ZaidBaig at 06:50, 13 March 2026

2026-03-13T06:50:51Z

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{{short description|Mosque gateway in Delhi, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Alai Darwaza
| native_name = {{nq|علائی دروازه}}
| native_language = Urdu
| image = File: Alai Darwaza.JPG
| caption = Alai Darwaza
| designation1 = WHS
| designation1_date = 1993 <small>(17th [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small>
| designation1_partof = [[Qutb Minar complex|Qutb Minar and its monuments]]
| designation1_number =
| designation1_criteria = iv
| designation1_type = Cultural
| designation1_free1name = Region
| designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in India|India]]
| location = [[Qutb Minar complex]], [[Delhi]], India
| built = {{start date and age|1311}}
| rebuilt =
| architect =
| coordinates = {{coord|28.5242|77.1857|display=inline}}
| locmapin = India
}}

'''The Ala'i Darwaza''' ({{Langx|ur|{{nq|علائی دروازه}}|lit=Gate of [[Alauddin Khalji|Alauddin]]}}) is the southern gateway of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque in [[Qutb Minar complex|Qutb complex]], [[Mehrauli]], [[Delhi]], India. Built by Sultan [[Alauddin Khalji]] in 1311 and made of red [[sandstone]], it is a square domed gatehouse with arched entrances and houses a single chamber.

It has a special significance in [[Indo-Islamic architecture]] as the first Indian monument to be built using Islamic methods of construction and ornamentation and is a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref name="ASI" />

==Background==
The Alai Darwaza was built by Delhi Sultan [[Alauddin Khalji]] of the [[Khalji dynasty]] in 1311. It was a part of his plan to extend the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque on four sides. Although he planned to construct four gates, only the Alai Darwaza could be completed, as he died in 1316.<ref name="RS1">{{cite book |author1=Renu Saran |title=Monuments of India |date=2014 |publisher=Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd |isbn=9789351652984 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHNOBAAAQBAJ&dq=alai+darwaza+location&pg=PT21}}</ref> It serves as the southern gateway of the mosque.<ref name="ASI">{{cite web |title=Qutb Minar |url=http://asi.nic.in/qutb-minar/ |publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]] |accessdate=22 March 2019}}</ref> It is located at the southern part of the [[Qutb Minar complex|Qutb complex]].<ref name="RS1"/>

In 1993, the Darwaza and the other monuments of the complex were designated a [[List of World Heritage Sites in India|World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/233 |publisher=UNESCO |accessdate=22 March 2019}}</ref>
The surroundings of Qutb Minar including many tombs, the mosque, and the Iron Pillar is called [[Qutb Minar complex|Qutb Complex]].

==Architecture==
The Alai Darwaza is made up of a single hall whose interior part measures {{convert|34.5|ft|m}} and exterior part measures {{convert|56.5|ft|m}}.<ref name="RS1"/> It is {{convert|60|ft|m}} tall and the walls are {{convert|11|ft|m}} thick.<ref name="OB">{{cite book |author1=Ronald Vivian Smith |title=The Delhi that No-one Knows | page = 4 | date=2005 |publisher=Orient Blackswan |isbn=9788180280207}}</ref>

The gatehouse, from 1311, still shows a cautious approach to the new technology, with very thick walls and a shallow dome, only visible from a certain distance or height. Bold contrasting colors of masonry, with red [[sandstone]] and white [[marble]], introduce what was to become a common feature of Indo-Islamic architecture, substituting for the polychrome tiles used in Persia and Central Asia. The pointed arches come together slightly at their base, giving a mild [[horseshoe arch]] effect, and their internal edges are not cusped but lined with conventionalized "spearhead" projections, possibly representing [[lotus flower|lotus]] buds. Net, stone [[openwork]] screens, are introduced here; they already had been long used in temples.<ref>Blair, Sheila, and Bloom, Jonathan M., ''The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250–1800'', p. 151, 1995, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, {{ISBN|0300064659}}</ref>

The height of the dome is {{convert|47|ft|m}}.<ref name="RS1"/> It is the first true dome built in India, as previous attempts to construct a true dome were not successful.<ref name="RS1"/>

The entire Darwaza is made up of red [[sandstone]] with white colored marbles inlaid on the exterior walls.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ghulam Sarwar Khan Niazi |title=The Life and Works of Sultan Alauddin Khalji |date=1992 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=9788171563623 |page=144}}</ref> There is extensive [[Arabic calligraphy]] on the walls of the Darwaza. The arches are [[horseshoe]] shaped,<ref name="OB"/> the first time such arches were used in India. The façade has pre-Turkish carvings and patterns.<ref name="RS1"/> The windows have marble lattices. The surface decoration consists of interweaved floral tendrils and is repeated with symmetry on three doorways.<ref name="RS1"/><ref>{{cite book |author1=Margaret Prosser Allen |title=Ornament in Indian Architecture |date=1991 |publisher=University of Delaware Press |isbn=9780874133998 |page=144}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File: Alai Darwaza, Qutub Complex, Delhi in the 1870s.jpg|Alai Darwaza in the 1870s
File: Qutub Minar Alai Darwaza Imam Zamin Delhi India - panoramio.jpg|Alai Darwaza with the Tomb of Imam Zamin in the foreground
File:Alai Darwaza-Qutub-Complex.jpg|Doorway of the Darwaza
File: Window at Alai Darwaza, Qutb complex.jpg|Window of the Darwaza
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline}}

{{Qutb complex}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alai Darwaza}}
[[Category:Alauddin Khalji]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Delhi]]
[[Category:Architecture of the Khalji dynasty]]
[[Category:Mehrauli]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Delhi]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in India]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1311]]

Alai Darwaza - Revision history

ZaidBaig at 06:50, 13 March 2026