Posted on: 2 February 2011

The Iron Pillar and the great screen of the Quwwat al-Islam Mosque - 1815

Watercolour of the Iron Pillar and the Quwwat al-Islam Mosque from 'Views by Seeta Ram from Delhi to Tughlikabad Vol. VII' produced for Lord Moira, afterwards the Marquess of Hastings, by Sita Ram between 1814-15. Marquess of Hastings, the Governor-General of Bengal and the Commander-in-Chief (r.1813-23), was accompanied by artist Sita Ram (flourished c.1810-22) to illustrate his journey from Calcutta to Delhi between 1814-15.

Idealised view of the Iron Pillar and the great screen of the Quwwat al-Islam Mosque in the Qutb Minar complex in Delhi. The Qutub Minar complex was initiated by Qutub-ud-din Aibak, the founder of the Slave Dynasty in Delhi (1206-90), to celebrate the onset of Islamic rule in India in 1192. The Iron Pillar, with a height of 7.2 m and diameter of 32 cm, is dated to the Gupta period with Sanskrit inscriptions from the 4th or 5th century. This pillar was taken from a Vishnu temple and placed at this site before the construction of the complex. The Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque is one of the earliest extant in India and is a fine example of Islamic architecture employing Islamic principles of accurate construction and geometric ornamentation, but utilising Indian building traditions. Masonry from 27 Hindu and Jain temples was salvaged for use in the construction of the mosque. Inscribed below: 'Metal Pillar at the Cutub.'

Source : British Library


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Informative link, Amita, Thanks!

Actually there are three high arches on the left and not 1 high and rest small as shown in the water colour. And since the date of the water colour is 1815, another anomaly that comes to mind is that there is lot construction behind the arches that one can see today, whereas this painting shows open meadows behind the arches. But I guess that is artistic license.

@Amita: Thank you for sharing this article. Refreshes the memory of my course work on Corrosion. However not sure if the Iron Pillar is testimony of our understanding of Iron extraction techniques during the Gupta period or should it be attributed to the availability of Iron deposits in the pure form, which unfortunately is non-available now.