Situated about 400m north of Hauz Khas metro station in south Delhi, Chor Minar is one of those typical isolated monuments you come across in the city if you decide to explore on foot.
Also known as the “Tower of Thieves”, it was built sometime between 1296 and 1316 AD during the rule of Alauddin Khalji, the second Sultan of the Khalji dynasty. He was also responsible for building the nearby Siri Fort about 3km away.
The wall of the circular tower has over 220 holes, supposedly for displaying the heads of thieves to act as a deterrent. This appears to have been a common practise back in the 14th century, the towers of Siri Fort are said to have once displayed the heads of 8,000 Mongol prisoners who were executed after the Battle of Amroha in 1305. Folklore also suggests that some of those heads may have found their way here to Chor Minar.
Despite the gruesome backstory, Chor Minar today stands in the middle of a traffic roundabout with a small pleasant garden and peaceful surroundings away from the main roads. If you happen to be passing nearby on the metro it’s well worth a few minutes walk to pay this monument a visit.
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Categories: Chor Minar, Delhi, India
Kevin Standage 
As a former Delhite, enjoyed this post. Have been reading your excellent coverage of these historical monuments all over India and enjoying your posts. Keep up the good work!
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Thanks for the encouragement ! I’m in the midst of sorting out a lot more content, so watch this space. It takes a while to go through 7,500 photos from a six week visit 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment !
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I missed it. There is tomb called as Chor-Gumbaz in Gulbarga of Karnataka. It used to hide thieves after steeling from the city. As this tomb is away from the city hence the thieves used to take shelter here. This tomb was built by Bahamani sultan in around 1410s for famous Sufi saint Ghezu Daraz (Bande Nawaz), but the saint refused to the building. This was abandoned.
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Hi Aruni. Interesting, and a reminder to me that I must go back to Karnataka soon. I have my eye on Bijapur, but you may be adding more places now 🙂 Thanks for your comment and for stopping by !
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Hey Kevin
You seem to have explored India a lot. Just when I search a monument and I find your blog.
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Hi Rajat. I’ve been to India 22 times, and usually spend two months of the year there during the UK winter. Sadly, I don’t think I will be making my trip in early 2021 for obvious reasons…:-(
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That’s so wonderful. Next time when you visit Delhi, do let me know. I’ll take you some more such locations. There is a Chor Gumbad (Thief Tomb) near my hometown in Haryana.
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That’s a very kind offer ! I usually end my travels every year in Delhi for a few days, there’s just so much to see there. I’ve held back from any blogging about my time in Delhi back in March, as I will use that material for some posts early next year.
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In case you plan to do some extra when you are Delhi, let me know. ☺️
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Awesome – will do ! Might not be until Feb/March 2022 (gee…that sounds so very far away…)
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Sure. If I’m around, I’ll be there…
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