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with the qibla pointing west towards Mecca. The
courtyard is entered from two entrances on the
north—south sides and a larger domed entrance to
the east. Inside, the courtyard is bordered on three
sides by arcades whilst on the west side is the
sanctuary separated from the courtyard by a screen.
The screen contains five arches, of which the central
arch is the highest; it is framed by a decorative border
which combines Quranic inscriptions with dense
vegetal carving and the spandrels of the arches are
decorated with interlocking pierced discs. Standing
in the courtyard directly in front of the central arch is
an iron pillar 12 m high which was made for the Hindu
god Vishnu in the fourth century CE. The columns
supporting the arcades are made of finely carved red
sandstone and consist of alternate square and round
sections carved with various Hindu motifs, such as
the bell and chain, as well as some figural sculpture.
Because the columns were not sufficiently tall for the
mosque they were placed one on top of the other to
double the height. The arcades and sanctuary are
covered with a trabeate roof where the columns
support flat beams resting on brackets. The area
immediately in front of the mihrab was covered by a
large dome although this has now disappeared. The
first stage of the Qutb Minar can also be attributed to
this initial phase of construction.
The second stage of the mosque was carried out
in the early thirteenth century by Iltumish, who
extended the mosque laterally and completed the
work of his father on the Qutb Minar. The lateral
extension of the mosque was carried out by extending
the screen north and south and adding an outer
enclosure, or courtyard, which included the Qutb
Minar in the south-east corner. The arcades of the
extension were built in the same way as the inner
enclosure and used columns which were specially
carved to resemble the two-tier Hindu temple
columns used in the first mosque. Iltumish was also
responsible for commissioning his own tomb, which
was begun the year before his death. The tomb is
located outside the mosque to the west and consists
of a square chamber covered with a dome, now
collapsed. The interior is extravagantly decorated with
carvings in red sandstone which included Hindu
motifs intertwined with passages of Quranic
calligraphy. In the centre of the building is Iltumish’s
tomb whilst to the west are three mihrab niches.
The third major phase of the mosque complex
was carried out by Ala al-Din Khaliji, the fourteenth
sultan of Delhi, between 1296 and 1316. Like his
predecessor Ala al-Din decided to increase the area
of the original mosque by extending the length of
the screen to the north thus enclosing an area more
than double the size of the previous extension. At
the same time Ala al-Din also began work on another
minaret on the same pattern as the Qutb Minar which
is known as the Alai Minar. For various reasons Ala
al-Din was not able to complete either of these
ambitious projects leaving the stump of a minaret
and in the north part of the unfinished new
courtyard. However, in 1311 he was able to complete
a new monumental gateway to the complex known
as the Alai Darwaza which linked the west wall of
Iltumish’s complex with the completed west wall of
his new courtyard. The gateway consists of a large
square domed chamber with a tall pointed arch in
the north and south sides. The gateway is faced in
red sandstone inlaid with bands of white marble and
is completely covered in carved designs and
epigraphic bands. The south façade of the chamber
consists of a tall pointed arch in the centre, flanked
on each side by a window covered with a pierced
stone screen (jalis) and a blind arch of similar design.
Above the two arches either side of the main arch
are two flat rectangular panels each divided in two
and containing a small square blind niche. The arches
of the façade are decorated with spiky projecting
tassels whilst the jambs of the arches are made up of
engaged columns similar to those used to support
the arcades.
East of the Alai Darwaza is a small square domed
tomb built by the Turkestani Imam Zamin. This is
the latest building at the site dating to 1538.
The Minar
Although subsequently copied in various ways, the
Qutb Minar is a unique building which announces
the arrival of Islam in India. The minar comprises a
tall tapering cylindrical tower standing on a circular
base with five storeys which together reach a height
of 72.5 m. Each of the storeys is reached by an internal
spiral staircase which leads to the balconies which
are supported on muqarnas corbels. The most
characteristic feature of the building is the corrugated
angular and rounded fluting on the shaft which
forms the basis for many later imita-tions. The first
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
