Home > Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque
Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque was built by Qutub-ud-din Aibak , founder of the Mamluk dynasty or Slave dynasty . The mosque was built in 1192 when Aibak as 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. The mosque is said to be the oldest mosque of India. Quwwat-ul-Islam itself stands for Might of Islam.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 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 Qutub's rule.
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.
Delhi
