Next to the famous Qutub Minar in Delhi stands a monument that many visitors can easily overlook. About twenty-seven meters tall, the Alai Minar, or what remains of it, has an interesting history. It was a vanity project of one of the most aggressive, ambitious, and controversial sultans of Delhi, Alauddin Khilji.

The man who called himself Sikandar-i-Sani or “The Second Alexander,” Khilji (ruled 1296–1316 CE) was proud of his achievements and determined to surpass the great Qutub Minar, built by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, which was the tallest and most famous minaret on the Indian subcontinent. He planned to make his minaret twice as tall as the Qutub Minar.

The Alai Minar was meant to be a symbol of his great glory, and Alauddin Khilji had reason to celebrate. His armies had victories all over India, and within a few years of his reign, he conquered the kingdoms of Rajasthan — Chittor, Ranthambore, Jalore, as well as other regions of Gujarat and Malwa. Khilji’s armies were also the first to move south. The most famous of their campaigns was led by his general Malik Kafur in 1308 in South India, where Khilji’s forces conquered the kingdoms of Yadava, Hoysala, Kakatiya, and Pandya, bringing back enormous wealth.

When the wealth began to flow in, Khilji decided to immortalize his victories with a huge monument. He ordered the enclosure of the main mosque, Quwwat-ul-Islam, in the Qutub Minar complex to be quadrupled and a new minaret to be built.

The Sultan hoped this “Tower of Victory” would make him famous for centuries. The best contemporary description of this vanity project is given by the famous Sufi poet Amir Khusro in his book “Tarikh-i-Alai” (The Life and Times of Alauddin Khilji). He writes about how the Sultan wanted to “raise a minaret so high that it could not be surpassed.”

The exact date of the start of construction of the Alai Minar is unknown, but it is believed to be around 1300 CE. The minaret only reached the first level when the Sultan died in 1316. The project was soon abandoned.

Now, all that remains of Khilji’s grand project are the ruins of a six-tiered circular structure, lost in the shadow of the monument he never managed to surpass.

Sources:

https://www.peepultree.world/livehistoryindia/story/monuments/alai-minar-the-incomplete-tower-of-victory