Pre-Mughal architectural monument: Qutb Minar
From the 8th century C.E. onward, people of Islamic faiths continuously made their way into India through the north western border and established various dynasties in north India with Delhi as their capital.
Muhamod of Ghor’s Afghan army defeated Prithvi Raj, the ruler of the Rajput forces, in 1192. To commemorate this decisive victory of Isam over the Hindus, Muhammad’s general and viceroy, Qutb-ud-din Aibek, raised the earliest surviving mosque in India at Delhi. This mosque was called Quwwat ul-Islam or “Might of Islam.” It was erected on the site of Delhi’s largest Hindu temple. In the south east part of its courtyard was built the Qutb Minar, which rose originally to a height of some 238 feet. It was haughtily erected as a tower of victory, and its inscriptions proclaim its purpose- to cast a long shadow of God over the conquered city of the Hindus.
Qutb-ud-din employed local Hindu craftsmen of Delhi, and their beautifully detailed stonework is evident. On the decorative bands encircling the Minar, the craftsmen carved inscriptions from the Koran interspersed with floral designs of Indian origin. Thus a new, hybrid art form was created for Islam’s first major monument in India. It has a star-shaped ground plan.
