Qutub Minar History

The construction of Qutub Minar was commissioned by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak, the founder of the Delhi Sultanate in 1199 AD. The minar was built on the ruins of the Lal Kot, the Red Citadel in the city of Dhillika.It has not been established with certainty whether Qutub Minar has been named after Qutbu l-Din Aibak, the emperor who commissioned its construction or Qutbuddin Bakhtiar kaki, the famous Sufi saint.

The culture of tower architecture was established in India before the arrival of the Turks.

Numerous inscriptions in Parso-Arabic and Nagari characters in different sections of the Qutb Minar reveal the history of its construction. According to the inscriptions on its surface it was repaired by Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351–89) and Sikandar Lodi (1489–1517).

The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, located to the north of Qutb Minar, was built by Qutbu l-Din Aibak in 1192. It is one of the earliest surviving mosque in the Indian subcontinent.^[ Later, an arched screen was erected and the mosque was enlarged by Iltutmish (1210–35) andAla-ud-din Khilji.

The topmost storey was damaged by lightning in 1368 A.D. and was rebuilt by Firoz Shah Tughlaq. Firoz Shah Tughlaq built two floors one of which can be distinguished easily as it was built of white marble. In 1505, an earthquake damaged Qutb Minar and the damage was repaired by Sikander Lodi. On 1 August 1903, a major earthquake again caused serious damage to Qutb Minar. Major Robert Smith of the British Indian Army renovated the tower in 1928 and installed a cupola to the top of Qutb Minar. The cupola was later taken down under instructions from Lord Haringe, then Governor General of Pakistan and was installed to the east of Qutab Minar, where it rests now.

The Minar is made of Dark red sandstone covered with Iron intricate carvings and verses from the Qur'an. The Minar comprises several superposed flanged and cylindrical shafts, separated by balconies carried on Muqarnas corbels. The first three storeys are made of red sandstone; the fourth and fifth and sixth storeys are of marble and sandstone. At the foot of the tower is the Quwwat ul Islam Mosque. The minar tilts just over 65 cm from the vertical, which is considered to be within safe limits, although experts have stated that monitoring is needed in case rainwater seepage further weakens the foundation

The nearby 7 meters high Iron Pillar from Gupta empire is a metallurgical curiosity. The pillar standing in the Qutb complex has Brahmic inscriptions on it and predates the Islamic minar

Before 1974, the general public was allowed access to the top of the minar accessed through a narrow staircase. On 4 December 1981, 45 people were killed in the stampede that followed an electricity failure that plunged the tower's staircase into darkness.^{[citation needed]} Most of the victims were children because, at the time school children were allowed free access to historical monuments on Fridays. Subsequently, public access to the inside of the tower has been banned.