Location :

New Delhi

State :

Delhi

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..