A tower for thieves

Chor Minar – the rubble built tapering tower, rising from a platform and provided with a staircase in its interior, was built during the Khilji period.

There are several circular holes in its exterior of uncertain use. It is believed that the heads of thieves (chor) who were caught and beheaded, used to be placed in these holes to deter others from committing theft, hence, the name Chor Minar.

Chor Minar or the ‘Tower of Thieves’ is a 13th century minaret with 225 holes situated just off Aurobindo Marg in the Hauz Khas area and is a protected monument of the Archeological Society of India. It was built under the rule of Alauddin Khilji of the Khilji Dynasty (1290–1320) in the thirteenth century.

Some historians also suggest that the Khilji king slaughtered a settlement of Mongol people nearby, to stop them from joining with their brethren in another Mongol settlement in Delhi, the present day locality of ‘Mongolpuri’ in West Delhi.

The Chor Minar took about three decades to get completed. It is said that it was the only place for the execution of the prisoners who were
captured because of criminal
offences.