Tomb of Iltutmish - The Sounds of Silence!!

To the north west of Quwwat-ul-islam mosque is the tomb of Iltutmish or Altamash - the successor of Qutub-ud-din Aibak. In the slave dynasty, there was no defined lineage of ascention and whoever became powerful, was elected by the Chihalgani (a core group of forty nobles who had the power to nominate the best candidate to become the ruler) to become the next king.

Iltutmish was a slave of Aibak and later as he gained the trust of his master with his goodness, bravery and intelligence, Aibak got his daughter married to him and appointed him as the the governor of Gwalior.

After Aibak died, the Chihalgani elected Aram Shah (little is known about him) as the next Sultan but soon he was overthrown by them as he was found to be inefficient and was replaced by Iltutmish.

Besides being remarkably handsome, Iltutmish was believed to be a capable ruler, a patron of art, literature and architecture. During his reign of 22 years from 1211 till 1236 he played a major role in consolidating and strengthening the empire through his conquests and by defending it from the invasions of powerful mongols including the fearsome Chengis Khan. The construction of Qutub Minar was completed under his supervision.

He built this ornate tomb in 1235, a year before he died. One of the earliest in Indo Islamic architecture, its stark and simple exterior disguises a richly ornamented interior carved out of red sandstone and marble. The western prayer wall (Mehrab) consists of three arches - all of which are richly carved with verses of Quran on marble.

Iltutmish's eldest son, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, had died in 1229 while governing Bengal as his father's deputy. The surviving sons of the Sultan were incapable as rulers. In 1236 Iltutmish, on his death-bed, nominated his 17 year old daughter Raziya as his successor.