At the foot of the Qutb Minar stands the first mosque to be built in India, intended to be a physical symbol of the triumph of Islam. An inscription over the east gate states that it was built with materials obtained from demolishing ‘27 idolatrous temples’. As well as intricate carvings that show a clear fusion of Islamic and pre-Islamic styles, the walls of the mosque are studded with sun disks, shikharas and other recognisable pieces of Hindu and Jain masonry, defaced as far as possible.
Altamish, Qutb-ud-din’s son-in-law, expanded the original mosque with a cloistered court between 1210 and 1220, and Ala-ud-din’s added the exquisite marble and sandstone Alai Darwaza gatehouse in 1310. Nearby is the dainty tomb of the Turkic saint Imam Zamin, erected in the Lodi era.
