SSC
The height of the five-storeyed Qutub Minar in Delhi is about:
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Answer: Option A — 72.5 metres
Detailed Solution
The Qutub Minar in Mehrauli, Delhi, is about 72.5 metres (about 238 feet) high. It is the tallest brick minaret in the world.
About the Qutub Minar:
- Its construction was begun around 1199 by Qutbuddin Aibak, the founder of the Delhi Sultanate (the Mamluk or Slave dynasty), who completed only the first storey.
- His successor and son-in-law, Iltutmish, added three more storeys.
In 1368, the top storey was damaged by lightning. Firoz Shah Tughlaq replaced it with two storeys, giving the tower five storeys in all.
Later repairs were carried out by Sikandar Lodi and, in the 19th century, by the British.
It is believed to be named after the Sufi saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, or after Qutbuddin Aibak.
It is built of red and buff sandstone, with the top storeys partly of marble.
It has 379 steps inside.
Each storey has a projecting balcony and is decorated with carved verses from the Quran and intricate designs.
The base diameter is about 14.3 metres, narrowing to about 2.7 metres at the top.
It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, as part of the "Qutb Minar and its Monuments".
The Qutub complex also includes:
The Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, the first mosque built in Delhi after the Turkish conquest.
The Iron Pillar: about 7.2 metres high, from the Gupta period (dated to the reign of Chandragupta II, about 4th-5th century CE). It is famous for not rusting for more than 1,600 years.
The Alai Darwaza (1311), built by Alauddin Khalji; it has the first true arches in India.
The Alai Minar: an unfinished tower begun by Alauddin Khalji, meant to be twice the height of the Qutub Minar.
The tomb of Iltutmish.
Why not the other options?
- ✗54 metres is about the height of the Buland Darwaza.
- ✗37 metres is about the height of the Vijay Stambh in Chittorgarh.
- ✗84 metres does not match the Qutub Minar.
Quick tip
Remember: Qutub Minar = about 72.5 metres, five storeys, 379 steps (begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, about 1199; completed by Iltutmish; top storeys by Firoz Shah Tughlaq); UNESCO 1993; Iron Pillar of Chandragupta II nearby.
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.