors rushed toward the exit. Forty-five people died, and others were injured. Many of those who died were students. After this event, the tower was closed to the public. This incident led to strict rules being put in place to control entry.

Lighting

In recent years, the Qutb Minar has been lit up for special events related to international relations. In September 2023, the monument was illuminated with the colors of the Mexican flag to honor Mexico's 213th Independence Day. This event was recognized and appreciated by the Embassy of Mexico in India. On October 30, the Qutb Minar was also lit up with the colors of the Turkish flag to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. This occasion received special attention from the Turkish Embassy in New Delhi.

In literature

Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poem, The Cootub Minar, Delhi, describes a picture by Samuel Prout in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book from 1833.

In the 1960 comic book Tintin in Tibet, the main character, Tintin, and his friend, Captain Haddock, visit the Qutab Minar and note that it is 238 feet tall.

In popular culture

• 1963: Bollywood actor and director Dev Anand planned to film the song "Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukar" from his movie Tere Ghar Ke Samne inside the Qutb Minar. However, the large cameras of that time could not fit through the tower's narrow passage. Instead, the song was filmed inside a replica of the Qutb Minar.
• 2012: The Qutb Minar area was used as a rest stop during the second leg of the second series of The Amazing Race Australia.
• 2013: A picture of the Qutb Minar appears on travel cards and tickets given by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. A new company, working with the Archaeological Survey of India, created a 360-degree tour of the Qutb Minar.
• 2017: The Ministry of Tourism provided seven companies with "Letters of Intent" for the care of fourteen monuments under its "Adopt a Heritage Scheme." The Qutb Minar was included in this list.

Gallery

• Qutb Minar
• Left to right: Alai Darwaza, Qutb Minar, and Imam Zamin's tomb
• Plaque located on the Minar
• View through an arch
• View of the path leading to Qutb Minar
• View of Qutb Minar from the south
• Stone relief of Ganesha
• Qutb Minar illuminated at night