Dictionary of islamic architecture

part of the tower was built by Qutb al-Din who died
in 1210 leaving only one storey completed. This is
the thickest part of the tower with a base diameter
of 14 m tapering to 9 m at the first balcony. This part
Qutb Minar and Mosque

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of the minaret is built with alternating sharp-angled
and rounded fluting (twelve of each type) which are
decorated with bands of inscriptions. Between 1211
and 1236 the tower was completed by Iltumish with
three more storeys, each with a different pattern of
fluting. The second storey added by Iltumish has
rounded flutes, the third storey has angular flutes
and the fourth storey was plain. During the
fourteenth century the top of the building was
damaged by lightning and in 1369 Firuz Shah
repaired the damage to the top and added an extra
storey. The diameter at the fifth storey is only 2.7 m
making a reduction from an area of 44 square metres
at the base to 8.5 m at the top.
The design of the Qutb Minar and in particular
the fluting have clear antecedents and parallels in
Afghan architecture; thus the first storey built by
Qutb al-Din may be compared to the twelfth-century
tower at Khwaja Siyah Push in Sistan which has eight
semi-circular flutes alternating with eight shallow-
angled flutes. Similarly the round flutes of the second
storey may be compared with those of the early
twelfth-century Jar Kurgan tower in Uzbekistan.
The effect of the tower on later Indian
architecture is significant, influencing not only
towers but the decoration of columns and domes.
The earliest known direct copy is the Alai Minar in
the same complex which was begun by Ala al-Din
Khaliji in the early fourteenth century; it had twice
the base area of the Qutb Minar and was projected
to be twice the height. Although it was never
completed, the base can still be seen and is circular,
with square flutes and a tapering cylindrical shaft
with sharp-angled flutes. An earlier example of the
influence of the Qutb Minar can be found in the
paired minarets on top of the early thirteenth-cen-
tury gateway of Araha-i-Din Mosque at Ajmer.
However, the most complete copy is the Hashtsal
Minar near Palam built for Shar Jahan and
completed in 1634. The top of the building has been
damaged, as have the two collar-like balconies of
which only the projecting supports remain, so that
its present height is 17 m. Like its ancient model
the Hashtsal Minaret is decorated with alternating
round and angled flutes although there is no
attempt to recreate the muqarnas mouldings which
support the balconies of the Qutb Minar. There is
no mosque associated with the tower and it seems
likely that this was a hunting monument con-
sciously recalling the victory connotations of the
Qutb Minar.