What are the historical facts of Qutub Minar ?

Aibak's successor Iltutmish added three more storeys. The minar's topmost storey was damaged by lightning in 1369 and was rebuilt by Firuz Shah Tughlaq, who added another storey.

The mosque was enlarged twice. In 1230 Qutb-ud-din’s son-in-law and successor, Shamsuddin Iltutmish, doubled its size by extending the colonnades and prayer hall – ‘Iltutmish’s extension’. This accommodated a larger congregation, and in the more stable conditions of Iltutmish’s reign, Islam was obviously gaining ground.

Qutub Minar is a minaret located in the Qutab complex. It is a heritage site located in Delhi. Qutub Minar is a tapering tower, which was designed similar to the Minaret of Jam located in Western Afghanistan.

The arches of the extension are nearer to the true arch and are similar to the Gothic arch that appeared in Europe at this time. The decoration is Islamic. Almost 100 years after Iltutmish’s death, the mosque was enlarged again, by Ala-ud-din Khalji.

In 1505, an earthquake damaged Qutub Minar; it was repaired by Sikander Lodi. On 1 September 1803, a major earthquake caused serious damage.

The first floor of the tower was built in 12th century.

Major Robert Smith of the British Indian Army renovated the tower in 1828 and installed a pillared cupola over the fifth story, thus creating a sixth

The conductor of tireless and bloody military campaigns, Ala-ud-din proclaimed himself ‘God’s representative on earth’. His architectural ambitions, however, were not fully realized, because on his death in 1316 only part of the north and east extensions were completed.

The second, third and fourth floors were built in 13th century and the last floor was completed in 14th century.

The cupola was taken down in 1848, under instructions from The Viscount Hardinge, then Governor General of India. It was reinstalled at ground level to the east of Qutab Minar, where it remains.

There were attempts to add a sixth storey to the tower, which failed. This is the victory tower of Mughal, which indicated the beginning of Muslim rule in India.

When Ala-ud-din made his additions to the mosque he also conceived a far more ambitious construction program. He aimed to build a second tower of victory, exactly like the Qutb Minar, but twice as high! By the time of his death the tower had reached 27m and no one was willing to continue his overambitious project.

The tower has five tapering storeys. The lower three storeys are made of pale red sandstone, the fourth is made of marble and the fifth is made of marble and sandstone.

The tower's style is patterned on Afghanistan's Minaret of Jam, and adapted to local artistic conventions by the incorporation of "looped bells and garlands and lotus borders into the carving"

Known as Ala’i Minar, the incomplete tower, a solid stack of rubble, stands to the north of the Qutub Minar and the mosque.

Ala-ud-din did complete the south gateway to the building, the Ala’i Darwaza; it was built of red sandstone in 1311 and is just southwest of the Qutub Minar. This exquisite gateway is the main entrance to the whole complex. It is also one of the earliest buildings in India to employ the Islamic principles of arched construction.

Numerous inscriptions in Parso-Arabic and Nagari characters in different sections of the Qutub Minar reveal the history of its construction, and the later restorations and repairs by Firoz Shah Tughluq (1351–89) and Sikandar Lodi (1489–1517).

Ala-ud-din benefited from events in Central Asia: since the early 13th century, Mongol hordes from Central Asia fanned out east and west, destroying the civilization of the Seljuk Turks in West Asia, and refugee artists, architects, craftsmen and poets fled east. They brought to India features and techniques that had developed in Byzantine Turkey, some of which can be seen in the Ala’i Darwaza.

The tower has five superposed, tapering storeys. The lowest three comprise fluted cylindrical shafts or columns of pale red sandstone, separated by flanges and by storeyed balconies, carried on Muqarnas corbels.

This 4th-century pillar, originally made as a flagstaff in Vishnu’s honour, is a tribute to ancient Indian metallurgy. This 7m-high pillar stands in the courtyard of the mosque and it was here a long time prior to the mosque’s construction.

A six-line Sanskrit inscription indicates that it was initially erected outside a Vishnu temple, possibly in Bihar, and was raised in memory of Chandragupta II, who ruled from AD 375 to 413.

Each storey has a balcony projecting out. The balcony is surrounded by exclusive artworks.

Before 1974, the general public was allowed access to the top of the minaret, via the internal staircase.

A six-line Sanskrit inscription indicates that it was initially erected outside a Vishnu temple, possibly in Bihar, and was raised in memory of Chandragupta II, who ruled from AD 375 to 413.

At the foot of the monument, you can find a mosque, Quwwat-ul-Islam.