The Qutub and its Surroundings

So far, I've concentrated on Delhi's lesser known monuments, avoiding the Holy Trinity of Delhi's past - The Red Fort, the Qutub Minar and Humayun's Tomb. There's more than enough material on these places on the internet, and I chose to prioritize based on where I found it most difficult to obtain good information.

Anyway, in this post, I will focus on the Qutub Minar area. I've already published two posts on other areas in Mehrauli - the Archaeological Park and the stretch of Urban Mehrauli from Andheria Mode (or Mor, depending on how you choose to transliterate the Hindi ड़ ) up to the bus stand. This was the real seat of power in the Delhi area till almost the 1300s and so it's not surprising that the place is littered with reminders of its past.

The area first has its origins in the Tomar Lal Kot (later Qila Rai Pithora with the arrival of Prithviraj Chauhan on the scene). In 1192, after the Battles of Tarain, control of the area fell to Muhammad Ghori and, in progression, to the Mamluk dynasty - a loosely defined dynasty of varied lineage, key players of which were its founder Qutb-ud-din Aibak and the biggest contributor to thy dynasty, Shams-ud-din Iltutmish. Both these individuals have been central to the development of the Qutb Minar area as we see it today. Later rulers like Ala-ud-din Khilji and Feroz Shah Tughlaq added to the area, but more on that later.

I'm basing my post on a series of trips I've made over the years, the last being in November 2012. So, some of the costs may be dated. The Qutub complex is open on all days, though the weekends see visitor numbers balloon. Getting there is easy enough. The Qutub Minar metro station is a short rickshaw ride away, and shared autos exist to get you there relatively cheaply. It's a 2 km walk, if you're up for it. There is paid parking available for cars just outside the complex, and one shouldn't have much difficulty parking. The ticket-booth is across the road from the complex, and charges Indians Rs 10 for entry (foreigners are charged the almost apartheid rate of Rs 250 for the same privilege, with an audio-guide thrown in as a kind of compensation). If you want to rent an audio-guide separately, it costs Rs 100. Audio-guide pick-ups are adjacent to the entry to the complex. Large bags aren't allowed, but you could take in a small backpack or camera bag. They charge a small fee for storing luggage in a cloakroom adjacent to the ticket counters.  Funny set of disjoint arrangements, but that's how they've done it. Security arrangements are tighter here than at the lesser monuments in Delhi, and nuances like the ability to carry bags in may change from time to time. It is a 'UNESCO World Heritage Site', after all.

Entering the complex through the main gate, one can immediately see the Qutub Minar, once one of the tallest man made structures in the world even as late as a century ago. But before we get to it, some context. To the right side of the Qutub Minar is the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque (I believe it translates to 'might of Islam'). This is a large rectangular mosque, constructed in 1193 by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the first of the Mamluk Sultans, but then a general commanding the Delhi garrison of Muhammad Ghori. The Delhi Sultanate begins with Qutb-ud-din Aibak, and he seemed to want to make a statement with the mosque. This functioned as Delhi's main mosque for the next couple of hundred years, and was built with material from 27 Hindu and Jain temples that were destroyed in the process. The main entrance to the mosque is through the Alai Darwaza, built by Ala-ud-din Khilji around 1300, and the Qutub Minar in the south-west corner of the mosque was meant to serve as the tower from where the priest could call people to prayer. 

The Qutub Minar is a 5 storeyed tapering, ribbed structure, started by Qutb-ud-din and finished by Iltutmish. It has been struck by lightning a few times, and was repaired by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, Sikandar Lodi and then by the British - the two top storeys are in marble, and look different. Of course, if you look to the south of the Qutub, you'll find a rather out-of-place European-style canopy that the British (an army engineer called Major Smith, apparently) once placed atop the monument. Luckily it's no longer at the top. The calligraphy work is quite artistic, and the corbels under the balconies on each storey add a flourish that makes the building what it is.

At the eastern end of the mosque are stylistic arches that were made by Iltutmish, covered in calligraphy. And, in the middle of the courtyard is the famous 'Iron Pillar' of Mehrauli, originally erected near Udayagiri in Madhya Pradesh by Chandragupta Vikramaditya around 400 AD, but brought to Delhi by the Tomar king Anangpal, who installed it in its current location, as part of a Vishnu temple. The pillar is mostly rust-free even now, and scientists really don't know exactly how the metallurgists who created this managed it. Today it's fenced to prevent people from trying their luck with wrapping their arms behind themselves and around the pillar (something that apparently results in good luck - from personal experience, I know this to not be true). Next to the Alai Darwaza is the tomb of Imam Zamin, a Muslim saint who lived in the later Lodhi period. There's just so much going on that it's difficult to take it in all at once. The roughness of the main mosque complex is at odds with the finesse of the Alai Darwaza, and the Iron Pillar is altogether out of place here. Pictures probably speak better than words here, so here goes:

The Alai Darwaza, the main entrancce to the Quwwat ul Islam mosque, with the Qutub Minar in the Background

The intricate calligraphy on the eastern arches of the mosque

The un-rustable Iron Pillar, almost 2.5 millennia old

Pillars that support the aisles at the mosque - note the Hindu artwork

The Qutub Minar, in all its glory

There are a few more noteworthy structures here. The first is the tomb of Iltutmish, just to the north of the mosque. The tomb seems to have had a roof at one time, but it has since collapsed. The artistic details are reaosnably intact, and the white marble tomb rests beautifully atop a red sandstone platform. The structure also functioned as a Madrasa for a while. The second is the enormous Alai Minar, to the east of the mosque complex, indended to be part of an extension of the mosque. This was started by Ala-ud-din Khilji in the 1300s, but was never completed. The dimensions of the base suggest that the minar was to be 4 times the height of the Qutub Minar. Ala-ud-din died, and his successor had no interest in continuing with his ego project. And so, all we have now is rubble. Finally, there is also the tomb of Ala-ud-din Khilji, not as exciting as the other tombs here.

Tomb of Iltutmish, with its beautiful artwork and carvings

Alai Minar - I wonder if the Ambani's home will go this way

As you leave, don't forget to catch a glimpse of a weird ziggurat-shaped pyramid and a helical ramp. These 'follies' were built by Thomas Metcalfe, British resident to the Mughal court in the years before 1857. He had his country home right next door, in what is today the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, and decided that this kind of landscaping made the view from his home more interesting. As for me, I have a view of similar pointless rubble, since I live in Gurgaon, and I didn't even have to pay to have it built.

Here is a map of the area:

View Qutub complex in a larger map