Delhi · a Light

Delhi's first mosque was built from demolished temples and says so

The Quwwat al-Islam mosque in Delhi was begun in 1192 by Qutb al-Din Aibak, and its courtyard is ringed with carved columns taken from Hindu and Jain temples that his forces pulled down. An inscription over the eastern gate states this outright, giving the number of temples as twenty seven. Some of the figures on the columns were defaced, others were left. Beside the mosque rises the Qutb Minar, begun in 1199 and finished under Iltutmish, seventy two and a half metres of fluted red sandstone and marble, the tallest brick minaret in the world. In the courtyard stands an iron pillar cast around the fourth century, centuries before the mosque, still almost free of rust because of the phosphorus in its metal.

Delhi · begun 1192