Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque - and the Winds of Change

Construction of Quwwat-Ul-Islam (Might, or Glory of Islam) Mosque was initiated by Qutub-ud-din Aibak. It was the first ever mosque to be built in Delhi. And history was never the same again as this was the starting point of a revolution in art, architecture, culture and literature in India with the confluence and amulgumation of the islamic and the indigenous.

Aibak probably neither had the resources, nor architects or designers to build this mosque. This was in fact believed to have been built with the ruins of several Hindu and Jain temples which he demolished in order to carry on with the construction. The rear part of the mosque is believed to be part of Prithviraj Chauhan's "Chausath Khamba" or sixty four pillared hall.

However, this mosque never stopped growing even after the death of Aibak. Qutbuddin's son in law and successor Iltutmish, extended the original prayer hall screen by adding more arches. By then, the empire seems to have  stabilized well enough so that the Sultan could replace some of the Hindu masons with expert workers from Ghor and Persia. This explains why the arches added by Iltutmish are more distinct and Islamic in style than the ones built under Qutb's rule.

More additions and beautifications were made to the mosque later by Alauddin Khilji, including the famous "Alai Darwaza", his formal entrance to the mosque, built exquisitely in red sandstone and white marble , and a courtyard in 1300 AD.