It is not certain when the pillar was moved to Delhi from its original location. Alexander Cunningham attributed the relocation to the Tomara king Anangpal, based on the short pillar inscription ascribed to this king. Pasanaha Chariu, an 1132 CE Jain Apabhramsha text composed by Vibudh Shridhar, states that "the weight of his pillar caused the Lord of the Snakes to tremble". The identification of this pillar with the iron pillar lends support to the theory that the pillar was already in Delhi during Anangpal's reign.
Another theory is that the relocation happened during the Muslim rule in Delhi. Some scholars have assumed that it happened around 1200 CE, when Qutb al-Din Aibak commenced the construction of the Qutb complex as a general of Muhammad of Ghor.
Finbarr Barry Flood (2009) theorizes that it was Qutb al-Din's successor Iltutmish (r. 1210–1236 CE), who moved the pillar to Delhi. According to this theory, the pillar was originally erected in Vidisha and that the pillar was moved to the Qutb complex, by Iltutmish when he attacked and sacked Vidisha in the thirteenth century.