Historians have welcomed the news that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to integrate the small but historically significant monuments in the Mehrauli area of Delhi to the Qutub Minar.

For years now the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had been suggesting the assimilation of little known heritage sites around the Qutub under one umbrella to ensure their preservation and add variety for tourists who come to see the world's tallest freestanding red stone structure.

Some of the significant sites being integrated include Lal Kot, Jamali Kamali, Jahaz Mahal, and the tombs of Adham Khan and Quli Khan.  

Lal Kot - AD 1020

Lal Kot, later renamed Qila Rai Pithora, was the capital city built by Anangpal Tomar. Tomar Rajputs were the last Hindu rulers of Delhi. Their reign ended in AD 1192, when Mohammad Ghor attacked and defeated and killed Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Rajput king of Delhi. The Hindu fortress city of Lal Kot/Rai Pithora also fell.  

Surajpal Tomar was one of their foremost chieftains. Anangpal Tomar, a later ruler fortified the town of Anangpur and also built his own fortress capital city in red sandstone in AD 1020 and called it Lal Kot. He also installed an iron Pillar of Vishnu in the middle of the city of Lal Kot - the same iron pillar seen today in the Qutub complex. 

Prithvi Raj Chauhan, the last Hindu ruler of Delhi, renamed the city Qila Rai Pithora There were "... no less than 27 Hindu and Jain temples that stood within the walls of the city of Lal Kot/Rai Pithora." India's first mosque was built on this site by Qutb ud din Aibak. This mosque was called the Quwwatul Islam Masjid. Many of the pillars are from the razed Hindu temples.  Today only a 2.5 metre stone rampart of the fortified city of Lal Kot survives. Outside the thick wall ran a moat, now traceable only in parts. Ruins of several structures have been located but so far the real palace has eluded excavators. The temple in the complex is now occupied by Qutub Minar and the mosque. The iron pillar that stands in the courtyard is the one that Anangpal installed. The Sanskrit inscription on the pillar dates it to 4^th century AD. The pillar, in its 1700 years of existence, has neither rusted nor decomposed – a tribute to the metallurgical know-how of the times.

1192 - Mohammad Ghor attacked and defeated and killed Prithviraj. The Hindu fortress city of Lal Kot/Rai Pithora fell. Mohammad Ghor destroyed the Hindu temples that lay along his way.

Mohammad Ghor , before returning to Ghor, made his slave Qutab ud din Aibak a General and left him in charge of Delhi.

Qutb ud din Aibak started to build India’s first mosque on the site of Prithviraj’s temple "from the remains of no less than 27 Hindu and Jain temples that stood within the walls of the city of Rai Pithora." This mosque was called the Quwwatul Islam Masjid. Many of the pillars are from the razed Hindu temples.

The iron pillar that stands in the courtyard is the one that Anangpal installed. The Sanskrit inscription on the pillar dates it to 4^th century AD. The pillar, in its 1700 years of existence, has neither rusted nor decomposed – a tribute to the metallurgical know-how of the times.