Editing Qutb Minar complex (section)

== Qutb Minar ==
[[File:Qutab Minar mausoleum.jpg|thumb|Qutb Minar and Alai Darwaza (Alai Gate), the entrance to the Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque]]
{{Main|Qutb Minar}}
The [[Qutb Minar]] is inspired by the [[Minaret of Jam]] in Afghanistan, it is an important example of early [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] architecture, which later evolved into [[Indo-Islamic Architecture]]. The Qutb Minar is 72.5 metres (239&nbsp;ft) high, making it the tallest minaret in the world built of bricks.<ref>{{cite web |title=World's tallest buildings, monuments and other structures |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=11 May 2011 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/worlds-tallest-buildings-monuments-and-other-structures/18/}}</ref> It has five distinct storeys, each marked by a projecting balcony carried on [[muqarnas]] [[corbel]] and tapers from a diameter 14.3 metres at the base to 2.7 metres at the top, which is 379 steps away. It is listed as a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] along with surrounding buildings and monuments.<ref>QutubMinarDelhi.com. [http://qutubminardelhi.com/ "Qutub Minar"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723044609/http://qutubminardelhi.com/ |date=23 July 2015}} . Retrieved 5 August 2015.</ref>

Built as a Victory Tower, to celebrate the victory of [[Muhammad Ghori]] over the [[Rajput]] king, [[Prithviraj Chauhan]], in 1192 AD, by his then viceroy, [[Qutb-ud-din Aibak]], later the first Sultan of [[Mamluk Sultanate (Delhi)|Mamluk dynasty]]. Its construction also marked the beginning of [[Islamic empires in India|Muslim rule in India]]. It was built using red sandstone and marble.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/t/019pho0000002s3u00077000.html|title=The Kutub &#91;Qutb&#93; Minar & great arch, Delhi}}</ref> Inscriptions record that 27 Hindu and Jain temples were torn down and used for its creation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/r/019pho000000052u00015000.html|title=Rao Petarah's Temple, Delhi}}</ref> Even today the Qutb remains one of the most important "Towers of Victory" in the Islamic world. Aibak however, could only build the first storey, for this reason the lower storey is replete with eulogies to [[Muhammad Ghori]].<ref>{{cite book |title= History of Sultanate architecture|last=Nath |first=R. |year=1978 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |page=22}}</ref> The next three floors were added by his son-in-law and successor, [[Iltutmish]]. The minar was first struck by lightning in 1368 AD, which knocked off its top storey, after that it was replaced by the existing two floors by [[Firoz Shah Tughlaq]], a later [[Sultan of Delhi]] from 1351 to 1388, and faced with white marble and sandstone enhancing the distinctive [[variegated]] look of the minar, as seen in lower three storeys. Thus the structure displays a marked variation in architectural styles from [[Mamluk Sultanate (Delhi)|Aibak]] to that of [[Tughlaq dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Islam in India and Pakistan |last=Schimmel|first=Annemarie |author-link=Annemarie Schimmel|year=1982 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-06479-6|page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r5cfAAAAIAAJ&q=Qutub+Minar&pg=PA4 }}</ref> The inside has intricate carvings of the verses from the Quran.

The [[Minaret|minar]] made with numerous superimposed [[flanged]] and cylindrical shafts in the interior, and [[fluted column]]s on the exterior, which have a 40&nbsp;cm thick [[Masonry veneer|veneer]] of red and buff coloured sandstone; all surrounded by bands of intricate carving in [[Kufic]] style of [[Islamic calligraphy]], giving the minar the appearance of bundled reeds.<ref>{{cite book |title=Heritage conservation: preservation and restoration of monuments |last= Batra |first= N. L.|year=1996 |publisher=Aryan Books International|isbn=81-7305-108-9|page= 176}}</ref> It stands just outside the Quwwatul mosque, and an Arabic inscription suggests that it might have been built to serve as a place for the [[muezzin]], to call the faithfuls for ''[[namaz]]''.<ref name="eich">''Delhi city guide'', by [[Eicher Goodearth Limited]], [[Delhi Tourism]]. Published by Eicher Goodearth Limited, 1998. {{ISBN|81-900601-2-0}}. ''Page 181-182''.</ref><ref>[[:File:Plaque at Qutub Minar.jpg|Plaque at Qutub Minar]]</ref> Also marking a progression in era, is the appearance of inscriptions in a bold and cursive [[Thuluth]] script of calligraphy on the Qutb Minar, distinguished by strokes that thicken on the top, as compared to Kufic in earlier part of the construction.<ref>{{cite book |title=The empire of the great Mughals |last=Schimmel |first=Annemarie |author-link=Annemarie Schimmel|author2=Burzine K. Waghmar |year=2004 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=1-86189-185-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne/page/267 267] |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne |url-access=registration |quote=Qutub Minar.}}</ref>

Inscriptions also indicate further repairs by Sultan [[Sikander Lodi]] in 1503, when it was struck by lightning once again. In 1802, the [[cupola]] on the top was thrown down and the whole pillar was damaged by an earthquake. It was repaired by Major R. Smith of the [[Royal Engineers]] who restored the Qutub Minar in 1823 replacing the [[cupola]] with a Bengali-style ''[[chhatri]]'' which was later removed by [[Governor-General of India|Governor General]], [[Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge|Lord Hardinge]] in 1848, as it looked out of place, and now stands in the outer lawns of the complex, popularly known as Smith's [[Folly]].<ref name=her /><ref name=eich /><ref name=shook>{{cite web|title=When Delhi shook, Qutub stood still|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=153019|date=15 October 2005|work=[[The Indian Express]]|access-date=14 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903050850/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=153019|archive-date=3 September 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=EU maps faultlines to save Qutab|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=110246|date=14 December 2004|work=[[The Indian Express]]|access-date=14 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903043831/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=110246|archive-date=3 September 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After an accident involving school children, entry to the Qutub Minar is closed to public since 1981, while Qutub archaeological area remains open for public.<ref>{{cite web |title=No decision on re-opening Qutub Minar for public: Government |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/No-decision-on-re-opening-Qutub-Minar-for-public-Government/articleshow/2304154.cms |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714180245/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-08-23/delhi/27959833_1_qutub-minar-entry-decision |url-status=live |archive-date=14 July 2012 |date=23 August 2007 |work=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=14 August 2009}}</ref> In 2004, Seismic monitors were installed on the minar, which revealed in 2005 Delhi earthquake, no damage or substantial record of shakes. The reason for this has been cited as the use of [[lime mortar]] and [[rubble masonry]] which absorbs the tremors; it is also built on rocky soil, which further protects it during earthquakes.<ref name=shook />