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A view from the top
THE DECISION to reopen the Qutb Minar to the public evokes memories of the days when people could climb right up to the top of the Tower of Victory. On an afternoon over 50 years ago, I ventured to climb up but had to come down midway as the staircase was suffocating because of poor ventilation and the smell of bat droppings.
However, some among the group of schoolboys, along with the scoutmaster, did manage to make it to the top. They came back exhausted and full of wonder at the view that had unfolded itself. But my own memories are of a panorama of monuments dotted all over Delhi that could be viewed as miniature creations in the distance, among them Humayun's Tomb.
Right below were green fields and a lot of trees, which have disappeared now. As for the monuments in the Qutb complex, they definitely looked bigger, especially the lighthouse of Sir Thomas Metcalfe, and right behind the mausoleum of Adham Khan. In those days women hardly visited it, unless they were Europeans, because of the curse on the monument that dated back to the time of Rupmati and Baz Bahadur.
Adham Khan had captured Malwa as Akbar's General and his victory ended in the defeat of the fabled lovers, but before she died Rupmati had cursed Adham Khan that his lot would be worse and that his name would deter women from even visiting his last resting place.
The prophecy came true when Adham Khan drew the wrath of Akbar in the Agra Fort for his misbehaviour in the royal presence after he had murdered a nobleman, Atgah Khan. The General, who was near and dear to the Emperor, was thrown down the walls of the fort. His tomb was built in 1561 and until a few years ago women thought it would bring ill-luck if they visited the monument. From the Qutb, Adham Khan's tomb looks like a palace, for it has a certain beauty of its own.
When C.M. Villiers Stuart saw the Qutb some 200 years ago, she remarked that the Tower of Victory dominated the sandy plain of Delhi with its many monuments. Miss Stuart wrote a book on Moghul Gardens, many of which have now disappeared, but the Qutb survives, albeit over a landscape where other monuments are now dwarfed by modern-day creations. These buildings have cluttered up the view that one could have of the Qutb even 30 years ago.
The Qutb was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak before his death in 1211 as a memorial to Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, whom he held in high esteem. There is a misconception that it is named after the Sultan, whose name was also Qutbuddin, in memory of his victory over his enemies and the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate by him after the death of his mentor, Mohammad Ghori. The ruler of Ghori had bought him as a boy slave and slowly he became like a dear son to him.
Qutbuddin bought Altamash as a boy slave but began to treat him like a son after Ghori told him that the child held great promise and would one day make a big name for himself. When Qutbuddin died suddenly after a fall from his horse while playing chowgan (a game like polo) at night, it was Altamash who finally became his successor. At that time only the first storey of the Qutb Minar had been built. It was completed by Altamash.
There is also a belief that the Qutb Minar was actually built in part by Prithviraj Chauhan. It was then only one storey high and the reason for its construction was that his daughter Surajmukhi could view the Yamuna from there as she combed her hair in the morning sunlight. But this belief is belief by the very way the first storey of the Qutb is constructed. However it is a fact that stones from Hindu monuments were used in its construction and that many Hindu masons were employed. The "Laath" of Prithviraj, according to some, could have existed in Lal Kot and was probably demolished by Ghori.
The Qutb was closed to the public in 1981 after 37 students died in a stampede while climbing it. Incidentally, the Qutb has been closed a number of times during its history during the Tughlak period and even before it, for repairs after earthquakes. Firoz Tughlak repaired it, so did others.
During the British days too, it was closed when struck by lightning. A cupola was put atop the Minar, which was subsequently taken down as it looked too grotesque, but can still be seen in the complex. A lightning conductor now ensures the safety of the Qutb, but there is hardly any safeguard against an earthquake.
From next month, when people start climbing up to the first storey, the main priority would be restriction on the number of people entering it. During the Raj the order was that a single visitor could not go up, lest he had come with the intention of committing suicide.
Interestingly, during the time of the Slave Sultans, the muezzin alone could climb the Minar alone to give the call for prayer five times a day, for even they went up only occasionally!
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