What is the approximate height (in metres) of the Qutub Minar situated in Delhi?
- A.75
- B.77
- C.73
- D.71
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, 73. The Qutub Minar in Mehrauli, Delhi, rises to about 72.5 metres, which is taken as 73 metres in answer keys. It is the tallest brick minaret of its kind, tapering from a base diameter of roughly 14.3 metres to about 2.7 metres at the top, and it is climbed inside by a spiral staircase of around 379 steps. Qutb-ud-din Aibak began it, Iltutmish added storeys, and Firoz Shah Tughlaq repaired the upper part after lightning damage, which is why the material changes from red sandstone below to marble and sandstone above.
Options A, B and D give 75, 77 and 71 metres. All three are near misses put there to test whether the figure has been memorised rather than guessed. Examiners like this monument because it also carries the Iron Pillar of Delhi in the same complex, along with the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque and the Alai Darwaza.
Read the full article: Indo-Islamic Architecture: Sultanate and Mughal Styles
Practice Questions
View allIn which state is Gol Gumbaz, the tomb of Adil Shah, situated?
- A.Karnataka
- B.Tamil Nadu
- C.Kerala
- D.Telangana
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The Gol Gumbaz stands at Bijapur, now called Vijayapura, in Karnataka. It is the tomb of Muhammad Adil Shah of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur and was completed in the middle of the seventeenth century.
Read the full explanation →Jama Masjid of Delhi was built by?
- A.Akbar
- B.Humayun
- C.Babar
- D.Shah Jahan
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The Jama Masjid of Delhi, whose formal name is Masjid-i-Jahan-Numa, was built by Shah Jahan between 1650 and 1656 as the congregational mosque of his new capital Shahjahanabad.
Read the full explanation →In which year did Emperor Akbar build the Buland Darwaja?
- A.1502
- B.1526
- C.1534
- D.1575
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The Buland Darwaza, the lofty gateway on the south side of the Jama Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri, was raised by Akbar in 1575 to mark his conquest of Gujarat.
Read the full explanation →The famous Shalimar Bagh of Srinagar was built during the reign of __________.
- A.Azam Shah
- B.Akbar
- C.Humayun
- D.Jahangir
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The Shalimar Bagh on the bank of the Dal lake in Srinagar was laid out by Jahangir in 1619 for his queen Nur Jahan.
Read the full explanation →The Alai Darwaza, the first building in India to use a true arch and a true dome, was built by:
- A.Iltutmish
- B.Alauddin Khalji
- C.Firoz Shah Tughlaq
- D.Sikandar Lodi
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The Alai Darwaza was added in 1311 as the southern gateway to the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque in the Qutub complex at Delhi.
Read the full explanation →