The Qutb Minar complex are monuments and buildings from the Delhi Sultanate at Mehrauli in Delhi, India. Construction of the Qutub Minar "victory tower" in the complex, named after the religious figure Sufi Saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who later became the first Sultan of Delhi of the Mamluk dynasty. It was continued by his successor Iltutmish, and finally completed much later by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, a Sultan of Delhi from the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1412) in 1368 AD. The Qubbat-ul-Islam Mosque, later corrupted into Quwwat-ul Islam, stands next to the Qutb Minar.
The Mamluk dynasty was a dynasty which ruled Delhi Sultanate from 1206 to 1290. It was the first of five largely unrelated dynasties to rule the Delhi Sultanate until 1526. Before the establishment of the Mamluk dynasty, Qutb al-Din Aibak's tenure as a Ghurid dynasty administrator lasted from 1192 to 1206, a period during which he led forays into the Gangetic plain and established control over some of the new areas.
Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, Delhi, India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurugram and next to Vasant Kunj.
Quṭb al-Aqṭāb Khwāja Sayyid Muḥammad Bakhtiyār al-Ḥusaynī, Quṭb al-Dīn Bakhtiyār Kākī was a Sunni Muslim Sufi mystic, saint and scholar of the Chishti Order from Delhi, India. He was the disciple and the spiritual successor of Mu'in al-Din Chishti as head of the Chishti order. Before him the Chishti order in India was confined to Ajmer and Nagaur. He played a major role in establishing the order securely in Delhi. His dargah located adjacent to Zafar Mahal in Mehrauli, and the oldest dargah in Delhi, is also the venue of his annual Urs festivities. The Urs was held in high regard by many rulers of Delhi like Iltutmish who built a nearby stepwell, Gandhak ki Baoli for him, Sher Shah Suri who built a grand gateway, Bahadur Shah I who built the Moti Masjid mosque nearby and Farrukhsiyar who added a marble screen and a mosque.
Farrukhnagar is a small town and municipality in Farrukhnagar tehsil of Gurugram district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is situated 21 kilometres (13 mi) from Gurgaon and shares its border with Jhajjar district. It is part of the Ahirwal region.
Agrasen Ki Baoli is a 60-meter long and 15-meter wide historical stepwell in New Delhi, India.
Shaikh Jamali Kamboh was a 16th-century poet and Sufi of the Suhrawardiyya sect and pupil of Poet Jami and of Shaikh Sama'al-Din Kamboh'
The Tomb of Ghiyas ud din Balban is located in Mehrauli, New Delhi, India. Built in circa 1287 CE in rubble masonry, the tomb is a building of historical importance in the development of Indo-Islamic architecture, as it was here that first Islamic arch made its appearance in India, and according to many, the first Islamic dome as well, which however hasn't survived, making Alai Darwaza built in 1311 CE, in the nearby Qutb complex, the earliest surviving dome in India. Ghiyas ud din Balban (1200–1287) was a Turkic ruler of the Delhi Sultanate during the rule of Mamluk dynasty of Delhi from 1266 to 1287. He was one of the most prominent rulers of the Slave Dynasty. The tomb of Balban was discovered in the mid-20th century.
Sultan Ghari was the first Islamic Mausoleum (tomb) built in 1231 AD for Prince Nasiruddin Mahmud, eldest son of Iltumish, in the "funerary landscape of Delhi" in the Nangal Dewat Forest, Near Nangal Dewat Vasant Kunj).
Metcalfe House is the name given to two residential houses built in the 19th century in Delhi; one is near Old Delhi Civil Lines and the other is in Mehrauli, South Delhi. These were built by Sir Thomas Metcalfe (1795–1853), a civil servant, when he was the Governor General's last British resident (agent) at the Mughal court of Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.
Hauz-i-Shamsi, also called Shamshi Talab, is a water storage reservoir or tank built by Iltutmish of the Slave Dynasty in 1230 CE, at a location revealed to him in a dream by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. A palace called the Jahaz Mahal was built on the eastern edge of the same reservoir during the Lodi dynasty period in the 16th century as a retreat or Inn for use by pilgrims. Also at the edge of Hauz is the tomb of 17th-century Persian writer in the Mughal court, Abdul-Haqq Dehlavi. The monuments are situated in Mehrauli, Delhi.
Zafar Mahal, in Mehrauli village, in South Delhi, India, is considered as the last monumental structure built as a summer palace during the fading years of the Mughal era. The building has two components namely, the Mahal or the palace, which was built first by Akbar Shah II in the 18th century, and the entrance gate that was reconstructed in the 19th century by Bahadur Shah Zafar II, popularly known as "Zafar" meaning ‘Victory’. It has a forlorn history because Bahadur Shah Zafar, who wished to be buried in the precincts of the Zafar Mahal (palace) and the famous Dargah of Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki in Mehrauli, Delhi, was deported by the British to Rangoon, after the First War of Indian Independence in 1857, where he died of old age. The monument today is in a neglected and ruined state, locals play cricket and gamble freely inside the protected monument. The 18th-century palace has been all but subsumed by unauthorised constructions.
Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb, located in the Archaeological Village complex in Mehrauli, Delhi, India, comprise two monuments adjacent to each other; one is the mosque and the other is the tomb of Jamali and Kamali. Their names are tagged together as "Jamali Kamali" for the mosque as well as the tomb since they are buried adjacent to each other. The mosque and the tomb were constructed in 1528-1529, and Jamali was buried in the tomb after his death in 1535.
The Gates of Delhi were city gates at various medieval townships around Delhi, built under dynastic rulers in the period that could be dated from the 8th century to the 20th century. They are the gates in:
Rajon ki Baoli also referred as Rajon ki Bain is a famous stepwell in Mehrauli Archaeological Park of Delhi, India.
Dwarka Baoli is a historical stepwell recently discovered in Dwarka Sub City, in south west New Delhi, India. It was constructed for the residents of Loharehri village by the Sultans of the Lodi Dynasty in the early 16th century. Dwarka now stands where the Loharehri village once stood. Located in a barren stretch of land between a residential society and a private school on Azad Hind Fauj Marg, Sector 12, Dwarka, at 28-35-58.95 degree North and 77-02-38.67 degree East. It was hidden by a large group of Peepal trees and covered by a thick undergrowth which seems to have aided in its relative obscurity. It is mentioned in Maulvi Zafar Hasan's 1910 Monuments list which says it was not very deep and had 22 steps. It is under restoration by the State archeological department and work will be taken up by INTACH Delhi Chapter.
Persian Inscriptions on Indian Monuments is a book written in Persian by Dr Ali Asghar Hekmat E Shirazi and published in 1956 and 1958 and 2013. New edition contains the Persian texts of more than 200 epigraphical inscriptions found on historical monuments in India, many of which are currently listed as national heritage sites or registered as UNESCO world heritage, published in Persian; an English edition is also being printed.
Vikramjit Singh Rooprai is an author, educator and heritage activist. He started his career as a software engineer and later became a digital marketing consultant. He left his full time IT job in 2015 and became an educator, establishing heritage labs in schools and training teachers on how to use history to teach various subjects. His first book Delhi Heritage: Top 10 Baolis, dedicated to the stepwells of Delhi is published by Niyogi Books.
The Baolis of Mehrauli are three stepwells approached through single stage or three stage steps, located in Mehrauli in Delhi, India, in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park mainlined by the Archaeological Survey of India. These are the Anangtal Baoli, the Gandhak Ki Baoli, and the Rajon Ki Baoli. These were built below the ground level as ground water edifices and were built near shrines in medieval times.
The Architecture of Delhi dates back more than a thousand years. As the capital of several great empires of India, including Rajput kingdom, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, and British Raj, the city of Delhi has been a centre for art and architecture.
