English Essay/Paragraph/Speech on ‘The Qutub Minar’ for Kids and Students for Class 8, 9, 10, Class 12 and Graduation Examination

The Qutub Minar

Essay No. 01

The tall and ever attractive monument of Delhi which can be seen from many parts of the city is called the Qutub Minar. It is among the tallest and most famous towers in the world. The minaret is 234 feet high and is the highest individual tower in India. It has a number of floors or storeys which has beautiful carvings like the one on the tomb of Iltutmish, There are inscriptions all around the tower and these inscriptions reveal that Iltutmish finished the tower. The structure of the wall is made such that it widens from top to bottom, just to make the minar stronger.

There are a number of legends related to the Qutub Minar of New Delhi. Some people believe that the monument was actually built by Prithviraj Chauhan so that his daughter could behold the sacred river Yamuna from its top as part of her daily worship. Since the Qutub Minar’s entire architecture seems to be of Islamic origin, these legends seem to be baseless.

However, Hindu craftsmen and sculptured stones of some Hindu temples were certainly employed for its construction, as is evident from the Devanagari in script on its surface. It is said that a cupola surmounted the stone tower originally, which was destroyed by an earthquake. Later, an effort was made to replace it in the 19th century, but it was brought down in 1848. It can still be seen on the lawns to the southeast of Qutub Minar.

250 Words

Qutub Minar

Essay No. 02

Qutb-Minar in red and buff sandstone is the highest tower in India. It has a diameter of 14.32 m at the base and about 2.75 m on the top with a height of 72.5 m. Qutbu’d-Din Aibak laid the foundation of Minar in AD 1199 for the use of the muezzin (crier) to give calls for prayer and raised the first storey, to which were added three more storeys by his successor and son-in-law, Shamsu’d-Din Iltutmish (AD 1211-36).

All the storeys are surrounded by a projected balcony encircling the Minar and supported by stone brackets, which are decorated with honeycomb design, more conspicuously in the first storey. Numerous inscriptions in Arabic and Nagari characters in different places of the Minar reveal the history of Qutb. According to the inscriptions on its surface, it was repaired by Firuz Shah Tughlaq (AD 1351-88) and Sikandar Lodi (AD 1489-1517).

Major R. Smith also repaired and restored the minar in 1829. Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, to the north-east of minar was built by Qutbu’d-Din Aibak in AD 1198. It is the earliest extant mosque built by the Delhi Sultans. The tomb of Iltutmish (AD 1211-36) was built in AD 1235 Ala’i-Darwaza, the southern gateway of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque was constructed by Alau’d-Din Khalji in AH 710 (AD 1311) as recorded in the inscriptions engraved on it. Ala’i Minar which stands to the north of Qutb Minar was commenced by Alau’d-Din Khalji, with the intention of making it twice the size of the earlier Minar. The other remains in the Qutb complex comprise madrasa, graves, tombs, mosque and architectural members.

250 Words