A Rajput citadel and a sultan's tower
Nobody agrees on exactly what the tower was for, and our guides enjoy that argument. It was certainly a minaret, from which the call to prayer could be given for the mosque below. It was just as certainly a victory tower, a statement that a new power had arrived.
The Tomars: in the eleventh century this Rajput clan built a fortified town on the ridge, the southern tip of the Aravalli hills that run down through Rajasthan.
The Chauhans: in the twelfth century the Chauhans of Ajmer took it, and Prithviraj Chauhan enlarged it into the walled city now called Qila Rai Pithora.
- Built
- Begun in the 1190s
- Built by
- Qutb-ud-din Aibak, finished by Iltutmish
- Open
- Grounds only, no climbing since 1981
- Allow
- Ninety minutes, a morning with Mehrauli
- Best time
- Opening time, October to March
- Photography
- Personal use welcome, no drones
- Getting there
- About half an hour from the airport
- A Rajasthani hero: the ballads about Prithviraj are still sung in our villages.
- Tarain, 1192: Muhammad of Ghor defeated him at the second battle, and Delhi passed to the Turkish generals who came with the invader. Our guide to Delhi, the gateway city tells the wider story.
- Qutb-ud-din Aibak: a former slave who rose to command Muhammad's armies, left in charge. In the 1190s he began a great mosque on the citadel and a tower beside it.
- The first sultan: when Muhammad died in 1206, Aibak made himself Sultan of Delhi, beginning what historians call the Slave dynasty.
- Storey by storey: Aibak finished only the first. His son-in-law and successor, Iltutmish, added three more.
- Whose name? Either Aibak himself, or the Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, who lived in Mehrauli and whose shrine is a short walk away. Delhi people say both.
- Lightning, 1360s: Firoz Shah Tughlaq rebuilt the top in white marble and red sandstone, making the five storeys you see today.
- Sikandar Lodi: repaired it again in the early sixteenth century.
- Smith's Folly: after an earthquake in 1803, Major Robert Smith restored it in 1828 and crowned it with a cupola everyone hated. It came down twenty years later and now sits on the lawn.
Walking the Qutub complex, monument by monument
- Quwwat-ul-Islam
- Begun 1190s
- Iron Pillar
- Around the end of the fourth century
- Tomb of Iltutmish
- He died in 1236
- Alai Darwaza
- 1311
- Imam Zamin's tomb
- 1530s
The Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque
The first great mosque in Delhi: begun in the 1190s, at the same time as the tower.
Recycled temples: an inscription over its eastern gateway records that it used the materials of twenty-seven Hindu and Jain temples.
- In the colonnades: pillars carved with bells on chains, lotus flowers, garlands and small figures whose faces were defaced.
- Three histories at once: the masons were Indian, the stones came from temples, and the building was a mosque.
- Told honestly: it is a difficult history, and a good guide tells it without heat.
The great arched screen
Where: the western side of the courtyard, a tall stone screen of pointed arches.
- The carving: Quranic verses and flowing Indian plant scrolls side by side.
- Not true arches: flat stones laid in layers, each jutting out a little more until they meet at the top.
- Why: Indian masons carved the shape their new patrons wanted with the techniques they already knew.
The Iron Pillar
What it is: a smooth dark column about seven metres high, much older than anything around it.
The inscription: Sanskrit in the Gupta script, honouring a king named Chandra, generally thought to be Chandragupta II, around the end of the fourth century.
- From elsewhere: almost certainly made elsewhere and brought here, perhaps by the Tomar kings.
- A lost crown: it may once have carried a figure of Garuda, the eagle mount of Vishnu.
- Barely rusted: after more than fifteen centuries in the open. Metallurgists credit the purity of the iron and a thin protective layer on its surface.
- The old wish: stand with your back to it and join your hands around it. It is now fenced, so admire it from the railing.
The Qutub Minar itself
The height: about 73 metres, narrowing from a broad base to a slim top, which makes it look even taller.
The stone: the first three storeys are red and buff sandstone. The upper two, rebuilt by Firoz Shah, are faced with white marble.
- The balconies: each storey ends in one, on carved stone brackets that look almost like honeycomb.
- The inscriptions: bands of carved Arabic give Quranic verses and the names of the rulers who built and repaired it.
- No climbing: the stairs have been closed since 1981, after a tragic accident.
- No loss: the best view is from the ground, walking slowly round as the light changes on the flutes.
The tomb of Iltutmish
Where: behind the mosque, in the north-west corner, a small square chamber with no roof.
- The oldest: the oldest surviving tomb of a Delhi sultan. Iltutmish died in 1236.
- The walls: carved floor to ceiling with geometric patterns, calligraphy and Indian motifs, so densely the stone looks like lace.
- The sky: the dome fell long ago, and the open sky above the grave makes it one of Delhi's most atmospheric rooms.
The Alai Darwaza
Our guides' favourite: the most beautiful building in the complex.
Built: in 1311 by Alauddin Khalji, as the southern entrance to his enlarged mosque.
- The look: a square hall of red sandstone inlaid with white marble, with horseshoe arches fringed with spear-like points.
- True arches: inside, the dome rests on wedge-shaped stones that lock together, among the earliest in India.
- A century of learning: compare it with the corbelled screen in the courtyard.
The Alai Minar
What you see: a thick, rough stump of rubble about twenty-five metres high, to the north.
- The plan: Alauddin Khalji meant it to be twice the height of the Qutub Minar.
- The end: work stopped when he died in 1316, and nobody tried again.
- For children: a wonderful lesson in ambition, and they love it.
Alauddin's tomb and madrasa
Where: the south-west corner, the ruined halls of the college Alauddin built, with his tomb among them.
- Quiet: roofless, and few visitors find them.
- Late afternoon: the low sun comes through the broken arches and the stone glows.
The tomb of Imam Zamin
Where: beside the Alai Darwaza, a small, graceful tomb with a white dome and stone screens.
- Built: in the 1530s, for a Sufi teacher from Central Asia who lived here in the time of the Lodi sultans.
- The contrast: delicate beside the massive gateway.
How to read the tower, in plain words
Where to stand: about thirty metres from the base, on the east side, looking at the first storey.
A deliberate rhythm: the changing flutes make the tower catch the sun differently at every hour, so it never looks quite the same twice.
The calligraphy: bands run round the tower like belts, the letters carved in relief.
- First storey
- Rounded and angular flutes
- Second
- Rounded flutes only
- Third
- Angular flutes only
- Fourth and fifth
- Plain and round
- Balcony brackets
- Muqarnas honeycomb
- Indian hands: the Turkish rulers brought the script, but Indian sculptors carved it and filled every gap with tendrils, lotus buds and scrolls.
- Temple carvers: the same hands had been carving temple walls a generation earlier.
- The balconies: each rests on a ring of small brackets cut into tiny stacked niches.
- Muqarnas: this honeycomb carving came from Persia and the Arab world, and here it was translated into Indian sandstone for one of the first times.
- Why see it early: the red and white stone of Humayun's Tomb, the true arches of the Red Fort and the carved brackets of every Rajput palace from Amer to Jodhpur all have ancestors here.
- Follow the threads: our page on reading Rajasthani architecture.
Mehrauli, the ruins that most visitors never see
Almost every century: the Mehrauli Archaeological Park spreads over a large area beside the complex, with monuments from nearly every age of Delhi.
- Where
- Five minutes' walk south
- Allow
- At least an hour
- Ground
- Rough, uneven, with steps
- Look for
- Stepwells, tombs, peacocks
- Unknown to most: most visitors to the Minar never know it is there.
- Our view: one of the best walks in the city, so we always add at least an hour.
Jamali Kamali
What it is: a red sandstone mosque and a small, beautifully decorated tomb of the early sixteenth century.
- Jamali: the Sufi poet lived through the reign of the last Lodi sultan and the first Mughals.
- The ceiling: if the tomb is open, its painted and tiled ceiling is one of the finest in Delhi.
- Kamali: a second grave lies beside Jamali's, of a man whose identity is unknown.
Rajon ki Baoli
A Lodi stepwell: early sixteenth century, with arched galleries descending to the water.
- The name: the stepwell of the masons, who are said to have lived around it.
- From a stepwell state: coming from Rajasthan, we are always happy to show guests that Delhi has fine ones too.
- The great ones: our stepwells experience goes on to Abhaneri and Bundi.
Balban's tomb
Whose: the thirteenth-century sultan Balban, among the earliest surviving tombs in Delhi.
- Why it matters: architectural historians value its early true arches.
- When: lovely in the late afternoon light.
Metcalfe's retreat
The Resident's folly: in the nineteenth century Sir Thomas Metcalfe, British Resident at the Mughal court, turned an old Mughal tomb here into a country retreat.
- Around it: follies and garden pavilions he added.
- The feeling: strange and touching, a Victorian Englishman's idea of an Indian garden among genuine ruins.
The shrine of Bakhtiyar Kaki and the Zafar Mahal
The shrine: in Mehrauli village, of the Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, who died in 1235.
The Zafar Mahal: a summer palace of the later Mughals beside it, with a great gateway added by Bahadur Shah Zafar.
- An empty grave: the last emperor wanted to lie next to the saint. The space is still empty, because he died in exile in Rangoon.
- Phool Walon ki Sair: most years, usually after the monsoon though dates vary, flower sellers carry great fans of flowers to the shrine and the nearby Yogmaya temple.
- Shared by all: begun in the Mughal court, the festival is loved by Hindu and Muslim families alike.
The best hour and the best season
Arrive at opening: the first hour is the quietest, before school groups and tour buses, and the morning light falls on the eastern face as you walk in.
Late afternoon: the stone turns warm and the ruins of Alauddin's college glow.
- Best hour
- Opening time
- Second best
- Late afternoon
- Avoid
- Midday, weekends and holidays
- Best season
- October to March
- Clearest
- February and March
- Summer
- Only the first hour
- Winter air: in November and December smoke and haze can be heavy, and on bad days the top of the tower disappears into a grey sky.
- How we handle it: we check the forecast each evening and move to a clearer morning if we can.
- Fog: December and January bring it at dawn. Beautiful, but it can delay the start.
- April to June: only the first hour is pleasant.
- Monsoon: the Mehrauli woods turn green and the stepwells fill a little, but the paths can be muddy.
- Month by month: our best time to visit Delhi guide.
How to visit the Qutub Minar well
Book a private guide: the temple pillars, the corbelled arches and the inscriptions need explaining, and they are the heart of the visit.
Time: ninety minutes for the complex, a full morning with the Mehrauli Archaeological Park.
- Guide
- One who knows early Islamic architecture
- Shoes
- Sturdy for Mehrauli
- Climbing
- Closed since 1981
- Drones
- Not permitted
- Shade
- Colonnades only
- Limited mobility: the main paths are paved and mostly level, one of the better monuments for this.
- Mehrauli's ground: rougher, with uneven paths and steps, so wear sturdy shoes.
- Photography: personal use is welcome. A wide lens or a phone's wide setting helps at the foot of the tower.
- Warm months: carry water and a hat. There is shade under the colonnades but little on the lawns.
- The Iron Pillar: it is fenced, so please don't climb the railing.
- A last morning: about half an hour from the airport in light traffic, perfect before an evening flight.
What most visitors walk past
- Underfoot
- Lal Kot and Qila Rai Pithora
- In the colonnades
- The ghanta bell motif
- On the lawn
- Smith's Folly
- In Mehrauli
- Jamali Kamali's ceiling
The Rajput walls
- Ask your guide: to show you the remains of Lal Kot and Qila Rai Pithora around the complex.
- Under your feet: few visitors know the citadel of Prithviraj Chauhan lies there.
The faces on the pillars
- What to look for: small carved figures and bells on chains, the ghanta motif of the old temples.
- Why: some are intact, and they show you the craft of the temples that came before.
Smith's Folly
- Where: on the lawn to the south-east, the cupola Major Smith put on the tower in 1828.
- Try this: stand beside it, imagine it on top of the Minar, and you will understand why it came down.
The ceiling of Jamali Kamali
- Look up: if the tomb is open when you visit.
- What survives: the painted plaster and blue tiles, almost intact after five centuries.
What to pair with the Qutub Minar
- Hauz Khas
- About twenty minutes north
- Tughlaqabad
- To the east, built in the 1320s
- Humayun's Tomb
- North, for the evening
- Lunch
- Mehrauli ridge terraces
Hauz Khas
The reservoir: a great medieval tank built by Alauddin Khalji.
- On its banks: a fourteenth-century college and tombs added by Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
- Today: a lively village of cafés and boutiques, and at dusk the lake fills with herons.
Tughlaqabad
What it is: the vast ruined fortress city of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, built in the 1320s on a rocky outcrop.
- His tomb: with sloping walls, nearby.
- The curse: it was abandoned soon after, and legend says the saint Nizamuddin Auliya cursed it.
- Why go: the scale is astonishing, and you will probably be alone.
Lodhi Garden and Humayun's Tomb
- The next chapter: drive north for the later tombs of the Lodi sultans and the Mughals.
- Three centuries in a day: a morning at the Qutub and an evening at Humayun's Tomb.
Lunch with a view
- On the ridge: several Mehrauli restaurants look over the tower from their terraces, perfect for a long lunch after the walk.
- We book: a table that suits you on the day. For more, see our guide to the food of Delhi.
Where to stay for a Qutub morning
From the central hotels: The Leela Palace in Chanakyapuri and The Oberoi, New Delhi are usually a short early-morning drive, and we leave before the rush.
Also well placed: ITC Maurya, in Chanakyapuri.
- Chanakyapuri
- The Leela Palace, ITC Maurya
- Lodhi Road
- The Oberoi, New Delhi
- Janpath
- The Imperial, easy at dawn
- Closest
- Aerocity hotels
- Further north: The Imperial, still easy at dawn.
- Aerocity: a last night in the hotel district beside the airport puts you very close, ideal for an evening flight or the expressway south to Jaipur.
- Hotels there: Andaz Delhi and JW Marriott Aerocity.
- A perfect last morning: the Minar at opening, a late breakfast, and the airport or the road to Jaipur by noon.
- Full comparison: our guide to luxury hotels in Delhi.
What we tell our cousins before they go
Go first thing: it changes everything.
Add Mehrauli: an hour among the stepwells and tombs is what guests talk about most afterwards.
- Go
- First thing in the morning
- Add
- An hour in Mehrauli
- Use it as
- A first or last sight
- See it
- Before Agra
- A bookend: many of our guests see it first or last in India, because it is so close to the airport.
- Watch the air: in November and December, keep the morning flexible if you can.
- Avoid the crowds: public holidays and weekends at midday, when families and school groups fill the lawns.
- Remember Prithviraj: at Ajmer and the lake at Pushkar, you will be in the heart of his old kingdom.
- Before the Taj: on the Golden Triangle, see the Qutub before Agra. The temple pillars, the Persian dome and the marble all come together later at the Taj.
