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India New Delhi _D7C2022
Around the sun...
The Qutub complex of New Delhi is best known for the Qutub Minar, which was constructed along with the rest of the complex by India's first Muslim ruler, the Sultan of Delhi, Qutub-ud-din Aibak. Construction began in 1193 and continued well into British colonial times.
The foundation of the Delhi Masjid Jame, the Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque, ('Refuge of Islam') was laid by Qutub-ud-din Aibak in 1193 on the site of Lal Kot Fort. An inscription on the eastern gateway confirms that 27 Jainist temples were destroyed for the construction of the complex, with complete columns being transplanted into the Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque. This type of iconoclasm is not unique in Indian history, and while the continuous destruction/construction cycle might be seenas religion inspired, it more usually served political motives, as recently occurred in 1992 with the Babri Mosque.
Construction and expansion of the mosque continued under the third Sultan, Iltutmish, who replaced the original Hindu masons with Muslim masons which resulted in the addition of Islamic arches to the ones dating back to Qutub's rule.
The mosque's ruins that remain today still show the finely detailed masonry and the mix of Hindu figures and Muslim floral forms.
Qutub Minar, behind the Alai Gate, is the tallest brick minaret in the world. The five stage minaret was ordered in 1193 by India's first Muslim ruler, the Sultan of Delhi, Qutub-ud-din Aibak, to exceed the Jam Minaret in Afghanistan, but during his lifetime only the 14.3 meter wide base was completed. The third Sultan, Iltutmish completed the middle three levels, and by 1368 Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq added the fifth level, measuring 2.75 metres diagonally and completing the Minaret to reach 72 metres high.
The entire structure is built with of red sandstone bricks with some likely to have been re-used from the ruins of Lal Kot, or the Red Citadel which stood here in the 6th century in the time of the last Chauhan Hindi rulers of Delhi. There are 379 steps leading to the topmost fifth level and each of the levels is separated by a muqarna or stalactite corbel, decorated by Cufic inscriptions from the Koran. Apart from being the most prominent, the Qutub Minar is also probably the best surviving example of the earliest Indo-Islamic architecture.
* This photo appears here
India New Delhi _D7C2022
Around the sun...
The Qutub complex of New Delhi is best known for the Qutub Minar, which was constructed along with the rest of the complex by India's first Muslim ruler, the Sultan of Delhi, Qutub-ud-din Aibak. Construction began in 1193 and continued well into British colonial times.
The foundation of the Delhi Masjid Jame, the Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque, ('Refuge of Islam') was laid by Qutub-ud-din Aibak in 1193 on the site of Lal Kot Fort. An inscription on the eastern gateway confirms that 27 Jainist temples were destroyed for the construction of the complex, with complete columns being transplanted into the Quwwat ul-Islam Mosque. This type of iconoclasm is not unique in Indian history, and while the continuous destruction/construction cycle might be seenas religion inspired, it more usually served political motives, as recently occurred in 1992 with the Babri Mosque.
Construction and expansion of the mosque continued under the third Sultan, Iltutmish, who replaced the original Hindu masons with Muslim masons which resulted in the addition of Islamic arches to the ones dating back to Qutub's rule.
The mosque's ruins that remain today still show the finely detailed masonry and the mix of Hindu figures and Muslim floral forms.
Qutub Minar, behind the Alai Gate, is the tallest brick minaret in the world. The five stage minaret was ordered in 1193 by India's first Muslim ruler, the Sultan of Delhi, Qutub-ud-din Aibak, to exceed the Jam Minaret in Afghanistan, but during his lifetime only the 14.3 meter wide base was completed. The third Sultan, Iltutmish completed the middle three levels, and by 1368 Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq added the fifth level, measuring 2.75 metres diagonally and completing the Minaret to reach 72 metres high.
The entire structure is built with of red sandstone bricks with some likely to have been re-used from the ruins of Lal Kot, or the Red Citadel which stood here in the 6th century in the time of the last Chauhan Hindi rulers of Delhi. There are 379 steps leading to the topmost fifth level and each of the levels is separated by a muqarna or stalactite corbel, decorated by Cufic inscriptions from the Koran. Apart from being the most prominent, the Qutub Minar is also probably the best surviving example of the earliest Indo-Islamic architecture.
* This photo appears here