Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque
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Qutub_minar.JPG
Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque (Might of Islam) (also known as Qutb Mosque and Great Mosque of Delhi) was built by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, founder of the Mamluk or Slave dynasty. The mosque construction started in the 1190s when Aibak was the commander of Muhammad Ghori's garrison occupied Delhi. The mosque is said to be built by the parts taken by destruction of twenty-seven Hindu and Jain temples, it was the first mosque built in Delhi after the Islamic conquest of India and the best surviving example of Ghurids architecture.
The mosque was built hastily by the local Hindu craftsmen. Since columns from the destroyed temples were reused there was a problem to adapt them as Islam denies use of images in mosques. The masons were forced to plaster over the highly sculpted Hindu columns and presumably cover them with geometric designs. However, after centuries of neglect the plaster has fallen away, revealing the original Hindu carvings.
The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque is best known for its tower of victory, celebrating the Muslim conquest of India. It is built of red sandstone, gray quartz, and white marble, but is probably inspired by the iron pillar that stands on the site. Expansion of the mosque continued after the death of Qutub. His successor Iltutmish extended the original prayer hall screen by three more arches. By the time of Iltutmish, the Mamluk empire had stablized enough that the Sultan could replace most of his conscripted Hindu masons with Muslims. This explains why the arches added under Iltutmish are stylistically more Islamic than the ones erected under Qutb's rule.
In 1199 construction began on a huge sandstone tower known as the Qutub Minar. Like earlier towers erected by the Ghaznavids and Ghurids in Mghanistan, the Qutb Minar comprises several superposed flanged and cylindrical shafts decorated with inscriptions, and separated by balconies carried on Muqarnas corbels. Later rulers added more stories to the tower, so that by the time the fifth story was completed in 1368, the tower soared an amazing 72.5 meters (238 feet).
Just to the west of the expanded mosque, Iltutmish built his own tomb, the first to be erected for the Delhi Sultanate. The decline of Quwwat-ul-Islam began during the rule of Ala-ud-din Khilji. Ala-ud-din at first seemed inclined to patronize the mosque, even adding an enormous new courtyard wall and erecting Ala-I-Darwaza. However, Ala-ud-dins dreams were so grand that he decided to abandon Delhi and move to nearby Siri, whereupon Quwwat-ul-Islam lost its pre-eminence.
See also
- Timeline of Islamic history
- Islamic architecture
- Islamic art
- List of mosques
- Qutb-ud-din Aybak
- Indian architecture
- Qutb Minar
External links
- Quwwat Al-Islam Mosque (http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/architecture/quwwatalislammosque.html) Architectural review