You cannot take the world through inheritance and boasting, you can take it only by wielding the sword in battle. - Iltutmish

The faithful Gabriel carried the tidings to the dwellers in heaven,
From the record of victories of the Sulṭan of the age Shams ud-Din,
Saying — Oh ye holy angels raise upon the heavens,
Hearing this good tidings, the canopy of adornment.
That from the land of the heretics the Shahanshah of Islam
Has conquered a second time the fort resembling the sky;
The Shah, holy warrior and Ghazi, whose hand and sword
The soul of the lion of repeated attacks praises.

Naqvi has taken pains to describe at length the edifice which began as a temple, got converted into a tomb and to which was added a masjid with a marble mehrab and then a gate with pretty Arabic calligraphy of verses from the Holy Quran. As he puts it, the gateway projects 13 ~feet from the enclosure wall and is approached and entered by a flight of steps flanked by two square rooms which are roofed with stone slabs in the Hindu fashion. The external archway of the gate is formed by overlapping courses of marble and around it is the important Arabic inscription in Kufic characters.
He goes on, after crossing the threshold, one stands under the eastern colonnaded verandah, the flat roof of which rests on red sandstone pillars. The latter are not uniformly carved, indicating that they have been re-used here from an older building. Opposite this colonnade and along the whole length of the west em wall runs another colonnaded verandah with a prayer chamber in the centre erected in white marble and covered with a corbelled pyramidal dome. The dome is almost certainly re-used and is lavishly carved internally with Hindu motifs, notably bands of lozenge or triangular patterns. The marble mehrab is embellished with verses from the Quran and a floral design. The floor is paved with marble slabs. The rest of the verandah on either side of the prayer chamber comprises red sandstone pillars and pilasters supporting a flat roof of Hindu design, with a brick work parapet...
He winds up his description with the words: The Hindu elements in the architecture of the monument are apparent in the dome of the mosque and the partly defaced Hindu motifs on some of the pillar brackets of the western colonnade. The presence of a Gauripatta or receptacle of a linga in the pavement of the western colonnade is a further significant point. Furthermore, the marble stones in the external facade of the mosque are serially numbered, indicating their removal from elsewhere.

Iltutmish did not forget that he was a Muslim conqueror. He showed himself to be very pious, never forgetting to do his five devotional daily….He likewise showed himself totally intolerant vis-à-vis the Hindus who refused to convert, destroying their temples and annihilating Brahmin communities.