The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan [1]

Citation preview

The Timurid Architecture of Iran and Turan VOLUME I

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

P R I N C E T O N M O N O G R A P H S IN ART AND A R C H A E O L O G Y XLVI P U B L I S H E D FOR T H E D E P A R T M E N T OF ART AND A R C H A E O L O G Y PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

T H E TI MU RID ARCHI T E CT URE OF IRAN AND TURAN : VOLUME

I

Lisa Golombek and Donald Wilber # WI T H C O N T R I B U T I O N S BY

Terry Allen • Leonid S. Bretanitskii • Robert Hillenbrand Renata Holod • Antony Hutt • L. Iu. Man’kovskaia H. M. Nasirly • Bernard O’Kane

PR IN C E T O N UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON

Digitized by

Goo

• NEW J E R S E Y

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Copyright © 1988 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street. Princeton. New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press. Guildford. Surrey All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data will be found on the last printed page of this book ISBN 0-691-03587-3 Clothbound editions of Princeton University Press books arc printed on acid-free paper, and binding materials arc chosen for strength and durability. Paperbacks, although satisfactory for personal collections, are not usually suitable for library rebinding Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press Princeton. New Jersey

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

U s

' /- / •J/

!/

CT?

Contents

r i »

Volume I List o f Monuments

ix

List o f Text Figures

xv

Preface

xvii

Introduction

xxi P A RT ON E : T 11E T 1M U RI D \VO R LI)

1.

Political History

3

2.

Timurid Society

16

T he E c o n o m ic and S ocial S e t t in g

16

T he P hysical Setting

18

3.

Turan

19

Khurasan

24

Central and Western Iran

29

Mazunderan

33

T he C ultural M ilieu

34

Architecture and Society

44

F u n c t i o n s ok B u i l d i n g s

44

Patronage

52

A r c h it e c t s , B uilders, andC raftsmen

65

PART TW O: T IM U R ID A R C H ITEC TU R E

4.

Concept Design

73

C o m p o n e n t Parts o r St r u c t u r e s

73

O rganizing Principles

81

Configurations

82

C lasses 5.

or S t r u c t u r e s

83

Materials and Methods o f Construction

91

C raftsmen

91

M at er ial s U sed in C o n s t r u c t i o n

93

( v 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CONTESTS

95 98 98

M ethods of Construction T h e St r u c t u r i n g of S p a c e

Relation of Monuments to Their Sites

6.

Interiors

100

Exteriors

111

Materials and Methods o f Decoration

117 117 118 120

W orking M ethods U se o f O r n a m e n t Materials

7.

Design Theory and Principles

137 137 138 152 159 164 169

G e o m e t r y as t h e B a s i s f o r D e s i g n T he D esign P rocess in A r c h i t e c t u r e A rch and D ome D esign G eometric O rnament

Th e

G eometry of t h e M uqarnas

T he G e o m e t r y of St e l l a t e V aul ts

8.

Gardens and Garden Structures

174 174 180

P alaces and Pavilions T ents

PART THREE: TIMUR1D A RC H IT E CT U RE DEFINED

9.

The Timurid Style

187 187

T he I mperial T im urid Style T h e M e t r o p o l i t a n T i m u r i d St y l e (

1410* 1445)

189

194

R egional E xpressions

10. The Perception o f Timurid Architecture

202 202 204 212 213 214

A n A pproach to Evaluation C o n c e p t D esign and t h e I co n o g ra ph y Soundness of St ru ct u re M aterials and O rnament T he T o t a l i t y and I ts I m p a c t

CATALOGUE OF MONUMENTS

Turan

223

Khurasan

289 [ vi 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

C0 X T E X T 5

Central and Western Iran

355

Mazanderan

429

Appendix 1.

Supplementary Catalogue of Monuments (SC)

445

A. T uran

446

B.

448

K hurasan

C. C e n t r a l a n d W e s t e r n I r a n

451

D. O t h e r

452

A A .P atro n s (Turan)

453

B B .P a t r o n s ( K h u r a s a n )

454

CC. P a t r o n s ( C e n t r a l a n d W e s t e r n I r a n )

456

DD. P a t r o n s ( O t h e r )

457

Appendix 2.

Timurid Builders and Craftsmen

458

Appendix 3.

Patrons Known from Standing Monuments

463

Appendix 4.

Genealogical Table for Timur

468

Glossary

469

Abbreviations

472

Bibliography

473 473 475

P rimary Sources Secondary S ources

Index

497

Volume II List of Illustrations C olor P lates

vii

B lack and W h it e

P lates

vi i

M aps

xv

F ig u res: P lans, S e c tio n s, E levations

xv

ILLU STR A TIO N S C o lo r Plates

Black and White Plates Maps Figures: Plans, Sections, Elevations [ vii ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Digitized by

Google

Original from UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

List of Monuments Cai. No.

Cal. No.

18

T uran

1

Bukhara. Complex: Fathabad; shrine: Sayf al-Din Bakharzi, late 14th century 2 Bukhara. Complex: Fathabad; mausoleum: Buyan Quli Khan. 1358-59 3 Bukhara. Shrine: Chashmch Avub. 781/ 1379-80 4 Bukhara. Madrasah: Ulugh Beg. 820-823/ 1417-1420 5 Bukhara. Masjidi-i jami’: Kalyan. c. 1430, 1514 6 Dev Kesken. Mausoleum. 15th century 7 Ghujdivan. Madrasah: Ulugh Beg (’Abdul­ lah), 836/1432-33 8 Ghujdivan (region). Complex: Dihqan Baba; khanaqah, second half 15th century 9 Kunya Urgench. Mausoleum: "T urabeg Khanum” (Sufi dynasty), c. 1370 10 Pakhtabad. Complex: Padishah-i Pirim; shrine: Shah-i Jalil; 14th-16th centuries 11A Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: Qusam b. ’Abbas, pre-Timurid 11B Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; ziyarat khaneh: Qusam b. ’Abbas, 735/1334-35 11C Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; masjid,c. 1460 12 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: Khvajeh Ahmad, c. 1350 13 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: “Qutluq Aqa," “Shah Arab,” 762/ 1361 14 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: Shad-i Mu Ik Aqa (Turkan Aqa). 773-785/1371-1383 15 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: Amir Husayn b. Tughluq Tekin, 777/1376 16 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: Amir Burunduq, c. 1390, C. 1420 17 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: Shirin Bika Aqa, 787/1385-86

Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: anon. 1 (“Ustad ‘Alim"), c. 1385 19 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: anon. II (“Ulugh Sultan Begum”), c. 787/1385 20 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: “Amirzadch,” 788/1386 21A Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: Tuman Aqa, 808/1404-5 21B Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; masjid: Tuman Aqa.c. 1404 22 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; dargah, 838/1434-35 23 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: anon. Ill ("Qazizadeh Rumi’’),c. 1425 24 Samarqand. Complex: Shah-i Zindeh; mau­ soleum: octagon, first half of 15th century 25 Samarqand. Shrine: Qutb-i Chahardehum, mid-fifteenth century 26 Samarqand. Shrine: Burkhan al-Din Sagarji ("Ruhabad”), c. 1404 27 Samarqand. madrasah (with mausoleum): Saray Mulk Khanum, c. 1397 28 Samarqand. Masjid-i jami': Timur ("Bibi Khanum"), 801 -808/1398-1405 29A Samarqand. Complex: Gur-i Amir; madra­ sah: Muhammad Sultan, c. 1400 29B Samarqand. Complex: Gur-i Amir; kha­ naqah: Muhammad Sultan, c. 1400 29C Samarqand. Complex: Gur-i Amir; mauso­ leum. 807/1404 30 Samarqand. Madrasah: Ulugh Beg, 820-823/ 1417-1421 31 Samarqand. Observatory: Ulugh Beg. 823/ 1420 32 Samarqand. Complex: 'Abdi Damn; kha­ naqah, c. 1430 33 Samarqand. Masjid: Alikeh Kukeltash. be­ fore 1439-40 34 Samarqand. Shrine: Chupan Ata, mid- 15th century

[ i* ]

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

L I S T OF MONUME NT S Cal. No.

Cal. No.

35 36 37 38 39 40

41 42 43

44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55

Samarqand. Mausoleum: 'Ishrat Khaneh. c. 1464 Samarqand. Mausoleum: AqSaray. c. 1470 Samarqand. Complex: Khvajeh Ahrar; khanaqah, 895/1490 Shaburgan Ata. Shrine: Chibirdan Baba, late 15th century Shahrisabz. Palace: Aq Saray, 781-798/13791396 Shahrisabz. Complex: Dar al-Siyadah; mau­ soleum: jahangir (“Hazrat Imam"), 777-806/ 1375-1404 Shahrisabz. Complex: Dar al Tilavah; shrine: Shaykh Kulal, 775/1373-74 Shahrisabz. Complex: Dar al-Tilavah: mas­ jid-i jami’: Gok Gunbad, 839/1435-36 Shahrisabz. Complex: Dar al-Tilavah; mau­ soleum: Ulugh Beg’s descendants, 841/143738 Shahrisabz. Bath, 15th century Tashkent. Shrine: Zengi Ala, c. 1390; first half 15th century Tashkent. Mausoleum: Kaldirgach Bey, first half 15th century Tashkent. Mausoleum: Ambar Bibi, 15th century Tashkent. Masjid-i jam i\ 1451; 18th-19th centuries Tashkent. Mausoleum: Yunus Khan, 14871502 Termez. Complex: Hakim-i Termezi; khanaqah, 1405-9 Termez. Complex: Sultan Sa’adat, c. 1405-9 Timeh. Masjid: Aq Masjid, late 15th-early 16th centuries Turkestan. Shrine: Khvajeh Ahmad Yasavi, 799-801/1397-1399 Turkestan. Mausoleum: Rabi’ah Sultan Be­ gum, c. 1485 Yakkabag. Mausoleum, c. 1419

59

Balkh. Shrine: Khvajeh Abu Nasr Parsa. c. 1460 60 Balkh. Shrine (repair): Baba Rushnai, 15th century 61 Balkh. Shrine: Khvajeh Akasheh, late 15th century' 62 Barnabad. Khanaqah: Khvajeh Vahid alDin, late 15 century 63 Bijistan. Masjid-i jami’, first half 15th century 64 Deh-i Minar. Khanaqah: Sadr al-Din Ar­ mani, c. 1460 65 Ghazni. Mausoleum: 'Abd al-Razzaq b. Ulugh Beg b. Abu Sa’id, 1460-1502 66 Ghazni. Shrine: “Momo Sharifan,” "Shah-i Shahid." late 15th-early 16th centuries 67 Ghurian. Masjid-i jami’, late 15th century 68 Herat. Citadel: Ikhtiyar al-Din, 810-818/ 1407-1415 69 Herat. Complex: “musalla"; masjid-i jami’: Gawhar Shad, 820-841/1417-1438 70 Herat. Complex: ‘‘musalla’’; madrasah (with mausoleum): Gawhar Shad. 835/1432 71A Herat (Gazurgah). Complex: Khvajeh ’Ab­ dullah Ansari; shrine (hazirah), 829-832/ 1425-1429 71B Herat (Gazurgah). Complex: Khvajeh 'Ab­ dullah Ansari; mausoleum: Kuchuk Mirza, c. 1485 72 Herat (Gazurgah). Complex Khvajeh ’Ab­ dullah Ansari; khanaqah: Zarnigar Khaneh, late 15th to early 16th century 73 Herat. Shrine: Shaykh Zayn al-Din Khvafi, 838/1434 74 Herat (Ghalvar). Masjid: Hawz-i Karbas, 845/1441-42 75 Herat. Shrine: 'Abdullah b. Mu’awiyah, 865893/1460-1488 76 Herat. Shrine: ‘Abdullah al-Vahid, 892/1487 77 Herat. Complex: Sultan Husayn Bayqara; madrasah (and khanaqah), 898/1492-93 78 Herat. Masjid-i jami’(repair), 903-905/14981500 79 H erat (Azadan). Complex: Muhammad Abu’l-Valid b. Ahmad; shrine, before 149798 80 Herat. Khanaqah: Ghur-i Darvishan.c. 1500 81 Herat. Shrine: Imam Shish Nur, 910/1504-5 82 Hindvalan. Masjid-i jami’, c. 1436

K hurasan

56 57 58

Ahanjan. Mausoleum: Mil-i Ahanjan, first half 15th century Anau. Shrine: Shaykh Jamal al-Din, 860/ 1455-56 Balkh. Shrine: Mir-i Ruzadar, c. 1450

[

Digitized by

Goo

1

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

L I S T OF M O S L M E X T S

Cat. No.

Cal.

83

111 112 113 114 115

No.

Kadkan. Complex: Nizam al-Mulk Khalvi; khanaqah, second half 15th century 84 Khargird. Madrasah: Ghiyathiyah, 846-848/ 1442-1446 85 Khusraviyah. Shrine: Baba Husayn and Bibi, 15th century 86 Khvaf Rud. Masjid-ijami’, c. 1502 87 Kuhsan. Complex: Tuman Aqa, 844/144041 88 Kurukh. Masjid (cave, repair), 867/1462-63 89 Langur. Shrine: Qasim-i Anvar, c. 1487 90 Mashhad. Complex: Imam Riza: masjid-i jami’: Gawhar Shad, 819-821/1416-1418 91A Mashhad. Complex: Imam Riza; court, southwest facade, 872/1467 91B Mashhad. Complex: Imam Riza; qanat, late 15th century 91C Mashhad, complex: Imam Riza; dar al-huffaz, late 15th century92 Mashhad. Complex: Imam Riza; madrasah: Parizad,c 1417 93 Mashhad. Complex: Imam Riza; madrasah: Bala-iSar, before 1426 94 Mashhad. Complex: Imam Riza; madrasah: Do Dar, 843/1439 95 Mashhad. Masjid: Masjid-i Shah. 855/1451 96 Mazar-i Sharif. .Shrine: ’Ali b. Abi Talib, 885/ 1480-81 97 Merv. Masjid, c. 1417 98 Men'. Shrine: Two Companions (Ashab), second half 15th century99 Merv. Madrasah: Khusraviyah. second half 15th century100 Mihneh. Complex: Abu Sa'id; khanaqah, mid-15th century 101 Nishapur. Mausoleum: Farid al-Din 'Attar, 891/1486 (non-extant) 102 Nishapur. Masjid-ijami', 899/1493-94 103 Obeh. Masjid-ijami*, 832/1428 104 Obeh. Bath, second half 15th century105 Puran. Khanaqah: Jalal al-Din Purani, mid15th century 106 Qain. Masjid-i jami', 796/1393 107 Qush Ribat. Caravansary. 905/1499 108 Ribat-i Dasht. Caravansary, late 15th century109 Ribat-i 'Eshq. Caravansary, late 15th century 110 Ribat-i Qarabil. Caravansary, late 15th cen­ tury

116 117 118

119

120

121 122 123 124

Ribat-i Qelli. Caravansary, late 15th century Ribat-i Sahd. Caravansary, late 15th century Sangbast. Caravansary, end of 15th century Sangvar. Shrine, 15th century Sarakhs. Mausoleum: Abu’l-Fazl, 820/141718 Tabas. Shrine: Sipahsalar, 15th century Tayabad. Shrine: Masjid-i Mawlana, 848/ 1444-45 Turbat-i Shaykh Jam. Complex: Shaykh Ah­ mad b. Abu’l-Hasan; masjid: Kirmani and Gunbad-i Safid. 728/1327-28 ore. 1360 Turbat-i Shay kh Jam. Complex: Shaykh Ah­ mad b. Abu'l-Hasan; madrasah: Amir Firuzshah (Gunbad-i Sabz), 844/1440-41 Turbat-i Shay kh Jam. Complex: Shaykh Ah­ mad b. Abu'l-Hasan; masjid-ijami': masjid-i jadid ("new mosque*'). 844-846/1440-1443 Turuq. Shrine: so-called “musalla,” 837/ 1433-34 Ziyaratgah. Masjid: Chehil Sutun, c. 1485 Ziyaratgah. Masjid-i jam i', 887-889/14821485 Ziyaratgah. Khanaqah: Mulla Kalan, 14721501

C e n t r a l and W e s t e r n I ran-

125

Abarquh. Masjid-ijami’ (additions), hrst half 15th century 126 Abhar. Masjid-ijami’: al-Kabir, 888/1483 127 Abhar. Shrine: Shahzadeh Zayd al-Kabir, late 15th century 128 Abrandabad. Masjid-ijami’, mid-15th cen­ tury 129A Afushteh. Complex: may dan; masjid, 831/ 1428 129B Afushteh. Complex: may dan ; dar al-siyadah, 849/1445 129C Afushteh. Complex: may dan; cistern, 15th century 130 Afushteh. Khanaqah: Sayyid Hasan-i Vaqif. c. 1427 131 Afushteh. Bath. c. 1446 132 Afushteh. Shrine: Sayyid Hasan-i Vaqif, 828-859/1425-1465

[ xi j

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

L I S T O f M O W ME S T S Cat. No.

Cat.

133

159

No.

Afushteh. Shrine: Imamzadeh Mir Sayyid, second half 15th century 134 Akhand. M inbarof masjid-ijami', c. 1470 135 Akhsu. Shrine: Shaykh Darsun, 861/1457 136 Ardabil. Complex: Shaykh Safi; dar al-huffazc. 1370 137 Ardahal. Shrine: Imamzadeh *Ali b. Mu­ hammad Baqir, 1392; 1426-27; 1471-72 138 Ardakan. Masjid-i jam i’, second half 15th century 139 Ashkczar. Masjid-i jami’, 882/1477 140 Ashtarjan. Masjid-i jami’(repair). 881/1476 141 Bafruiyah. Masjid-i jam i’. 866-879/14621474 142 Baku. Complex: Shirvan Shahs; palace, mid 15th century 143 Baku. Complex: Shirvan Shahs; divan khaneh, 15th century 144 Baku. Complex: Shirvan Shahs; shrine: Sayyid Yahya Bakuvi, 15th century 145 Baku. Complex: Shirvan Shahs; masjid: Kayqubad, 15th century 146 Baku. Complex: Shirvan Shahs; mausoleum: Shirvan Shahs. 839/1435-36 147 Baku. Complex: Shirvan Shahs; masjid: Shirvan Shahs, 845/1441-42 148 Baku. Complex: Shirvan Shahs; bath and cis­ tern, 15th century 149 Bala Khani. Mausoleum: Shakir Aqa, 831/ 1427-28 150 Bam. Complex: Tahir al-Din, c. 1456 151 Bardastan. Masjid (repair), 852/1448 152 Barsian. Mihrab of masjid-i jami’, 825/1422 153 Bidakhavid. Complex: Shaykh ’Ali Binyaman; shrine, 826/1423, 849/1445-46, c. 855/ 1451,893/1487-88 154 Bidakhavid. Complex: Shaykh ’Ali Binyaman; masjid-i jami’, 841/1437-38 155 Bistam. Madrasah, mid-15th century 156A Bonderabad. Complex: Taqi al-Din Dada; mausoleum: Mahmud Shall, c. 1388 156B Bonderabad. Complex: Taqi al-Din Dada; masjid. 878/1473-74 156C Bonderabad. Complex: Taqi al-Din Dada; khanaqah, 15th century ff. 157 Borujird. Shrine: Imamzadeh Qasim, 808850/1405-1446 158 Damghan. Khanaqah: Shah Rukh. c. 810815/1408-1412

160 161 162 163 164 165 166A 166B 166C 167 168 169

170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183

Damghan. Shrine: Imamzadeh ’Ali b. Ja’far, 815-16/1412-13 Der. Mausoleum, 15th century Derbent. Masjid-i jami*, 770/1368-69 Derbent. Madrasah, 15th century Farsajin. Shrine: Imamzadeh ’Abdullah, 15th century Firuzabad (Maybud). Masjid-i jam i’, 866/ 1462 Haydariyah. Shrine: Imamzadeh Kamal alDin. 861/1456 Isfahan. Masjid-i jami’: portal (north exte­ rior), 768/1366 Isfahan. Masjid-i jami’: winter masjid. 851/ 1447 Isfahan. Masjid-i jami’: ivan (south). 880/ 1475-76 Isfahan. Masjid-i jami’; masjid or madrasah: Suffch-i ’Umar 768-778/1366-1377 Isfahan. Palace: Talar-i Timuri, early 15th century Isfahan. Shrine: Shah ‘Ala’ al-Din Muham­ mad ("Shahshahan”), 850-52/1446-48, c. 1500 Isfahan. Shrine: Darb-i Imam, 857/1453 Isfahan. Shrine: Mosaic faience. 885/148081 Isfahan. Khanaqah: Abu Mas’ud (Mas’udiyah Raziyah) 895/1489-90 Isfahan. Shrine: Darb-i Kushk, 902/1496 Kashan. Shrine: Chehil Dukhtaran, late 14th century Kashan. Masjid-i jami’: Masjid-i Maydan-i Sang, 867-68/1462-64 Kashan (Fin). Masjid: Gunbad-i Safid, 884/ 1479-80 Khafr. Shrine: Khalifah, mid-15th century Khazra. Shrine: Shaykh Badr al-Din, 850/ 1446-47 Khonj. Shrine: Hajji Muhammad Khunji. 883-896/1478-1490 Kirman. Masjid: Pa Minar, 793/1390 Kirrnan. Madrasah: Qubbah-i Sabz, late 15th century Kuhpa. Minbar of Masjid: Miyan-i Deh, c. 1385 Kuhpa. Masjid: Ma’sumah, mid-15th cen­ tury

[ xii ]

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

LIST O F M O M M EXTS Cal. No.

Cai.

Mahan. Shrine: Shah Ni’matullah Vali Rirmani, 840/1436 185 Mahan (Langur). Rhanaqah: 'Abd al-Salam, c. 1450 186 Maragheh. Masjid (column): Shaykh Baba, 864/1459 187 Maraza. Shrine: Dir-i Baba. 805/1402 188 Mardakyan. Masjid: Tuba Shahi, 886/148182 189 Maybud. Masjid-i jami’, c. 1405,867/1462-63 190 Nardaran. Palace, 15th century 191 Nasrabad. Rhanaqah: Shaykh Abu’l-Qasim Ibrahim Nasrabadi. 854-55/1450-51 192 Natanz. Shrine: Baba Afzal, 912/1506 193 Qasr al-Dashi. Masjid-i jami', 875/1470 194 Qasr al-Dasht. Shrine: Ra is Ahmadi, 895/ 1489-90 195 Qumm. Shrine: Imamzadeh 'Ali b. Abi'lMa'ali b. ’Ali SaH, 761/1359-60 196 Qumm. Shrine: Imamzadeh Rhadijah Rhatun. 770/1368 197 Qumm. Shrine: Imamzadeh Sarbakhsh, 774/ 1372 198 Qumm. Shrine: Imamzadeh Shah Isma il, 776/1374 199 Qumm. Shrine: Shahzadch Ahmad b. Qasim. 780/1378 200 Qumm. Shrine: Rhvajch ’Imad al-Din, 792/ 1390 201 Qumm. Shrine: Shahzadch Ahmad b. Mu­ hammad, second half 14th century 202 Qumm. Shrine: Chahar Imamzadeh, 14th15th centuries 203 Qumm. Shrine: Shahzadeh Muhammad, late 14th century 204 Qumm. Shrine: Shahzadeh Ibrahim, 721/ 1321,805/1402-03 205 Qumm. Madrasah: Ghiyathiyah, 830/142627 206 Qumm. Shrine: Shahzadeh Zayd b. Zayn al’Abidayn, 849-851/1445-1448 207 Qumm. Masjid: Panjeh 'Ali, 884/1479-80 208 Shiraz. Masjid-i jami’ (repair): Masjid-i ’Atiq.

212

No.

184

Surayan. Minbar in masjid-i jami’, 771/136970 213 Sunqor. Shrine: Buq’ah-i Malik. 15th cen­ tury 214 Tabriz. Masjid-i M uzaffariyah, "Blue Mosque," 870/1465 215 Tabriz. Masjid-i jami', 857-882/1453-1478 216 Taft. Rhanaqah (repair): Shah Rhalilullah (non-extant), founded c. 800/c. 1398, 876/ 1471-72 217 Taft. Masjid: Shah Vali. 873/1468, 889/1484 218 Varamin. Masjid-i jami’ (repair), 815-821/ 1412-1419 219 Varamin. Shrine: Imamzadeh Husayn Riza, 841/1437 220 Varzaneh. Masjid-i jami', 847-48/1442-44 221 Yazd. Masjid-i jami’, 765/1364, 777/1375-76, 813/1410, 819/1416-17, 836/1432-33, 861/ 1457,863/1459,875/1470-71 222 Yazd. Shrine: Imamzadeh Abu Ja’far Mu­ hammad (non-extant), 776/1374-75, 798/ 1395-96, 837/1433, 854/1450-51, 859/145455,861/1456-57 223 Yazd. Masjid: Abu'l-Ma’ali, 787/1385-86 224 Yazd. Complex: Pir Husayn Damghani; masjid. 821/1418 and later 225 Yazd. Masjid: $ar-i Rik, late 14th century, 840-862/1436-1458 226A Yazd. Complex: Mir Chaqmaq; masjid-i jami’, 841/1437 226B Yazd. Complex: Mir Chaqmaq; mausoleum: Bibi Fatimah, second half 15th century 227 Yazd. Masjid: Amir Rhizrshah, 849/1445-46 228 Yazd. Masjid: Sar-i Pulak, mid- 15th century 229 Yazd. Shrine: Zangiyan.c. 1456 Mazanderan

230 231 232 233

late 15th century/

209 210 211

Shushtar. Minaret of masjid-i jami’, 822/ 1419 Simnan. Masjid-i jam i', (additions), 828/ 1424-25 Sultaniyah. Masjid-i jami’, late 14th century

234 235 236

Ahudasht. Shrine: Imamzadeh Aqa Shah Balu. 840/1436 Amul. Shrine: Imamzadeh Ibrahim, c. 1426 Amul. Shrine: Hajji Namdar, c. 1450 Amul. Qadamgah: Rhizr (1), 14th-15th cen­ turies Amul. Shrine: Shams-i Tabarsi (Gunbad-i Gabri), 15th century Amul. Shrine: Nasir al-Haqq, 15th century Amul. Shrine: Imamzadeh Qasim, 15thcen­ tury

I xiii ]

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

L I S T OF MONUMENTS Cat. No.

Cat. No.

237

247

Hazar Khal. Shrine: Tahir and Mutahhir, 828-29/1424-25,849/1445

248

Issando. Shrine: Imamzadeh Hasan, c. 1430

249

Larijan. Shrine: Shaykh Shihab al-Din, 870874/1465-1469 Limrask. Shrine: Imamzadeh Ahmad or Buland Imam, 873/1468 Pul-i Safid. Shrine: Danish Muhammad, 15th century Rawshanabad. Shrine: Imamzadehs ’Abdul­ lah and Fazlullah, 865-879/1460-1475 Sari. Shrine: Imamzadeh Yahya, 846-849/ 1442-1446 Sari. Shrine: Im am zadeh Sultan Zayn al-’Abidayn, 894-905/1488-1500 Sari. Shrine: Shahzadeh Husayn, 896/149091 Sari. Shrine: Imamzadeh ’Abbas, 897/1492 Saru. Shrine: Imamzadeh ’Abdullah, 873/ 1468-69

Amu). Shrine: Imamzadeh Seh Tan, 15th century 238 Amul. Shrine, 15th century 239 Amul. Qadamgah: Khizr (II), early 16th cen­ tury 240 Babul. Shrine: Darvish Fakhr al-Din, 833/ 1429-30 241 Babul. Shrine: Imamzadeh Qasim b. Musa, 870/1475,888/1483,890/1485 242 Babul. Shrine: Imamzadeh Sultan Muham­ mad Tahir b. Musa. 872-875/1467-1471 243 Babulsar. Shrine: Imamzadeh Ibrahim Abu Javab, 841/1437, 857/1454, 858/1455, 905/ 1499-1500,906/1501 244 Babulsar. Shrine: Imamzadeh Bibi Sakinah, (873/1468-69), 893/1487-88, 901/1495-96 (911/1505) 245 Gurgan. Masjid-ijami’, 809-859/1406-1454 246 Haftador. Masjid: Chaduk, 15th century

250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257

[ x iv ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

List of Text Figures 1. Afushtch. Shrine o f Mir Sayyid (Cat. No. 133). Construction of outer dome (Ferrante and Galdieri) 2. Proportional systems: the square 3. Proportional systems: the equilateral triangle 4. Proportional systems: the equilateral triangle 5. Proportional systems: the scmisquarc 6. Proportional systems: the semisquare 7. Proportional systems: the semisquare 8. Proportional systems: the semisquare 9. Proportional systems: the root five rectangle 10. Proportional systems: the root five rectangle 11. Proportional systems: two methods of constructing a decagon 12. Samarqand. Shah-i Zindeh complex, mausoleum of “Qutluq Aqa” (Cat. No. 13). Geometric analysis of plan (after Bulatov) 13. Samarqand. Shah-i Zindeh complex, mausoleum of "Qutluq Aqa" (Cat. No. 13). Geometric analysis of facade elevation (after Bulatov) 14. Samarqand. Shah-i Zindeh complex, mausoleum of "Qutluq Aqa" (Cat. No. 13). Geometric analysis of interior section (after Bulatov) 15. Turkestan. Shrine of Khvajeh Ahmad Yasavi (Cat. No. 53). Geometric analysis o f plan (after Man'kovskaia) 16. Samarqand. Masjid-ijami' (Cat. No. 28). Geometric analysis of outside dimensions (after Bulatov) 17. Samarqand. Masjid-ijami’(Cat. No. 28). Geometric analysis of plan of sanctuary (after Bulatov) 18. Samarqand. Masjid-ijami’(Cat. No. 28). Geometric analysis o f sanctuary elevation (after Bulatov) 19. Samarqand. Masjid-ijami'(Cat. No.

115 142 142 142 142 142 142 143

Google

21.

22.

23.

143 143

24.

143 25. 144

26. 27.

144 28. 144 29. 145 30. 147 31. 147 32. 147

( xv

Digitized by

20.

28). Geometric analysis of entrance (after Bulatov) Khargird. Madrasah Ghiyathiyah (Cat. No. 84). Geometric analysis of outside dimensions (Golombek) Khargird. Madrasah Ghiyathiyah (Cat. No. 84). Geometric analysis of cast dome chamber (Golombek) Khargird. Madrasah Ghiyathiyah (Cat. No. 84). Geometric analysis of facade elevation (Golombek) Tayabad. Masjid-i Mawlana (Cat. No. 117). Geometric analysis of plan, with dimensions based on semisquare (Golombek) Tayabad. .Vlasjid-i Mawlana (Cat. No. 117). Geometric analysis of plan, dimensions based on equilateral triangle and square (Golombek) The five parts o f the arch, according to al-Kashi (second method) Arches found in shrine at Turkestan (Cat. No. 53, after Man'kovskaia) Arches in Timurid monuments: (1) Cat. No. 167; (2) Cat. No. 71; (3) Cat. No. 170; (4) Cat. No. 90 Herat. Madrasah o f Gawhar Shad (Cat. No. 90). Geometric analysis of section (Golombek, based on drawing by Wilber) Geometric design from anonymous treatise (after Bulatov) Turkestan. Shrine of Khvajeh Ahmad Yasavi (Cat. No. 53). Dado (after Man’kovskaia) Turkestan. Shrine of Khvajeh Ahmad Yasavi (Cat. No. 53). Outer wall (after Man'kovskaia) Khargird. Madrasah Ghiyathiyah (Cat. No. 84). Design generated from square inscribed in circle (after El-Said and Parman)

]

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

147

149

149

149

150

150 152 154

156

158 160

161

161

162

LIST o r TEXT n o c u r s

33.

34.

35.

36.

37. 38.

Herat. Madrasah of Sultan Husayn Bayqara (Cat. No. 77), design on minaret, appearing on bias (after El Said and Parman) Samarqand. Shah-i Zindeh complex, mausoleum of "Amirzadeh" (Cat. No. 20). Design based on equilateral triangles (after Bulatov) Herat (Gazurgah). Shrine of Khvajeh ’Abdullah Ansari (Cat. No. 71 A). Design based on equilateral triangles and squares (after Critchlow) Samarqand. Tuman Aqa complex at Shah-i Zindeh (Cat. No. 21 A). Radial design (after Bulatov) Samarqand. Gur-i Amir (Cat. No. 29C). Radial design (after Bulatov) Four-sided shapes used in geometric ornament and muqarnas (after Rem pel')

39. 40. 162

41. 163

42. 163 43. 164 44. 164 45. 166

Proportional system of the "bowed" muqarnas. based on al-Kashi Samarqand. Shah-i Zindeh complex, mausoleum of Shad-i Mulk Aqa (Cat. No. 14). Analysis of muqarnas in squinch (after Notkin) Samarqand. Shah-i Zindeh complex. mausoleum ofShirin Bika Aqa (Cat. No. 17). Analysis of muqarnas in squinch (after Notkin) Stellate vault: wall arches and recumbent arches produce a double square Stellate vault: two hexagons from three rotated squares Herat (Gazurgah). Zarnigar Khaneh. Stellate vault based on four rotated squares Rectangular stellate vaults (after Zasypkin)

[ xvi )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

166

168

168

170 170

170 170

Preface in New York in 1975. Donald Wilber. Lisa Golombek, and Renata Holod be­ gan to plan a book on Timurid architecture, covering a somewhat longer period than the ac­ tual life o f the dynasty, 1360 to 1510. It was to be modeled on Wilber’s monograph The Archi­ tecture of Islamic Iran: The II Khanid Period (Princeton, 1955) and to incorporate the field notes o f Wilber (from the 1930s, 1940s and following, in Iran and Turan), Lisa Golombek (survey of Timurid monuments 1966 and following, in Iran and Turan), and Holod (Iran, particu­ larly Yazd region, 1968 and following). Others would be invited to fill the gaps. From the start our objective was to expose one o f the world’s lesser know “great” archi­ tectures to a wider audience, to include historians of Western architecture, practicing archi­ tects and designers, and historians o f Islamic culture, as well as the specialists in Islamic art. As work progressed slowly, the enormity of the project and its inherent difficulties be­ came apparent. There were to be over twice as many monuments as in the II Khanid book. It would obviously take much longer to complete the catalogue than had been anticipated, but on the positive side, the statistics were bound to be more revealing. It would be possible to undertake different kinds o f investigation than had been attempted in the II Khanid volume. Then, too, so much more information had become available on Soviet Central Asia. Trans­ portation and working conditions in Iran itself had improved, and local scholars had greatly expanded the documentation o f all Islamic monuments. The catalogue of monuments would, therefore, be longer and contain more detail. Two complications arose while the project was underway. Working conditions in Iran and Afghanistan deteriorated with political conditions before the catalogue was completed, and the authors could not return to check plans and descriptions on site. Holod’s commit­ ments as Convenor o f the Aga Khan Award for Islamic Architecture necessitated her with­ drawal from the team in 1979. The interesting potentials o f this large mass o f material became apparent only as we com­ pleted the list o f the monuments. The extensive data base made it possible to make statements about patronage and society, about the evolution of vaulting techniques and the morphology o f architecture, even about design theory, iconography, and aesthetics. The desire to respond to these questions was not easily satisfied. Although such questions have long occupied histo­ rians o f Western architecture, very little work in this direction had been done for Islamic ar­ chitecture. It would be necessary to develop a methodology, in some instances based on West­ ern art theory, in others, pieced together from Islamic sources, other disciplines, and common sense. The most significant results of this study are that it permitted us to define concisely what constituted the Timurid “style,” why it developed as it did, and what were its major achieveA t a m eeting

[ xvii )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

PREFACE

merits. The volume thus moves from analysis to evaluation, perhaps a risky route, but one that the art historian cannot afford to avoid indefinitely, even the historian o f Islamic art. Although the accession o f Timur did not take place until 1370, the time range of our cat­ alogue was extended back (to 1360) to provide a point of departure. The arts o f the successors to the II Khanid state were in many ways “proto-Timurid." Although it has become fashion­ able to reject dynastic names for epochs, the term Timurid is justified in this case because the ruling dynasty played a central role in the formation o f the arts. The monuments patronized by contemporaries o f the Timurids, the Turkmans, are also included as “Timurid” because the dominant style was that o f Timurid Turan and Khurasan. The time range projects a few years beyond the fall o f the Timurids (1506) in order to include those monuments which be­ long stylistically to the latter years of the dynasty. The regions covered are Turan (eastern Soviet Central Asia), Khurasan (Afghanistan and northeastern Iran), Iran (central and western Iran, Soviet Azerbayjan), and Mazanderan (the Caspian littoral). These divisions are based on the political history of the fifteenth cen­ tury, during which time these regions were controlled by different branches o f the Timurid family or by other powers, such as the Turkman dynasties. This work brings together a considerable body of material: (1) investigations of monu­ ments in situ by the authors and the contributors; (2) reports of fieldwork in publications, in­ cluding numerous articles and monographs in Russian and Persian; (3) and primary sources in Persian and Arabic (and some European languages). The manuscript was completed in 1983, and references to some subsequent publications, up to 1984, have been included. The ten chapters are, for the most part, the result o f a dialogue between the two authors. Each author wrote on those subjects in which he or she had greater expertise or preference, while the other author reviewed and contributed to the final form. Thus, the chapters on po­ litical history, physical and cultural setting; the sections on architects, materials and methods of construction; the chapters on decoration and on gardens; and the sections on regional styles o f Qumm, Mazanderan, and Shirvan were primarily the work o f Wilber. Golombek drafted the section on social history; the chapter on architecture and society; the sections on concept design, space, and vaulting; and the chapters on design theory, style, and perception. The catalogue represents a collective effort to which many colleagues generously contrib­ uted articles, unpublished notes and photographs, and commentary. Their contributions are identified in the relevant entries; most have been edited by the authors. We are particularly grateful to the late L. S. Bretanitskii of the Institute o f Architecture and Art, Academy o f Sciences, Azerbayjan S.S.R. At a pleasant meeting at Baku with Wilber in 1976 he agreed to supply catalogue entries for all of the fifteenth-century monuments in Soviet Azerbayjan. From the other side of the Caspian, in the Uzbek S.S.R., our colleagues have been equally supportive through their continuous dialogue with us over the past twenty years. This book is indebted particularly to Prof. G. A. Pugachenkova, former Director o f the Institute o f Fine Arts in Tashkent, whose own work has spearheaded interest in Timurid ar­ chitecture. Other members o f the Institute, L. I. Rempel’, M. S. Bulatov, and N. B. Nemtseva, have kept us up to date on the progress of research in Soviet Central Asia by providing us with ( xviii ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

PREFACE

publications and answers to queries. L. lu. Man'kovskaia has played an exceptional role in pa­ tiently responding to all o f our questions, as well as contributing articles to the catalogue (on Tashkent). In part the justification for producing this volume is to make available to the West the important works o f Soviet scholars on Timurid architecture. T o Renata Holod, who collaborated in the initial stages of the book and continued to pro­ vide constructive criticism, ideas, and encouragement throughout its production, we owe a special debt. Her contributions to this book, in addition to catalogue entries for Yazd, are too many and varied to be identified in full. Terry Allen o f the University o f Michigan kindly made available to us his thesis on the topography o f Herat, maps and photographs. He has contributed to the discussions on Herat and its gardens, and has read the manuscript in its incipient stages, offering many useful sug­ gestions for improvement. Robert Hillenbrand o f the University o f Edinburgh generously put at our disposal his thesis, “The Tomb Towers of Iran to 1550," and his lengthy essay “The Tomb Towers o f Mazanderan." A very special thanks goes to Oleg Grabar, whose unique approach to the study of archi­ tecture has had a profound influence on the conception of this book. His personal encourage­ ment over the years has made it possible for us to conclude what once seemed like an insur­ mountable task. We would like to name many others who have helped to make this work as comprehensive as possible, among them, Sheila Blair, Jonathan Bloom, Jerome Clinton, Klaus Herdig, Gor­ don Holler, Anthony Hutt, R. Sengupta, Rudi Stiickert, and Maria Subtelny. Field research was made possible by a Foreign Area Fellowship in 1966, and by a gram from the former Canada Council (now Social Science and Humanities Research Council) for the study o f the monuments at Isfahan. We also appreciate the assistance granted by the Aga Khan Program Faculty Council, which provided funds toward the preparation of the manu­ script for publication, including costs for drafting and photography. No work o f this proportion could be accomplished without the commitment o f a consci­ entious group o f research assistants, draftsmen, technicians, and typists. We are most fortu­ nate to have had the support o f the West Asian Department of the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto. The mammoth task o f preparing the drawings was supervised and primarily exe­ cuted by Carole Richards Gilbert, to whom we are grateful for insisting on high standards of workmanship. Original contributions were also made by the architect Michael Djordjevich, who frequently had to “rectify" inaccuracies in published plans for which we had no fieldnotes. William Pratt, the technician, looked after the masses o f photographs, and Bardy Hart patiently typed and retyped the numerous drafts of the manuscript. Rachel Barney, part-time research assistant, spent many hours at the computer compiling lists for the appendixes and for editorial purposes, guided by Elizabeth Henrickson in computer technology. We are grateful to Elizabeth Powers, editor at the Princeton University Press, who displayed both imagination and fortitude in dealing with a complex manuscript. The book is divided into two volumes. The first contains essays, appendixes, the Cata[ xix 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

PREFACE

logue o f Monuments, and bibliography. The second contains the illustrative material. The catalogue includes every building known to the authors to be o f this period, however frag­ mentary the remains. The monuments are grouped geographically and arranged alphabeti­ cally. From the literary sources was compiled a list of monuments known only from texts (see Appendix A: Supplementary Catalogue). Monuments are generally referred to by catalogue or supplementary catalogue number (referred to as “SCN") in the text to avoid the need for superfluous footnotes. Detailed references will be found in the individual entries. Citations of primary sources are given only when the text is presenting new material (not previously pub­ lished). Much background material has been included for the convenience o f the reader who is not familiar with the history o f Iran in the fifteenth century or with Islamic architecture. It is hoped that the specialist will not be deterred by these glosses. Arabic and Persian (and some Russian) terms are explained in the glossary and when they first occur in the text. The diacritical marks that permit the correct reconstruction of the Per­ sian or Arabic word have been omitted because the limited merits for this kind o f publication did not warrant the great expense this would entail. The system o f transliteration corresponds to that of the Library o f Congress, with minor exceptions intended to improve the readability o f the text and reduce editing and printing costs. In Arabic, words ending with the syllable ah are spelled as such, but in Persian the same spelling is translated eh, to approximate pronunciation. No distinction is made between the hamzah (glottal stop) and the letter 'ayin (both are represented by the apostrophe, and the for­ mer is usually omitted). The Persian izafeh is simply designated as -i, regardless o f the final letter o f the word that it follows. The Persian monosyllables normally transliterated as naw, du, etc., become no, do. The Turkish title beg is used in place o f standard transliteration bik. The Arabic letters th, dh, d, and w are usually Persianized as, respectively, z, z, and v. In some cases, an Arabic name may be Persianized if local usage justifies (e.g., Qutham = Qusam).

( xx

Digitized by

Goo

]

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Introduction o f the architect Qavam al-Din of Shiraz (1410-1438) coincides precisely with that o f Brunelleschi. While all o f Florence stood amazed in 1436 as the last courses o f the great Cathedral dome (d. 42 m.) fell into place, Qavam al-Din, had he been there, would not have marveled at this. His predecessors had been employing similar techniques for smaller domes for almost a century. The dome o f Sultaniyah ( 1305-1313) covers a space o f just under twentysix meters in diameter, has a catenary profile that reduced horizontal thrust, and is con­ structed from two shells. It is possible that Qavam al-Din saw the majestic elliptical double dome above Timur’s tomb, the Gur-i Amir, a feat that he emulated in the madrasah o f Gawhar Shad at Herat some twenty-five years later. To Alberti’s theory o f harmonic proportions Qavam al-Din might have nodded conde­ scendingly. He was heir to a much more complex system of geometric harmonization long in use among artisans o f the Islamic East. Possibly, the system goes back to the same roots as the tradition o f Vitruvius, which was being rediscovered in Italy at this time. This inner harmony of the building was as much a theme o f the architecture for Qavam al-Din and his colleagues as it was for his contemporaries abroad. Qavam al-Din was himself preoccupied with other matters. How could he render the sup­ ports o f the dome invisible and, thus, create a light, airy feeling? Could the dome, which is normally stable and static, appear to take on movement? How should color, texture, and light be balanced in surface decoration to achieve distinctive beautv/ as well as unity? / Qavam al-Din headed a cast of architects, who set Persian architecture on a new course, in much the same way as did Brunelleschi and his colleagues for the architecture o f Europe. Although our scenario is indeed fanciful, and probably Qavam al-Din had not the slightest notion o f what was happening in Italy, nevertheless, it is curious that these two revolutions in architecture should have been simultaneous and should have shared many/ characteristics. Only when we assemble all o f the available data on the period do we realize what is Timurid architecture, and what constitutes its greatness. However we regard the brutal campaigns of Timur, founder of the dynasty, it is he who first gathered the masters o f all the arts in his new imperial capital of Samarqand. Those whom he rounded up and sent there included learned scholars, poets, and writers; but the larger number, several hundred at least, were craftsmen, such as weavers, workers in metal and other useful trades, and those skilled in the arts o f building. Although Timur died before any distinctive school o f art had come into being at Samarqand. those trained in the imperial court eventually went to Herat and other centers to found the well-known Timurid schools of painting and other crafts. Nevertheless, Timur himself left a distinctive mark on the architec-

T

he c a r e e r

[ xxi )

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

IXTRODL'CTIOX

turc o f his time. It was he who dictated the scale o f his colossal mosque in Samarqand, his pal­ ace gate at Shahrisabz, and the shrine o f his spiritual mentor at Turkestan. Leadership in the cultural, as well as political, arena passed to Timur’s son Shah Rukh, who transformed Herat into an imperial city rivaling Samarqand. In the records o f his court we learn o f Qavam al-Din’s career, his expertise in astronomy, geometry, and engineering. He is called the Master o f the Age. Whatever else we know of him comes from his works, the masjid o f Mashhad, the masjid and madrasah of Gawhar Shad in Herat, the madrasah of Khargird, and possibly also the shrine at Gazurgah. He alone among the architects is mentioned in the literature. Inscriptions on surviving monuments name some additional 106 craftsmen who, for the most part, did not enjoy the same status, were ill-paid, and were not rewarded well for their creativity. Approximately half name their speciality. Many give their nisbah, designating place o f origin or residence. The nisbahs suggest almost thirty different places o f origin, while the largest contingents had nisbahs connecting them to Tabriz, Shiraz, and Isfahan. Craftsmen from these Iranian cities worked in Central Asia as well as at home. The virtuosity o f Timurid architecture was not expressed primarily in the design o f new types o f structures, or in the elaboration o f previous types, but in an intensive experimenta­ tion with decoration and with varieties o f vaulting. One type almost certainly springs from the genius o f Qavam al-Din. This vaulting will be studied at length. As for the faience revetments applied to the structures, one can sense the desire of separate teams of decorators to surpass the treatment o f other structures o f about the same period. The sources are silent on many points concerning the architects and craftsmen. Do ar­ chitects who came to Turan and Khurasan from Shiraz constitute a “school”? Was the archi­ tect responsible also for designing the surface ornament? To what extent was a building de­ signed before its foundations were laid? What was the patron's role in this process? Inscriptions and historical texts provide the names of about twenty-five patrons, the in­ dividuals who paid for the construction. Unlike Renaissance Italy, the Timurid society rec­ ognized only the efforts o f the individual. With very few exceptions, all works were sponsored by a single person, not by guilds or groups. The foundation of charitable works is tied in with the system o f public endowment, known as vaqf. The patron set aside income-producing properties to pay for the operating costs of the institution, in exchange for which he derived certain economic benefits, not to mention the spiritual ones. Patrons include Timur and mem­ bers o f his family, amirs and high officials at the court, provincial governors, and local no­ tables. Some o f the most remarkable buildings were sponsored by statesmen, who were not part o f the military aristocracy, such as Pir Ahmad, vizier o f Shah Rukh; and ’Ali Shir Navai, confidant o f Sultan Husayn. 'Ali Shir is credited with being the builder and restorer o f about three hundred and seventy structures. The levels o f patronage are reflected in the wide range o f quality displayed by the mon­ uments presented here. Buildings with royal backing generally are larger and more sump­ tuously decorated than others. The availability of funds, however, does not entirely explain the variations in quality. Surely the manpower and talent concentrated in the imperial capitals [ xxii ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

I X T R O D l ' C Tl OX

and the consequent lack thereof in the provinces accounts for the emergence o f "regional styles” that in many ways are inferior to the “metropolitan” Timurid style. The vizier o f Shah Rukh had access to Qavam al-Din, the court architect, who built him a madrasah at Khargird, which is in the hinterland. The Turkman monuments of central Iran, from the second half of the fifteenth century, are often richly decorated, but show none o f the innovative design that appears in the mosque o f Jahanshah's daughter (popularly called the Blue Mosque) at Tabriz, capital o f the Qara Qoyunlu. Jahanshah probably had attracted architects o f the late Shah Rukh from Herat to his own imperial city. From contemporary texts one may construct a picture of great urban prosperity. This picture is supported by the observations of Clavijo, ambassador from the King o f Castile and Leon to Timur. His comments on public life at Samarqand stress the abundance of foodstuffs and meat, which were very cheap. The peace imposed by Timur, and pursued by his line, stimulated economic prosperity which, in its turn, inspired the construction o f countless struc­ tures throughout Iran and Turan. To the more than two hundred and fifty surviving struc­ tures may be added scores more known only through literary references. With very few exceptions, vernacular architecture o f the Timurid period has not sur­ vived. Built o f impermanent materials, such as wood, mud-brick, or mud-plaster, the resi­ dences o f the rich and the poor have vanished except for a few fragments of palaces. Only those that were built o f permanent materials, fired brick or stone, bear testimony to a once more-extensive building type. O f Timur’s palace at Shahrisabz all that remains is a gateway. From the palace complex o f the Shirvan Shahs at Baku it is primarily the religious monuments that still stand. A unique example o f a princely summer residence, built o f stone, survives at Nardaran. Most o f the monuments in the catalogue had a religious purpose. Masjids and madrasahs were erected following much the same plan types as in the preceding period. However, the standard four-ivan plan was employed less frequently than before, and many masjids had fewer ivans, or even none at all. A number of madrasahs also display fewer than four ivans. Other religious structures include the khanaqah, the hazirah, and numerous mausoleums. Dynastic tombs and shrines survive in great number: ninety in all, from the towering Gur-i Amir to some thirty “provincial" tomb lowers in Mazanderan. Shrines were a focal point o f royal and courtly patronage: existing shrines were restored and embellished, and a number of new ones were erected. Many were richly decorated. It was during the Timurid period that the shrine o f the Imam Riza at Mashhad was trans­ formed into a major pilgrimage center with a royal masjid, three or four princely madrasahs, a royal library and caravansary, palaces, gardens, and a large court to accommodate the pil­ grims. It is also during this period that true urban planning begins. During the early fourteenth century, the rulers and officials o f Tabriz founded suburbs with public monuments as a core. The arrangement o f these monuments is not known, since most o f them have disappeared. If one is to judge from the monuments surviving in the II Khanid cities of central Iran, such as Isfahan, Yazd, Kirman, it is evident that none was intended to stand free o f its surroundings, [ xxiii ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

I NTRODUCTI ON

despite the fact that many o f these cities had maydans (open squares) adjoining their mosques. In the Timurid period, examples o f urban ensembles based on an open square abound. Many monuments are designed to stand free and are reveted in tile on all sides. The classic example is the famous Registan square o f Samarqand, which was originally bordered by the madrasah and khanaqah o f Ulugh Beg, and several other religious and commercial structures. Research in Timurid Architecture The study o f Timurid architecture in Central Asia dates from the Czarist Russian invasions of the second half o f the nineteenth century. In some cases, within months o f a city’s capture, Russian engineers were at work attempting to preserve historical monuments, which were col­ lapsing from the ravages o f time. Earthquake damage drew teams of specialists. By the first decades o f the twentieth century Central Asia had become the focus o f Orientalists, archae­ ologists, and art historians. V. V. BartoPd’s studies in the history of Central Asia had laid firm foundations for archaeological work. One o f the earliest sites to be excavated was the observ­ atory in Samarqand. With the Revolution of 1917 came the formation of special expeditions to record monuments, and teams o f engineers and archaeologists to restore them. Archaeo­ logical research and the preservation of monuments continued to be supported by the state. The pre-World War II period was extremely productive, under the leadership o f such men as Masson and Zasypkin, followed in the postwar years by Bretanitskii, Rempel’, Shishkin, Pugachenkova, and many others. During the 1960s and 1970s the younger Soviet scholars have tended to specialize either in a limited group o f monuments, or in some aspect o f the architecture, such as construction materials, methods o f planning, and so forth. Restoration and conservation have proceeded hand in hand with archaeological investigation. Soviet scientists take great interest in such de­ tails as the composition o f mortars, bricks, and foundations, and such problems as seismic trauma. The geometric basis o f architectural decoration and plans has been explored to its limits. Many individual monuments have been thoroughly investigated and published. Unfortunately, all too few o f these studies include the original scale drawings and plans which, no doubt, were made during the work. Many of the published plans have no scale and no orientation. These studies have also tended to omit documentation, or to cite sources that are inaccessible outside o f the Soviet Union. In many instances the inscriptions have not been read, or reread, since the prewar period because most archaeologists have no training in Ar­ abic and Persian. There is still no published catalogue of the Central Asian monuments by Soviet scholars, although one is in progress. Iran was the destination o f many travelers from Europe, some o f them as early as the fif­ teenth century, and their writings and drawings preserved details that would otherwise have been lost. However, the monuments o f the Timurid period never received the same attention that either the Achaemenid complex at Persepolis or the Safavid monuments at Isfahan en­ joyed during the late nineteenth century. Photographic recording, measuring, and some recording o f inscriptions took place un( xxiv ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

I X T ROD UC 77 OjV

der the leadership o f such personalities as E. Diez and F. Sarre, followed in the 1930s by Ar­ thur U. Pope, Ernst Herzfeld, and André Godard. Some o f the fruits of these expeditions ap­ pear in the great A Survey of Persian Art (1938), with chapters written by R. Byron, E. Schroeder, and Pope. While the volumes contain the first published plans o f some o f the buildings, many are not reliable, or are incomplete. Readings o f inscriptions and translations o f texts are occasionally faulty. The greatest value o f the Survey at present is its illustrations, which preserve the original condition o f monuments that have since been restored, or destroyed. The essays on Timurid architecture must be used with caution, but should not be ignored, for they contain a number of valuable insights. The Survey also stimulated the pioneer period of exploration. Donald Wilber scoured much o f Iran between 1939 and mid-1946 in search o f monuments. Travel was hampered by burdensome regulations, and made uncomfortable and even hazardous by poor roads and lack o f roadside conveniences. In more recent years, restrictions were lifted and facilities much improved. Finally, the number of researchers from Europe, the United States, and other countries was augmented by Iranian students and scholars, who have edited local his­ tories and published historical geographies on many regions of the country. Iraj Afshar, li­ brarian o f Tehran University, has been particularly active in recording the history and mon­ uments o f Yazd and its region. A catalogue of the historical monuments has been compiled by N. Mashkuti, while regional accounts have been published by Mawlavi, Hunarfar, and Varjavand—to name only a few. Most o f the archaeological research being carried out by the Ministry o f Culture in Iran may never reach the press. Many o f the provincial offices in charge o f restoration have been doing important work, but arc not encouraged to make their results known. Compared with Iran, much of the area represented by present-day Afghanistan was nearly always a historical backwater, and the surviving monuments o f the Timurid and other periods are comparatively few in number. Among the local scholars, the work o f Saljuqi on the history and monuments o f Herat must be cited. Surveys by the Soviet scholar Pugachenkova have resulted in useful articles concerned with Timurid structures, and chance discov­ eries o f additional monuments may be anticipated.

Methodology The organization o f this book is intended to reflect the process of the making o f architecture. This process involves a triangular relationship between the patron who commissions the work, the society that will use it, and the architect-builder who must satisfy the requirements o f both. Because this relationship has been o f central interest, the two most common methods of presenting Islamic architecture proved inadequate. A chronological approach would empha­ size stylistic evolution within the period, a question which seemed o f secondary interest at this early stage in Timurid studies. The typological approach is often encountered in studies of Islamic architecture, but it, too, can have drawbacks. Buildings are classified according to [ xxv ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

I X T R O D U C T I OX

function, and each class o f building is studied as a separate problem. Thus, one first studies the mosque and its permutations, then the madrasah, and so on. By this method the ability of the form to fulfill its designated function can be evaluated, but very little else can be deduced. The larger question remains. How did the architect arrive at this or that solution? T o point to antecedents only pushes the question back in time. Typological studies o f architectural features are common and can be quite useful, but less so when presented as ends in themselves. Once techniques have been identified and classified, their purpose in the architecture must be determined. Do they contribute to statics or aes­ thetics or something else? A typology o f architectural features becomes more useful if the clas­ sification is by rationale. While typological arrangement predominates in this book, the approach is contextual. The emphasis will be on the interaction o f people, technology, and history. The first three chapters deal in a traditional way with social factors affecting Timurid ar­ chitecture, beginning with an historical overview of the period. The next series of topics con­ cerns Timurid society, man's relationship to the land and the urban setting, the social order, the economy, and the cultural milieu. The discussion then focuses on the triangular relationship between the principal actors: the user, the patron, and the craftsmen. The various classes of buildings are defined, and the functioning o f institutions is described. The respective contributions o f patron and craftsman are evaluated. The second part of the book explores the building traditions of the Timurid period. The arrangement o f themes is based on the architectural process itself, which begins with concept design and moves toward practicalities such as materials and methods o f construction. By looking first at the full range of components, principles o f organization, and config­ urations available to the Timurid designer, we appreciate the process by which he arrived at solutions. We learn, for example, that an elaborate entrance complex was not exclusive to the madrasah. It is found in some mosques, shrines, and caravansaries. The inclusion o f this fea­ ture in the madrasah was therefore due not to the needs of students and teachers who used it but to the aesthetic demands o f the times. Had we failed to look first at the morphology o f the madrasah, we could not have come to this conclusion. Our description o f building techniques, particularly those relating to vaults and domes, links new technology to the new aesthetics of space. The chapter on materials and methods o f decoration provides a reference guide to the many ingenious techniques employed by Timurid craftsmen. The next chapter traces the use o f geometry in planning, building, and decorating. The pervasiveness o f geometrical systems suggests that geometry was a form o f design theory in the Timurid period. A subject unto itself, landscape architecture with its garden pavilions and related structures, constitutes a unit with special considerations. The final two chapters evaluate Timurid architecture, first through the eyes of the art historian today, and then through the words and deeds of Timurid society. These chapters take up the more traditional subjects of style, iconography, and aesthetics, couched in an Is[ xxvi ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

I S T R OD V C T ! O S

lamic context. Chapter 9 attempts a periodization of major styles and a definition o f regional variations. T he lack o f reporting about contemporary reaction to the great building programs underway in the Timurid empire required some ingenuity for the final chapter. A model was provided by medieval Iranian literary criticism.

REFERENCES

On Brunelleschi and Alberti see Murray 1963. On Sultaniyah sec Wilber 1955:139. On possible Hel-

lenistic and Byzantine sources of Islamic geometric planning sec Écochard 1977.

[ xxvii ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Digitized by

Google

Original from UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

P A R T ONE

TH E TI MU RID WORLD

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

1. Political History lakes the form of a narrative account which concentrates largely on Timur and almost exclusively on his military objectives and campaigns. This is not to dismiss as un­ important Timur’s successors, who are dealt with in considerably less detail. Timur’s energy, the excitement generated by him personally, had great impact not only militarily but also ar­ tistically and culturally and set the tone for the whole period. Under Timur, Samarqand was transformed from a village to a metropolis; the influx of artisans generated by his military campaigns stimulated artistic life and, o f central importance in the context o f this work, a dis­ tinctive style o f architecture was established. Prior to his death in 624/1227, Chingiz Khan had followed Mongol custom by distribut­ ing his possessions among his four sons. The second son, Chaghatay, was allotted the lands of Transoxania, the southern part of Khvarazm, present-day Afghanistan, and Semirechye (east o f the Syr Darya), site o f his ordu (camp). He was determinedly anti-Muslim and favored the yasa, Mongol customary law, over the shariah, Islamic law. The dynasty o f Chaghatay was the least distinguished o f the four Mongol khanates; the khanate later known by his name was not effectively established until the time of his grandson. This khan managed to become relatively independent o f the rule o f Kubilay, the Great Khan, to the east and the khan of the Golden Horde to the north. To the west, over the Iranian plateau, Hulagu, brother o f Kubilay, was establishing the II Khanid dynasty. The Chaghatay Khanate moved its center to near the Syr Darya, bringing the Barlas clan, o f which Timur was scion, into the Qashka Darya valley. At this time Islam was formallyadopted, but several later generations remained pagan. The continuation of nomadic and tribal ways o f life resulted in a decline of activity in villages and towns, except in the long-es­ tablished oasis towns, such as Samarqand and Bukhara, which had achieved a revival after devastation by Chingiz Khan. Those who lived the nomadic life called themselves Moghuls, for Mongols, and their larger regions became known as Moghulistan. The Barlas, one o f the four principal clans o f the Turkicized Mongols, were in the Qashka Darya Valley, with its towns of Kesh, later called Shahrisabz, and Qarshi. Successive Chaghatay khans, Kebek, Tarmashirin, and Qazan, lived in the same valley. Nothing is known of the relation o f the Barlas to these khans. It is possible that the Barlas were converted to Islam during the reign o f Tarmashirin (1326-1334). Timur’s father, Taraghay, a member of the Barlas, was a pious Muslim and a friend of scholars and dervishes. He was a disciple of Shaykh Shams al-Din Kulal. He died in 1360; in 1373-74, Timur had him reburied at Shah­ risabz beside the shrine o f his mentor (Cat. No. 41 ). Timur was born in the village of Khvajeh Ilghar, near Shahrisabz, on 8 April 1336. About 1360 he entered the service o f Tughluq Timur, the khan o f Moghulistan, who had invaded

T his sec tio n

( 3 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER I

Tran sox a nia. Timur acquired the post o f darugheh, or military governor, o f the Qashka Darya Valley. However, he soon broke with Tughluq Timur and joined forces with Amir Husayn o f Balkh and Kabul. In an effort to advance their fortunes, they hired themselves out as mercenaries. In 1362 they fell into the hands of Turkmans and after sixty-two days were re­ leased in a sorry state, with only a starving nag and an old camel to carry them. A year later, they had collected one hundred men and entered the service of Jalal al-Din in Sistan. So suc­ cessful were they in taking forts held by local rebels that their employer thought they might challenge his own power. He launched an attack on the band, and arrows struck Timur’s right leg and arm, an act that Timur later avenged. Safely away from Sistan, the following year Timur and Husayn took Shahrisabz, and thousands o f recruits flocked to their victorious banners. They defeated Ilyas Khvajeh, son of Tughluq Timur. In 1364 they took Samarqand, and Husayn became chief amir of Transoxania, while a Chaghatay noble was elevated to the puppet role o f khan. Sometime earlier, Ti­ mur had married a sister o f Husayn, Uljay Turkan Aqa, and even earlier he had married Narmish Aqa, mother o f Jahangir, his first-born son. After 1366, the tensions between Husayn and Timur waxed and waned until, in 1370, Timur led his forces south across the Amu Darya to defeat those of Husayn at Balkh. Husayn was put to death, and Timur selected from the harem Saray Mulk Khanum, a daughter of Qazan, the Chaghatay khan. This marriage entitled Timur to call himself gurgan, son-in-law, of the family o f the Chaghatay khans; in this way could he claim relationship to Chingiz Khan, and this title appeared on his coins. Saray Mulk became his chief wife, although she bore no children. Following the capture o f Balkh, a quriltay (Mongolian, “council”) of the amirs chose Ti­ mur as the great amir; he was enthroned with a crown of gold and the imperial girdle. This choice was strongly urged by sayyids and shaykhs, with whom Timur had established close relations. At the same time, a second puppet Chaghatay khan was installed, and until the end of his life Timur maintained this line of puppet heads of state and never called himself “khan.” In 1370 Timur erected a new citadel at Samarqand and enclosed the city within walls, re­ placing those destroyed by the Mongols. His attention then turned to making the Chaghatays into an efficient and disciplined fighting force. For many years Timur was engaged in reor­ ganizing the state o f Moghulistan. In 1379 he ordered construction o f his palace, the Aq Saray, at Shahrisabz. In 1381 he embarked on the first of his campaigns to the west. Timur’s forces were largely nomadic mounted bowmen from Transoxania with their leadership from the Barlas clan. The organization was based upon that of the Mongol armies: the unit o f the tuman, or ten thousand, was divisible by thousands and hundreds to form smaller units. On the march, Timur rode behind the vanguard, and was followed by the cav­ alry, the infantry, and the wagons o f the baggage train. These wagons, drawn by oxen or mules, carried goods o f the imperial household, the siege artillery, the treasury, and arms and equipment. Following were the families o f the nomadic warriors, with their Hocks and herds, [ 4 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

POLIT I CM. HI STORY

their carls, their tents, and their horses and camels. Tradesmen and craftsmen came at the end o f the long line. The first campaign, directed against Khurasan, resulted in the surrender o f Herat, which yielded up its riches: the gates o f the city, bound with iron and covered with inscriptions, were conveyed to Shahrisabz. Timur’s third son, Miranshah, then fourteen, was named governor of Khurasan. After wintering at Bukhara, in 1382, Timur moved to Mazanderan, conquering the Caspian Sea provinces. The scent o f booty urged the armies forward. Timur was most generous in distributing booty, and he had been able to defeat Husayn largely because that prince had been stingy with his troops. Once a city had been taken, the signal for pillage was a black banner raised over Timur's tents. Gold, silver, robes, furs, horses, arms, and men, women, and children to serve as slaves, made up the booty, which was shared according to the stipulations o f the yasa. In 1383 revolts in Khurasan had to be put down before Timur could return to Samarqand to deal with troubles to the east, and it was not until 1384 that he undertook the con­ quest o f Sistan. Zaranj, its chief city, was besieged and stormed. Its garrison and its inhabitants were massacred. Qandahar was taken by assault. Again Timur returned to Samarqand, but still within 1384, he headed again toward the Caspian Sea, crossed the Alburz range, seized Rayy, and then moved west to occupy the still flourishing city o f Sultaniyah, the last capital of the II Khanid dynasty o f Iran. It, along with Tabriz, had been held by the Jalayirid family, who were to prove constant enemies o f Timur. From 1386 until 1388 he remained in Iran. He captured Tabriz, and named Muhammad Sultan, son o f the deceased Jahangir, governor. Timur then led his forces into the Caucasus Mountains to overwhelm Shirvan and Georgia in a campaign marked by the fierce resistance o f fortified Muslim and Christian towns. Savage reprisals were the rule. In a few cases towns surrendered quickly and produced ransom; their people and their princes were spared. In fact, the ruler o f Shirvan was reinstated in his possessions and accompanied Timur on later campaigns. In the spring o f 1387 the armies headed west, across Armenia and into Asia Minor, in pursuit o f two Turkman tribes, the Qara Qoyunlu and the Aq Qoyunlu, who had been rob­ bing caravans bound for Mecca and elsewhere. In Seljuq times these tribes had moved east­ ward from Armenia, Anatolia, and northern Iraq into north and northwestern Iran. The Qara Qoyunlu held the region o f Lake Van, as dependents o f the Jalayirid rulers at Baghdad. After 1386 Qara Yusuf, head o f the Qara Qoyunlu, had seized Tabriz and declared himself independent o f the Jalayirids. Timur drove him from Tabriz, and Miranshah pursued him in vain. Timur moved slowly on to Erzerum, then took Mush and Ahlat and, finally, stormed the allegedly impregnable fortress o f Van. Within south central Iran, the Muzaffarid dynasty held Isfahan and Shiraz. Shah Shuja’ had sent tokens o f submission to Timur, but his son, Zayn al-'Abidayn, was rash enough to imprison one o f Timur’s envoys. Timur’s armies appeared before Isfahan, which surren­ dered. A sudden revolt within the city precipitated a massacre, which is reported to have pro[ 5 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER I

duced 70,000 heads for a scries of pyramids. Shiraz hastily capitulated and was entered by Timur. In 1391, after wintering in Transoxania, he set out in search ofTokhtamish, leader o f the Golden Horde. In April the army reached the Ulu Dagh Mountains, and Timur erected a stone monument with an inscription stating that in 793/1391 the ruler of Turan had come with a force o f 200,000 against Tokhtamish Khan. In mid-June, contact was made and a battle fought at Kunuzcha, just south o f the Volga River. The enemy was defeated and great booty was taken, but Tokhtamish escaped. In 794/1392 Timur launched another campaign into Iran, heading first for the Caspian Sea provinces and their rebellious strongholds. After a series o f minor campaigns—it is diffi­ cult to trace his exact movements—early in 1393, Timur went to Sultaniyah. From there he moved into Georgia and took Tiflis, for the second time; then he traveled the long way south to Baghdad, and east into Luristan and Khuzistan. After a fierce struggle, in which the Muzaffarid prince, Mansur, was slain (allegedly by Shah Rukh), Timur ordered all the Muzaffarid family put to death, and he named ’Umar Shaykh, his oldest surviving son, as governor o f Fars. Timur now regarded himself as the possessor of the Kingdom of Hulagu, first chief of the Mongol II Khanid dynasty o f Iran. As soon as the royal household had joined him, he awarded the “throne o f Hulagu" to his son, Miranshah. By this time Timur had ended a num­ ber o f the minor dynasties o f greater Iran; the Karts, who had held Herat from 1245 until 1389; the Muzaffarids in Fars and Kirman from 1313 until 1393. Also Sultan Ahmad o f the Jalayirid line had fled from Iraq to seek refuge with the Ottomans. Jahangir, Timur’s eldest son, had died in 1376, and ’Umar Shaykh died within a year of having been named governor o f Shiraz. Miranshah fell from a horse in 1386 and thereafter was subject to fits o f violence and irrationality. In 1399 Timur was forced to remove him from his post, and in 1401 the “throne of Hulagu” went to a grandson. Muhammad Sultan. After his death in 1403 it was bestowed on ’Umar, second son of Miranshah. Earlier, in 1392, Pir Muhammad, son o f Jahangir, had received the “throne o f Mahmud of Ghazni," the regions between Khurasan and India; and in 1397 Shah Rukh was awarded Khurasan, Mazanderan, and Sistan. In December 1393 the armies were assembled to the west of the Tigris and to the north o f Baghdad. Easy stages north led to Mosul, where the prince, Timur’s vassal, gave a warm welcome. Timur crossed the river to visit ancient Nineveh and donated a sum toward recon­ structing the shrines o f the prophets Jonah and St. George. Still moving north, he entered Edessa unopposed, and commanded the assault and capture of Mardin in the spring o f 1394. The way was still north to the valley of Qars in Armenia. By moving steadily north, he avoided confronting Sultan Barquq o f Egypt, whose forces had moved from Damascus to Aleppo. In 1395 Timur once again embarked upon a long pursuit ofTokhtamish, Khan o f the Golden Horde. The march led north along the west bank o f the Volga, then west to cross the Don, and at length a circular trace as far north as Yeletz, some 200 miles south o f Moscow. The army then circled back to take Tana, at the point where the Don flows into an arm o f the ( 6 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

POLITICAL HI STORY

Black Sea. The return—without Tokhtamish—was by way of Astrakhan, situated where the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea. The winter was spent in Georgia. In the summer o f 1396 Timur dealt with a revolt in Yazd, and in July he returned byforced marches to Samarkand. He remained there for two years—his longest stay in the cap­ ital—and marked the occasion by exempting the people from taxation for a period of three years. In the fall o f 1397 Timur sent his grandson, Pir Muhammad, to Multan in India. The following March, he set out to follow him with 90,000 soldiers, and reached Kabul by August. One wing o f the army went to Delhi, while he marched to Multan. For three days Delhi was sacked by unruly troops. After moving to Kashmir, fighting scores o f pitched battles along the way, he made for Samarkand in haste, arriving in May 1399. At the capital, he moved from garden to garden, and then settled down to direct the con­ struction o f the new mosque. Muhammad Sultan was summoned from his kingdom of Fer­ ghana, and as Timur’s chosen successor, his name was included in the Friday prayers. The spring saw Timur mounting a fresh invasion of Georgia to the north, and in the sum­ mer o f 1400 he rode toward Asia Minor. Sivas was besieged and taken, and Anatolia lay open to the victor. Two o f his enemies, Sultan Ahmad Jalayir of Baghdad, and Qara Yusuf, the Qara Qoyunlu leader, had taken refuge with the Ottoman Turks. Timur was less concerned at this time with the Ottomans than with Fgypt. The Mamluk ruler, Barquq, had previouslyencouraged Timur’s enemies and had refused to enter into a commercial treaty. Now Barquq had been succeeded by Faraj, who for some reason had declined to enter into an alliance with the Ottoman, Sultan Bayazid, against Timur. Timur turned his forces on Syria. The Egyp­ tians and Syrians were defeated outside Aleppo, and the city surrendered. Faraj was encamped outside Damascus. As Timur drew near and sent word to Faraj ad­ vising him to submit, Faraj and his troops stealthily left for Cairo. In January 1401 Damascus surrendered. It was here that the famous meetings o f Timur with Ibn Khaldun, the noted Arab author o f the Muqaddimah, “An Introduction to History,” took place. In 1401 Timur was forced to deal with a rebellious Baghdad. The city held out for nearly six weeks before it fell, and then its people were dealt with harshly. It seemed obvious that Sultan Bayazid was to be his next adversary, and for some months he conducted diplomatic exchanges with Christian powers to conclude an alliance against the Ottoman l urks. Timur’s letters to Bayazid demanded the surrender of his adversaries, Sultan Ahmad and Qara Yusuf. Timur had come into conflict with the Ottoman empire when he cap­ tured Sivas, and on that occasion a son of Sultan Bayazid had perished. As Bayazid withdrew his forces from a siege of Constantinople, it became apparent that the two armies would clash. On 28 July 1402 a battle ensued at Angora. Bayazid’s weary troops gave way. and he was soon captured. Treated with respect, he died from natural causes a few' months later. Angora fell, then Bursa and its rich treasures. Its bronze gates, with figures of St. Peter and St. Paul executed in blue enamel and gold inlay, were presented to Saray Mulk Khartum and removed to Samarqand. Much o f Anatolia was now taken over, and by December Timur stood before the Chrisl 7 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER I

tian stronghold o f Smyrna. After a fierce struggle, the Knights o f St.John were expelled from the city. The horizons o f Timur now broadened. He dispatched a letter to Henry IV of England by a so-called Archbishop John, normally resident at Tabriz, in which he offered free trading privileges to English merchants. The reply included congratulations for Timur’s victory over the Turks. Two envoys o f Henry III o f Castile and Leon had been present at Angora, and Timur named an ambassador, Hajji Muhammad, to accompany them back to Spain, with rich gifts. These contacts, as well as others, seem to repeat the situation in the II Khanid period, when the princes o f Europe hoped for an alliance with the Mongols against the Muslim ene­ mies o f the Crusaders. Now Europe sought support against the Ottomans and the Mamluks. They realized that Timur was also a Muslim, but his lands were not as close to Europe as were the shores o f the Mediterranean Sea, menaced by the rival Muslim powers. The ruler o f Castile and Leon selected Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, his personal chamberlain, as his envoy to Timur, and in 1403 Clavijo set o ff with Hajji Muhammad on the long road to Samarqand from the port o f Trebizond. Passing through Tabriz and Sultaniyah, he and his entourage traveled the ancient highway across the Iranian plateau from Qazvin. They strag­ gled on through the heat, suffering exhaustion, to Nishapur, and then on to Mashhad, Merv, across the Amu Darya, through Shahrisabz, and finally to Samarqand in 1404. At this lime Timur was enduring the trials o f old age. Clavijo records that “his eyesight was bad, being so old that the eyelids had fallen down entirely." But he was directing architects from Syria to build a palace in a garden to the south of another of his estates, the Bagh-i Shimal, and he summoned a convocation o f amirs to discuss a proposal to invade China, on the grounds that its rulers had driven out the Mongols, and that it would be a war o f Muslims against infidels. The proposal was accepted, and 200,000 men were chosen to make up this force. At first they went north and crossed the Syr Darya at Otrar. There Timur was taken ill and died within a few days. The amirs concealed his death for several days, before the body was taken back to Samarqand. Timur had chosen Pir Muhammad as his heir, but now Khalil Sultan, a son o f Miranshah, won support and was proclaimed sultan at Samarqand. Shah Rukh, the fourth and only sur­ viving son o f Timur, was then governor o f Khurasan at Herat. At first he declined to chal­ lenge Khalil Sultan, and occupied his time in consolidating his position in the territories as­ signed to him earlier by Timur. He acquired Gurgan and Mazanderan in 809/1406-7 and Transoxania in 811 /1408-9. Khalil Sultan’s actions set the stage for his own downfall, which took place in 812/1409. Shah Rukh then took up arms and easily entered Samarqand, secur­ ing recognition o f his position as legal successor to Timur. He then retired to Herat, leaving his son, Ulugh Beg, to govern Samarqand. Shah Rukh, who wfas born in 779/1377, reigned until 850/ 1447. More civilized and more cultured than his father, he did not shrink from battle to maintain his possessions, but neither did he engage in campaigns o f expansion. His possessions included not only those with which he had been charged by his father, but areas further to the west, including Isfahan and be[ 8 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

POLITICAL HI STORY

yond, almost to the plains o f Iraq. In effect, he held the Iranian plateau. Why he favored Herat as his official capital over Samarqand is not known, but the evidence o f his desire to make Herat a center o f cultural activity is apparent in several fields. Poets and painters orna­ mented his court, but the most notable works of the time were architectural monuments. Shah Rukh married Gawhar Shad (Persian, "bright jewel") about 1388. O f his eight sons, Ulugh Beg, the eldest (born in 1394) and Baysunghur, the fifth, were by Gawhar Shad. Trouble was rampant in Iran. In 809/1406, Qara Yusuf o f the Qara Qoyunlu defeated Abu Bakr b. Miranshah in Azerbayjan, and in the second battle Abu Bakr was killed. In 813/ 1410 Qara Yusuf defeated and killed Sultan Ahmad, took possession o f Iraq, Diyarbakr, and Georgia, and moved as far east as Sultaniyah, Qazvin, and Saveh. He received the allegiance o f the Aq Qoyunlu, who had always sought support from the Timurids. The threat of Qara Yusuf came at a time when Fars was prospering under Ibrahim b. Shahrukh, and Isfahan un­ der Rustam b. ’Umar Shaykh. In 8 2 3 / 1420, Shah Rukh set out to challenge the Qara Qoyunlu, and at Sultaniyah he learned that Qara Yusuf had died. He went to winter at Qarabagh, while Baysunghur entered Tabriz in November 1420, unopposed in the period o f confusion among the Qara Qoyunlu following the death o f Qara Yusuf. In July 1421, Shah Rukh fought the Qara Qoyunlu and barely won the battle. He went to Tabriz, and in August returned to Herat. However, Iskandar, a son o f Qara Yusuf, kept to the field, and his seizure of Sultaniyah caused Shah Rukh to again move from Herat. Iskandar lost a battle in the vicinity o f Tabriz, and was pursued by Muhammad Juki b. Shah Rukh in 832/ 1429. Again in 835/ 1421, Iskan­ dar took Tabriz, and four years hence, again Shah Rukh marched overland and entered Ta­ briz unopposed. He named Jahanshah, a younger brother o f Iskandar, governor of Azer­ bayjan. In 849/1445-46, Shah Rukh repressed the revolt o f Muhammad b. Baysunghur at Isfa­ han, but died at Saveh in Iran, in 850/1447. Upheaval followed, as six Timurid princes ma­ neuvered for position on the Iranian plateau. After two years of fighting, the Timurid empire fell into three principal areas: Iraq and Fars, held by Muhammad b. Baysunghur; Khurasan, by Abu’l-Qasim Babur; and Transoxania, by Ulugh Beg. Shah Rukh had been buried in the mausoleum that Gawhar Shad had erected at Herat (Cat. No. 70): in 1448, Ulugh Beg transported the body to Bukhara and then to Samarqand for burial in the Gur-i Amir (Cat. No. 29). Before succeeding Shah Rukh in 1447, Ulugh Beg had governed at Samarqand for thirty-eight years o f relative turmoil. He was often in the field with an army, and was not al­ ways victorious in battle, or successful in repelling invaders. He is usually represented as a de­ voted scientist, whose strong interest in astronomy led to the construction of an observatory at Samarqand (Cat. No. 31). His own two sons brought on his death. ’Ala’ al-Dawlah and 'Abel al-Latif were bitter ene­ mies, each o f whom Ulugh Beg seems to have sided with in turn. In 1449, ’Abd al-Latif moved north from Balkh across the Amu Darya and beyond Samarqand to defeat his father in battle and take him prisoner at Shahrukhiyah, near Tashkent. Falsely claiming that a Persian slave [ 9 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPT ER I

was entitled to vengeance against Ulugh Beg for a previous deed, ’Abd al-Latif delivered his father to the slave for execution. ’Abd al-Latif himself was killed by an assassin, who was prob­ ably in the pay o f a rival, Abu Sa’id b. Muhammad b. Miranshah, a great-grandson of Timur and a nephew o f Ulugh Beg. Abu Sa’id came to power in 1451 during very trying times, since even before the death of Ulugh Beg Turkmans had plundered Herat, and Uzbeks had sacked Samarqand. Abu’lQasim Babur, a son o f Baysunghur, ruled at Herat from 1449 until 1457, and a second son, Sultan Muhammad, held Isfahan, Fars, Sistan, and Iraq from 1446 to 1451. Within Iran the Qara Qoyunlu were expanding into the lands nominally held by Abu’l-Qasim Babur. In 1452, Jahanshah took Qumm, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Yazd; in 1457, Mazanderan; and in 1458, Herat itself. However, Abu Sa’id proved equal to all challenges. In 1458, he defeated a confederation o f Timurid rivals near Merv. As his strength waxed, that o f the Qara Qoyunlu declined, and they lost all the areas gained, except Fars and Azerbayjan. By 1456, Abu Sa’id held all of Transoxania, all o f present-day Afghanistan, and northern Iran. In 1468, Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu marched against Uzun Hasan, the Aq Qoyunlu ruler. While hunting with a small force, Jahanshah was surprised by Aq Qoyunlu forces and killed. In the same year, Abu Sa'id headed toward Azerbayjan, establishing his hold throughout the plateau as he moved westward. Near Tabriz he was joined by the remaining Qara Qoyunlu forces, as both sides were not in opposition to the Aq Qoyunlu. In the spring, when they sought battle with the Aq Qoyunlu, the effort ended in disaster. Abu Sa’id was taken prisoner and put to death by Yadigar Muhammad, a rival Timurid prince, supported by the Qara Qoyunlu. The eastern lands o f the empire o f Timur were facing increasingly serious challenges. Sultan Ahmad, eldest son and successor to Abu Sa'id, clung to Samarqand for twenty-seven years, in spite o f revolts in his southern provinces and a challenge from his brother, ’Umar Shaykh, who held Ferghana. ’UmarShaykh was the father of Zahiral-Din Muhammad Babur, cultured patron o f the arts, autobiographer, military leader, and founder o f the Mughal em­ pire in India. His brother, Sultan Ahmad, was admired in his time for the many splendid buildings he erected at Bukhara; they have not survived. Sultan Ahmad lost to Yadigar Muhammad, who soon came into direct conflict with Sultan Husayn Bayqara, a descendent o f Timur’s son, ’Umar Shaykh. In 1470, Husayn Bayqara de­ feated and killed Yadigar Muhammad, and entered Herat, where he held sovereign power for some thirty-five years. He was joined by his close associate ’Ali Shir Navai in sponsoring a cultural revival in Herat. Husayn Bayqara was hard pressed to repulse the attacks of the Shaybanids, a tribe de­ scended from Shayban, a grandson o f Chingiz Khan. In the mid-fifteenth century, a member of the family overran Khvarazm and Turkestan. He was succeeded by Muhammad Shaybani, who had been in the service o f Sultan Ahmad. After the latter’s death, he struck out on his own. Husayn Bayqara died in 1506, and was succeeded by a son, Badi’ al-Zaman, whose reign [ 10 I

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

POLITICAL HI STORY

terminated in 1507, when Muhammad Shaybani took Herat. So ended the Timurid line. Mention has been made o f the local dynasties of Iran, which were extinguished by the Timurids. At least one o f them, the Muzaffarid, deserves more attention. Dynasties which did survive will also be described in brief detail.

The Muzaffarids Sharaf al-Din al-Muzaffar was named by Ghazan Khan as an II Khanid "commander o f a thousand" and governor o f the region between Isfahan and Yazd. In 713/ 1314 his son, Mubarriz al-Din Muhammad, succeeded him and was granted the post o f governor o f Yazd by Abu Sa'id. In the period o f chaos following the death of Abu Said, in 736/1336, he managed to expand his holdings, acquiring Kirman. He then came into conflict with the Inju family, which held Fat s. In 751 / 1350 Mubarriz al-Din took Shiraz. In 755/1354 he took Isfahan and put to death the last o f the Inju line. In his excessive piety, he closed the taverns o f Shiraz, the reopening o f which, under his successor, was celebrated by the poet, Hafiz. Marching north, Mubarriz al-Din managed to take Tabriz, but could hold it only for a few months. His harsh treatment o f his sons led two of them to have him seized and blinded. In 759/1358 a conflict erupted between these sons, Qutb al-Din Shah Mahmud and Jalal al-Din Shah Shuja’, which was to last for several years. At first, Qutb al-Din prevailed; his strength was centred at Isfahan and Abarquh. Shah Shuja’ came to the fore in 765/1364, holding Fars and Kirman, and after 776/1375, Isfahan. He resided at Shiraz. Timur was ad­ vancing through Khurasan, and Shah Shuja’ sent him rich presents, as well as a letter in which he commended his son and family to the conqueror. After Shah Shuja’ died in 786/1384, his kingdom fell apart. His son, Mujahid al-Din Zayn al-’Abidayn, established himself in Shiraz. In a gesture o f good will, Timur summoned him to Gilan, but when Zayn al-’Abidayn arrested Timur’s courier, Timur started south and entered Shiraz, where he awarded the governorships o f Shiraz, Isfahan, and Yazd to brothers and nephews o f Zayn al-’Abidayn. When Timur left, fighting broke out within the family. Zayn al'Abidayn was taken by a brother and blinded. In 785/1393, Timur returned to Shiraz and executed all the remaining Muzaffarid princes. TheJalayirids The Jalayirids were a Mongol tribe, some of whose members had come to Iran with Hulagu. Shaykh Hasan-i Buzurg, a grandson o f Arghun, supported various puppet pretenders to the throne o f the II Khanids until 1341, when he set himself up at Baghdad as an independent ruler. Upon his assassination in 757 /1356, he was succeeded by a son, Uvays. Uvays moved the capital from Baghdad to Tabriz, where he erected a splendid palace. From there the ruler sent letters to Venetian merchants at Trebizond on the Black Sea, urging them to renew their trade with Tabriz, as in the days o f Ghazan Khan, Uljaytu, and Abu Sa’id. I 11 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPT ER I

But Uvays had to cope with the rising power o f the Qara Qoyunlu and an invasion through the Caucasus into Azerbayjan by the Golden Horde. Jalal al-Din Husayn succeeded his father, Uvays, in 776/1374, but in 784/1382 he was defeated in battle by his brother, Ghiyath al-Din Ahmad, and was executed. Ghiyath al-Din, better known as Sultan Ahmad, then began a career filled with warfare, intrigue, and turns of fortune. T o the existing pressure was added that from the Muzaffarids. In 1385 Timur swept into Azerbayjan, overwhelming his forces. In retreat, Sultan Ahmad sent a mocking message to Timur: “If I was maimed for the fight, I was not lame for the flight.’* Later, Timur took Baghdad and captured Sultan Ahmad’s wife and one son, who were sent to Samarqand. Sultan Ahmad fled as far as Syria, returning only after Timur’s death. An unsuccessful effort in 1410 to wrest Tabriz from Qara Yusuf, the Qara Qoyunlu leader, re­ sulted in Sultan Ahmad’s death. A nephew, Shah Valad, managed to retain Baghdad briefly, and then the last rulers o f the line clung to southern Iraq and Iran.

The Qara Qoyunlu The “Black Sheep" confederation included Turkman groups that had moved west before the Mongol invaders o f the early thirteenth century. The Qara Qoyunlu seem to have favored Shiism, whereas the Aq Qoyunlu were Sunnites. Bayram Khvajeh (d. 1380), probably of the Baharlu tribe of the confederation, served Uvays the Jalayirid, and established himself at Mosul. His son, Qara Muhammad, also served a Jalayirid. Qara Muhammad’s son, Qara Yusuf, became independent and in 1395 occupied Tabriz, which later became the Qara Qoyunlu capital. Qara Yusuf opposed Timur’s advance and in 1400 was forced to seek refuge, first at the Ottoman court and then in Egypt. In 809/1406-7, he reoccupied Tabriz and controlled much o f Azerbayjan. His forces fought against the Aq Qoyunlu, the Georgians and Shirvan Shahs in the Caucasus, and against the Timurids. Qara Yusuf was defeated three times by Shah Rukh. Qara Yusuf was succeeded in 823/1420 by his son, Iskandar, who also lost two battles to Shah Rukh. His brother, Jahanshah, took over in 841/1438. He acquired Isfahan in 857/ 1453 and stayed for some time in that city. Then he moved through Fars and Kirman to con­ quer Khurasan, and was enthroned at Herat in 862/1458. Finally, he set out to attack the Aq Qoyunlu at Diyarbakr. He lagged behind to hunt, was surprised by an enemy band, and killed. His name appears on the masjid-i Muzaffariyah at Tabriz, completed in 870/1465 (Cat. No. 214). Jahanshah’s son, Hasan ’Ali, succeeded in 871 / 1467-68, but after a few months he was killed by unruly troops. The Aq Qoyunlu The “White Sheep” confederation, Turkman descendants o f the Oghuz clan o f the Bayundur, was centered at Diyarbakr. It first attained more than local distinction under Qara Yuluk

[ 12 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

POLITICAL HI STORY

’Uthman, whose mother was Byzantine, and who himself married a Byzantine princess. The dynasty maintained close links with the Christian emperors o f Trebizond. Qara Yuluk submitted to Timur, with whom he fought against Bayazid at Angora; his reward was the grant o f Diyarbakr. He held power from 780/ 1378 until 839/ 1435, and after his death, his sons Hamzah and ’Ali Beg fought over the succession until Jahangir, a son of ’Ali Beg, came to the throne in 848/ 1444. Uzun Hasan, brother o f Jahangir, assumed power in 857/ 1453. The strongest figure of the dynasty, he was able to move armies eastward, and in 872/1467 he defeated Jahanshah, the Qara Qoyunlu ruler. He also defeated Abu Sa’id, of the Timurid line, and with this victory Uzun Hasan commanded Azerbayjan, Iraq, Khuzistan, Fars, and Kirman from Tabriz, his capital. However, the bitter enmity between the Aq Qoyunlu and the Ottomans culminated in a severe defeat inflicted on the forces o f Uzun Hasan in 877/1472-73. After the fall o f Constantinople to the Ottomans in 857/1453, the Christian world con­ tinued to seek allies against the Ottomans. The way to Tabriz had long been known to the Venetians, and in the 1470s envoys came from Venice to urge collaboration, as did envoys from the duke o f Burgundy and the duke o f Muscovy. Uzun Hasan tried to placate his visitors by stating that he would move against the Ottoman armies in the future. He never did, as he well knew the strength o f their artillery. After his death in 882/1478, two o f his sons, Khalil and Ya’qub, fought each other, until the latter triumphed. Ya’qub possessed Isfahan from 884/1479 until his death in 896/1490. A monument at Isfahan bears his name and the date 895/1489 (Cat. No. 172). Uzun Hasan’s name and the date 880/ 1475 occur in the masjid-i-jami’ at Isfahan (Cat. No. 166C). Ya’qub was succeeded by his son, Baysunghur, who was deposed after three years by a cousin, Rustam, grandson o f Uzun Hasan, who reigned until 902/1497. A monument at Is­ fahan bears his name and the date 902 /1496 (Cat. No. 173). The last o f the line, Alvand, was defeated by Shah Isma’il, the Safavid ruler, and was forced to seek refuge with the Ottoman sultan.

The Shirvan Shahs For a considerable period the several princely states o f the Caucasus region suffered preda­ tion by more powerful neighbors. The Shirvan Shahs have not loomed large on the historical scene. Shirvan was a province that stretched roughly west and north from Baku, and the cap­ ital was at Shemakha until the dynasty moved it to Baku in the fifteenth century. Rashid al-Din, renowned vizier and historian of the II Khanid rulers of Iran in the early fourteenth century, wrote to the Shirvan Shah, addressing him as ruler of Shabaran and She­ makha. In 788/1386 Timur invaded the region and, in 797/ 1394, received the submission of the Shah o f Shirvan, Shaykh Ibrahim. In 830/1426, Amir Iskandar, o f the Qara Qoyunlu, took the town o f Shirvan, probably when the move to Baku was made. It appears that the high point o f the dynasty’s prestige came under Khalilullah b. Ibrahim (821-869/ 1418-1464). In 898/ 1492, Rustam, o f the Aq Qoyunlu, sent an expedition against Shirvan. Then, in [ 13 )

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTERt

905/1500, Isma’il, founder o f the Safavid dynasty, moved from Gilan with newly assembled forces and attacked and killed the Shirvan Shah, Farrukh Yasir, at Gulistan, near Shemakha. Farrukh’s death ended the long line o f these rulers. Ismail occupied Shirvan and seized the royal treasure. In 907 /1501, he took Baku, and the entire region remained a part o f Iran until early in the nineteenth century.

REFERENCES

The Primary Sources The events of the Timurid period are wellchronicled in written sources, most of which were commissioned by the Timurid rulers and princes. The emphasis falls necessarily on the movements of the ruler and his court, and tells us little about the middle and lower classes, and only incidentally mentions economic, social, and cultural affairs. Only the major sources will be cited. Translations into Western languages are noted in the bibliog­ raphy. For the period of Timur, the core source is the Zafar Sameh of Nizam al-Din Shami, covering the years from the birth of Timur to 806/1403-4, in which years it was completed. This work formed the basis of a second ZafarHameh, written by Sharaf al-Din ’Ali Yazdi in 828/1424-25, which also uti­ lized notes taken by Timur's Uighur secretaries. The sources for these works are discussed by E. G. Browne (1928), F. Tauer (1932, 1959), and Hinz (1936). The chronicle o f Taj al-Salmani (cd. Rocmer) fills in the events following the death of Timur to 811/1409. The only two sources on Timur that do not share the official bias are the Arabic biography of Ibn 'Arabshah, who was taken to Samarqand with his family as a child of eight in 1400-1401, and left for studies in Mongolia in 1408-9. Around 1420 he re­ turned to Syria. His record of the events of Timur’s lifetime must, therefore, be based to some extent on accounts of his elders. The other objective re­ port comes from the Spanish envoy Clavijo, who journeyed to Samarqand between 1403 and 1406. The first major history to incorporate the mate­ rial relating to the period of Shah Rukh and Ulugh Beg is that of'A bd al-Razzaq Samarqandi. He was born in Herat, moved in court society between 841 and 885/1436 and 1481. and traveled as ambassa­

dor to India (845/1441-42) and Iraq (856/1452). Between 867/1462-63 and his death in 887/1482 he directed the khanaqah of Shah Rukh in Herat. His historical work (885/1480) also utilized con­ temporary reports of other authors, such as Hafiz-i Abru. The important work of Hafiz-i Abru has too complex a history of its own to be reviewed here (sec El, Hafiz-i Abru 1959). Much of it appears in works of other Timurid historians, such as Mirkhvand and Khvandamir, or is not available in pub­ lication (sec below). A very convenient arrangement is found in the year-by-year chronicle o f Fasihi (to 845/1441-42), particularly for the Khurasan region. For the his­ tory of Herat and Khurasan, the geographical and historical report of Isfizari is extremely useful (897 / 1491-92). For the end o f the fifteenth century, the main sources are Mirkhvand (d. 903/1498), and his grandson Khvandamir, both from Herat. Khvan­ damir wrote a scries of biographies of viziers, which overlaps to some extent with his larger work, the Habib al-Siyar (completed in 927/1521). Jami. Dawlatshah, 'Ali Shir Navai, and Vasifi contribute his­ torical information in other genres of literature. As for Samarqand and its orbit in the late fif­ teenth century, because very little of architectural interest remains, the literary sources have not been surveyed in detail. The Secondary Sources With the exception of chapters in larger general histories of Iran, such as Sykes (1958), there is no convenient summary of the entire Timurid period. At the time this book was prepared, the volume of the Cambridge Hvtlory of Iran dealing with the Timurids was not available. Hinz (1936) deals with the

l H 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

POLITICAL HI STORY

emergence of a concept of statehood during this period. A brief outline of major political events can be found in bosv/orih's Islamic Dynasties (1967) with lists of rulers for each dynasty, and genealogical tables can be found in Zambaur ( 1927). The literary sources for the period are reviewed in Browne (1928) and Rypka (1968), as well as in the articles m entioned above, particularly Hinz (1936). Sources for Herat arc reviewed by Allen (1983). Otherwise, most of the interpretative literature deals with single periods or problems. Hookham (1962) provides a very readable, although at times misrepresentative, chronicle of Tim ur’s life. Aubin (1963) details the brutality of Timur's campaigns, and Savory (1965) and Roemer (1974) unravel the confusion that follow ed Timur's death. Ross (1974) discusses Timur's relations with the Ottomans. Manz (1976) is concerned with the administration of the provinces under Timur. Unfortunately, the many valuable contributions of Bartol’d on this period remain untranslated, although the works

translated by Minorsky (see Bartol'd 1958, 1962) contain some information on Tim ur’s reign. The most interesting period of all, that of Shah Rukh, has received little attention. Again, Bartol’d ’s works in translation remain the best source. Belenitskii's (1945) and Allen's (1981b, 1983) work on Herat begin to fill the gap, although these deal mainly with topographical matters. For the late fifteenth century Subtelny (1979, 1983) has shown a relationship between politics and culture. Bartol’d ’s work on 'Ali Shir Navai is, for­ tunately, accessible (trans. Minorsky). For the Turkman confederations Woods (1976) has pro­ vided an extremely useful interpretative study with extensive bibliography. For further information on the minor dynasties of the Caucasus, the reader should consult articles by Minorsky, not all of which could be included in the bibliography. For the province of Mazandcran, whose history developed in something of a vacuum, the standard work is Rabino (1936, 1943).

[ 15 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

2. Timurid Society no comprehensive study o f Timurid social and economic history, although signifi­ cant contributions have been made. Yet factors of terrain, climate, and urban geography es­ tablish the context in which the architecture o f the Timurid period took place and thus merit consideration. Developments in calligraphy, painting, literature, and science constitute the milieu o f the architect and his patron. T h e r e is

The Economic and Social Setting campaigns o f Timur were in some ways more destructive than those o f the Mon­ gols has been demonstrated by Aubin (1963). It is alleged that in Baghdad alone Timur’s rav­ ages reduced the population by 99 percent. Exactly how the economy was affected by these campaigns, however, is not clear, but trends in the socioeconomic situation are discernible. Agriculture during the Timurid period has not been studied in detail. Whether the amount o f land under cultivation expanded, contracted, or remained as in the preceding pe­ riod is not known. T he expansion o f cultivation is suggested in several instances by the build­ ing or extension o f canals, such as the construction of the Jui-i Sultani in the north o f Herat, the restoration o f the waterworks o f Sistan, the extension o f the Tus canal to Mashhad, and similar diversions o f major canals in the Yazd region. In the countryside agriculture was carried on by peasants paying exorbitant rents to the lords o f the fiefs, the elite classes. Not only land, but water usage was parceled out. The peas­ ant population had little protection from the excesses of tax-collectors or their demands for forced labor, except through religious leaders. Shaykhs were occasionally able to intercede with government on behalf o f the lower classes. T he rescinding o f oppressive taxes is occa­ sionally recorded in inscriptions set up in mosques. Towns in general witnessed population growth, if one is to judge by the number o f masjid-i jami’s restored, built anew-, or supplemented by additional ones in the same city. Many towns had been rebuilt following the Mongol conquest, and to some extent the Timurid ex ­ pansion o f the city continued this trend, but the establishment o f certain cities as seats of gov­ ernment by the Timurids must have caused a sharp upswing. The demand for labor in the building trades alone would have temporarily swelled the local population. No doubt peasants were tempted to leave the land and migrate to the city. Measures were taken to discourage this movement, such as the reduction o f a land tax by Ulugh Beg. While agriculture must have remained the base of the economy, the silk trade with Asia was still a key factor. The Timurids controlled the chief cities of the eastern leg o f the silk T hat the

[ 16 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

T I M l ' R I D S OC I E T Y

route far into Chinese Turkestan, with outposts on the fringes o f the great desert, as well as the major local source o f raw silk. Mazanderan. The Turkmans fell heir to the Mongol entre­ pots in Azerbayjan and Anatolia, the gateways to Europe. European demand for fine silks, both Far and Near Eastern, had become insatiable. The looms o f Italy were just beginning to produce near-equivalents. Along with the silk trade went the inevitable spice trade. The cof­ fers o f Ulugh Beg depended heavily on taxes on trade and industry (tamgha). As common as the merchant caravans were the armies o f the Timurids and their rivals moving back and forth across the Iranian plateau. Booty gathered along these routes may have supplemented the economy of the towns but certainly impoverished the countryside. The spoils of campaigns in the rich lands beyond, such as India, brought a windfall to the economy o f Samarqand. Funds from the campaign financed the building o f Timur’s mosque, which employed countless workmen. To what extent the Timurid empire was self-sustaining or depended on this kind o f supplement in the form of campaign spoils cannot be measured here. The general picture obtained from a study of the architecture and the development of cities is one o f great prosperity, particularly in the early fifteenth century, and o f limited but still considerable resources during the latter half o f the century. Timur relied heavily on a talented group o f sons and grandsons who could be trusted initially with the government of the provinces. The ties o f kinship in the immediate family were supplemented by clan ties with the Barlas amirs. At Timur’s death, however, family al­ legiance broke down, and stability was not restored until his most talented son, Shah Rukh, was able to eliminate the unreliable among his relatives. Despite intermittent rebellions, it would appear that blood lines continued to be the strongest source of loyalty. It is no surprise, therefore, that certain aspects o f architecture reflect the importance of family ties. In partic­ ular, dynastic and family tombs were popular among both the great and the small. The Timurid government depended on two classes of educated notables outside o f the royal family. For military functions, such as the governing of the less important provinces, the amirs were installed. The origin o f this class seems to have varied, although many came from the Barlas tribe. Governors, such as Amir Shah Malik in Khvarazm, were virtually autono­ mous in their realms and often functioned as kingmakers, throwing their allegiances and troops to the side o f one or another Timurid pretender. The administration was looked after by the viziers, at times a virtual committee (divan), headed by one or two members of the local aristocracy. They served as accountants in charge of fiscal affairs, with various portfolios being assigned to individuals. Certain viziers proved corruptible and were severely punished for graft. Others upheld the honor o f family tradition, as did Pir Ahmad, whose ancestors had served the Kart Maliks and whose descendants continued in the service of Husayn Bayqara. Lower positions in the bureaucracy were held by local landowners. Beside these elite military and bureaucratic classes stood the learned religious persons (’ulama) who became shaykhs, teachers, and bureaucrats, sometimes crossing into the elite classes by virtue o f an appointment to a government position, such as that of"Shaykh al-Islam." The Sufi leaders and their followers formed a group distinct from these in that their

[ 17 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

beliefs dictated a way o f life apart from the mainstream of society. They came from various social strata but enjoyed the respect o f even the elite classes. Among the Sufis were a few in­ dividuals, singled out for their shamanistic powers, who did not identify with the dervish or­ ders acceptable to the “establishment.” Merchants and tradesmen are rarely heard from in the Timurid sources and did not con­ stitute a significant source o f architectural patronage. As they formed the bulk of the urban population it was they, under the leadership o f the local notable, who often chafed under the yoke o f the Timurid government, for the most part run by outsiders. The ruling classes con­ structed strong citadels in every city, not only to guard against the threat o f invasion from abroad, but also to protect the foreign element from the local population. In the western provinces under the sway of the Turkman dynasties, the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu, the government retained its tribal structure for a much longer time. Not until Uzun Hasan took up residence in Tabriz in 1469 did the local landed bureaucracy be­ come integrated into the administration of the realms. Even then the matriarch played a ma­ jor role as mediator between warring sons.

The Physical Setting T o u n d e r s t a n d the "built universe,” one begins with the natural environment. The climate, the terrain, the limitations o f agriculture, the availability of materials, are all factors that even­ tually affect the architecture o f any region. Nowhere except in the most immutable of circumstances does humanity leave this phys­ ical environment unchanged. It is, therefore, difficult to discuss the natural environment without mentioning man’s adaptations to it—irrigation systems, flood controls, road construc­ tion, and the most complex o f all inventions, the city. The fate o f a village or city is determined by the interaction o f people and nature. Given a particular set o f circumstances, such as availability o f water, location, soil conditions, the suc­ cess or decline o f a settlement is due largely to human determinants. Trade routes greatly affected settlement. Routes favored by one generation might be re­ placed by alternate routes, perhaps only a few miles away, by the next. Consequently, those settlements that enjoyed prosperity in the distant past may in time completely disappear. A second, related factor greatly affecting the landscape was the pastoral economy o f the TurcoMongol groups that predominated in the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries. The need for sep­ arate summer (yaylaq) and winter quarters (qishlaq), not only for the largely transhumant so­ ciety, but also for the army in passage, created a network of routes that did not always coincide with trade and postal networks. Settlements along these routes, such as Aubin has identified in northwestern Khurasan, must be understood in this context. Because the fate o f settlements was so precarious, dependent on the unpredictable fac­ tors o f both humanity and nature, names of villages rarely survived the generations. Even the [ 18 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

TIMURID SOCIETY

toponymy o f permanent features, such as rivers and mountains, tended to mutate over time. There did manage to survive, however, several large settlements that have existed from the beginning o f the Arab conquest, if not earlier, to the present day. Many o f the great cities of the fifteenth century belong in this category. Others were created from small settlements (Mazar-i Sharif, Mashhad), or recreated (Samarqand). In the following discussion, the four regions of the Timurid world—Turan, Khurasan, Central and Western Iran, and Mazanderan—will be described, with particular focus on how the populace adapted to the environment, especially as represented by the great cities, which were the jewels o f the realm.

T uran

The name Turan did not designate an administrative province of the Timurid realms but, rather, a cultural region, most often used in texts in apposition to Iran. In Persian literature, particularly in the Shah nameh, the land of Iran is seen to be in interminable conflict with Turan, the land between and beyond the two great rivers o f Central Asia. The two rivers, separated now by a great desert, are the Oxus and Jaxartes, locally known as the Amu Darya and Syr Darya. The lands between these, including the fertile valleys of their tributaries to the south, were known as Transoxania, or Ma wara’ al-nahr in Arabic, “what is beyond the river.” Transoxania embraces a wide variety of geographical characteristics. The northern re­ gions through which the two rivers flow are either desert or steppe. Settlements along these rivers were difficult to maintain, as the rivers tended to overflow their banks if uncontrolled. The agricultural hinterland o f these oasis cities, such as Khiva or Tashkent, was very small. This type o f land was, however, suitable for pasture and, therefore, had attracted nomad peo­ ples from further east for centuries before Timur. By contrast, southern Transoxania includes many river valleys and, on the east, high mountains. From early times these very fertile lands were exploited by the sedentary popu­ lation, and it was here that the great cities developed. The pastoral and settled peoples carried on an exchange o f goods that made them interdependent, but the towns were always threat­ ened by possible nomad incursions. The entire region o f Transoxiana receives scanty rainfall—only about 10 cm a year at Bukhara, and somewhat more at Samarqand, where winter wheat could be grown if there was an average rainfall. But the towns and their surrounding farmlands and orchards were oases entirely dependent on irrigation. These irrigation canals, known as ariqs, were pre-Islamic in origin, and in the Islamic period their number and level of maintenance depended upon the extent o f political stability and economic development. It is important to detail just how the ariqs worked. Along the valleys the stream beds were several meters below the sites o f the villages and towns. Thus, the ariq was led from a river a considerable distance upstream from the site to be irrigated, to a point several meters higher, [ 19 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

so thaï the water was carried to the site by gravity. Gravity also served to carry the water into additional ariqs that spread throughout the site. At Samarqand, as at Isfahan where the canal is called modi, this network was kept well away from the actual stream beds. Three areas within the region o f Turan will be described: the lands watered by the Zar­ afshan River, the oases o f the Syr Darya, and the Qashka Darya Valley. Zarafshan The chief cities o f this region are Samarqand and Bukhara. Samarqand lies at an elevation of 628 m. and Bukhara at about 58 m. Both suffer from an unfavorable continental type climate: the winters may bring a light snow cover and temperatures down to —25°C, while the scorch­ ing summers range in temperatures up to 4 1°C.

S AMARQAND

Samarqand was always the most important city of the entire region in Islamic times, even when, in the Samanid period, the actual capital was at Bukhara. It was situated at the junction of trade routes: from India by way o f Balkh, from Iran by way o f Merv, from the Turkish dominions and China to the east. Also, the soil’s extraordinary fertility made possible the con­ centration o f a great many people in its immediate area. The band of verdure was, however, continuously menaced by the desert o f red sand, Qizil Qum, to the north, and o f black, Qara Qum, to the south. The site o f the pre-Timurid city of Samarqand has been excavated on the mound known as Afrasiyab, north o f the present city. The Timurid city grew up in the suburbs south o f Afrasiyab, and now lies beneath the modern buildings o f the present city. Only a dozen or so monuments o f the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries have survived, and these make Sa­ marqand one o f the most popular tourist attractions in the Soviet Union. During the fifteenth century, the shrine o f Shah-i Zindeh, located on the southeast slope of Afrasiyab, was entirely rebuilt, but the fate o f the rest o f the hilltop settlement during this period is not clear. Nor do we know at what time, whether before or after Timur, it was abandoned as a residential area. Babur saw Samarqand in 903/1497, a few years before the death o f Sultan Husayn Bayqara. He wrote: In the whole habitable world there are few cities so pleasantly situated as Sa­ marqand. . . . On the east it has Ferghana and Kashghar; on the west Bokhara and Khwarizm; on the north Tashkent and Shahrokhia. . . . The river Kohik (i.e. Zar­ afshan) flows to the north o f Samarqand and passes at a distance of two kos from the city. Between the river and the city there is a rising ground called Kohik; and as the river flows close by the base o f this hillock it gets the name of the river Kohik. A great stream, or rather a small river, separating itself from the Kohik, flows on the south o f Samarqand, under the name of the river Dergham . . . the gardens and suburbs

[ 20 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Tl Ml ' Ml I) SOCIETY

of Samarqand lie on its banks. The whole country as far as Bokhara and Kara-kul, which is an extent o f nearly forty farsangs, is heavily populated, and the fields cul­ tivated by irrigation from the river Kohik, which, large as it is, barely suffices for the drains made on it for the cultivation o f the fields, and for the use o f palaces and country houses; insomuch that, for three or four months during the summer heats, the waters do not reach Bokhara. Babur refers to the Ab-i Siyah, also called the Ab-i Rahmat, which was a branch o f the river Kohik. The rising ground called Kohik in Timurid times is the present-day Chupan Ata hill. Bartol’d asserts that the Zarafshan River was called the Kohik, more correctly Kuhak, “Little Mountain,” in the Timurid period, and did not become known as the “Gold Scattering” (i.e., Zarafshan) before the eighteenth century. This river supplied numerous ariqs. The Chu­ pan Ata rose to a height o f 805 m, and it was there that stone was quarried for structures and clay dug for the potters at Kan-i Gil, or “clay pit." Belenitskii published a sketch o f the Samarqand layout as it developed from the ninth through the eleventh centuries on the mound o f Afrasiyab. 1le traced the lines of four series o f walls that enclosed the city as it outgrew the earlier ones, and indicated the general line of the walls o f the Timurid period, which enclosed an area south, formerly the rabad (suburb), of the older town that was far greater. These earthen walls were rebuilt in 1371 and were pro­ tected by a deep ditch. Babur had a member of his entourage walk around the walls, and he reported that they were 10,600 paces, or about 9 km, in circumference. The citadel, with its palace and other structures, was built inside the middle section of the west wall. A plan o f Samarqand in the eighteenth century shows six gates, including the one just west o f the Shah-i Zindeh, which was known as the “Iron Gate” in the fifteenth century. These gates were connected by long streets to the center o f the city, where there stood a large chahar su, a bazaar intersection. Immediately to the southwest of this commercial center was the large square o f the Registan, surrounded by the religious monuments of Ulugh Beg, mosques, and caravansaries. The Registan was also used for commercial purposes. In spite o f the activity o f the bazaars, Clavijo discovered that there was no suitable place where the merchandise from Gathay, India, Tartary, and elsewhere could be stored, dis­ played, and offered for sale. Thus, in 1403, Timur ordered that “a street should be built to pass right through Samarqand, which should have shops opened on either side of it in which every kind o f merchandise should be sold.” The project was rushed along. The street was vaulted from end to end, and on each side were built shops two rooms deep, with a high stone bench in front o f each. Such shops are o f precisely the type common to the Safavid bazaar at Isfahan. At intervals along the street there were fountains. Other major changes took place. Houses built o f mud brick and wood were replaced by those constructed o f baked brick. At the north end near the Iron Gate, Timur erected the new masjid-i jami’. The site o f an earlier mosque in the lower city, if in fact there was one, is not known. Perhaps the old mosque on Afrasiyab was still in use when Timur took over the city. Clavijo states that some 150,000 persons lived within the walls of Samarqand, and a con[ 21 J

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

siderably larger number in the rabad (suburbs), some of which were surrounded by their own walls. During the reign o f Timur, the population grew with the influx of people from other lands and seminomadic people attracted by new opportunities. From the citadel the city appeared as a forest, a wide expanse o f green broken by a fewlofty monuments. This appearance resulted from the fact that nearly every house possessed an open court with a pool and a few trees. Samarqand was surrounded by meadows and gardens. The economic and social impact of the gardens and meadows was twofold. When Timur was absent on his campaigns, “the citizens, rich and poor, went to walk therein and found no retreat more wonderful nor more beautiful than those and no resting place more agreeable; and its sweetest fruits were common to all, so that even a hundred pound’s weight thereof would not sell for a grain o f mustard.” The meadows nourished livestock and poultry, and even when the ruler and his armies were at Samarqand, two sheep sold in the bazaar for a single ducat. Great quantities o f corn, barley, and rice were grown and were sold very cheaply. BUKHARA

From Samarqand an important route, called the Shah Rah (King’s Highway) by one of the early geographers, led to Bukhara, a journey o f some six or seven days (271 km.). Along the first part o f the way wrere many walled villages, surrounded by vineyards, and each with a cit­ adel on an artificial mound, protected by a ditch. Further along the way the landscape turned arid and bleak. Bukhara occupied the same site for well over one thousand years, and its plan changed relatively little during the centuries. Belenitskii published a plan of the city as it was in the nineteenth century, and another showing which of its streets persist from the grid pattern of the ancient rectangular plan. The paucity of arable land and the scarcity of water were cer­ tainly factors in holding down the size and population of the city. Babur noted that water from the Samarqand area failed to reach Bukhara during the summer months. The supply was augmented by streams flowing from the mountains some distance to the north of the city. One o f these streams was the Kharqan, and an important commercial center, Ghujdivan, was sit­ uated on its banks some 40 km. to the north of Bukhara. During the Timurid period few changes were made in the topography of Bukhara. Ulugh Beg’s madrasah was built almost on the doorstep of the old masjid-i jami’, which itself underwent restoration. No doubt much of what the Timurids built was replaced by the Shaybanids in the sixteenth century. The famous Shaybanid bazaar kiosks that can be seen today may be replacements for similar Timurid structures. Syr Darya Material about the geography o f the Syr Darya Valley in the Timurid period is rather scanty. The most important town was Tashkent, formerly Shash, which was situated a considerable distance to the east o f the river; it was irrigated by an ariq. ( 22 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

T l M U R I D S OC I E T Y

Timur rebuilt the town o f Banakath, which had been destroyed by the Mongols, and named it Shahrukhiyah. It was on the river at a site considerably upstream from the approach to Tashkent. Above Shahrukhiyah the river, which flows north, heads east toward its head­ waters. Khojand, a very important commercial center, lay along the upstream course. Some 250 km. further upstream was the town o f Andijan, capital of Ferghana. Its importance lay with the trade from Kashghar. Its population was entirely Turkish speaking. Qashka Darya A third important region was the valley o f the Qashka Darya. A route leading from Samarqand to the south breached the 2,135-m. Aq Sai range at the pass o f Takht-i Qaracheh, named after a palace that Timur had built in 1398 at Qara Tepe, some 45 km. south o f Samarqand. From the pass, the route descended to the oasis area of the Qashka Darya Valley. There were several important towns in the valley. Kesh, known in the time o f Timur as Shah­ risabz, was situated on a plain that, according to Clavijo, was provided with streams and canals, which irrigated fields o f wheat, cotton, and verdant orchards and vineyards. This valley had been settled by the Barlas tribe in the mid-thirteenth century, with KeshShahrisabz as its capital. Timur, whose birthplace was in a nearby village, undertook imposing construction at Shahrisabz, but soon favored Samarqand. Although the move to Samarqand may well have been because o f its position on the trade routes, geographers o f somewhat earlier periods noted that Shahrisabz. was the hottest part of the entire region, and that the climate was very unhealthy, causing epidemics. Shahrisabz was a two-day journey from Samarqand. The basic lines o f Timur’s city are still clearly visible. The town was rectangular in plan and had two cross-axial main streets, which were oriented to the cardinal points o f the com­ pass. The perimeter o f the walls was four kilometers. The citadel occupied the northwest part, and the major monuments were at some distance from each other. Further downstream was the town of Qarshi, formerly Nasaf, which acquired its name in the fourteenth century because a palace had been build there: qarshi is the Uighur-Mongol word for palace. Smaller streams flowed down the valley, following more or less the southwest direction of the Qashka Darya. Irrigation canals were numerous. One at Shahrisabz was the Nahr-i Manglik, apparently named after Mangli Khvajeh, a general of Timur who, after Timur’s con­ quest o f Khurasan, was instructed to oversee the digging of one of twenty canals in the oasis area o f Pandi on the Murghab River. The lands along the canals were called wawadi, farmlands, which were not as urbanized as the rabad o f Samarqand. The mawadi were lands owned by the townspeople, and many contained summer houses to which the owners retired in the hot season. The routes from both Samarqand and Bukhara south to Balkh passed through the Qashka Darya Valley and joined along its lower reaches. Two days’journey from Shahrisabz was the Darband, or Gate, also called the Iron Gate, situated in a narrow ravine in the Baysun [ 23 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

Tau, or “Turban-bearing" range, named for its mantle of snow. The Darband was a long nar­ row defile between overhanging granite cliffs. Clavijo was informed that in the past the defile could be closed by a pair o f iron-plated gates. Caravans paid tolls in order to pass this point. Timur’s determined efforts to encourage and protect caravan traffic resulted in huge incomes from duties and road taxes. From the Darband the route led south to Termez on the Amu Darya, and this town was probably the site o f one o f the bridges made of boats strung together, which spanned the great river. The north bank o f the Amu Darya was quite extensively inhabited, with the town watered by streams flowing toward the river from the north, or from ariqs that drew water from the river. K hurasan

This extensive area received its name, “Country of the Rising Sun," in Sasanian times, and after the establishment o f Islam in Iran, it comprised the entire northeastern part o f the Ira­ nian plateau. During the Seljuq period, notably from the second half o f the eleventh century through the first half o f the twelfth century, the major cities of the province of Khurasan were Nishapur, Merv, Balkh, and Herat, with Tus one of those in the second rank. All were at least partially destroyed, and most o f their inhabitants massacred, in 1220 by the Mongols, under Chingiz Khan. All except Merv gradually recovered some o f their earlier importance. The larger centers are discussed below, first for the western and then for the eastern region. Western Khurasan Western Khurasan is shaped by a crescentlike mountain range, beginning in the west at Gurgan (now Gunbad-i Qabus), which is in Mazanderan, and descending southeastward. Along the valleys o f the northern part run commercial and nomad routes, with negligible urban de­ velopment, except for major terminals, such as Mashhad, Nishapur, and Gurgan.

MASHHAD

After the devastation o f Tus many of its inhabitants moved to the settlement known for the tomb o f the Eighth Imam, 'Ali Riza, who was buried beside the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, in a . d . 818. Within this village, formerly Sahnabad, grew up a shrine, and in the early tenth cen­ tury the site acquired the name Mashhad, “Place o f Martyrdom." Early in the twelfth century an impressive dome chamber sheltered the tomb. On his way to Timur’s Samarqand, Clavijo was taken to visit the Great Mosque and the tomb itself, placed in a sepulchre that was encased in silver and gilded. Mashhad is at an elevation o f about 945 m. in a wide valley drained by the nearby Kashaf River. It was at, or near, the intersection of major trade routes and became an important com­ mercial center. The drawback o f the site was an inadequate water supply, and in the Timurid period a canal was dug to bring water from Tus to the shrine. When Tus was destroyed for a ( 24 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

T I ML ’RI U S OC I E T Y

I

second time, in 1389, by Tim urs son, Miranshah, as punishment for a local rebellion, many inhabitants left for Mashhad. The population o f Mashhad further increased as people moved in to provide services for the shrine, which attracted vast numbers of pilgrims. The town con­ tinued to flourish and was heavily patronized by Shah Rukh and his wife, Gawhar Shad, who financed the construction o f its masjid-i jam i\ The urban fabric was spun about the nucleus of the shrine. The mosque and several madrasahs were built in closest proximity to it. A long bazaar street, dating back to pre-Timurid times, skirted the ensemble on the north side. It was upon these foundations that Shah Rukh built the Timurid city. Some o f the formerly populous centers, such as Sabzavar, below the crescent, declined because o f a shift in the trade routes. By contrast, the region of Khvaf, south o f the mountains, benefited from close links with the ruling family, because a number of the Timurid viziers came from there. The route from Herat through the Quhistan region, via Khvaf, led to the Kirman province, and ultimately to the Persian Gulf. Although no significant urban devel­ opment took place in the Khvaf region, it is the site o f one of the most important monuments of the period, the madrasah at Khargird (Cat. No. 84).

Eastern Khurasan Eastern Khurasan, with Herat the second Timurid capital, was more favored for urban de­ velopment than the west.

HERAT

The unparalleled wealth o f information available on the history o f Herat from the literary sources, and the extensive utilization of these sources by recent scholarship, have made it pos­ sible to paint a more complete picture of the urban development of Herat and its region than of any other Timurid center. Given the paramount importance o f I lerat in the cultural lif e of the Timurid period, a relatively detailed description of this development is justified. The focus o f the largest oasis in Khurasan, Herat commanded a rich hinterland, includ­ ing the pastures o f Badghis and the bread-basket province of Sistan, as well as the western route from Turkestan to India. Although Timur besieged and conquered Herat in 783/ 1380, it was not until after his death that it became more than a provincial capital, when Shah Rukh (who had been its governor) transf erred the seat o f power thence from Samarqand. Between 1404 and 1507 Herat enjoyed great prosperity as the major political, economic, and cultural center o f the Timurid empire. Almost all of the score of important buildings that the Timurids erected in Herat have vanished, and of others only a few fragments remain. Between the Mongol invasion and Timur’s conquest, Herat had been governed by the Kart Maliks, a local dynasty. Herat of the Karts consisted o f a square inner city protected by massive walls and quartered by major bazaar streets. Two principal canals carried water f rom the Hari Rud around the north side of the city, irrigating not only farmland, but also a district of suburban estates, roughly equal in size to the city itself, which was enclosed within walls. 1 25 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CH A PTE H 2

The major road from the north, called the Khiyaban, cut through the irrigated zone to reach the citadel o f Ikhtiyar al-Din, where it joined the Bazar-i Malik, the Royal Bazaar. South o f the city the avenue ran to the bridge over the Hari Rud, called the Pul-i Malan, and thence south to Farah and Qandahar. The Bazar-i Malik was the center of Kartid construction. The citadel, overlooking the ba­ zaar, was the royal residence, sharing this distinction with the Bagh-i Shahr just to its north. The Karts reconstructed the bazaar and built in it mosques, a bath, a reservoir, a caravansaray, and three khanaqahs. Within the secondary wall enclosing the suburbs were two large royal estates, the Bagh-i Safid and the Bagh-i Zaghan. Following Timur’s death, Shah Rukh was obliged to spend some years in military and po­ litical consolidation before he could embark on a program of reconstruction and new devel­ opment. Thus, through 812/ 1409-10 the only construction recorded, aside from repairs to the citadel and walls, was the city’s ’Idgah. However, the following year, Shah Rukh began construction o f his own madrasah and khanaqah within the walls, to the east of the citadel. He also ordered the reconstruction of the intramural bazaars and their central intersection, the chahar su. With these first efforts Shah Rukh duplicated the ensembles o f the Kart Maliks by juxtaposing major institutions. A rather informal and personal glimpse of Herat was given by Isfizari, who completed his description o f the town in 897 /1491-92, well into the reign o f Husayn Bayqara. After locating the celebrated fortress o f Ihktiyar al-Din to the north of the town, Isfizari names the five main entrances, most with three gates: on the north, the Royal (Malik) entrance; to the west, the Iraq; to the south, Firuzabad; to the east, Khush; and to the northeast, Qipchaq. The Ikhtiyar al-Din citadel had two gates: that to the north overlooked the horse market; and that to the south, the plains. Each o f its avenues has given its name to a market, which, located at the limits of the city, joins the central market (chahar su). The Qipchaq quarter must, however, be excepted; it does not include a bazaar. The most important is the Royal market which, from the foot o f the citadel to the chahar su, presents an unbroken line of beautiful stalls built o f baked brick, and many enterprises equally as large as a mar­ ket. Outside the walls o f the city may be seen bazaars, which extend to the edges of the suburbs, that is, about one farsakh, and almost all the great streets or squares o f the city also have their own markets, remarkable for their order and activity. The encircling wall is enclosed by two ditches, some ten gaz apart [approximately 6 m.]. The humble author o f this book instructed some of his pupils to measure with care the extent o f the city. It resulted from their examination that the wall is de­ fended by 149 towers and is 7,300 paces in circumference. As for its diameter . . . it is 1,900. Isfizari wrote o f the numerous tree-lined avenues of Herat, which he praised in the most extravagant terms. The major river is designated both as the Hari Rud and the Malan. He only mentions the canals that ran through the city proper where he writes of the masjid-ijami’, ( 26 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

TIM I R I D SOCIETY

stating that it was between the Khush and Qipchaq gates in the most salubrious quarter o f the city, the only quarter that was supplied with running water. Isfizari adds the interesting comment that, aside from a small number o f buildings of baked brick, the private and public buildings o f Herat were constructed of a very hard wood, a kind o f cypress, which resists humidity and insects. Pistachio wood was also used for building and healing purposes. Thus, Isfizari serves to remind us that structures in baked brick were probably few in number compared to those built of wood and mud brick. As Isfizari’s final word on Herat, he reports that one of his friends, who had visited Egypt after making the pilgrimage to Mecca, told him that Cairo was only a quarter the size o f Herat. By 814/1411-12 Shah Rukh had moved to the Bagh-i Zaghan, which became the royal residence and scat o f government. In 820/ 1417 Shah Rukh’s wife, Gawhar Shad, had work begun on a monumental ensemble along the Khiyaban and in the near vicinity of the Bagh-i Zaghan. The section o f the Khiyaban between the Jui-i Injil and the citadel became the site of other important religious and charitable institutions, including Shah Rukh’s hospital, the dar al-shifa’. Beyond the Jui-i Injil, where the Khiyaban cemetery lined the avenue on both sides, new mausoleums and madrasahs were erected by the Turkish military aristocracy. Shah Rukh restored and embellished major shrines of Herat. The masjid-i jami’ was re­ paired, and the splendid shrine o f ’Abdullah Ansari at Gazurgah (Cat. No. 71 A) was begun in 829/ 1425. Members o f Shah Rukh’s family and his amirs were granted estates in the broad band o f irrigated land between the Jui-i No and the city, and which, for the most part, lay along the Jui-i Injil. Despite its rapid development, Herat remained largely within the area that had been enclosed by the secondary wall of the Kart Maliks at the close of Shah Rukh's reign. The reign o f Abu’l-Qasim Babur, Shah Rukh’s successor, saw no great innovations. The single greatest topographic innovation of the Timurid period at Herat was the con­ struction o f the Jui-i Sultani by a vizier of Abu Sa’id, who ruled in Herat from 863/1458 until 873/1469. The contemporary historian ’Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi described the building of the canal: “as a result, to the north o f the city in the dasht {unirrigated land] o f the mazar of Gazurgah . . . places became cultivated and the revenues rose.” Abu Sa’id was killed so soon after the Jui-i Sultani was finished that he had no chance to exploit its potential. It was under Husayn Bayqara (875-911 /1470-1505) that the new possibilities offered by the Jui-i Sultani were realized in a greatly expanded Herat. Investments in agriculture and irrigation during the first two-thirds of the fifteenth century bore fruit and were reflected in an increase in building activity at Herat. Urban development in Husayn Bayqara’s reign was concentrated in the strip o f land newly watered by the Jui-i Sultani and along the outer edge o f the older cultivated zone, that is, the area between the Jui-i No and the Jui-i Injil. Since the literary evidence largely concerns public buildings and luxurious estates, it is difficult to estimate the size o f the densely built suburbs occupied by the ordinary people, which spread outward from the city’s gate. By the end o f Husayn Bayqara’s reign, suburbs may have occupied an area equal in size to the walled city itself. The Khiyaban was graced by new structures, such as the madrasah o f Sultan Husayn [ 27 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

Bayqara and, just opposite, the extensive “campus" o f the religious and charitable complex o f the Ikhlasiyah o f “the Intimate o f the Sultan,” 'Ali Shir Navai (described below in the context of his patronage o f architecture). Beyond the Ikhlasiyah complex, tombs and religious buildings lined the Khiyaban to its terminus at the Jui-i No. Between the bridge over the Jui-i No and the Kuh-i Mukhtar, the large isolated hill to the north, lay a large cemetery clustered around the 'idgah, and several important shrines. A row o f artificial platforms with pavilions overlooked this cemetery from the slopes o f the Kuh-i Mukhtar. A similar cemetery, the maqbarah-i Gazurgah, existed beyond the Jui-i No on the slope below Gazurgah itself. Along the main route from the city to the shrine of Ansari, known as the Khiyaban-i Sultani, major mausoleums in enclosures were set side by side. Minor tombs clustered around the larger, formally arranged ones, filling most of the slope. The Jui-i Sul­ tani, which irrigated this slope, was lined with pavilions and small gardens. Just west o f Ga­ zurgah, the first property to be watered by the Jui-i Sultani, lay the garden o f ’Ali Shir Navai, the most elaborate establishment in the area. Nearly all the ruins on the slope o f the Kuh-i Mukhtar and that of Gazurgah must date from Husayn Bayqara’s reign, and represent buildings erected with his consent, since it is he who would have held the rights to the newly irrigated land. The land is not suitable for farm­ ing. Instead o f laying out fields and orchards on it, the wealthy chose to build elaborate pavil­ ions, overlooking not only their own estates in the suburbs of Herat, but also, more intimately, their tombs in the city’s two most prestigious cemeteries. The development o f secular con­ struction along the foothills north o f Herat, a development implicit in the route chosen for the Jui-i Sultani, can be explained only by a taste for the scenic: from the pavilions the entire Herat oasis could be surveyed. Isfizari devoted a great deal of attention to the districts around Herat, but only a few of his remarks will be cited. The Obeh quarter had quarries o f white stone, which resembled marble, while that o f Shafilan had mines of lead and iron. The White Mountain was renowned for its thermal springs. The Zaval district was watered by twenty-three canals, each turning a mill. It is very probable that the streams first powered the mills and after which, the water con­ tinued through the villages and spread out in fans to irrigate farmland. Fruits were abundant in all districts, as was wheat, which grew from seed at a ratio of one hundred to one. Staples such as flour, vegetables, and fruit were extremely inexpensive, as was the case at Samarqand in this same period. The Catalogue o f Monuments reflects the fact that villages at some distance from Herat were favored by building enterprises undertaken by members of the court: the implication is that these more distant but highly productive estates were granted as rewards for loyal service to the crown.

BALKH

In the Achaemenid period, the land of Bactria was one o f the regions o f the empire. Its suc­ cessor in Islamic times, Balkh, included the chief city o f the same name, which enjoyed a lo( 28 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

TIMURID SOCIETY

cation on a fertile plain (in northern Afghanistan today) at the intersection of major trade routes from China, India, Turkestan, and Iran. It took pride in its title, "Mother of Cities." After the destruction o f 1220, recovery was slow. Timur razed its citadel, which was re­ built by Shah Rukh, and the city enjoyed a brief season of prosperity under the Timurids, as is reflected in existing structures of that period. Today the site is marked by long lines of walls, which time has reduced to shapeless mounds. The Timurid remains occur both on the citadel mound and in the plains on the west. On the citadel mound, or Bala Hisar, excavated by Foucher in 1924, was discovered a building with five “porches," an octagonal hall with a pool and a jet for water, and a “saray." Along the south side o f the mound, the visible ramparts are said to be Timurid. with the exception o f a square tower with very large bricks. The excavators suggest that the Timurid occupation of the mound was, in fact, a reoccupation after its abandonment in pre-Islamic times. If so, this fact might indicate a significant revival o f Balkh and its role within the network of interna­ tional trade during the fifteenth century. Four impressive monuments were also built in the plains (Cat. Nos. 58-61), and there are many ruins in the surroundings which have not been properly documented.

MAZAR-I SHARIF

The extraordinary circumstances surrounding the growth o f this urban center from a village to a major shrine city arc recounted in the Catalogue of Monuments (no. 96). Mazar-i Sharif did not enjoy this role until very late in the fifteenth century, and only over the course o f two hundred years did it usurp the place of nearby Balkh. It received its present name, “Noble Shrine," in the ninteenth century, before which time it was simply known as "inazar," the shrine.

GHAZNI

In the Timurid period, Ghazni no longer functioned as the major urban center it had been when it was the flourishing capital of Zabulistan. It is included in the section on Khurasan be­ cause it was an important outpost, used by the Timurids as a base for raids on India. Babur remarks on its poverty and change o f fate since pre-Mongol times. Nevertheless, two monu­ ments were erected here, one o f which is a work o f some architectural interest (no. 65).

C e n t r a l a nd W e s t e r n I ran

The lands o f Central and Western Iran in the Timurid period consisted o f five regions, each dominated by a major city. The mountainous northwestern region of Azerbaijan, with its cap­ ital at Tabriz, continued to play a leading role in the trade of Asia as an entrepot between east and west. It lay at the western end of the east-west route along the plains south of the Alburz, connecting with Khurasan. Halfway along this route, a second route started southward from ( 29 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

Tehran, still a small but prosperous town, according to Clavijo, who passed through in 1404. This route led through the holy Shiite city of Qumm into the second major region, known by the geographers as Persian Iraq (Iraq-i ’Ajam), which was dominated by Isfahan. Along the routes were smaller centers, such as Kashan, Natanz, and Ardistan. The route hugged the edge o f the great Kavir Desert, keeping the mountains on the west. At this point, the route bifurcated, one branch leading southwest through Abarquh into the next major region, Fars, with its capital at Shiraz. The other route led to the region of Yazd, with its many small towns, and thereafter, to Kirman, and its arid hinterland. The other western and southern regions, Kirmanshah and Khuzistan, seem not to have figured in the tapestry o f Timurid history as major centers of culture and trade. For administrative purposes, these five regions were divided into two realms o f authority: the northwestern provinces (Azerbayjan) and the southern provinces (Iraq-i 'Ajam, Yazd, Kir­ man, Shiraz). Azerbayjan The region o f Azerbayjan is divided into northern and southern districts by the Aras River Valley, which today constitutes an international boundary between Iran and the U.S.S.R. Old volcanic cones o f the Zagros Mountains dominate the landscape. Tabriz, the major city o f the southern district, is situated on a plain between the mountains of Sahand to the south, and Savalan to the northeast. The river Talkeh flows from the northeast range and skirts the north edge o f the city, flowing eventually into the great basin o f Lake Rezaiyah (Urmiah). As the water is brackish, the city is supplied by a series of qanats, which tap fresh water from under­ ground. The rivers rising in the Sahand mountains to the south watered the orchards which Clavijo saw in the suburbs o f Tabriz. TABRIZ

Tabriz was a major city under thejalayirids, before the arrival of Timur, and its ruler Sultan Ahmad (1382) had even begun to restore the Rab-i Rashidi, the quarter erected by the 11 Khanid vizier, Rashid al-Din, in the early fourteenth century. In 1404, Clavijo described the city as being extremely prosperous, having about 200,000 households and a market, which was a major trade center, particularly for textiles. He refers to a series o f large buildings found in some streets where merchandise was sold. These were probably the familiar chahar su, a domed bazaar-crossing. The palace o f the Jalayirid Sultan Uvays (1356-1374), with its twenty thousand chambers, could still be seen. There were also many fine mosques and baths, and some o f the mosques were ornamented with mosaics made in Byzantium. After the death o f Shah Rukh, in 1447, Tabriz served as the capital, first o f the Qara Qoyunlu, who built the famous “Blue Mosque” (Masjid-i Muzaffariyah, Cat. No. 214), and after 1467, o f the Aq Qoyunlu. Under the latter, Tabriz once again became an international center o f trade, and its greatest ruler, Uzun Hasan (1453-1478), built a large complex in em­ ulation o f his II Khanid predecessors, as well as a palace. I 30 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

TI MURI D SOCIETY

Unfortunately, except for the ‘‘Blue Mosque,” nothing remains o f this brilliant period in Tabriz, a city that must have rivaled the Samarqand of Timur and the Herat of Shah Rukh. It is impossible to sense the form o f the medieval city from its present configuration, or even to understand how the one remaining monument fitted into its urban setting.

SULTANIYAH

The other large towns were Ardabil, Abhar, and Sultaniyah. We are well informed about the life o f the latter, thanks to the report o f Clavijo. He describes Sultaniyah as lying in the open plain, with no wall, but with a magnificent ornamented castle. Its markets wrere even more re­ markable than those o f Tabriz for their range o f goods: silk from Gilan, pearls from Cathay (brought via Ormuz), cottons and other stuffs from Khurasan and Shiraz. Merchants from India came to sell their wares, and Italian merchants came to buy. Many o f the fourteenthcentury buildings were apparently destroyed by Miranshah (1404-9).

BAKU

The region o f northern Azerbayjan corresponds historically to the Albania o f the classical writers. It received the name Azerbayjan during a temporary Turkish occupation in 1918, and then because o f the similarity of its Turkish-speaking people to those of the province of Azerbayjan in Iran. It lies to the southeast o f the main Caucasian range. More than half the area is mountain­ ous, with those uplands hemming in the lowlands on three sides, and with the fourth side fac­ ing the Caspian Sea. It is watered by some 850 streams and rivers. Until the industrial era, the economy was agricultural and pastoral. During the Timurid period, a coastal strip was held by the dynasty o f the Shirvan Shahs, as is described in the section on regional schools o f architecture. In that period, Baku, She­ makha, Shirvan, and Derbent were the principal centers. Already in the tenth century, Baku was noted for its petroleum wells, which produced naphtha for fire-throwing devices, as well as a byproduct for domestic fuel. Baku transferred goods shipped from other ports on the Caspian, from the southern coasts and the mouth of the Volga River. Timur's favorite winter quarters were at Qarabagh, ‘‘Black Garden," where he spent the winters o f 1399-1400, 14012, and 1403-4.

Central and Southern Provinces ISFAHAN

Isfahan, located in lraq-i ‘Ajam in the fertile valley of the Zayindeh Rud and bordered by the Bakhtiyari ranges o f the Zagros on the south and west, spreads out on either side o f the river. The water supply comes from the river and wells. Rock-cut channels (madi) draw water o ff I 31 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

the river and flow through the town before rejoining the river at a lower level. The river ter­ minates in the salt wastes to the southeast. In the Timurid period, construction on the south bank was probably limited to ceme­ teries and suburban gardens. The topographical references to Timurid building in literary sources are meagre, although mention is made of a vast complex erected by Iskandar Sultan (c. 1410). He isolated the quarters of Do-dang and Naqsh-i Jahan. built a kushk with double wall and moat, and baths, bazaar, madrasah, and hospital. Thus, he appears to have devel­ oped one o f the old quarters o f the city, perhaps the present Maydan-i Shah, which was for­ merly known as “Naqsh-i Jahan.” Most of the remaining fifteenth-century buildings lie within the former pre-Seljuq city walls, which enclosed the area cast o f the Chahar Bagh and north of the river. Others are located just west of the walls in what was once a cemetery. The city profited from its location at an intersection of north-south trade, with the eastwest route crossing the desert from Khurasan. Isfahan was also sustained by a series o f very fertile valleys, which surrounded it.

SHIRAZ

Shiraz, located to the south in the Fars province, was spared by both the Mongols and the Timurids. Before it became the provincial capital of the Timurids, it had been the seat o f the Muzaffarid government (1314-1393). The city lies in a mountain basin, and has always been known for its gardens. Also important for its location on the trade routes, Shiraz was equally famous for its lettered men, poets, and saints. The landscape o f Shiraz is dominated by the sharp slope o f the mountains to the north, in the shadow o f which lie the famous tombs o f the poets Sa’di and Hafiz (now lacking any trace o f medieval construction). Very little is known about the topography o f Shiraz itself be­ fore the eighteenth century. Few remains o f medieval buildings, other than the masjid-i jami’, are left.

YAZD

Yazd was never the seat o f government, and, with its dependencies, was administered var­ iously as part o f the Iraq-i ’Ajam, Fars, or Kirman provinces. Local governors took an active part, as did local notables, in building up the suburbs and hinterland o f Yazd with many new public monuments, waterworks, and garden estates. These are described in great detail in the histories o f Yazd. The city lies in the middle o f an elongated closed drainage basin st retching from Kashan to Kirman, in a northwest-southeast direction. Agriculture depends on a system o f qanats (un­ derground canals) draining from the high narrow ridges that enclose the basin. Yazd is sur­ rounded by many rural settlements, some of which were endowed with major architectural complexes associated with local Sufi shaykhs, such as Taqi al-Din Dada and Shah Ni’matullah. [ 32 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

T l Ml ' R I D SOCIETY

K1KMAN

Kirman sits on an open plain between the southern Zagros and the Southern Lut, a great des­ ert basin. The deepest part o f this basin is a salt lake, the Namaksar, near which are stretches of viscous sand, all to be avoided by the traveler. Instead of crossing the desert from Kirman to Sistan, the trade route took a detour through Bam. Kirman is exposed to the same extremes of temperature as the desert. A system of qanats permits cultivation. Kirman was considered to be a province in itself. It was sacked by Timur and, subse­ quently, ruled by local governors. Several monuments from the second half of the fifteenth century remain, but no systematic study of the development o f the Timurid and Turkman city has been undertaken. During the first half o f the fifteenth century, Timurid control in central and southern Iran was more effective than in Azerbaijan, which was menaced first by the Jalayirids and then by the Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu. Shah Rukh held Azerbayjan between 1420 and 1431, and appointed Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu to govern in his name, from Tabriz, in 1436. Central Iran was ruled directly by the descendants of Timur (’Umar Shaykh, Iskandar Sultan, Ibrahim Sultan, Muhammad b. Baysunghur) until the death o f Shah Rukh in 1447. Chaos ensued, and Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu extended his control to Central Iran. In 1467, how­ ever, the Qara Qoyunlu gave way to the Aq Qoyunlu. The Timurid provincial capital o f Central Iran during the first half o f the fifteenth cen­ tury was Shiraz. Under the Turkman dynasties, Tabriz was the capital, but the many new and splendid buildings erected toward the end o f the century in Central Iran suggest a revival of prosperity there as well. M azanderan

The Persian littoral o f the Caspian Sea is actually comprised of two provinces: Gilan on the west, and Mazanderan on the east. This eastern section, with the former Gurgan (now' Gunbad-i Qabus) as its chief city, was highly prized by the Timurids as the choice military route to the western provinces o f their domains. It afforded both the summer and the winter pastur­ ages necessary for the maintenance of the army. In the past, Gurgan had also functioned as an important entrepot for trade coming along the Nishapur-Gurgan route. In the early fif­ teenth century, however, this was not a favored route, and only late in the century did the statesman Ali Shir Navai attempt to revive it by building caravansaries at convenient stopping points. The Caspian Sea is situated well below sea level and enjoys a tropical climate. Heavy rain­ falls produce towering forests, almost impenetrable thickets, and widespread swamps. Scores of streams dash down the northern slopes o f the Alburz range. Roads could not be built, and tracks were kept open only with great difficulty. Indeed, not until the reign of Shah ’Abbas, who had a raised stone causeway (sang-i farshi) built, was transportation possible with any ease. I 33 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPT ER 2

The topography o f the littoral served to isolate pockets of settlements, and to produce a multitude o f petty dynasties that controlled small areas, some for hundreds o f years. Only a major force could sweep across the littoral from the east, as the Mongols did early in the thir­ teenth century. Timur came from the east in 795/1392-93. After plundering Amul and Sari, he ordered a general massacre o f the inhabitants of both towns. It is not certain that this order was carried out. The Mar’ashi Sayyid dynasty, which reigned in Mazanderan from 760/1359, when Qavam al-Din Mar’ashi established its authority, until about 989/1581, appears to have en­ couraged building activity. The mausoleum erected over the grave o f Qavam al-Din was razed by the governor appointed by Timur, and the second o f the dynasty was taken prisoner by Timur at Amul and exiled to Kashghar. The region was strewn with hundreds o f tiny villages and scores o f towns. Among the latter, Amul, Ashraf, Barfurush (now Babul), Mashhad-i Sar (now Babulsar), Sari, and Astarabad (now Gurgan) were the most important. Sari was the seat o f the Mar’ashi Sayyids, and all the towns named, with the exception of Ashraf, still display tomb towers to the Timurid pe­ riod. No significant attempt has been made to reconstruct the Timurid towns o f Mazanderan.

The Cultural Milieu Before Timur the collapse o f II Khanid power in Iran after the death o f Abu Sa’id in 1335, no real break in the development o f the arts occurred. The Jalayirid dynasty absorbed the talents of artists residing in Tabriz and Baghdad. Some o f this talent was siphoned o ff by the Muzaffarids to Shiraz, Isfahan, and Yazd. The synthesis o f Far Eastern ideals, introduced by the Mongols, with Iranian traditions was already underway in early fourteenth-century painting. According to the painter-con­ noisseur Dust Muhammad, writing in the sixteenth century, it was at this moment that a major change took place, attributed to the artist Ahmad Musa. His pupil Shams al-Din worked at Baghdad for the Jalayirid Sultan Uvays (1356-1374). The successor o f Uvays, Sultan Ahmad (1382), was a noted patron o f the arts and himself a gifted draftsman. The paintings signed by his most illustrious artist, Junayd, in a manuscript copied at Baghdad in 1396 show an extraordinary likeness to the style that was to become “classical” under the Timurids. These paintings display a highly skilled talent, a taste for flow­ ers and trees in exuberant landscapes, and an unusual interest in architectural details. His paintings exhibit a sophistication not previously attained. Junayd may have continued to paint in this style in Samarqand at the court of Timur, but no manuscripts attributable to him from this period have survived. We can only presume, judging by developments in the Herat school some twenty years later (see below), that Junayd’s work was well known to Timurid artists. Follow ing

1 34 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

T l M V RID SOCIETY

Another Jalayirid painter, ’Abd al-Hayy, went to Samarqand from Baghdad and exe­ cuted murals in the palaces and garden pavilions around the new Timurid city. His work for Timur, known only from literary texts, is described below. At Shiraz, the later Muzaffarid style o f the end o f the fourteenth century was certainly influenced by the Jalayirid school at Baghdad, but did not attain its sophistication. Its work­ shops, no doubt, were reactivated by the Timurids ruling in Shiraz, and were supplemented by artists from formerly Jalayirid centers as well. In architecture, too innovative techniques were developed under the II Khanids during the early fourteenth century. Steady progress was made throughout the century despite po­ litical change. New techniques in vaulting appear in the Jalayirid complex at Baghdad known as the Mirjaniyah (1357-1359). Unfortunately, nothing else remains o f this period in Jalayirid centers. In the Muzaffarid cities, such as Isfahan and Yazd, however, the monuments are im­ pressive. Not only in vaulting, but also in the perfection of mosaic faience, these monuments stand apart. Several o f these buildings are included in the Catalogue of Monuments because they may be considered "proto-Timurid.” Artisans Collected by Timur w

Although many artisans no doubt gravitated of their own accord to Samarqand because it was the most lucrative source o f patronage, the formation o f the Timurid style in all the arts was to a large extent due to those artisans who were collected by Timur during his military campaigns. These centuries were times o f great tumult. The Mongols swept across Asia killing thou­ sands; generations later, Timur ravaged much of the same region. If not suffering at the hands o f invaders, people might be the victims of struggles among local rulers, or be attacked in their villages by robber bands. In this disturbed world, one's chances o f survival were best if one were a learned man or an artisan, especially a highly skilled craftsman. In his avid col­ lection o f artisans, Timur was carrying on a much earlier tradition. Juvayni describes similar “selection” procedures when the Mongols, in the early thirteenth century, took Ghazni, Merv, and Nishapur. When all other inhabitants were slain, artisans known for their craftsmanship were spared. The major contemporary sources. Ibn 'Arabshah and Sharaf al-Din Yazdi, indicate that when a town or city surrendered to Timur, all of its inhabitants were assembled outside of the walls. According to Ibn 'Arabshah, "informants descril>ed to Timur . . . the name, surname, title, and family o f everyone and the crafts which they practiced and the tools which they used.” Elsewhere, Ibn ’Arabshah writes that Timur was devoted to artisans and craftsmen and to works o f every sort, if they had dignity and nobility, and that he "gathered from all sides and collected at Samarqand the fruits o f everything; and that place accordingly had in every wonderful craft and rare art someone who excelled in wonderful skill and was famous beyond his rivals in his craft.” Following are the accounts, in chronological order, given by Sharaf al-Din. After the town [ 35 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

o f Eskiskuz (Urgench) was taken in 1379, “all the Cheriffs, doctors, and learned men were sent to the city o f Kech (Kesh or Shahrisabz), as also the tradesmen; together with a vast num­ ber o f women and children." In 1386, Timur wintered at Tabriz, and according to his orders, “the most skilled masters in every art and science were sent to Samarqand.” In 1388, he had sent from Shiraz “the work­ men and artists with their families who he found to be the most expert and skillful in their respective trades." Again, in 1393, Sharaf al-Din noted while in Shiraz that “all the men of learning and the artisans o f Fars and Iraq abandoned their country and went to dwell in Sa­ marqand.” Timur remained in Baghdad for some time after its capture in 1393 and “at length orders were given that the wives o f Sultan Ahmad and his son ’Ala’ al-Dawlah should be transported to Samarqand with all the learned men of Baghdad, and the masters o f arts and sciences." The next such report by Sharaf al-Din is not until after the capture o f Delhi in 1399. It reads: “Some were distributed among the princes and emirs who served under Timur; and others were sent to the offices o f the emperor’s sons, and to other emirs in their respective govern­ ments. The emperor likewise ordered that all the masons should be kept for his particular service, as he deigned to build a spacious mosque in Samarqand of stone.” After the taking o f Damascus in 1400, Sharaf al-Din wrote: “The tradesmen were sepa­ rated from the rest, who were made slaves, and shared among the emirs, with those who had l)een taken out o f the city, to be conducted to Samarqand." Ibn 'Arabshah wrote about this same event: "And he took from Damascus learned men and craftsmen and all who excelled in any art, the most skilled weavers, tailors, gem-cutters, carpenters, makers of head-coverings, farriers, painters, bow-makers, falconers, in short, craftsmen o f every kind. . . . And he di­ vided these companies among the heads o f the army and ordered them to lead them to Sa­ marqand.” In 1402 Timur himself moved from Syria to Samarqand with a large following, among them many Syrians including dyers and silkworkers. The sources inform us that the whole population of some towns and cities was deported to Samarqand and its satellite towns, and Clavijo stated that housing for these people was in­ adequate. With artisans transported to Samarqand and other sites within Turan in their scores and in their hundreds, it is surprising that information about their activities is so scanty. Contem­ porary references to specific individuals are very limited. Calligraphers, painters, writers, and scientists are discussed below. As regards those skilled in other crafts, the sources state that the goldsmiths at the court o f Timur included Hajji ’Ali Shirazi and Hajji Muhammad Hafiz Shirazi. Some time after Timur’s death his body was transferred to a coffin o f steel made by a man from Shiraz, described as a most skilled master o f his art. The most detailed information about the activity of imported masons is found in Sharaf al-Din’s account o f the construction o f the masjid-i jami' by Timur at Samarqand. He wrote that “inside the mosque worked 200 masons from Azerbaijan, Persia, and India: 500 men worked in the mountains cutting and hewing stones.” [ 36 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

HM n a n

society

These literary sources do not, however, name any individual builders and decorators of Timur's architecture. Inscriptions on some monuments do indicate that architects from northwest and central Iran were active in the building projects o f Timur. They introduced certain innovative techniques and norms and had an important effect on the development of Timurid architecture. The chief cultural centers of the Timurid period were Samarqand, Shiraz, and Herat, together with Tabriz under the Turkmans. The main cultural achievements o f these centers will here be divided into the categories o f calligraphy, painting, literature, and the sciences. These will be briefly described. A more detailed discussion o f artisans, especially calligra­ phers, involved in architectural projects, follows in Chapter 3. Calligraphy Calligraphy was held to be the highest form o f art. a position accruing from the central im­ portance o f the written word, the Quran, in Islam. Three calligraphers are named by Ibn ’Arabshah as members o f Timur’s court at Samarqand. Their work seems not to have survived. Dust Muhammad also provides information on Timurid calligraphers. The calligrapher Mawlana Ma’ruf, who later moved on to the court o f Shah Rukh, began at Shiraz under the patronage o f lskandar, grandson of Timur, who was also noted as a pa­ tron o f poets, artists, and especially of architects. Ibrahim Sultan, a son o f Shah Rukh. took over from lskandar. He was himself skilled in calligraphy, among other arts. According to Huart, Ibrahim Sultan ornamented the most im­ portant monuments o f Shiraz with inscriptions which he had composed. None o f these has survived. Baysunghur (d. 1433), son of Shah Rukh and Gawhar Shad, was a remarkable practi­ tioner and patron o f the arts. His major enterprise was the establishment o f an academy o f the arts at Herat, which welcomed painters, illuminators, gilders and binders. The actual super­ visor o f the staff o f the academy was the calligrapher Ja’far al-Tabrizi, who also called himself Ja’far Baysunghuri. The production of the academy is well documented. Ja’far himself may also have designed architectural inscriptions (Cat. No. 69). At Baysunghur’s academy some forty calligraphers worked night and day copying man­ uscripts. O f this number, the names o f fifteen are known, all said to be pupils o f Mir 'Ali. Sev­ eral pages o f a Quran written in Baysunghur’s own hand survive. The long inscription o f the ivan-i maqsurah o f the mosque o f Gawhar Shad at Mashhad (no. 90) closes with Baysunghur’s signature. Baysunghur himself was trained as a calligrapher by Muhammad b. Husam al-Din Bay­ sunghuri. Husam al-Din*sown hand is to be seen in the Anthulogy dated 1426, which lie copied; the seven miniatures include those showing Baysunghur hunting, playing polo, and dallying with his ladies. At least two other manuscripts indicate that they were copied by Husam al-Din. Babur names among those important at Herat a calligrapher Sultan ’Ali Mashhadi b. Mu[ 37 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

hammad b. al-Mashhadi, two of whose manuscripts have survived, as well as a monumental inscription dated 1477-78 (Cat. No. 71). Also at Herat was Amir Ruhullah, called Mirak, said to have been the teacher o f the great painter Bihzad. Mirak (d. 1507) worked successively as calligrapher, illuminator, and painter. Husayn Bayqara named him head o f his library. Two miniatures in a Khamsah o f Nizami are certainly his work; the manuscript dates from about 1480. Painting Ibn ’Arabshah wrote that Timur had at Samarqand many painters, chief among them being 'Abd al-Hayy o f Baghdad. Although information from sources contemporary with his artistic activity are lacking, later works, including those of Dawlatshah (1487), Dust Muhammad (1544), and Mirza Haydar Dughlat (before 1541), provide some meagre information. It was said that in his old age ’Abd al-Hayy’s religious scruples led him to destroy his work. Some scholars attribute to ’Abd al-Hayy the decoration of Timur's palaces and pavilions, o f which Ibn 'Arabshah provides a lengthy account: “When he had laid waste a great city, in all its gardens he built a palace and in some of these palaces he had depicted his assemblies and his own likeness, now smiling, now austere, and representations o f his battles and sieges and his conversations with kings, and lords, wise men, and magnates, and Sultans offering homage to him and bringing gifts to him from every side and his hunting-nets and ambushes and battles in India, Dasht, and Iran and how he gained victory, and how- his enemy was scat­ tered and driven to flight; and the likeness of his sons and grandsons, amirs, and soldiers, and his public feasts and the goblets o f wine and cup bearers, and the zither players o f his mirth, and his love meetings, and the concubines, and his majesty and the royal wives, and manyother things which happened in his realms during his life which were shown in a series, all that was new that happened, and he omitted or exaggerated none o f these things; and therein he intended that those who knew not his affairs should see them as though present." Babur, in his account o f Samarqand, gives more precise information about mural paint­ ings in relation to architecture: ‘‘In the garden o f Dilkusha, there has also been built a large kiosque or palace, in which a series o f paintings, representing the wars o f Taimur Beg in Hin­ dustan.” Although the paintings commissioned by Shah Rukh do not show the brilliance of the work o f his son Baysunghur’s academy at Herat, it is noteworthy that Shah Rukh sent a painter with his embassy to China. This painter, Ghiyath al-Din naqqash, kept ajournai, which has been preserved in the chronicles of al-Samarqandi. The embassy, 510 men, left Herat in early December 1419 and returned in September 1422. The trip included a stay o f five months at Peking. Ghiyath al-Din wrote: “In the arts of stone-cutting, carpentry, pottery, painting, and tile-cutting there is nobody in the whole o f these lands (Turan and Iran) who can compare with them.” Although such decorative arts of the Timurid period as pottery, metalwork, wood carving, and the like have not been the subject o f a great deal o f attention, I 38 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

T I M C R I D S OC I E T Y

the influence o f Chinese art is noticeable. Aside from miniature painting, it is apparent in ce­ ramics, in the patterns on bowls and vessels, and in gla/.ed tiles in such a motif as the flying phoenix. Also, according to Khvandamir, a certain potter, Mawlana Hajji Muhammad naqqash, tried to imitate Chinese pottery. Patronage o f painters by another of Shah Rukh’s sons, Ulugh Beg, is reflected in only two surviving examples, and is, therefore, insufficiently known. It was in the academy o f Baysunghur at Herat, referred to above, that painting reached a new standard o f excellence, and the canons o f a “classical" style were set. Curiously enough, among the fair number o f illustrated manuscripts that can be assigned by their dates, or by their styles, to the Herat academy of Baysunghur, not one bears the name of a miniature painter. Babur writes that during the late fifteenth century the most eminent o f the painters at Herat was Bihzad. No painter in the Islamic world has received such unanimous acclaim as Kamal al-Din Bihzad o f Herat. Beginning with the contemporary historian Khvandamir, the literary and documentary testimony to Bihzad's incomparable talents is extraordinary. Born around 1450, he first served 'Ali Shir Navai. Some time before 1488 he entered the service of Sultan Husayn Bayqara and ’Ali Shir’s circle of literati, which gathered around the poet Jami. After the conquest o f Herat by Shah Isma’il. Bihzad moved to Tabriz to become, in 1522 (ac­ cording to documents), the director o f the royal library. He died in Tabriz around 1536. Bihzad’s style has been identified, particularly through a study o f the one manuscript that bears unquestionably genuine signatures (the Cairo Bustan). The style is characterized by del­ icacy in the integration o f fine patterns into the larger composition, an extraordinary palette balancing cool blues and greens with warmer colors, and genre-type figures with a spontaneity never before seen in Persian painting. Much o f the subsequent history of Persian painting shows the influence o f this outstanding Timurid artist. Material relating to painters during the rule of the Qara Qoyunlu and the Aq Qoyunlu is rather scanty. A son o f Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu, Pir Budaq, who governed for his father at Shiraz and Baghdad, was a notable patron o f the arts o f the book. He supported painters who worked in the so-called Turkman court style, a style which continued under the Aq Qoyunlus. Recent studies by B. Robinson have demonstrated that Pir Budaq's workshops produced some very fine manuscripts, foreshadowing the work of Bihzad. The Turkmans attracted artists from both Herat and Shiraz, and their works often show a mixture of styles. By the last quarter o f the fifteenth century Turkman style was rather standardized, and manuscripts were written and illustrated in great numbers, probably at Shiraz, in what scholars currently call the "Commercial” Turkman style. Uzun Hasan was the most powerful figure o f the Aq Qoyunlu. Josafa Barbaro arrived at Tabriz in 1471, as a Venetian envoy, and was received in a garden setting reminiscent o f the location o f the first meeting o f Clavijo with Timur. Another Italian merchant (151 1-1520) wrote: "Within the palace, on the ceiling o f the great hall, are represented in gold, silver, and ultramarine blue, all the battles which took place in Persia a long time since; and some embas­ sies are to be seen which came from the Ottoman to Tauris (Tabriz) presenting themselves [ 39 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

before Assambei (Uzun Hasan) with their demands and the answer he gave them written in the Persian character. There are also represented his hunting expeditions, on which he was accompanied by many lords, all on horseback, with dogs and falcons. There are also seen many animals, like elephants and rhinoceroses, all signifying adventures which had happened to him. The ceiling o f the great hall is all decorated with beautiful gilding and ultramarine. The figures are so well drawn that they appear like real living human beings." Two sons o f Uzun Hasan, Khalil and Ya’qub, were concerned with the arts. Ya'qub was active as a patron o f the painters Shaykhi and Darvish Muhammad until his own death in 1492. This school contributed significantly to the style of the brilliant workshop of the Safavids at Tabriz in the early sixteenth century.

Literature Timur was responsible for bringing to Samarqand the writers Nizam al-Din Shami, Ghiyath al-Din ’Ali Yazdi, and Ibn ’Arabshah. Above were quoted accounts by the latter o f Timur’s collecting artisans and craftsmen throughout his campaigns. The presence at court o f skilled writers assured the ruler that his life and works would be fully recorded. Writers, especially poets, had a preeminent position in the court at Herat. Under Husayn Bayqara (1470-1506), this court emerged as the cultural capital of the eastern Islamic world. The contemporary writer Dawlatshah, as well as Babur, who was summoned to Herat by Hu­ sayn Bayqara, praised the level o f artistic achievement. Wrote Babur: "The age o f Sultan Hus­ sain Mirza was certainly a wonderful age, and Khorasan, particularly the city o f Heri, abounded with eminent men o f unrivaled acquirements.” Babur was an admirer o f the very influential ’Ali Shir Navai, poet and patron, who had extensive control o f cultural life at the court. Poetry, of all literary activity, is the best docu­ mented from this period, due largely to the writings o f ’Ali Shir. O f ’Ali Shir, Babur wrote: "From the time that poetry was first written in the Turki language, no man has written so much and so well.” Babur held ’Ali Shir's poetry in Persian in lower esteem. Babur also wrote extensively about Mulla Nur al-Din ’Abd al-Rahman b. Ahmad Jami, friend o f 'Ali Shir. O f Jami, Babur wrote: “No person of that period could be compared (to him) whether in respect to profane or sacred science. His poems are well known.” Favored by a thorough grounding in theology, grammar, prosody, and music, Jami produced some fortyfive separate titles. It is the opinion o f some contemporary critics and modern scholars that despite the large number o f poets active in the court at Herat the quality o f the poetry produced was undistin­ guished. This is due in part to the existence o f a firmly established style and form which tended to overwhelm the content of the poetry, and in part, to the domination o f poetry by the often stifling presence (artistically and politically) o f ’Ali Shir Navai and, to a lesser extent, o f Jami. Despite such shortcomings the literary life at the court of Herat had widespread in­ fluence and represented the best of the Timurid period. [ 40 )

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

nui

R I D S OCI E T)

Science Ibn 'Arabshah names as a member o f the court at Samarkand the astronomer Mawlana Ah­ mad Tabib al-Nahas Mustakhrij, whose work seems not to have survived. The astronomer staled to Ibn 'Arabshah: “I have drawn up astronomical tables up to 200 years." His name docs not appear in connection with the observatory of Ulugh Beg. This observatory was the major cultural achievement of the long years Ulugh Beg, son of Shah Rukh, spent as governor at Samarqand, and then as ruler. Constructed in 1420, the ob­ servatory is presented and described in detail in the Catalogue of Monuments (Cat. No. 31 ). The construction o f the observatory was inspired by the observatory of Nasir al-Din Tusi, built at Maragheh in 1259. Ulugh Beg had seen it as a child. Among the staff assembled by Ulugh Beg, the most renowned was the mathematician Ghiyath al-Din Jamshid al-Kashi. He was author o f a treatise on arithmetic which included a chapter relating to architecture (dis­ cussed below in the section on geometry). Working with Ulugh Beg and Qazizadeh Rumi (real name Salah al-Din Musa b. Mahmud), the tutor of Ulugh Beg, Kashi compiled the Zij-i Ulugh Beg, the Tables o f Ulugh Beg. A masterpiece o f observational astronomy, the work was noted for its new observations of fixed stars. The work carried out at Samarqand remains a high point in the history o f Islamic astron­ omy. In the following century, Istanbul became the center of astronomical research, depend­ ing greatly on the accomplishments of Samarqand. REFERENCES

The Economic and Social Selling

The Physical Selling

On the socioeconomic situation during this pe­ riod the reader may refer to articles by Minorsky, Semenov, Pctrushevskii, and Abduraimov listed in the Bibliography. On individual points: Aubin (1963) evaluates the reports o f chronicles on the destructiveness of Timur’s military cam­ paigns. T he finances of Ulugh Beg. his policies on tax and trade, arc treated by Bartol’d (1958:126, 155156, e.g.), as is the political strength of the Sufi or­ ders (see also Bartol’d 1962). Independent shamanist types o f Sufis appeared in the Turkman world, such as Baba 'Abd al-Rahman Shami, ven­ erated by Uzun Hasan (Woods 1976:94-95). Con­ cerning matriarchs, it is noteworthy that Uzun Has­ an's mother Saray mediated lx*tween her two sons several times (Woods 1976:86,92). The soyurghal, which appeared under the Jalayirids, was a hereditary military fief with fiscal and administrative immunity (Petrushevskii 1968:520).

No single volume treats the entile territory under consideration. The historical geography of the re­ gion has been compiled from the texts of early Arab and Persian geographers by Le Strange (1905) and others, but these works deal only with the pre-Mongol period, for the most part. A series of gazetteers on Iran and Afghanistan has recently appeared (Adamcc), which focus primarily on the present and recent past and do not attempt to eval­ uate the reports that they cite. They contain useful detailed maps. A number o f studies have dealt with trade routes, but most are based on the work of Le Strange and fail to take account of the importance of routes used by pastoralists in this period, as demonstrated by Aubin (I960. 1971). The seminal work on the historical geography of Turan is by Bartol d (1928. 1945), although his pri­ mary focus was on the pre-Mongol periods. The orientation of routes and status of settlements

I 41 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 2

underwent great changes in the fifteenth century (Aubin 1969), as Bartol'd himself noted (1945). Among the primary sources accessible in English are the eyewitness reports of the Spanish envoy Clavijo, from the beginning o f the fifteenth cen­ tury, and of Timur's descendant Babur (founder of the Mughal dynasty of India), at the end of the cen­ tury. Russian travelers to Central Asia in the nine­ teenth century introduce geographical description (e.g., Fedchenko 1870, Radloff 1878, Khorochkine 1878, Khanikoff 1845), and the more recent de­ scriptions o f archaeological sites include geo­ graphic information (e g. Knobloch 1972, Bensidoun 1979). For the remaining regions (Khurasan, western and central Iran, Mazanderan) the most useful source is The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 1 ( 1968). individual regions have been the subject of all too few studies. Western Khurasan has been stud­ ied by Aubin with regard to the networks of trade and pastoralist routes (1969). Towns have attracted greater attention. The lit­ erary sources on Herat, which are abundant, have been analyzed and interpreted by several scholars: Belenitskii (1945), Semenov (1953), Allen (1981a, 1983). The description of Timurid Herat in this chapter was contributed by Terry Allen. Some of the literary sources that he mentions are available in translation: Isfizari (1860-62), Samarqandi (1843), Babur (1921). For cities other than Herat, the sources provide meagre information on the Ti­ murid period, although the pre-Mongol cities have been studied to some extent. To this may be added the incidental comments of the nineteenth-century Persian official Sani' al-Dawlah (1884-1886), partic­ ularly for Mashhad. The towns of central Iran, particularly those with significant architectural monuments, have been de­ scribed by local scholars who have included histor­ ical-geographical information, but none of these has been translated. Significant work has been done by Afshar for Yazd and its hinterland (1969-70) based on an analysis of the unusually descriptive lit­ erary sources (Ahmad b. Husayn 1966, Ja’far b. Muhammad I960, Mufid 1961-1964). None of the primary sources has been translated into any West­ ern language, nor has Afshar's own work, which in­ cludes a complete epigraphic record. Important lo­ cal histories, focusing on architectural monuments, have also been produced for Isfahan (Hunarfar 1965) and Kashan (Naraqi 1969).

For Soviet Azerbayjan an Atlas of the Azcrbayjan Soviet Socialist Republic is available ( 1963). Recently much has been written on the urban history of Isfahan. Gaube and Wirth (1978) have concentrated on the central bazaar (seventeenth century) and offered interpretations of the de­ velopment of the quarters. Golombek and Holod (1979) deal primarily with the pre-Mongol and Ti­ murid evidence. De Morgan’s geographic study (1894-95) de­ scribes Mazanderan before the modern period. It was followed by Rabino’s survey published in 1928.

The Cultural Milieu No comprehensive review o f the cultural life of the period has yet been published, but much of the in­ formation contained within this chapter is available in secondary sources. A general survey of the doc­ umentation on painting may be found in Stchoukine (1954). For the late fourteenth century, the reader is re­ ferred to earlier chapters in Stchoukine and, on the Jalayirids specifically, to Klimburg-Salter (197677). A summary translation of Dust Muhammad's treatise dealing with both the pre-Timurid and Ti­ murid painters and calligraphers is found in Binyon, Wilkinson, Gray ( 1933:184-185). The conven­ ient designation of the miniature style developed in the late fourteenth century and in the atelier of Baysunghur as ‘'classical" was first used by Grubc (1968). Architecture o f the pre-Timurid period is in­ cluded in Wilber (1955). To his catalogue should be added the Mirjaniyah complex at Baghdad (Kurkis 1946; Ata al-Harithi 1974). Among the “proto-Timurid" monuments found in the catalogue of the present volume arc: Kunya Urgench (Cat. No. 9), Samarqand (Cat. No. 12), Turbat-i Shaykh Jam (Cat. No. 118), Isfahan (Cat. No. 167), and Yazd (Cat. No. 221a). The collection of artisans by Timur is mentioned by Ibn 'Arabshah (1936:161-162, 248, 300, 314) and Yazdi (1723, vol. I. pp. 198,259,265,413,438439; vol. II, p. 67). Juvayni mentions this same practice under the Mongols (1958, vol. 1. pp. 135, 162,171). Ibn ’Arabshah and Clavijo, the Spanish envoy to Timur in 1404, provide abundant descriptions of the mural paintings in the palaces of Timur (sec

[ 42 )

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

T ! M l RI D S OCI ETY

Stchoukine). Their descriptions o f the masjid-i jami' of Timur, together with the accounts of Samarqandi and Babur, can be found in the Cata­ logue of Monuments, Cat. No. 28. Stchoukine discusses the role of the various Timurid princes as patrons and their involvement in the arts. Baysunghur signed a page from a Quran, written in jalil-i muhaqqaq. now in the Metropoli­ tan Museum of Art (illustrated in Welch 1979:128). The journal of the painter Ghiyath al-Din naqqash, recording his experiences en route to China, and in the Ming court, is preserved in the chronicles of Hafiz-i Abru (English trans. by K. M. Maitra 1934) and Samarqandi (1946-49:268ff.). The scanty evidence for manuscript production under Ulugh Beg consists of a detached double­ page frontispiece in the Freer Gallery, Washington, D.C., and an astronomical manuscript. In the fron­ tispiece Ulugh Beg is seated at right under an awn­ ing inscribed with his names and titles, and on the left are groups of courtiers and attendants. A ded­ ication to Ulugh Beg appears in a manuscript of alSufi, Treatise on the Fixed Stars, dated about 1437 (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Arab.5036).

On Bihzad, Stchoukine’s discussion is still valua­ ble. Sec also the remarks of Ettinghausen in the ar­ ticle “Bihzad,” El, 2d ed. Several manuscripts produced under the patron­ age o f Pir Budaq are in the Topkapi Seray, Istan­ bul. Probably to be ascribed to the court of Ya'qub Beg is a superlative Khamsah of Nizami, with its pages displaying an extreme sophistication and al­ most infinite elaboration of details (H. 762). The literature of the late Timurid period is dis­ cussed by Subtelny (1983): “On the basis of *Ali Shir Navai's Majalis al-Nafa'is (completed around 149899) and its Persian translations and supplements, the number of poets active in the city from only about 1490 to 1500 was something in the order of 150 to 200." More detailed information on the lit­ erature of the period can be found in Rypka (1968). On the observatory Sayili has written an exten­ sive survey (1960). A personal letter written by the mathematician Kashi from Samarqand to his father in Kashan is the subject of a fascinating article by Kennedy (1960). The original manuscript of the Zij-i Ulugh Beg is in the Salar Jang Museum, Hy­ derabad, in the Deccan.

( «

Digitized by

Goo

]

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

3. Architecture and Society involves three elements o f society. One is that segment of society that indicates a need for the project and for whose use it is intended. Another is the individual or group, the patron, who offers to finance it. Mediating between the intentions of the patron and the needs o f the user is the architect commissioned to design and execute the project. Part o f the fascination o f the study o f architecture is discovering how the interplay of these factors led to the construction o f this or that building. E very a r c h i t e c t u r a l p r o je c t

Functions of Buildings o f extant works o f architecture includes a wide range of types for which the function is known and some for which this information is only of a general nature. The ma­ terial from the textual sources both illuminates and complicates the problem, but is important because it gives much detail about how the buildings were used (refer to Appendix 1). The vaqf namehs often list the types o f employees and their salaries. They can be used to deter­ mine whether an institution was essentially for teaching or for residence and whether a spe­ cific class within the society, such as a dervish order or a particular religious madhhab (school o f jurisprudence), was favored. The textual material together with the standing monuments give some idea o f the relative popularity of the various types of buildings. A discussion o f how the architecture was conceived to fulfill these functions will be left for chapter 4. Architecture o f the Timurid period may be divided into three classes o f function: resi­ dential, commercial (and industrial), and charitable. Residential includes both the grand pal­ ace and the small urban dwelling. Commercial is comprised of all trade buildings, such as car­ avansaries, khans, timchehs, bazaars, shops, chahar su (domed street crossings), baths, mills, bakeries, iron mongeries, sugar factories, weaving and dyeing establishments, potteries, and other industrial plants having specific architectural requirements. The functions o f all but the caravansary, khan, and timcheh are self-evident and need not be discussed further in this section. A few words should be said about these three commercial establishments. The caravansary or khan was a combination “motel" (for man and his means of transportation) and wholesale house. Merchants brought goods for sale and might remain with them until they were consigned. The timcheh seems to have been a smaller kiosk form, exclusively for shops. For this period our information is insufficient to make further distinc­ tions. Into the category o f charitable functions fall most of the extant monuments. They were

T he roster

[ 44 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

ARCHI T ECT URE A M ) SOCIETY

built o f more durable materials and were maintained by vaqf foundations. They include mosques, madrasahs, khanaqahs, various types of mausoleums, libraries, hospices and hos­ pitals, and a variety o f different water-supply facilities. Each of these various types o f build­ ings is described in this section. It is incorrect to consider all of these institutions as “religious” except with regard to their motivation, which, as we shall see, was also partly social and eco­ nomic. They may be considered the welfare institutions of the medieval Islamic world. All of them performed public services even though some, such as the mausoleum, were ostensibly private. Insofar as the details are known, all institutions, regardless of their function, pro­ vided food for both the spirit and the body.

Masjid-i jami' (Friday Mosque) The chief religious building in a town of any size was its masjid-ijami’, which was large enough to accommodate the entire male population at the time o f the obligatory Friday prayer. It was here that the khatib gave the sermon (khutbah) in the name o f the ruling monarch. Prayer was led by the imam. The masjid-i jami’ was therefore closely associated with government. In larger towns more than one masjid-i jami’ was both necessary and permitted. In Yazd alone there were eleven masjid-i jami’s in the second half of the fifteenth century to accommodate the suburban population. Nevertheless, the oldest mosque retained the affection o f the pop­ ulace and tended to weather the storms of history. Because it had no specific political identi­ fication, it was patronized by whatever government installed itself in the city. It was the recip­ ient o f donations over the centuries. As a public forum, the masjid-ijami’ was the best place to publicize announcements o f government actions. Some o f these have survived in the form of inscribed stones set into the walls. One of the major functions o f the large mosque was teach­ ing; eminent scholars in various branches o f the religious sciences held “chairs" in the great mosques. Some idea o f the activities within a masjid-ijami’ can be gained from the vaqf nameh of the mosque o f Mir Chaqmaq in Yazd (Cat. No. 226A), founded in 1437. Recitation o f the Quran was to take place round-the-clock by a staff of ten and a supervisor. Each o f the reciters received an annual salary o f 116 dinars, while the supervisor received 360 dinars. Funds were provided for food and shelter for dervishes, as well as candles and feasts for the festival days. The personnel o f the mosque included an imam, a khatib, two muezzins for the call to prayer, a preacher, a teacher, and a tutor. Eight students were to receive a stipend for study with the teacher and tutor. The khatib was assigned two companions to stand beside him in the mosque, and there were two servants to look after maintenance. The chief administrator (mutavalli) was none other than the son o f the founder, and his specific responsibility was to look after the waterworks (the qanat, the well, and the cistern). The vaqf nameh o f 1472-73 o f the masjid-i Maydan-i Sang in Kashan (Cat. No. 175) lists a khatib, imam, muezzin, farrash (caretaker), and several teachers among its personnel. The teachers are instructed to examine the students every six months. The mosque o f Amir 1 45 )

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 3

Khizrshah in Yazd, known as Chahar Minar (“Four Minarets”) (Cat. No. 227), included a murshidiyah (Sufi hostel) and a hazirah (tomb enclosure) for his own burial. Here resided “the ’ulama, the People o f God, and the dervishes . . . every Friday evening a good sharbat was pro­ vided for the people and they performed the sama\ Both the plcbian and the noble are pres­ ent. Morning and night dervish drums are beaten.” The juxtaposition and, indeed, integra­ tion o f high official Islamic institutions such as the masjid-i jami’ with Sufi activities is typical o f the Timurid period. This infiltration of high Islam by Sufism obviously affected architec­ tural needs and, consequently, architectural forms. Sufi activities had now to be accommo­ dated within the traditional configuration of the mosque. In certain cases, such as the Chahar Minar, separate structures were erected as out-buildings of the mosque. In other cases, the adaptation o f the traditional mosque plan may have been less obvious, as indicated in Chap­ ter 4. Other Masjids Supplementing the Friday masjids in the city were numerous small quarter masjids. Few of these have survived. The masjid-i Pa Minar of Kirman and the Chehil Sutun at Ziyaratgah are examples (Cat. Nos. 180, 122). The histories of Yazd do not mention any that can clearly be identified as quarter masjids. For Herat, the sources name several institutions associated with the bazaars, such as the masjid at the Chahar Su or at the Iraq gate, that belong in this cate­ gory. Examples from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are more abundant and suggest that this type o f masjid was once more common, but also more modest in construction than the larger masjids. Not worthy o f mention by the texts and unable to withstand the elements without continual upkeep, these masjids have, for the most part, passed into oblivion. We can only surmise from the great expanse of the larger cities that hundreds o f such masjids once served local neighborhoods in the centers of small bazaars. Another category o f small masjid enjoyed greater longevity. Funerary masjids were built in cemeteries or at specific gravesites for the purpose of serving relatives and pilgrims. These “chapels" were often attached to mausoleums, such as the masjid of Tuman Aqa and the mas­ jid adjoining the tomb o f Qusam b. 'Abbas at the Shah-i Zindeh (Cat. Nos. 21, 11C). Some­ times these masjids were given names identifying their specific function, such as the dar alhuffaz, attached to the tomb tower of Shaykh Safi at Ardabil (Cat. No. 136). In this large hall the main activity was the recitation o f the Quran. For the open-air prayer service o f the three great Muslim festivals (’id) a special type of small masjid was required. An area outside the city, often near a cemetery, played host to this service and the structure erected there to serve as a qiblah wall took its name from the name of this area. In Arabic, the term is miisalla (place of prayer). In Persian the terms 'idgah and nainazgah are common. Prayers preceding burials also took place in this designated area. The structure itself housed only the mihrab, and could even be a free-standing wall. The community stood outside. The minbar was often in the open. Although such structures are [ 46 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

ARCHI T ECT URE A S D SOCIETY

mentioned in texts, only one clearly identifiable as a musalla has survived, the Namazgah at Astana Ata, possibly a post-Timurid construction. The building at Turuq, once called a mu­ salla in art-historical literature, is almost certainly a funerary masjid, or possibly even a mau­ soleum (Cat. No. 121). There is no evidence o f its having been a musalla. A similar problem rests with the remains o f Gawhar Shad's buildings in Herat (Cat. Nos. 69, 70). The term mu­ salla came to be used for the actual buildings because the ’idgah, which had been to the north, shifted to these ruins in the late nineteenth century. The buildings themselves were a masjidijami’ (on the south) and a madrasah with the mausoleum o f Gawhar Shad on the north.

Madrasah By the Timurid period the madrasah as the chief institution for the teaching of the Orthodox religious sciences was well developed. The madrasah founded by Shah Rukh as one o f the first imperial monuments o f Herat in 1410-11 boasted four eminent professors and a considerable endowment (SCN 90). It was still flourishing at the end of the fifteenth century, but no trace o f it has survived. All o f the traditional religious sciences were taught. One historian tells a story about the selection o f the director o f Ulugh Beg’s madrasah in Samarqand (Cat. No. 30). When asked who would receive this appointment, Ulugh Beg replied that the man should be familiar with every branch o f science. This remark was overheard by a lowly person, dressed in tatters and sitting "among heaps o f bricks." He proved, upon examination, to be exceptionally learned and was hired, after he had been washed and properly clothed. Secular sciences may also have been taught there, for the famous astronomer Qazizadeh Rumi served as professor. This madrasah could accommodate over a hundred students. In the madrasah o f Husayn Bayqara in Herat (Cat. No. 77) there were eight teachers and a preacher. That o f ’Ali Shir in the Ikhlasiyah complex had seven teachers and enjoyed an international reputation (SCN 56). During the first two decades o f its existence several thou­ sand persons came from all over the Muslim world to study there before returning to their native lands. The more modest madrasahs had fewer teachers. The texts mention many more madrasahs than small masjids, and perhaps some o f the functions o f the quarter masjid were performed by these madrasahs. All madrasahs were pro­ vided with chapels as well as classrooms and dormitory accommodations. Many madrasahs also incorporated a mausoleum for the founder of the institution, a practice which goes back to pre-Mongol times. As long as the foundation lasted, the patron who was buried in its dome chamber or courtyard was assured o f prayers and Quran recitation at his graveside. He could thus continue to benefit from his foundation even after his death. He would be rewarded in perpetuity for promoting religious knowledge in the community. The histories o f Yazd re­ cord numerous examples o f multiple burials in the mausoleum o f a madrasah. Royal madrasahs with provision for the tomb of the founder became dynastic tombs. In the madrasah o f Gawhar Shad at Herat, no fewer than thirteen members of her family were [ 47 J

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER)

buried, including herself. The madrasah of Husayn Bayqara also enshrined members o f his family, although the older generation was buried on the takht (burial platform) erected by him at Gazurgah (Cat. No. 71). Khanaqah In contrast to the Orthodox madrasah, the khanaqah has always been associated with Sufi practices. The early Sufi masters taught their followers at home or in remote retreats. By the thirteenth century the histories report numerous buildings erected as khanaqahs for Sufi shaykhs either by themselves or by devoted patrons. None of these institutions has survived intact from before the Timurid period. Timurid khanaqahs taught esoteric religious knowl­ edge and were associated with specific Sufi orders. The khanaqah of Shah Rukh employed an imam, a muezzin, and a preacher, as did the madrasah, but its director was a shaykh. Central to the activities o f the khanaqah was the group recital of dhikr or sama’, the repetition o f sa­ cred phrases or names to induce a trancelike state. Khanaqahs and related institutions might also accommodate their staff and followers. The translation of “khanaqah” as "monastery” is inadequate. It bore little resemblance to its Christian counterpart except with respect to a vow o f asceticism. Celibacy was not practiced. The khanaqah had many lay followers, and probably only the indigent resided there. Accommodations were not extensive. Tiny closetlike rooms, known as chilleh khanehs, were provided for long-term religious retreats (e.g., the arba’in, a forty-day retreat). Madrasahs and khanaqahs were often built in pairs: the complexes o f Muhammad Sultan and Ulugh Beg in Samarqand; those o f Shah Rukh and Amir Alikeh Kukeltash in Herat (Cat. Nos. 29A, 29B, 30, 77; SCN 27,90, 91,70,56, 60). This juxtaposition o f institutions was again a sign o f the times, an indication that high Islam had come to terms with Sufism, and that Sufi leaders were willing to be identified with the ruling classes. This reconciliation is already re­ flected a century earlier in the pairing of madrasahs and khanaqahs by Chazan Khan and Rashid al-Din in Tabriz and Yazd, but at that time numerous khanaqahs and ribats were still being founded by local shaykhs for their own coteries. The histories o f Shiraz mention Sufi shaykhs o f the fourteenth century who refused to bow to the wishes of the ruling elite. Institutions bearing other names were in the broader sense khanaqahs. Such was the aforementioned murshidiyah o f Amir Khizrshah in his masjid in Yazd. The langur (also langar) was another variety of khanaqah, although the origins o f the term are obscure. The Shiite Sufi shaykh Ni amatullah had a langur and khanaqah at Mahan, where he was eventually buried (Cat. No. 184). In Tabriz the langur of Shaykh Kamal Khujandi, who died in 792/1389-90, received new funding from a vaqf established a century later by Husayn Bayqara. Qara Yusuf gave proper burial to a tower of Turkman skulls, those of the victims o f Sultan Ahmad, and built there a langur. Only two examples of langurs have sur­ vived: the mausoleum o f Qasim-i Anvar at the village called after his tomb. Langur (Cat. No. 89), and that o f ’Abd al-Salam near Mahan (Cat. No. 185). Others mentioned in texts include that o f Shaykhzadeh Bayazid, a langur of Khvajeh Khizr at Mashhad (SCN 98), and a langur I 48 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

A R C I I I T E C T I R E A M ) SOCIETY

o f Amir Ghiyath. The langur would seem to he a funerary monument in which activities o f a khanaqah took place.

Hospices A hospice intended specifically for sayyids, that is, for descendants o f ’Ali (imamzadehs), was the dar al-siyadah. One is recorded in an inscription at Afushteh (Cat. No. 129B), another in Khvandamir’s description o f Herat (SCN 73), built by Husayn Bayqara, and one is still stand­ ing in the shrine o f the Imam Riza at Mashhad (Cat. No. 90). It is not clear what sort o f services were offered to the sayyids here. The prototype was probably the dar al-siyadah founded by Ghazan Khan ( 1295-1305) in Tabriz. A hospice that was open to all travelers was the ribat, a close cousin to the caravansary. In the Catalogue o f Monuments no distinction is made, and the term caravansary is used generically. Architecturally there was probably no difference between them. The caravansary, how­ ever, was a profit-making venture, while the ribat was built in fulfillment o f the obligation to provide food and shelter to the traveler, particularly to the pilgrim on his journey to Mecca ot­ to other holy places. It is not clear from the texts whether the ninety ribats attributed to 'Ali Shir Navai were o f the charitable type, but since these are mentioned as examples o f his good works, we may give him the benefit o f the doubt. None o f ‘Ali Shir’s ribats seems to have sur­ vived, except perhaps those along the Jajurm-Mashhad route (Cat Nos. 108-1 11). Only one dated ribat o f the period serves as an example of the architecture o f this type of institution, that o f Qush Ribat. Its vaqf nameh is recorded on a stone slab at Gazurgah. Accommodations were provided for both man and beast. Food, water, and a place for prayer completed the offerings o f a ribat. Waterworks, Libraries, Hospitals Providing water and hydraulic works was considered a highly commendable act, and the his­ tories record numerous examples of wells, cisterns, pools, fountains, and qanats (under­ ground canals) built by patrons. Four dams o f the period have been recorded and four cis­ terns, although many more must still exist. They are difficult to date, and many of the structures built over water sources in the cities are replacements for works initiated at an ear­ lier date. No examples o f hospitals have remained, although in Herat alone some six are recorded by Khvandamir. Libraries were founded in Herat and Mashhad (SCN 46). Secular Tombs Buildings erected over or surrounding tombs constitute about 40 percent o f all Timurid buildings recorded here, and 50 percent of all standing remains. Although the Traditions (hadith) oppose the construction o f anything over a grave, this prohibition was rarely ob[ 49 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 3

served. In the Timurid period it is reflected in a type of funerary monument known as hazirah, which is essentially an enclosure surrounding, rather than covering, the tomb. The hazirah could be monumental, such as the great shrine erected at Gazurgah in memory o f the renowned Sufi teacher o f Herat, or it could be a modest platform with a low railing, such as that o f the tomb o f Pir Ahmad’s family in Khvaf. Numerous examples o f such enclosures are found outside the Char Bakr ensemble of Bukhara, mostly undated. Many o f the Sufi poets and shaykhs, as well as amirs, preferred this form of burial. The hazirah o f Firuzeh Sultan Begum in Herat, a royal foundation, also offered teaching facilities and food for the poor (SCN 65). The bulk o f tomb structures that have survived are o f the more common variety, the domed mausoleum which covers the tomb. These mausoleums were built for both the secular and religious classes. While some patrons preferred to include their future tombs in a mad­ rasah, others chose to erect a separate building. The Gur-i Amir (Cat. No. 29C) was the first dynastic mausoleum o f the Timurid period, but it falls within a long-standing pre-Timurid tradition. It follows the tomb o f the Samanids at Bukhara, the tomb of Sanjar at Merv, and the famous Mongol tombs o f Ghazan Khan and Uljaytu at Tabriz and Sultaniyah. These dynastic tombs took many forms, which will be discussed in the chapters ahead. Some were more elab­ orate and could serve wider functions, for example, the 'Ishrat Khaneh at Samarqand and the Hazrat Imam at Shahrisabz (Cat. Nos. 35, 40). Although dynastic tombs belong to imperial architecture, the more modest family buildings erected in town cemeteries reflect the same social tradition: strong interdependence of members of the extended family, and, particu­ larly, the importance o f the patriarch as peace-keeper and source of inspiration.

Shrines Mausoleums built by secular persons generally had little or no significance to anyone outside the clans that they enshrined. Tombs honoring holy persons, however, had much greater meaning for the populace and stood a greater chance of survival. Visits to the tombs of holy men bestowed blessings (barakat) on the pilgrim and inspired humility. These shrines went under a variety o f names, and it is not clear from the texts whether the differences were sig­ nificant in terms o f the functions performed, or even the type of architecture. The most com­ mon term, mazar, means “place of visit or pilgrimage." It has no architectural connotation. “Mashhad” refers specifically to the burial place of a martyr, which can be any member o f the ’Alid family (by inference, through the martyrdom of Husayn). Sometimes tombs are referred to in their inscriptions as “buq'ah," which is short for “buq’ah al-khayr," meaning “charitable or beneficial work." The usage may appear odd for a tomb, but one must keep in mind that the tomb itself was considered a resource, and that facilities erected in its vicinity promoted use o f that resource. Tombs o f holy men are thus often allied "fountain of blessing” (Cat. No. 171). In addition, many other charitable functions were carried out that are not evident from the architecture, but are detailed in the vaqf documents. Important shrines wrere endowed with “chairs" for eminent professors of religious sciences. Food was provided for the indigent. ( 50 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

ARCHI TECTURE A M ) SOCIETY

Accommodation might also have been available, although o f modest character (perhaps the portico o f a courtyard). A shrine such as Gazurgah afforded comfortable rooms on the court­ yard. Clothing might Ik* distributed several times a year. Shrines fall into several categories, depending on the type of religious personage com­ memorated. Every town had its corona o f early Islamic saints, Companions o f the Prophet and relatives o f his family, who had died in the service o f Islam. Many o f the great cemeteries that surrounded the city walls featured one or more tombs of ghazis (warriors of Islam). Often the precise name o f the ghazi had been forgotten, or confused. One such shrine in Herat was known only by the length o f its tomb, the “Chehil Gazi,” or “Forty Cubit” tomb (SCN 52). There remains some doubt as to whether the ghazi Qusam b. ’Abbas was, in fact, buried in Samarqand, where his alleged tomb became the most important shrine of the city (Cat. No. 11). Nevertheless, the tombs o f these early “heroes” were continually refurbished and adorned over the centuries. In a special category are the tombs o f sayyids, those persons who claimed descent form the Prophet through his cousin ’Ali. Most o f the mausoleums at Qumm and in Mazanderan, called imamzadeh, which means (tomb of) a son of an Imam, are of this type. It is not clear whether these tombs were built for sayyids living in the fifteenth century, or for those long deceased. By association with ’Ali through kinship, they were all considered martyrs. The in­ creasing interest in tombs o f sayyids is yet another reflection of the growing impact o f Shiite theology on Sunni thought. Prominent members o f the ’ulama. teachers, philosophers, poets, and Sufi shaykhs o f suf­ ficient popularity also claimed large followings who built architectural memorials to perpet­ uate their leaders’ names and teachings. Sufi shaykhs were particularly favored, and if they produced several generations o f respected offspring, their tombs became dynastic cult centres, as did Turbat-i Shaykh Jam (Cat. No. 118) and Ardabil (Cat. No. 136). The shrine of Shaykh Safi at Ardabil was eventually transformed into a Shiite-Sufi center, even though the founder o f the Safavid dynasty was himself a Sunnite. During the Timurid period the tomb of only one other Shiite-Sufi shaykh was embellished with a mausoleum. Shah Ni’amatullah at Mahan (Cat. No. 184). Any o f the cast o f religious personages described above was eligible for the role of “patron saint” o f a town or village. For Herat this role was filled by Sufi shaykh ’Abdullah Ansari of Gazurgah (Cat. No. 71), the philosopher-theologian Fakhr al-Din Razi (d. 1209), and the poet Jami’s teacher Sa’d al-Din Kashghari (d. 1456). For Samarqand it was the ghazi Qusam b. ’Ab­ bas, the legendary Khvajeh Khizr (Elijah), and possibly the unknown saint buried in the Chupan Ata mausoleum (Cat. No. 34). Shiraz paid homage to Umm Kulthum, the female coun­ terpart o f a ghazi, the Shaykh Ibn al-Hafif (d. 962), and the poets Sa'di and Hafiz. T hese shrines were o f pan-Islamic value and transcended the vicissitudes of history. They were fa­ vorite places for new rulers to restore and embellish in hopes o f winning the affection and cooperation o f the populace, as well as the blessings of the saint. Some shrines had bizarre beginnings. O f particular interest is Mazar-i Sharif, the “noble shrine,” in northern Afghanistan (Cat. No. 96). The tomb o f ’Ali himself was "discovered" ( ôl 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER J

there in the twelfth century and was recorded in a chronicle. The chronicle came to the atten­ tion o f Sultan Husayn in 1480-81. The site of the alleged tomb was then excavated and the original inscription found, identifying the inhabitant of the tomb as ’Ali. The order was then given that a new mausoleum be erected over the tomb, and all o f the facilities necessary for a small town—bazaars, baths, masjids—be provided. In this manner, not only was a shrine cre­ ated, a whole city came into existence. The original Timurid shrine is buried almost beyond recognition by later additions. Other “discoveries” occurred throughout the Muslim world, but none perhaps so spectacular as the developments which took place at Mazar-i Sharif. During the Timurid period there were as yet no examples of a type o f shrine that was to become popular under the Safavids, the qadamgah, or stepping place, usually the imprint of a foot in a stone alleged to be the footprint o f ’Ali. Such a shrine is found near Nishapur, and more modest examples exist in the countryside.

Patronage and social factors precipitate the construction of a building, determine its form and scale, dictate the quality of construction, design, and decoration, and ultimately seal its destiny. Although the individual architect plays an important role, it is chiefly in the nuances o f style. The other aspects o f the building are shaped by the wishes and means of the patron and by the needs and circumstances of the users. Economic

Classes of Patrons Who were the patrons o f Timurid architecture? The figures cited below are drawn from the lists o f patrons found in Appendix 3 (based on the Catalogue o f Monuments) together with those o f monuments mentioned in the literary sources, noted in Appendix 1 (Supplementary Catalogue). Wherever possible the patron’s social class is indicated. It would have been desirable to analyze these lists statistically, but because the Supple­ mentary Catalogue has been selective in the case of Herat, the analysis would have been prej­ udiced. To include the unusually voluminous literary record on Herat would equally have prejudiced the study. In order to make the Supplementary Catalogue as meaningful as pos­ sible, we have selected only those monuments that appear to have been significant or unique and have omitted others that seem to have had meaning only for the family o f the patron, such as the many mausoleums. These limitations notwithstanding, some generalizations may be cautiously suggested. Members o f the royal family, whether descendants of Timur, of the Turkman dynasties, or smaller princedoms (such as the Shirvan Shahs), seem to have initiated the lion’s share of building enterprises. Nearly half of the buildings listed were sponsored by them. The sponsorship o f the remaining half of the known monuments in our lists was divided ( 52 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

A K U l l T E C T C R t : A M ) SOCIETY

almost evenly among the bureaucracy, the military aristocracy, and the ’ulama. The number o f individuals involved from each o f the four classes, however, varies. The ratio o f number o f projects to individual patron from the royal household is 3:1. The ratio for the bureaucracy is 3:2, while that o f the military aristocracy is 5:4. For the ’ulama the ratio is almost 1:1. While the royal households endowed cities with their major civil and religious buildings, the masjid-i jami’ and perhaps a royal madrasah, the other three social groupings provided neighborhood services. They sponsored smaller masjids, schools, bazaars, baths, and other elements o f an urban infrastructure. They also embellished villages in the countryside with attractive buildings. The bureaucracy and military aristocracy were significant sources of architectural pa­ tronage. Loyal government servants and military officials were awarded fiefs with tax-free sta­ tus (soyurghal). Some were able to accumulate astonishing wealth. Of the 250 monuments for which the patrons are known either from texts or from inscriptions, 17 percent were spon­ sored by the military aristocracy and 20 percent by the bureaucracy (the number being swelled by the disproportional contribution of *Ali Shir Navai). The third group, the 'ulama, also sponsored 17 percent o f construction. No doubt, the local landed aristocracies patronized ar­ chitecture as well, but it is difficult to identify them. They may constitute the builders o f the 9 percent o f projects not associated with the other four groups, or they may already have been identified as members o f the bureaucracy if they served as local officials. There is a notable change in the base o f patronage after the death o f Shah Rukh. From about 1370 to 1450 over half the construction had been undertaken by members of the royal household, while about one-fifth was sponsored by the military aristocracy. After 1450 these groups together could claim responsibility for less than half, a sum which represents a 50 per­ cent decline for both. By contrast, after 1450 both the ’ulama and the bureaucracy become strong contributors, particularly the latter, which now built over one-third o f all projects. Al­ though these are rough estimates, it seems fair to say that the second half o f the fifteenth cen­ tury saw a broadening o f the base of patronage. This was probably due to a redistribution of wealth among the upper, nonroyal classes, and the depletion of the royal coffers to maintain the loyally o f these classes. Motivation Between the patron and his project exist ties which, if discovered and interpreted, can help to explain obscure aspects o f his personality or his epoch on the one hand, or pecularities of the building on the other. Social and economic factors affected building in general. If one takes into consideration those monuments known only from literary sources (see Supplementary Catalogue) as well as those extant, it may be observed that certain decades of the Timurid period show relatively feverish building activity. In order to understand the meaning of these buildings it is impor­ tant to know whether they filled new needs, or merely replaced earlier structures. O f course, [ 53 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 3

any one project might have originated for a number of reasons, and might, as well, have ful­ filled, on the part o f the patron, a need for recognition, a desire to perpetuate his name and reputation, or a plan to consolidate political power. Four major categories o f motivation can be identified, and will be discussed herein: ex­ pansion, renewal, financial security, and religious inspiration.

EXPANSION

The ascendancy o f a new government or dynasty, its consolidation of power and control of resources (material and artistic), often spawned a burst of new building activity. Timur’s Samarqand and Shahrisabz, Shah Rukh’s Herat, Uzun Hasan’s Tabriz, andjahanshah’s Isfahan and Yazd are examples o f city building produced by a spirit of confidence. In these activities the ruling house was joined by its military and civil bureaucracy, whose contributions to the enhancement o f state capitals were a tangible display of loyalty to their masters. All o f the cities that became state or provincial capitals—Samarqand, Herat, Yazd, Ta­ briz—expanded into metropolises. Too little is known about Shiraz, capital o f Fars, to com­ ment on its growth. In the case of Herat, the walled city was restored, but the greatest expan­ sion took place to the north and west o f the old city. While the citadel, as rebuilt by Timur and Shah Rukh, remained the military stronghold and treasury of Herat, the actual residence of the government moved out to the garden palaces in the suburbs. The population expanded into the suburbs, filling the region between the walled city and the mountains to the north. It was here that ’Ali Shir Navai, chief advisor to Husayn Bayqara, founded his famous quarter with its madrasah, khanaqah, masjid, hospital, and his own residence (SCN 56). Very little o f this kind o f suburban development seems to have preceded the Timurid takeover o f Herat. Similarly, in Yazd the amirs and officials of government created new urban facilities in the garden suburbs surrounding the walled city. The masjid of Mir Chaqmaq (Cat. No. 226A) was the center o f a large suburban development, which the same patron provided with com­ mercial facilities and a water supply. A close study of the textual sources, which has not yet been undertaken for this purpose, would indicate whether Tabriz under the Aq Qoyunlu underwent such expansion. For the other cities, sources are not informative. The standing remains o f Timurid mon­ uments in Isfahan suggest that some development took place outside the old tenth century perimeter on the edge o f the cemetery o f Bidabad. Here in 1489-90 a khanaqah was erected for Shaykh Abu Masud (Cat. No. 172). No other architectural monuments o f the fifteenth century (or earlier) appear outside the city except within the context of cemeteries. The real expansion o f Isfahan took place under Shah ’Abbas in the early seventeenth century. The prosperity o f the large cities spilled over into the countryside where many o f the no­ tables held fiefs and erected charitable works. The motivation for this activity, however, in­ volved a strong personal element related to financial and religious considerations, as discussed below. Pilgrimage centers formed a special category among the small towns that existed in post[ 54

Digitized by

]

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

A R C H I T E C T U R E A M ) SOCI ETY

Mongol times. Two o f these became virtual cities directly as a result o f population expansion. The residents o f Tus, after its destruction by the Mongols, left for Mashhad, which took its name from the ninth century shrine of the Imam Riza. In 1416 Gawhar Shad built an enor­ mous masjid-i jami* (Cat. No. 90) adjoining the tomb, and several madrasahs and bazaars grew up in the surrounding area. The size of the masjid itself reflects the status of the city. Its local population was swelled periodically by pilgrims and permanently by the merchants who set­ tled there to take advantage o f the opportunities for trade. Ardabil, home o f the Sufi order of Shaykh Safi, witnessed an expansion concurrent with a growth of political power toward the end o f the fifteenth century. New buildings around the shrine are indicative o f increased wealth as well as o f new needs o f pilgrims and of the local populace. Qumm seems also to have seen a burst o f building activity with no fewer than five new mausoleums since Timur’s con­ quest o f Iran, but it is not clear whether these are indications of urban development. The town o f Mazar-i Sharif in Afghanistan owes its origins to the creation of a Shiite shrine toward the end o f the Timurid period, although its transformation into a city did not take place until much later.

RENEWAL

Positive factors, such as the founding o f a new dynasty, were no doubt responsible for building on a grand scale, but much o f what was built probably can be attributed to the simple need for replacement or maintenance. O f course, the readiness to do so must come from the patron, but the replacement o f an old masjid with a new one or construction of a new part is not the same as building a totally new house o f prayer in a previously unpopulated quarter. The deterioration o f buildings under normal wear and tear was aggravated by war, plague, flood, earthquake, fire, and drought. The subsequent neglect o f the hydraulic system, the deterioration o f urban neighborhoods, and the lack of security on streets and highroads hastened the decay o f cities. Repairs had to be undertaken or the city would die. Timur rebuilt Khvarazm in 1390 shortly after he had destroyed it. Shah Rukh restored Merv, which had been destroyed by the Mongols. Many of the periods o f high building activity during the T i­ murid period can be explained as responses to such devastation. The Tarikh-i Jadid-i Yazd mentions many public and private buildings that were partially or totally destroyed by a great flood in 860/1456. Selected monuments were undergoing re­ pair at the very time the historian Ahmad b. Husayn was writing. Some of the more ambitious repairs had been undertaken by Jahanshah Qara Qoyunlu, who turned his attention to the restoration o f central Iran in 862/1457-58. During his rule repairs were made to the masjidijami’ (Cat. No. 221) and the masjid-i Sar-i Rik (Cat. No. 225) of Yazd, as well as to important monuments in Isfahan. Why the city of Yazd should suddenly have experienced such devas­ tation as the result o f a flood is difficult to understand. In the past the hydraulic system, which consisted o f a complex network o f canals, seems to have been able to absorb and control the wide variation in water supply experienced from year to year. One may speculate that during the political turmoil that followed the death of Shah Rukh in 1447 until the consolidation of [ 35 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 3

power in central Iran by the Qara Qoyunlu a decade later, this system had not been main­ tained. The upkeep o f the water system in Muslim cities was generally the responsibility o f the central government. A weak or impoverished government may have let the system decay to the point that it could no longer function properly. A flood also destroyed part o f the shrine of Gazurgah (Cat. No. 71) in 1493. The damage was repaired six years later by ’Ali Shir Navai. Fear o f plague could decimate a city as severely as the coming o f the plague itself and could result in the deterioration o f neighborhoods. With the city abandoned, buildings fell prey to natural disasters as well as to vandalism. In 1492 the population o f Herat, fearing plague, left for the countryside. According to Isfizari, a great fire broke out which burned for three months, destroying many of the commercial facilities, “bazaars, shops, and houses o f trade.” When the population finally returned, the viziers and notables took it upon themselves to rebuild and replant the city. Earthquakes were another threat to architecture. Almost every building in the Shah-i Zindeh complex at Samarqand shows signs o f seismic trauma. In areas which are so prone to earthquakes, architects knew that strong and deep foundations were insurance against such trauma. Walls were given massive dimensions to support domes in the event of tremors. The element o f caution is evident in many Timurid buildings, the masjid-i jami* of Samarqand being a prime example (Cat. No. 28). Here it seems the architects altered their plans in mid­ stream by reducing the size o f the openings in the wall niches of the dome chambers.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Providing for the less fortunate of society was considered an obligation of the rich. This obli­ gation was formalized in Islamic law through the institution o f vaqf endowment. People of means built and maintained a whole variety of religious institutions, madrasahs, khanaqahs, masjids large and small, libraries, dar al-hadith, and accommodations for the poor, the trav­ eler, and the religiously privileged classes. Nonreligious in function but serving the welfare of society were soup kitchens, wells and cisterns, and hospitals. All o f these “beneficial works” provided food for the needy and special welfare services at certain times o f the year, especially on festivals. For building and maintaining these essential social and religious facilities the up­ per classes could obtain spiritual reward. According to the Tradition (hadith): “He who builds a masjid, the Lord will build him a mansion in Paradise.” But spiritual reward was not always the underlying motive for the great expense that such projects involved. The vaqf was essentially a foundation, supported in perpetuity by incomeproducing properties. These properties are enumerated in great detail in the foundation doc­ ument, called a vaqf nameh or vaqfyah. Copies of such documents are still preserved in many of the registries in cities o f Iran, and some were actually recorded by historians. Paraphrases of the information are scattered throughout texts, and others were inscribed on stone slabs set up on monuments, as at Gazurgah (Cat. No. 79). The income-producing properties include shops, canals, houses, fields, mills, and factories. The patron might also build new income-producing facilities, such as baths, bazaars, and [ 56 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

ARCHI TECTURE AXD SOC!ET)

caravansaries at the same time as he built the institution, and often in its vicinity. Such groups of structures tended to form architectural ensembles that were often placed at strategic cross­ roads in the city or around a plaza. The Registan complex built by Ulugh Beg in Samarqand consisted o f a madrasah, masjid, and khanaqah (Cat. No. 30, SCN 27), together with com­ mercial facilities around a square. Similarly, the masjid-i Maydan-i Sang of Kashan (Cat. No. 175) takes its name from the open square (maydan) which once lay in the middle of a mixed institutional-commercial ensemble. The complex of Mir Chaqmaq in Yazd (Cat. No. 226A) consisted o f a masjid-i jami’, a khanaqah. a cold-water wall, and a cistern, as well as a bath, bazaar, caravansary, and a sugar factory (or well house). On the Ikhlasivah complex of ’Ali Shir Navai in Herat, much information has come down and will be related further on (SCN 56). This vaqf system had the economic advantage o f providing the patron with a means of insuring his properties against confiscation and taxation, and it allowed him to place members of his family on the salary roll o f the institution. Thus the vaqf. which was as much an eco­ nomic and social institution as a religious one, was largely responsible lor the large quantity of buildings erected by individual citizens throughout the Islamic world.

R E L I G I O U S I N SI* I R A T I O N

Although social and economic reasons may account in part for the preponderance o f "chari­ table works" within the roster o f known monuments, the degree of deep religious commit­ ment on the part o f patrons should not be underestimated. Among the ruling classes this gen­ uine spiritual feeling was closely linked to the popular veneration o f holy men. Timur, Shah Rukh, Uzun Hasan, and many o f the lesser lords believed that the Sufi shaykhs and dervishes could predict, if not influence, the outcome o f military confrontations. Historians o f the time stated that Timur loved learned men, notably those learned in Is­ lam. In one o f his early campaigns certain defeat was turned into victory by the intercession of Mir Sayyid Barakah, and he took this person as his spiritual guide throughout his life. T i­ mur’s imam was ’Abd al-Jabbar b. al-Nu’man, whom the sources also call a counselor (mushir) and an adviser (sahib al-ra’i). The leader o f prayer, a person o f great learning, knowing Ara­ bic, Persian and Turkish, he was a Mu'tazilite, an advocate of the doctrine of free will, which was also upheld by Shiites. He seems to have accompanied Timur on most o f his campaigns and was the interpreter at the meetings between Timur and the philosopher Ibn Khaldun at Damascus. ’Abd al-Jabbar's father was a highly respected judge at Samarqand. Timur revered saintly men and went out o f his way to visit them. Anecdotes describing Timur’s encounters with such figures are famous. Ibn ’Arabshah relates that Timur attributed his success to three spiritual guides: Shams al-Din Kulal. Sayyid Barakah, and Zayn al-Din Tayabadi. Shaykh Zayn al-Din had promised Timur the crown of Khurasan if he upheld the laws o f Islam. Timur erected a mausoleum for Shams al-Din at Shahrisabz (Cat. No. 41), and the body o f Sayyid Barakah was eventually buried beside Timur in the Gur-i Amir (Cat. No. 29C). [ 37 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 3

Certain anecdotes suggest that Timur had strong Shiite leanings. According to Ibn 'Arabshah, whose bias against Timur is well known, when Timur was on campaign in Aleppo he held a disputation with its learned men. He was angered by their lingering Umayyad sym­ pathies and corrected their responses with the statement: “ ’Ali was the right successor, Mu’awiyah a usurper, and Yazid, wicked.” For Timur the descendants of the Prophet, the sayyids, were above reproach. Even their occasional treachery passed with light sentence. Clavijo remarked about the sayyids: “These are the privileged favorites and courtiers o f Timur who can talk as they please with him, being, as is reported, the descendants o f the Prophet Muhammad.” This observation was made following the sayyids’ complaints that Timur had destroyed the houses o f the poor with­ out compensation to make way for his buildings. Timur did not heed their protests, but nei­ ther did he punish them for criticizing him. Timur’s son and successor, Shah Rukh, is regarded as the Muslim monarch par excel­ lence. Bartol'd called him a "fervent adherent of the Shariat (Islamic law)." According to the mathematician Ghiyath al-Din Jamshid Kashi, who taught at Ulugh Beg’s madrasah in Samarqand, Ulugh Beg was thoroughly versed in the Quran, the Traditions, and Islamic law, and knew most o f the Quran by heart. Neither Ulugh Beg nor his father, Shah Rukh, appear to have depended so heavily on the support of the dervish orders as did their successors in Samarqand. The largest Sufi orders in the Timurid realms were the Naqshbandi, based in Bukhara, the Suhravardi, and the Kubraviyah. By whatever means, Shah Rukh had been able to hold the Naqshbandi at bay, while maintaining lines o f communication with them so that they would not prove a hostile force. Ulugh Beg did not enjoy the same favor, and he aggravated relations with them by supporting the state designated religious authority, the Shaykh al-Islam o f Samarqand. It would be interesting to know what role, if any, the madrasah built by Ulugh Beg in Bukhara (Cat No. 4) played in this conflict. After mid-century, both in the Timurid realms and in the west, now controlled by the Qara and Aq Qoyunlu Turkman dynasties, dervish orders gained political power. In Sa­ marqand Abu Sa’id’s politics were dominated by Khvajeh Ahrar, head of the Naqshbandi or­ der at Tashkent. His influence had the effect of suppressing court culture in favor o f populist works. It seems also to have had a dampening effect on creativity in architecture. In the west Uzun Hasan o f the Aq Qoyunlu won acclaim as “Sultan of the Ghazis" because o f his raids on Christian Georgia. Uzun Hasan venerated the populist shaykhs whose renown rested on miracles and prophecy. In a somewhat shamanistic demonstration, the dervish Baba ’Abd al-Rahman described a vision to Uzun Hasan predicting victory over his Qara Qoyunlu rival Rustam. Uzun Hasan came to believe himself divinely ordained and his redemption of Islam to be foretold in the Quran. Religious establishments were restored and expanded. The mosques o f Amid and Isfahan were embellished. In an inscription on the mosque o f Yazd, Uzun Hasan declares that he is "the just Imam, emperor of Islam, shadow of God over man­ kind" (Cat. No. 221 ). Not far away from his capital Tabriz the Ardabil order o f dervishes laid [ 58 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

ARCHI TECTURE A S D SOCIETY

claim to divine ordination as well. They were dangerous allies for the Aq Qoyunlu and even­ tually swallowed them up to found the Safavid dynasty. The second half o f the fifteenth century at Samarqand was dominated by the personality of the Naqshbandi shaykh Khvajeh Ahrar (d. 1490). Abu Sa’id attributed his victory and re­ covery o f the throne o f Samarqand in 1451 to the protection of the dervish leader through omens and miracles. According to Samarqandi, as cited by Bartofd, Abu Sa’id “obeyed the Khoja and would not oppose his instructions even when this was possible.” In Bartol’d’s opin­ ion, the shaykh opposed all elitist forms o f culture, including theological studies, and the stul­ tifying effect that the shaykh had on the cultural life of Samarqand no doubt influenced ar­ chitecture as well. In Herat during the latter half of the fifteenth century the charismatic leadership of the religion came, not from politically active dervish orders, but from a handful o f highly es­ teemed members o f the ’ulama, who were also affiliated with orders. The poet Jami exerted a powerful but positive influence on his colleagues in the ruling classes, who themselves took up lay membership in Sufi organizations. Sultan Husayn Bayqara and his chief adviser, ‘Ali Shir Navai, both fostered the growth of Sufi establishments. At Yazd even a masjid-i jami’ was de­ signed with dervish ceremonies in mind. The mosque of Khizrshah (Cat. No. 227), built in 849/1445-46, had a “murshidiyah” adjoining it, where the ceremony o f sama' was performed. Not only did Husayn Bayqara neutralize the potentially adverse powers of the Sufi or­ ders; his interest in the welfare o f sayyids and in Shiite shrines suggests that he won their al­ legiance as well. He established a hospice for the sayyids and restored many ’Alid shrines. Sympathy for the ‘Alid cause was common among non-Shiites at this time and had not yet be­ come mutually exclusive with Sunnism, as it did in the sixteenth century. In fact, Sunni Islam in Iran had always held the family of the Prophet in great esteem. But from the early four­ teenth century onward it seems that this esteem began to grow, if one is to judge from the pro’Alid inscriptions in buildings. At first it is only the name of ’Ali that appears alongside the names o f the early Caliphs. In the latter half o f the fifteenth century this pro-’Alid sympathy was not limited to the person o f ’Ali but came to include all of the Twelve Imams. Inscriptions naming the Imams begin to occur in Timurid and Turkman mosques of this period (e.g.. Cat. Nos. 141, 156,221). Political power in Mazanderan was, of course, already in Shiite hands. The presence of the Mar’ashi sayyids explains the large number o f Imamzadehs (Shiite tomb towers) erected throughout the Caspian littoral. Few o f these can be associated with individual members of the dynasty because only the given names of the imamzadehs are known. It is not even clear whether they honor sayyids o f the fifteenth century or are restorations of much earlier tombs. The tombs are discussed in further detail in the chapter on Timurid style. Timur as Patron Patrons who sponsored a number o f architectural projects sometimes pursued a veritable "building program." Timur himself is credited with eight of the standing monuments and anl 59 J

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 3

other twenty-five known only from texts. These include the towns of Baylaqan, Shahrukhiyah, and Iryab, and the citadels and walls of Ghazni, Balkh, and Samarqand. Although only part o f one o f his palaces survives, some fifteen are mentioned in the sources. These were lo­ cated for the most part in the garden estates that he established on the outskirts of Sa­ marqand. Timur built shrines ranging in size and pretension from the simple brick Chashmeh Ayub o f Bukhara (Cat. No. 3) to the magnificent, colossal shrine o f Ahmad Yasavi at Turkestan (Cat. No. 53). For his son Jahangir and for his father Taraghay he erected mau­ soleums at Shahrisabz (Cat. Nos. 40,41), his first capital; for his grandson Muhammad Sultan he built the Gur-i Amir at Samarqand (Cat. No. 29C). Shrines were also restored at Baghdad and possibly Damascus. Timur’s most significant and ambitious project was the re-creation of Samarqand as the capital o f the empire, expressed through the founding of a new masjid-i jami’ (Cat. No. 28) and a grand commercial thoroughfare connecting it to the old town center, the Registan. This listing o f Timur’s architectural projects represents a wide range o f building types, residential, commercial, and religious. The motivation behind the construction of citadels for military purposes and the restoration o f city walls, hydraulic works and way-stations can be explained as either expansion or renewal. Seven of his projects were for religious activities: shrines, masjids, and khanaqahs. Financial security does not seem to have figured as the in­ spiration for any o f these projects, probably because Timur himself held the supreme power. It is to be noted that the most common institutional type that insured financial security was the madrasah, and Timur did not establish one. To attempt to understand Timur’s patronage simply in terms o f expansion, renewal, and religious motivation, however, is to miss the key to his building program. Together with these reasons for building we must consider the message that his monuments project. The message is communicated through various elements o f the building, its scale, its use of materials, its decoration, and its inscriptions. Even the building’s function becomes less important than the expression in providing the key to the building program. For example, the masjid-i jami’ o f Timur at Samarqand (Cat. No. 28) is far more than a space designed to accommodate the population of the city for Friday prayers. Its colossal size, its anomalous design, and its opulence must be explained. Timur also built four other build­ ings o f colossal scale, one palace, one shrine, and two secular mausoleums (Cat. Nos. 39, 53, 29C, 40). In fact, some share similar forms: the entrance to the masjid-i jami’ looks like the gate to the Aq Saray palace (Cat. No. 39). Three o f the monuments were rebuilt after Timur demanded even greater height o f the portal or dome (Cat. Nos. 2 8 ,29C, 40). Whether secular or religious, these reflect the imperial origin of their founder. The lavish use o f materials and decoration reinforce this projected image. It was also through these monuments that Timur asserted the legitimacy o f his claim to be defender o f the empire o f Chingiz Khan. His genealogy, as recorded over the entrance to the masjid-i jami' o f Samarqand, emphasizes his kinship with the Chingizid family. The use of architecture on a monumental scale may also be viewed as emulation of the Chingizid model, as known to Timur through the II Khanid monuments at Tabriz and Sultaniyah. Inscriptions ( 60 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

ARCHI T ECT URE A S D SOCIETY

on his buildings suggest that he went beyond this claim to view himself as successor to the long defunct Abbasid caliph. His palace at Shahrisabz was known as the "Green Dome," which had been the name o f the Abbasid caliph’s palace at Baghdad. On the towers of the palace at Shahrisabz Timur is identified with “The Shadow o f God (on Earth)," a common title for a ruler by this time, but one not usually singled out for prominent display on a building. As for the masjid-i jami’ o f Samarqand, an even more precise motivation may be sug­ gested. This building was conceived while Timur was on campaign in India. Ibn ’Arabshah states that its design was inspired by an Indian mosque. The extensive use o f stonework and certain elements in its plan support this statement. Its grand scale and the timing o f its con­ struction lead us to view it as a victory monument (trophaeum) commemorating Timur’s suc­ cesses in India.

Other Royal Patrons None o f Timur’s successors seems to have evolved a building program of similar pretensions. His son Shah Rukh reconstructed the Kartid city of Herat, building his own madrasah and khanaqah (SCN 90, 91) and refurbishing the old Kartid citadel and palace sites and shrines. He established residences in Mashhad and Balkh because he was frequently traveling through these areas. The most significant religious institution sponsored by him was the hazirah at Gazurgah (Cat. No. 71), the tomb o f Herat’s most famous Sufi shaykh. The choice was probably dictated by civic needs as much as personal religious preference. Shah Rukh is considered to have been a very "traditional” monarch, an upholder of Orthodoxy and good government. His building program reflects this image. More unusual were the establishments o f Shah Rukh’s son Ulugh Beg. As governor of Samarqand, he established a royal madrasah (Cat. No. 30) and khanaqah on Registan square (Cat. No. 30, SCN 28). In scale and use o f materials the madrasah reflects the tradition o f his grandfather Timur, with whom Ulugh Beg closely identified. The madrasah hosted secular as well as religious sciences and was the site of planning sessions for the new observatory (Cat. No. 31). Perhaps in homage to Timur, Ulugh Beg built the new mosque at Shahrisabz (Cat. No. 43) and a mausoleum for his descendants (Cat. No. 42). Sultan Husayn Bayqara ruled a very limited kingdom compared with those of his pred­ ecessors. His building efforts were confined to Herat and its environs. At the beginning o f his reign (in 873/ 1468-69) he founded a new royal estate northeast o f the city of Herat, the Baghi Jahan Ara’i, occupying some 440jaribs (SCN 73.5). In the city he, too, built his royal mad­ rasah (Cat. No. 77) and khanaqah. He undertook repairs o f masjids and other religious insti­ tutions and founded a hostel for sayyids (dar al-siyadah) (Cat. No. 71, SCN 69-73). Minor works were undertaken at Obeh, Merv, Puran, Ziyaratgah (Cat. Nos. 98, 103. 104. 105, 123). He was also the sponsor o f the new shrine at Mazar-i Sharif (Cat. No. 96). Only the madrasah and probably the new palace seem to have been lavish projects. Other works may simply be explained as part o f the renewal and expansion required of government. It is curious, how­ ever, that so grand a masjid (in scale) should have been built at Ziyaratgah. [ 61

Digitized by

1

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 3

Women o f the royal household figure as significant patrons o f architecture. Sisters and wives o f Timur founded madrasahs, khanaqahs, and mausoleums in Samarqand. After Ti­ mur’s death his wives were remarried and some built foundations in their new homes. The woman most outstanding in her patronage o f architecture was, no doubt, Gawhar Shad, wife of Shah Rukh. Her foundations in Herat surpassed those of her husband; the new masjid-i jami’ and madrasah with mausoleum for herself and her descendants (Cat. Nos. 69,70). It was she who provided Mashhad with its new masjid (Cat. No. 90). To what extent her private funds were further involved in the development of this pilgrimage center is not clear. Literary texts record much building activity on the part o f Malikat Aqa, who married Shah Rukh after the death o f her husband ’Umar Shaykh b. Timur. She founded a madrasah, a hospital, a dar al-hadith, two baths, and a caravansary, as well as a madrasah at Balkh (SCN 82-86, 33). She apparently did not enjoy the prestige or wealth o f Gawhar Shad, Shah Rukh’s chief wife, for her buildings did not survive in good condition even into the sixteenth century, according to Khvandamir. The mother o f Sultan Husayn Bayqara and some o f his wives and daughters built mad­ rasahs and mausoleums in Herat (SCN 61, 65, 95). The ’Ishrat Khaneh (Cat. No. 35) o f Sa­ marqand and the masjid-i Muzaffariyah of Tabriz (Cat. No. 214) are works sponsored by women o f the royal household. The only significant woman to patronize architecture outside of the royal family was the wife of Amir Chaqmaq, military governor of Yazd. She shared pa­ tronage with her husband (Cat. Nos. 221,226). Other patrons o f architecture related to the royal household may be found in the list in appendixes 1 and 3. Not enough is known about their program of building to suggest any­ thing further here.

Military, Religious, and Bureaucratic Classes The chronicles have not provided a clear picture on the contribution of the military aristoc­ racy to architecture. The names singled out for mention are few: Amir Shah Malik (d. 829/ 1425-26), Amir Jalal al-Din Firuzshah (d. 848/1444-45), and Amir Alikeh Kukeltash (d. 844 / 1440-41). Only the work o f the second survives. Amir Firuzshah built a madrasah and khanaqah in Herat (SCN 74, 75) and several projects in western Khurasan, at Mashhad (SCN 100), and at Turbat-i Shaykh Jam (Cat. Nos. 119, 120). Amir Shah Malik was noted particu­ larly for his reconstruction o f Khvarazm, where he had been appointed governor. Alikeh Ku­ keltash built a masjid-i jami’ on the Registan at Samarqand (SCN 9) and many other institu­ tions, including a madrasah with his own mausoleum at Herat (SCN 60). As for the patronage o f the religious classes, sponsors fall into two categories. There are numerous examples o f single shrines being built or restored by relatives or local devotees. In this category fall the patrons o f the tomb towers of Qumm and Mazanderan. In the second group are the Sufi masters who encouraged the establishment of sister institutions throughout their circumscribed regions. In this category are such figures as Shah Ni’matullah Vali Kirmani and his decendants, Taqi al-Din Dada of the Bonderabad/Yazd region, and Khvajeh

[ 62 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

ARCHI TECTURE AXD SOCIETY

Ahrar of Samarqand (Cat. Nos. 139, 153, 156, 37). It is interesting that most of the patrons of this class are known through standing remains rather than through literary record. Like the military aristocracy, the bureaucrats in high positions, granted tax exemptions, built up surplus income. Two outstanding patrons come from this background, Pir Ahmad of Khvaf, vizier o f Shah Rukh, and ’Ali Shir Navai, confidant of Sultan Husayn Bayqara.

PI R AHMAD

Pir Ahmad b. Ishaq b. Majd al-Din Muhammad al-Khvafi was from a renowned family o f vi­ ziers from the Khvaf region, which lies just west of the present Iranian border not far from Herat. Pir Ahmad had charge o f the divan o f Shah Rukh for some thirty years, beginning in 820 /1417-18, except for a temporary fall from favor in 845 /1441 -42. He continued to serve in the divan at Herat after Shah Rukh’s death, but was finally executed in 857/1453 by Abu’l Qasim Babur. According to the Timurid chroniclers, Pir Ahmad was especially noted for his sponsor­ ship o f charitable institutions. The magnificant madrasah which he built Khargird in his na­ tive Khvaf, and the equally remarkable shrine of Zayn al-Din Tayabadi at Tayabad, are both mentioned by Timurid historians (Cat. Nos. 84, 117). The quality of workmanship and rich­ ness o f material in these buildings are comparable to those found only in projects o f royal sponsorship. They attest to Pir Ahmad’s great wealth and power, as illustrated by his access to top architects, such as the famous Qavam al-Din Shirazi. The chronicles also report that Pir Ahmad built the shrine o f another Sufi shaykh at Herat, but nothing remains o f the structure. It was probably not constructed of such durable materials as the other two. The question posed by the two remaining is why such first class monuments were erected in what was countryside rather than in the capital, Herat, where they would have enjoyed higher visibility. Perhaps the vizier’s sentimental attachment to his native region, together with his ownership of land in that region, can explain this phenome­ non. No doubt other properties in the area were made vaqf to support these institutions. The establishment o f extensive vaqf holdings for the purposes o f financial security by a person in Pir Ahmad’s position made a great deal of sense, for upon his execution all o f the rest o f his presumably unprotected property was confiscated.

’a l i s h i r n a v a i

The most famous patron from the bureaucratic class, a virtual Maecenas, was ’Ali Shir Navai, born at Herat in 1440 (d. 1501). His family was connected with the house o f Timur by the tics o f kukeltash (foster brotherhood). By birth, ’Ali Shir was of bakhshi (Uighur functionary) de­ scent. He was an amir by appointment, and it is quite possible that he was a school fellow with Husayn Bayqara, which could explain the origin o f their later intimacy. ’Ali Shir’s contribu­ tions to the cultural life o f Herat have been noted in the previous chapter. ’Ali Shir himself was the subject of a eulogy in a treatise written by the historian Khvan1 63 ]

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER J

damir (Makarim al-Akhlaq), which had not reached completion before 'Ali Shir’s death. ’Ali Shir had patronized two o f Khvandamir's earlier works. In this treatise 'Ali Shir’s construc­ tions o f masjids and khanaqahs are specifically named, and other charitable works, bridges, caravansaries (ribats), baths, and so forth, are mentioned, many by name. The following table provides a count: bridges baths caravansaries (ribats) cisterns dar al-huffaz (Quran readers’ room) hospitals ’imarat (probably soup kitchens) khanaqahs langurs madrasahs masjids

14 9 52 19 1 1 •* D 7 3 4 20

Only sixteen o f these have been included in the Supplementary Catalogue of Monuments (Appendix 1, SCN 31,49-59), and sixteen others are still identifiable in standing remains (see Appendix 3). Not all o f these undertakings were of major importance. Indeed, many repre­ sent repairs o f existing buildings. The major projects were the complete restoration of the masjid-i jami’ o f Herat (Cat. No. 78) and the establishment o f a "campus" o f charitable insti­ tutions in Herat, known as the Ikhlasiyah (SCN 56). Nothing remains o f this extraordinary complex, which was constructed on the east side of the Khiyaban. opposite the site of the madrasah of Husayn Bayqara, and northeast o f the ensemble o f Gawhar Shad. The complex included a masjid-ijami’, a madrasah and khanaqah, a dar al-huffaz, a hospital, and a bath. In his own words 'Ali Shir describes this undertaking in the endowment deed: In the year 880 his majesty the Sultan gave me a portion of land in the area of Kushk-i Murghab (sic for Kushk-i Mirghani) so that I might construct on it a dwell­ ing and a small garden for myself. Truly it island of good water and air, and thejuii Injil runs along the side o f it. I walled off 30 jaribs and built a dwelling in it, and I planted a little garden with different sorts o f trees and all colors of flowers. The Kushk-i Murghab was located in the middle o f the south side and to the east o f this small garden. Since its fabric was old and in a sorry state, I leveled it and in its place built a madrasah and masjid. And to the north o f the masjid I built a dome for mel­ lifluous Quran readers to read the Quran in, which became known as the dar al-huffaz. In the two ivan halls of the madrasah, east and west, I appointed two lecturers, one to teach law and the other Hadith. In each circle o f study eleven students are to be occupied. This madrasah, since it has been built out of sincere motives, is known I 64 )

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

A u c u n t.cTL nt: w n

society

as Ikhlasiyah, “Sincerity.” In front of this madrasah, on the southern side, has been built the public road o f a khanaqah, in which, for the duration of the present gov­ ernment. every day food is distributed to the poor and destitute, and a yearly pen­ sion is granted to the indigent. In that khanaqah a dome was built for the people of the quarters to pray in on days o f snow and rain, when they cannot go to the masjidijami’ for prayer. The necessary khatib, imam, and Quranic readers have been ap­ pointed for that place. 'Ali Shirs patronage o f architecture is so extensive that it should be possible to discern some kind o f pattern in his activities. The construction of caravansaries along the route con­ necting Mashhad and old Gurgan (present Gunbad-i Qabus) indicates an interest in reviving trade along this route. Then, there are so many instances of repairs o f minor monuments that these could only have come to his attention through the petition o f local persons concerned with their upkeep. Perhaps ’Ali Shir encouraged such petitions. The Ikhlasiyah is a different matter. The foundation of an extensive ensemble o f chari­ table institutions is the kind o f project that became popular first among the II Khanids, not only rulers but also viziers. The quarter established by the famous vizier Rashid al-I)in in the early fourteenth century was perhaps a model for ’Ali Shir. He himself was never a vizier, but he served the Sultan as an adviser and performed similar duties. More difficult to explain is 'Ali Shir’s restoration o f the masjid-i jami' of Herat. So important a work would normally have been carried out by the sultan himself. Perhaps Sultan Husayn Bayqara was at this time too embroiled in military strife with his son and had delegated the authority, once again, to ’Ali Shir.

Architects, Builders, and Craftsmen to painting, it is from the epigraphic evidence, and not from the literary evi­ dence, that we derive most o f our information about builders and craftsmen. The one excep­ tion, Qavam al-Din Shirazi, will be discussed at greater length in Chapter 9. The inscriptions which occur on Timurid monuments mention the names of 107 crafts­ men (listed alphabetically in Appendix 2). The roster includes all artisans whose work was as­ sociated with the building trades and interior furnishings. In many cases the artisans' names are followed by terms designating the craft, such as, carpenter, tile cutter, calligrapher, builder, and so forth. We cannot assume, however, that the artisan’s contribution was limited to the designated craft (except perhaps in the case of woodworking), for we know that artisans worked in several media. When it is possible to compare several works by a single architect, as in the case o f Qavam al-Din, we see not only that the works reflect a similar approach to build­ ing design, but that they share many idiosyncrasies of tilework. This relationship may be due to the consistent use o f a team o f specialists, but we have learned also, particularly through the study o f geometric patterns in revetments, that the architect had to bear in mind the proporIn c o n t r a s t

( 65 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 3

tions o f wall areas to be decorated. He must, therefore, have known exactly what was to ap­ pear on his walls before the foundations were laid, even if he himself did not do the designs. Several different terms are used for the builders themselves, and this array may reflect a hierarchy within the building trades. That such a hierarchy existed is not only to be presumed, but it is also suggested by documentary evidence. In a vaqf nameh of the masjid-i jami’ of Gawhar Shad at the shrine of Mashhad, dated 1416, the patron set aside funds for the mainte­ nance o f the building (Cat. No. 90). The personnel were to consist o f workers (kar kunar), foremen (zabitan), artisans (’ummal), and an architect (mi’mar). This list would suggest that since the architect is named last, the others were given in ascending order of the hierarchy. However, it must be noted that the job descriptions, other than mi’mar, do not correspond to any o f those found in the inscriptions. The craftsmen listed in inscriptions include twenty different trade designations (sec App. 2), the more common ones listed here: 1. ustad (26 examples): Master craftsman of any trade, probably self-awarded, if the individ­ ual adopting the honorary term was certain that his fellow craftsmen would accept him in this ranking. In certain examples, qualifying words were used: “illustrious master,” “mas­ ter builder,” “master carpenter,” and “the one master.” 2. banna’ (17 examples): Builder. 3. mi’mar (5 examples): Architect or builder. 4. tayyan (1 example): Mason working with mud-brick. 5. kashi tarash (1 example): Tile cutter; composed of two words, kashi—meaning “tile" and originally derived from the name o f the city famous for its luster tiles in the Seljuq period, Kashan—and tarash, meaning “cutter.” 6. fukhkhar ( 1 example, dubious reading): Potter, probably involved in all stages o f the mak­ ing o f the carved, glazed tile revetments. 7. naqqash (2 examples): Painter or decorator. 8. hajjar( 1 example): Stone-carver 9. najjar ( 15 examples): Carpenter. 10. katib (2 examples): Calligrapher. 11. ’assar ( 1 example): Oil presser. 12. bavnoab (1 example): Doorkeeper. 13. haddad( \ example): Iron monger. 14. hakim (1 example): Physician. 15. naqqar( 1 example): Carver. 16. munshi ( 1 example): Scribe. The activity o f a relatively large number of carpenters is reflected in the numerous carved wood doors and sunduqs for the tomb towers of Mazanderan. The terms fukhkhar, kashi tarash, and tayyan have not been noted before the late fourteenth century. It should be remarked that only three calligraphers included reference to their craft while some twenty others were con­ tent to sign their names following the expressions “written by," thus signifying that they were,

( 66 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

A RC! U TE CTI RE A S D SOCIETY

or preferred to be known as, calligraphers and not builders. Only the master calligrapher was authorized to sign himself this way. The craft system in which a master trained a considerable number of apprentices, includ­ ing members o f his own family, was well established in Iran. It is particularly evident in the case o f woodworking in Mazanderan. Another component in the craftsman’s signature is the nisbah, the term referring to a place-name, comparable to “Princetonian," “Torontonian," and so forth. There is no agree­ ment among scholars as to the significance o f this name element. Often it refers to place or origin, but it may also refer to a working location, which may differ from birthplace. The mat­ ter is further complicated by the possibility that the son may be using his grandfather’s nisbah, as was the case o f Isma’il b. Tahir (App. 2, no. 54.5). It is impossible to distinguish between them because the formula for the full name is “X son o f Y son of L from Isfahan, etc.” Even if we knew to whom the nisbah referred and whether it was the place of origin or second resi­ dence, we have no assurance that the craftsman was trained in the tradition indicated by the nisbah. Only when this relationship can be demonstrated, as will be done for Shirazi architects wrho worked at Turkestan (see Chapter 9 and Cat. No. 53). can the nisbah be considered a significant source o f information about the movement of ideas. As a final comment on the signatures of craftsmen, it is noteworthy that most o f them placed expressions of humility or piety before their names: terms such as “poor slave," "the weak, who seeks the mercy o f God,” and so on. Humility might also be expressed by limiting the signature to a simple “Mahmud and ’Ali hajjar." The most distinguished architect, Qavam al-Din, was perhaps showing false modesty when he called himself al-tayyan, a mason working in the very humble material o f mud-brick, in the masjid-i jami' of Gawhar Shad (Cat. No. 90), a structure built o f only the most elegant and costly of materials. On the economics o f building itself we have very little information, compared with data on the salaries o f employees supplied by vaqf documents. None of these documents mention the wages o f masons. Occasional references in the texts give such information, but these have not been systematically collected. Insight into the relative costs of labour and materials comes from an amusing report by the historian Khvandamir. One wealthy patron o f Herat built a caravansary for the reputed sum of 8 dinars. When asked how this was possible, he said that the whole job had been done by his corps of 1000 eunuchs and the only expenses were the wages o f a tinsmith to make chains for the door. It seems that the greatest costs were related to materials and their transport. Labor was relatively cheap if not "soft-costed" in the assets o f the patron.

(

Digitized by

Goo

07

]

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 3 REFERENCES

Functions of Buildings Essential to an understanding of religious insti­ tutions in this period is their previous development under the II Khanids in the fourteenth century. Al­ though few of the royal foundations survive, much is known about them from descriptions and texts and from their foundation documents. Of great importance is the vaqf nameh of the vizier Rashid al-Din for a complex built in a suburb of Tabriz, which will be mentioned later as a model for Timurid complexes (Blair 1984). Statistics on the various types of institutions op­ erating in Yazd can be derived from the rich liter­ ary sources (Ahmad b. Husayn 1966:114 on masjid-i jami’s). See Holod-Tretiak (1972) for detailed discussion of the existing vaqf namehs. Other ref­ erences to such documents may be found in the in­ dividual catalogue entries and in the Supplemen­ tary Catalogue (App. 1). The monograph on ’idgah structures in Central Asia by Kochnev (1976) discusses the relevant cer­ emonies. None of the monuments listed is Timurid, although Pugachenkova has described the musalla at Astana Ata as such (1965b:70-75). PrcTimurid examples include the Namazgah at Bu­ khara and a recently discovered one of Buyid date south of the river at Isfahan. Godard erroneously identified the structure at Turuq (Cat. No. 121) as a musalla (1949a). On the earlier development of the madrasah as institution, sec Makdisi (1981). For the origins of the dervish orders and the khanaqah a convenient source is Trimingham (1971). The langur at Tabriz is mentioned by Dawlatshah (n.d.:237), as is that of Qara Yusuf (p. 390). Shaykhzadeh Bayazid’s lan­ gur was known to Khvandamir (1954-55, vol. Ill, p. 555), and that of Amir Ghiyath, to Isfizari ( 195960. vol. 1. p. 136). On dams in Khurasan see Clevenger (1969). Diez was the first to point out the importance of the ruins of caravansaries in northern Khurasan and their association with 'Ali Shir (1918:85-86), followed by Aubin (1971). On the origins of the mausoleum in Islam, Grabar offers a useful introduction (1966), setting the distinction between the secular tomb and the shrine. The background of the hazirah as an ar­

chitectural concept is discussed in the monograph on Gazurgah (Golombck 1969b: 10Iff.); Khvan­ damir mentions numerous examples in Herat (Allen 1981a: 177-182). There is some debate about whether the Dar alSiyadah at Shahrisabz (Cat. No. 40) should be considered the first Timurid dynastic mauso­ leum. Tim ur may have originally conceived it to be his tomb before moving the capital to Samarqand. It is, however, in the Gur-i Amir (Cat. No. 29C) that many of his descendants were bur­ ied.

Patronage Urban development in this period is discussed in some detail in Chapter 2. References to the rebuild­ ing of the towns of Khvarazm and of Merv can be found in Khvandamir (1954-55: vol. Ill, p. 443) and Savory (1965:36), respectively. Ahmad b. Hu­ sayn mentions the reconstruction of cities in central Iran throughout his history of Yazd (1966: e.g., p. 199). T he effect of the rumor of plague on Herat did not escape the notice of Isfizari (1959-60, vol. II. pp. 262-263). Vaqf documents relevant to the Timurid period arc cited in individual catalogue entries. Related material from the Mongol period can be found in Chekhovich (1965) and Blair (1984). Sec Makdisi (1981) for data on the financing of the madrasah. On the devotion to shaykhs of Uzun Hasan, see Woods (1976:119); on Abu Sa'id and Abu Latif, see Bartolcl (1958:161, 166). The attention paid by Ti­ mur to the Shaykh o f Tayabad is epitomized in a fa­ mous story, retold by Bartol’d, along with other comments on Timur’s faith in spiritual leaders (1958:19-22). Ibn ’Arabshah (1936:129) and Clavijo ( 1928:279-280) support these claims. Bartol’d is primarily responsible for creating the image of Shah Rukh as upholder of the Shariah, the Muslim monarch par excellence (1958:84). The unique portrait of Ulugh Beg as secular scholar, painted by the mathematician Kashi, is remarkable for its charming intimate detail (see Kennedy 1960:193). Bartol’d was also responsible for much current opinion on the relations of the Naqshbandi order with Shah Rukh and Ulugh Beg (1958:72).

[ 68 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

A K U t l T E C T l HE A M ) SOCI ETY

He clearly expresses antagonism toward their most active and pow erful leader Khvajeh A h rar (1958:166ff.). The veneration o f saints by Turk­ man princes parallels that of the Timurids, but with greater emphasis on the shamanistic qualities (Woods 1976:94ft"., 115.265, n. 65). The symbolic significance of Timur’s architec­ ture is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 10. in­ cluding reference to the importance of the “Green Dome," the palace at Baghdad. The notion that the masjid-i jami' was built to commemorate victory in India is not new, but only recently was it possible to suggest an Indian model for it, the mosque of Jahanpanah.c. 1343 (Welch and Crane 1983. fig. 1). The ten masjid-i jami's repaired by Sultan Husayn Bayqara arc mentioned but not specifically named by Isfizari (1959-60, vol. I, p. 35). Bartol’d has collected the relevant information on the mili­ tary amirs: Firuzshah (1958:84. 144-145); Shah Malik (passim)-, Kukeltash (37. 74-76. esp. 123-124). Pir Ahmad’s biography appears in most of the Timurid sources. His career is traced in detail by Khvandamir (1938-39:354-360; 1954-55. vol. IV, pp. 3-4) and Samarqandi (1946:752-753). Isfizari attributes him with the construction of the shrine at Tayabad and the madrasah at Khargird (1959-60, vol. I, pp. 218-219), while his own burial near the shrine he had built in Herat is recorded by Sa­ marqandi (1946:1047) and Khvandamir (1954-55, vol. IV, p. 48). During the years of political turmoil preceding his death he fled to Iraq and managed to complete the pilgrimage to Mecca. Diez (1918:85-86) lists the "chain" of fourteen ribats along the road from Gurgan to Mashhad, as reported by Sani' al-Dawlah. This report probably came from Khvandamir’s Makarim al-Akltlacj. Par­ ticular attention was paid to the ribai at Chehil Dukhtaran in the Badghis region, the site of a shrine, according to Isfizari, and one at a river over which Pir Ahmad constructed a bridge (1959-60. vol. I, p. 145). Dawlatshah lists three ribats ('Eshq. Cat. No. 109; Sangbast, Cat. No. 113; and Dirabad. near Nishapur. perhaps Ribat-i Safid, Cat. No. 112), the 'imarat over the tomb of ’Altar (Cat. No. 101), and some work at Mashhad in addition to the buildings of the Ikhlasiyah complex (n.d.:505-506).

The translation o f the vaqfiyah of the Ikhlasiyah complex is taken from Allen (1981: no. 413). Architects. Builders, and Craftsmen Mayer's book on Islamic architects lists only eleven of those found in Appendix 2. and his notes contain many errors. The evidence for the partici­ pation of architects in the design of decoration is presented in the section on geometric ornament, below. The system of apprenticeship within families of craftsmen is particularly evident in woodworking, as suggested by an inscription dated 883/1478-79: “the one master (ustad). the master Husayn, son of the master 'Ali, son of the master Ahmad, the trav­ eler, the builder, the Lahijani.” And also in an in­ scription of 906/1500, which reads, "master 'Ali, son of master Fakhr al-Din, son of master ’Ali. car­ penter.” The name of this man's father, master Fakhr al-Din, son of master ’Ali, carpenter, is found on a door dated 846/1442 and a master Muham­ mad son of master 'Ali the carpenter, al-Razi (Rayy) who executed caned doors at Babulsar in 841/ 1437, 857/1453, and 858/1454 would have been an uncle. The fact that the family did come from Rayy on the plateau is reinforced by a variant read­ ing on a door o f 896/1490-91, “master ’Ali, son of master Fakhr al-Din. carpenter al-Razi." In spite of the possible problems of relative age, Husayn, son of master Ahmad najjar (carpenter) Saravi (Sari) who made a door dated 873/ 1468-69, was probably a son of master Ahmad najjar Saravi whose name is found on a sunduq of 888/1483. A Shams al-Din. son of master Ahmad najjar. who signed sunduqs of 873/1468-69 and 897/1491, was probably another son. The difficulties of dealing with the nisbahs of craftsmen are touched upon by Rogers ( 1969:138140) and Ivanov (1981:69). The question will l)c taken up again with regard to a possible “school” of Shirazi architects in the first half of the fifteenth century (see below, Chapter 9). Biographical details on Qavam al-Din Shirazi may be found in Golombek (1969:61-62) and will be expanded in Chapter 9.

[ 69 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

P A R T T WO

TI MURI D ARCHI T E CT URE

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

4. Concept Design Component Parts of Structures whether a palace, a masjicl, or a bath, consists of one or m o re basic components. They are “space-making” if they contain the more important and larger spaces o f the building. Other components have a specialized function and operate as adjuncts to the major spaces. These components usually are arranged according to certain principles. Some o f these components constantly recur in recognizable groupings, which may be called “configurations." E very T

imukid building,

Space-making Components COURT

The open court was an essential feature of the standard plan of the masjid and o f the madrasah. In thesem onuments the court fulfilled at least two functions. It met the requirements for communal prayer: water for ablutions and an area large enough to hold many worshipers. By focusing on internal space, it isolated the structure from the noise and activity o f public life. In fact, courts were features of other kinds o f religious structures, with the exception of the mausoleum, and o f civil structures, such as the ribat and caravansary. Courts vary in proportions from the square spaces generally found in madrasahs, ta ih e slightly rectangular space characteristic o f most masjids, to the elongated rectangles found in some o f the large city masjids, such as Samarqand and Bukhara. Peculiar to the Yazd-to-Isfahan region are the long, narrow courts, which may be a legacy o f II Khanid times, as sug­ gested by the early fourteenth-century madrasahs of Yazd and Isfahan. In some cases (e.g.. Cat. No. 84), the corners are cut to provide direct access to the corner spaces, a feature already appearing in the twelfth-century. Courts are usable outdoor space as well as places for viewing the internal facade of the building. They also serve to orient the visitor to the location of the various parts of the build­ ing. They give access to the major public activity spaces, such as the masjid sanctuarv. Where courts ànfprésent, they are generally the space around which the rest o f the building is or­ ganized.

IVAN ( S U F F E H , KI VAQ, T A Q )

This is, in fact, a highly composed complex unit consisting o f a barrel vault or modified barrel vault, open to the exterior, either facing onto a court or forming a part of the facade o f the

[

Digitized by

73

]

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 4

building. The front o f the vaulted space is framed by a rectangular mass o f masonry, which we refer to as the ivan "screen." It is composed of the pylons, or flanks, o f the vault built up to its springline and then continued upward in horizontal courses until it surpasses the crown of the vault. It may then project high above the vault and the roof of the surrounding structures, creating a false front, which is structurally unsound. The screen itself is rarely more than a few bricks thick, and may have arcading along the back to strengthen an otherwise precarious wall. Some ivan screens are pierced by an arcade. More elaborate ones, such as that o f Gazurgah, are hollow and have galleries on several levels, reached by staircases in the flanks (Cat. No. 71). Ivans serve as indoor-outdoor spaces, affording protection from the sun, while yet open to the air. As design elements they are extremely important for they create architectural accents. Around a court they define its axes. Placed in the center of a facade they locate the entrance. They are often the focus o f the decoration and a favorite emplacement for historical inscriptions. The height o f the ivan screen reached towering proportions in the Timurid pe­ riod. serving as a recognizable sign o f what lay behind them either in the case o f the facade or that o f the ivan-i maqsurah (the ivan in front of the sanctuary of a mosque). The ivan itself is never viewed as a passageway. It is used, however, in conjunction with a vestibule, to form the main entrance passage into a courtyard. Modest doorways are opened in their rear and side walls. An ivan on the court may or may not be open to its flanking prayer halls. In the ivan used as an entrance the barrel vault is generally abbreviated, and terminates in a semidome, which is covered by muqarnas (see Chapter 5). In special cases the ivan on court terminates in a semioctagonal bay, such as in the north ivan in the madrasah of Ulugh Beg in Bukhara or the east ivan at Gazurgah (Cat. Nos. 71,4).

ARCADE

Arches in series are frequently used in Timurid architecture in place o f a wall. Series o f these pointed-arch, vaulted niches enclose courts. The arches may be open, as they occur around the court o f mosques, or closed (“blind"), as they appear on facades. The shallowj]iches.ibat result from a blind arcade provide minimal, but useful, shelter from the direct sun. They are commonly found surrounding courts of modest pretensions, particularly in masjids that have no spaces behind the court facade. The arcades surrounding courts of madrasahs and other buildings with multiple cells (see below, hujrah) are closed, but have doorways in the wall be­ hind, giving access to these rooms, frequently on two stories. Blind arcades on exteriors have decorative value, but are also structural. The piers o f the arches are merely the extension of the wâïïsTSehind, which abut against the exterior wall. The use o f vertical struts at intervals in a long wall gives it strength, and diminishes the risk of a trauma affecting the entire wall at once. This practice is common even in the construction of kahgil walls in Iranian towns today. The blind arcade is but a more sophisticated manifesta­ tion o f this building tradition. The aesthetics o f Timurid architecture rely heavily on the intentional creation of monot­ ony through arcades, only to be broken sporadically by the soaring screen o f an ivan, or the 1 74 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CO W E P T DESK' S

mushrooming o f a dome. The arcade generates momentum between two such points, leading the visitor onward from climax to climax.

DOME C H A M B E R ( G U N B A D , QUBBAH)

The dome chamber, whether square or polygonal, is the favored interior space for the sanc­ tuary o f a masjid, for the audience hall of the prince, and for the tomb. The symbolic value of. the donieinjeadi oTLheML^esiiasiiiuiigJiisLury in Islamic architecture,.^ form o f the domical structure .(see Chapter 10). Dômes were also favored became .of!their ability to cover large spaces without sacrificing the unity or the height o f that space. There was always a risk in building domes, but if correctly constrïïctèd, the dome was an extremely stable structure. Its chief “enemy” was the earth­ quake, because cracks appearing in the supporting walls might eventually upset the equilib­ rium o f the dome and bring it down. Many types o f Timurid buildings consist of no more that a series of .domechambers loosely joined by arcades, or attached directly to each other. It is evident that the architect thought o f the dome chamber as an independent component. T he texts describing the construction o f the Turkestan shrine.(Cal. No. 53) demonstrate that tl^e ççncept.of the building begalfwnfrThe dome chamber. Its dimensions determined the size q f eyerything else. This treatment o f the dome chamber as an independent unit was not new in Timurid times, but the tendency to isolate it visually from the rest of the building, as is particularly clear in Timur’s mosque at Samarqand, is typical of the period.

H YP O S T YLE HA L L

Before the middle o f the fourteenth-century the most common method of providing large covered space o f no considerable height was to use multiple supports, spaced at intervals. The hall thus formed had no predefined limits and could be contracted or expanded simply by removing or adding bays. The covered area could than be surrounded by a curtain wall, which had no structural function. In the Timurid period halls of piers supporting domical vaults were commonly used in the space flanking the sanctuary chamber and ivan and, in larger masjids, in the rivaqs. The use o f columns in the masjid at Samarqand is exceptional. Examples of the hypostyle as ex­ pandable space are found in the masjid-i Kalyan in Bukhara, the New masjid at Turbat-i Shaykh Jam, and the masjid-i jami’ at Ziyaratgah (Cat. Nos. 5, 120, 123). In the Ya/.d region the portions of this interior space that tended to be used as "winter masjid” were conceived as a series o f parallel naves, the central one, which contained the mihrab, receiving greater emphasis through height and width. The example which is found in the masjid o f Mir Chaqmaq is, nevertheless, a hypostyle hall, although it was not expandable in the same way as hypostyle spaces consisting o f bays of identical size and shape (Cat. No. 226A). I 75 J

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 4

F O U R - A l . C O V E ROOM ( C H A H A K S U F F E H )

For this component there is no adequate translation, although perhaps “tetrapylon” comes close. It is a form which developed during the second half of the fourteenth-century and be­ came an extremely versatile component o f Timurid buildings. It is essentially a square, or rec­ tangular, space bordered by tangent arches in such a way as to create a series o f alcoves around the central space. The arched niches were frequently divided into two stories by a gallery that made the circuit o f the room through narrow doorways in the piers o f the arches. The pop­ ularity o f balconies and loggias in Timurid architecture is to some extent a result o f the wide­ spread use o f this type o f room. Although the term chaharsuffeh literally means “four arches,” it could be used for rooms with only four arches (cruciform), or for rectangular halls spanned by a series o f transverse arches. The term was used in the Zafar Nameh to describe both types of rooms in the shrine at Turkestan (Cat. No. 53) (the mausoleum behind the large dome, which is called a gun bad, and the rooms flanking it): “Behind the large dome should be an­ other domed room with sides o f twelve gaz in the form of a chahar suffeh for the tomb o f the Shaykh; on the sides, two other chahar suffeh; each 13.5 gaz wide and 16.5 gaz long for ar­ ranging gatherings." The masjid o f this building is a four-alcove room, but its central space was rectangular and required transverse arches to form a square. The other room has six al­ coves, one at each end and two along each side. It also has loggias. The roofing consists o f two small domes on transverse arches. The simple four-alcove room was commonly used in the corners of court-centered build­ ings, such as the madrasah at Khargird (Cat. No. 84). It could also be transformed into a ves­ tibule, square as at Khargird and the madrasah o f Ulugh Beg in Bukhara (Cat. No. 4), or po­ lygonal, as in the mosque of Gawhar Shad at Herat and the shrine at Gazurgah (Cat. Nos. 69, 71). In the latter the octagonal form is a foretaste o f the hashti, the octagonal vestibule that is so common in buildings o f the sixteenth-century and later, particularly in domestic architec­ ture.

ALCOVE HALL ( J A M A ’ a T KHANF. H, SH A B I S T AN, Z AMI S T AN)

Not every type o f activity could be accommodated within a square (domed) room, nor was the ill-defined infinite space o f a hypostyle hall always appropriate. Early in the fourteenth cen­ tury a rectangular hall o f considerable size began to appear, either as auxiliary space in a mas­ jid (as at Yazd, flanking the domed sanctuary), or as a masjid within a larger structure (such as the winter masjid o f Uljaytu in the masjid-i-jami’ of Isfahan). Unlike the hypostyle hall, which the alcove hail often replaced, its space was finite, for its walls were joined to load-bear­ ing piers. This type o f room was particularly good for accommodating relatively limited crowds, such as the residents o f a madrasah, or the visitors to a shrine. Several of these rooms were worked into the composition o f the Turkestan shrine. At the Shah-i Zindeh one vaulted hall serves as the chapel o f the tomb o f Qusam b. ’Abbas, and a similar one adjoins the mausoleum of Tuman Aqa. The masjid o f Gawhar Shad at Herat is said to have had a pair o f such rooms [ 76 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

C O S C E P T DE S I OX

flanking the entrance as at Gazurgah. The Dar al-Siyadah joining the masjid-i jami’o f Gawhar Shad at Mashhad to the sacred tomb chamber is an alcove hall (Cat. Nos. 11C, 21,69, 71,90). Although the term generally associated with this form of room, zamistan, means “winter masjid,” the form was not restricted to this use. The halls o f the caravansary at Qush Ribat are all o f this type (Cat. No. 107). They reflect the other name given frequently to this type of hall, shabistan, meaning “sleeping room.”

SMALL ROOM ( H U J R A H )

Small vaulted rooms, square or rectangular, occasionally octagonal, were built in series around courts, or in the corners o f dome-centered buildings. Serving as dormitories in mad­ rasahs, they could accommodate one or two persons. Some had niches in the walls for storage. They were often built on two levels, the upper rooms reached from interconnecting balconies under the arcade on court. Rooms o f small dimensions might also be used as a chilleh khaneh for religious retreat. Lighting in such rooms was minimal. Ceilings tended to be low. Vaults are barrel-type or domical. If domical, they tend to be flat.

GALLERIES ( C H U R F A I t )

Timurid buildings are provided with a plethora o f galleries, facing l>oth outward and inward. Galleries are part o f court facades in buildings with second stories, particularly if the rooms behind the court are intended for residential purposes, as in madrasahs. The gallery often serves as the only means o f communication along a row o f such rooms on an upper floor. In the shrine at Gazurgah the entrance facade had a gallery that gave access to an upper room, but which served more as a pleasant place to wander through and catch the breezes that did not exist below- (Cat. No. 71). The madrasah of Ulugh Beg at Bukhara has balconies along its entrance facade (Cat. No. 4). The facade of a centrally planned building, which consisted of a tall ivan screen flanked by a single arched niche, generally had the same niche repeated at the second-story level, thus forming a balcony, as at the Tshrat Khaneh of Samarqand, at Balkh, or at Tayabad (Cat. Nos. 35, 59, 117). By bringing the flanking walls upward along the sides of the ivan screen, the architect could provide abutments for the broad arch of the entrance. The ivan itself could also be provided with galleries. At Gazurgah and Anau (Cat. No. 57) open arcades running atop o f the ivan screen served as airy retreats. Within the ivan, if the height o f the walls permitted, a complete mezzanine level could be threaded. This was a com­ mon practice in the Yazd district. The gallery ran uninterrupted along the side of the ivan, across the front, and back through the walls o f the other side. It has been suggested that the proliferation o f such galleries in this area may have resulted from some liturgical needs, per­ haps a place for Quran reading, or for women. Most characteristic o f later Timurid architecture was the creation of interior galleries overlooking the central space o f a room. The type o f room which we have designated as a chahar stiffeh (four-alcove room or hall) was most closely associated with such galleries. In the latf 77 1

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

cnAPT UK 1

ter half o f the fifteenth-century hardly a solid pier was built. The supports o f the arches, which form the walls o f these building, are virtually riddled with passageways. Excellent ex­ amples are found at Langur, and in the khanaqah of Abu Mas’ud at Isfahan (Cat. Nos. 89, 172). Many o f the rectangular alcove halls at Turkestan have modest loggias built between the wall arches. Although liturgical needs many account for the existence of some o f these galleries, their proliferation in this period must be seen as the result o f an aesthetic impulse, incited by struc­ tural considerations. The ease with which such galleries could be constructed in a chahar suffeh system simply by building a bridge across the arch as the uprights were in progress led to the automatic inclusion o f galleries in the initial design. The structural advantages of galleries, serving as “tie beams,” must also have contributed to their popularity.

Specialized Components

MINARETS (MINAR)

Minarets are always coordinated with the symmetry of the architecture in the Timurid period. They may be very tall, consisting o f as many as three stages, like that of the madrasah of Gawhar Shad in Herat, or much shorter, like the corner towers of the madrasah at Khargird (Cat. Nos. 70, 84). They may occur in pairs at the corners of an entrance facade, as in the masjid-i Muzaffariyah at Tabriz and the masjid-i Shah o f Mashad (Cat. Nos. 214, 95), the early mad­ rasahs o f Khargird and Herat, and the shrines at Shahrisabz and Turkestan (Cat. Nos. 40,53). Also common were court-centered buildings with a minaret or tower in each corner: the great masjid o f Gawhar Shad in Herat, the masjid-i jami’ of Timur in Samarqand, and the Kalyan masjid in Bukhara (Cat. Nos. 69, 28, 5). A number o f madrasahs followed this design: those o f Ulugh Beg in Samarqand and Bukhara, that of Husayn Bayqara in Herat (Cat. Nos. 30, 4, 77). None o f the surviving monuments o f earlier periods attest to the existence of either the two-corner or four-corner use o f minarets, although texts record madrasahs known as chahar minar (four minarets). More common in the II Khanid period were the pair of minarets projecting above an ivan screen. In the Timurid period this tradition undergoes various transformations. In Timur’s mosque at Samarqand a pair o f minarets flank the ivan portal and may have projected above it. This configuration occurs on both the entrance portal and the ivan-i maqsurah. The ivan-i maqsurah o f the masjid-i jami’ at Mashhad (Cat. No. 90) is also flanked by projecting minarets, which rose above the ivan screen, probably higher than those of the present mosque, perhaps resembling the well-preserved minarets o f the ivan-i maqsurah in the mosque at Ziyaratgah (Cat. No. 123). Another variation o f the pair o f minarets associated with an ivan screen occurs at Gazurgah, and probably in the renovated masjid-i jami’of Herat (Cat. Nos. 71, 78). Staircase towers rise behind the ivan, leading up to galleries above the vault and terminating in turrets (guldasteh). The shrine at Anau had a similar arrangement (Cat. No. 57). More unusual were min[ 78 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

COSCEPT DESI CS

arets associated with portals o f centrally planned buildings, such as the shrine o f Abu Nasr Parsa at Balkh (Cat. No. 59). Outside o f Khurasan and Turan the minaret did not become as central a design element. In Azerbayjan the Seljuq tradition o f the single minaret rising from a corner o f the masjid can still be seen. In the Isfahan-Yazd region no Timurid minarets have survived. The portal of the Mir Chaqmaq masjid at Yazd has been restored. The minaret of the masjid-i Sar-i Rik of Yazd is architecturally isolated from the identifiably Timurid sections o f the building, and may belong to a fourteenth-century part of the masjid (Cat. No. 225). Unique is the use o f four minarets in the corners of the court that joined the madrasah and khanaqah o f Muhammad Sultan in Samarqand, to which the Gur-i Amir was later added. Most o f the towers and minarets contain spiral staircases, only a few of which were used by the muezzin for the call to prayer. Most of the lowers provided access to the upper floors of the building, while some o f the very high ones served only a symbolic purpose. WIND TOWER (BADGIK)

The wind tower (badgir in Persian), or wind catcher, w-as a feature of domestic architecture in the hot regions o f Iran for a very long time. A wind tower consists of a ventilating shaft, which projects above the roof o f a building. At its top, a series of vertical openings that face the pre­ vailing winds serve to catch the breezes and pull them down to a room at the ground level, or, more frequently, to a cellar where the dry desert air picks up humidity from a pool of water. Badgirs are especially prevalent at Yazd, but do occur elsewhere in Iran, as well as in the Arab Emirates across the Persian Gulf. In the case o f Timurid architecture, they are used in a most unexpected way. The shafts open in front o f mihrabs. This is the case at the masjid-i Mir Chaqmaq at Yazd, the masjid-i Sar-i Rik at Yazd, masjids at Firuzabad and Bafruiyah in a dis­ trict north o f Yazd, and the madrasah at Khargird, a long way to the northeast o f Yazd (Cat. Nos. 226A, 225, 169, 141,84). STAIRCASES (PILLEH)

Staircases fulfilled utilitarian and service functions and were never monumental in appear­ ance and prominence. Service stairs included the spiral staircases within minarets and those which gave access to roofs and to the interior spaces between double domes so that repairs could be carried out. Utilitarian stairs provided access to the second stories of madrasahs and mausoleums. In a number o f monuments they had the added function of lightening masses o f masonry. This was the case in structures such as that at Tayabad, where the square plan of the chamber was extended to a cruciform plan by four deep recesses which w'orked to estab­ lish large masses o f masonry at the corners o f the plan (Cat. No. 117). At Tayabad stairs within square areas gave access to rooms on the second story that flanked the ivan. At the rear cor­ ners spiral stairs gave access to the roof and also created irregular-shaped hollow rooms within the corner masses. The ’Ishrat Khaneh at Samarqand also displays staircases within the pier masses o f the corners o f the dome chamber (Cat. No. 35). [ 79 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 4

The madrasah at Khargird has eight staircase (Cat. No. 84). Two, near the corners of the main facade, provide access to the roof. Two adjacent to the rooms off the entrance vestibule give access to second-story rooms of similar plan to those at the ground level. Four provide access to the galleries of the second storey; this number is required because the perimeter at this level is broken by the four ivans. The staircase also lightened the masonry in places where rooms o f any size could not be placed. This highly sophisticated treatment had a predecessor in the madrasah o f Ulugh Beg at Samarqand (Cat. No. 30). The masjid-i Muzaffariyah at Tabriz had six staircases with their placement resembling that at Khargird: two adjacent to the corners o f the main facade and four within the corner angles o f the dome chamber giving access to the second story (Cat. No. 214).

CRYPTS(SARDABEH)

Many Timurid mausoleums had subterranean burial rooms below the floor. The crypts at the Shah-i Zindeh complex alone number eighteen (Cat. Nos. 12-24). According to Nemtseva, who has outlined the development of the crypt in Timurid architecture, the pre-Mongol mau­ soleums in Central Asia had no crypts, the earliest datable example being the mid-fourteenthcentury tomb o f Khvajeh Ahmad at the Shah-i Zindah. The first Timurid crypts were not structurally linked to the room above. The prototype was the Central Asian pit grave with brick walls and a vault. Graves of this type for multiple burial were provided with a chute. In the earlier graves the bodies were placed directly on the floor o f the crypt, or inside a wooden box on the floor. By the end o f the fourteenth-century the crypt acquired architectural form, octagonal or cruciform. These forms demanded more complex vaults. The cruciform shape required separate vaults for the center and for each o f the arms. By the early fifteenth century the walls of the crypt merged with the foundation of the mausoleum. Nemtseva suggests that this was the result of a need to strengthen the supports of the double-dome system. Crypts o f this period were decorated with great care. Most ex­ traordinary is the stone-faced crypt o f the Hazrat Imam in Shahrisabz (Cat. No. 40). The cen­ tral portion is about 3.6 m. square. That of the Gur-i Amir is slightly smaller (about 2 m.), but there is an extension o ff the south arm (Cat. No. 29C). The large octagonal crypt o f the 'Ishrat Khaneh (5 m. diam.) has both a staircase and a chute. Outside o f Turan the development of the crypt has not been studied. Few mausoleums have been excavated to determine the existence o f subterranean rooms. The crypt recently discovered below the masjid-i Shah in Mashhad (Cat. No. 95) resembles that of the ’Ishrat Khaneh and demonstrates that the building was primarily funereal. A similar crypt may exist below the masjid-i Muzaffariyah in Tabriz (Cat. No. 214). A vertical shaft was discovered in the small dome chamber. At Balkh there is a fine underground room below the shrine of Abu Nasr Parsa, but it is not clear whether this was intended as a crypt, or as a summer masjid (Cat. No. 59). The tomb o f Ulugh Beg b. Abu Sa’id at Ghazni, built at the end of the fifteenth cen­ tury, has a crypt that follows the room arrangement o f the main floor (Cat. No. 65). In Herat the mausoleum of Gawhar Shad has not been investigated with regard to the ( «O ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

COXOiPT DESICX

existence o f a crypt (Cat. No. 70). The large pit between the western minarets o f the madrasah of Husayn Bayqara, which contains several grave covers, may well Ik the remains of a crypt, but no masonry walls are in evidence (Cat. No. 77). Traces o f crypts have not come to light in Mazanderan, Isfahan, or Yazd regions. In Azer­ baijan the pre-Timurid tradition of crypt building seems to have continued into the early fif­ teenth century. The mausoleum of Sayyid Yahya Bakuvi, the astrologist, has a barrel-vaulted crypt (Cat. No. 144). The cry pt at Der is partially above ground (Cat. No. 160), as in earlier mausoleums o f this region. Traces of crypts below other Timurid mausoleums in Azerbaijan have not been noted. It is only in Turan that crypts appear with any regularity. ROOMS WITH SPECIAL FUNCTIONS

With the exception o f the special requirements o f the bath, it is almost impossible to identify the function o f various service rooms within a complex Timurid building. No chimneys, hearths, wells, or other identifying elements have been found in Timurid buildings that can be dated with certainty to the foundation of the building. The mihrab, which identifies a space as a hall for prayer, is the only element found that relates to the unique function o f a room. Some o f the madrasahs have closets and shelves for storage. Certain rooms, by virtue o f their minuscule size, can be identified as chilleh khanehs, dark, small cells for religious meditation. Large halls, which lack a mihrab. may be assumed to be the lecture halls and ceremonial rooms, known as jamaat khaneh. The shrine of Ahmad Yasavi appears to have the largest number o f such rooms, as its function was to feed and house travelers passing through a rather desolate area. Latrines are conspicuous by their apparent absence.

Organizing Principles follow one or more basic principles o f design. They may be thought of as having been planned as additive units (linearity), as court-centered (following bilateral sym­ metry), as dome-centered (radiality), and as a grid (infinite expandability). The basic design was further transformed through secondary principles of design: symmetry, repetition, and accretion. More than one major principle may affect the design o f a single plan, while second­ ary principles can be seen in details, such as the working out of a facade design. T

imurid buildings

Linearity (Unicameral and Multicameral Buildings) The domed square or rectangle is the basic unit of this plan type, to which may be added fur­ ther units o f similar form. Multicameral buildings may be planned as such from the begin­ ning, such as the mausoleums, which have a ziyarat khaneh (antechamber); or they may have acquired additions over several generations, as did many of the tomb towers in Mazanderan. Entire ensembles, such as the Shah-i Zindeh (Cat. Nos. 11 ff.) have grown up according to this pattern o f development, which is essentially linear growth. [ 81 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 4

Bilateral Symmetry (Court-centered) The focus o f the architecture is the court. All of the structures are assembled around it ac­ cording to principles o f repetition (arcades), symmetry (along axis), and conjunction. The axes o f the court determine the design of the plan. Building types that have court-centered plans are: masjids, madrasahs, ribats, caravansaries, and maydans. It may be assumed that other types, o f which no examples have survived, were also court-centered: private houses and hospitals. Radiality (Dome-centered) The circle is the planning unit o f this type, whether the central domed room that emerges is square or polygonal. The central room is surrounded by alcoves, small rooms, and ivans open­ ing to the outside. The plan often looks cruciform, because of the alcoves, and can be called “cross-in-square” if the spaces between the alcoves are bounded by walls, thus forming an outer square. The location, size, and shape of all these peripheral spaces are determined by lines radiating from the central circle, as will be explained in Chapter 7. Many shrines, such as those o f Ziyaratgah and Ghazni, as well as khanaqahs, such as that of Deh-i Minar (Cat. Nos. 124, 65, 64), are organized according to radial principles. Even some of the more complex buildings, like the shrine at Turkestan, have been shown to be the result o f radial planning (Cat. No. 53). Although the outer form of the shrine is rectangular, all of its parts have been defined by the geometry o f the central dome. Dome chambers that appear to be unicameral, but which have a large complement o f niches and alcoves on the interior and exterior, may also be considered as radially planned buildings, such as the shrine of Abu Nasr Parsa at Balkh, or the shrine “Momo Sharifan" at Ghazni (Cat. Nos. 59, 66). Infinite Expandability (Grid Plan) The basic unit o f this type is the bay, defined as a space demarcated by free-standing supports (pillars, columns, or piers). Most often, the space of the bay is covered by an individual vault. Groupings o f such bays are surrounded by curtain walls. The resulting hall can be expanded or contracted indefinitely, depending on the requirements of society. Nothing inherent in the design determines the final form or limits o f this type of plan. It is, of course, the oldest type of masjid plan in Iran, and was still popular for Timurid masjids, such as those o f the prayer halls at Ziyaratgah and Mashhad (Cat. Nos. 123, 90). A hall entirely composed of bays defined by columns or piers is referred to as "hypostyle."

Configurations C ertain

groupings

o f the above components constantly recur in Timurid architecture. ( 82 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CONCEPT DESIGX

C O U R T FACADE

The arcades o f the court facade, cither in single or double story, are combined with two- or four-axial ivans. The axes are emphasized through the projection upward o f the ivan screens.

ENTRANCE PORTAL (PISH TAQ )

The ivan, used as an entrance passage, often projects beyond the facade o f the building, and is usually much larger and more massive than ivans on court. The ivan may be flanked by min­ arets, or have minarets ascending behind the screen and above it. The various combinations are discussed above under "minaret.”

E N T R A N C E FACADE

The facade o f the entrance combines pishtaq, blind or open arcades, and corner towers. This configuration is most common in madrasahs.

ENTRANCE COMPLEX

In many court-centered buildings one moves from the pishtaq into a vestibule (dihliz) before entering the ivan, which opens onto the court. The introduction of this transitional space was to facilitate lateral movement in the entrance block as well as passage into the court. The lat­ eral axis o f the vestibule led to large public rooms o f either square or rectangular form. The most notable examples are at Gazurgah and Khargird (Cat. No. 71, 84). In the madrasah of Ulugh Beg in Samarqand passage into the lateral rooms is through L-shaped corridors, which lead to the public rooms from the pishtaq (Cat. No. 30). The longitudinal and lateral axes in the entrance complex arc thereby separated. Between the pishtaq of the entrance and the ivan on court there is consequently no vestibule.

Classes of Structures N o s e t o f individual components or organizing principles were exclusive to a particular building function. Components such as the court, the transverse hall, the facade, and the pish­ taq were shared by buildings with different functions. Systems o f organization were likewise shared. T he masjid-i jami’, the caravansary, and the madrasah are all planned around courts, and the cross-in-square, or radial, type of composition was appropriate for such diverse func­ tions as the masjid, the secular mausoleum, and the shrine. Nevertheless, within each class o f monument certain combinations of components and method o f organization became traditional, such that one can speak of a “Timurid madra­ sah," for example, as opposed to a Seljuq one. Such models develop their own momentum in [ 83 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 4

the history o f architecture and provide a point of departure for the next generation of archi­ tects. What makes a class type in any given period is the interplay o f the traditional model with the new forces, the new architectural vocabulary. From this process emerged a series of rec­ ognizable plan types.

Residential A rchitecture The information available on this class of architecture is insufficient to permit generalization. Only one palace complex has been preserved, that of Baku (Cat. No. 142), and its composition is insufficiently known. The residential quarters were apparently multistoricd and probably built in different stages. Of the Aq Saray palace at Shahrisabz only the gate remains, and ex­ cavations have failed to reveal the lines of the remaining structures (Cat. No. 39). Reconstruc­ tions o f this complex and others, based on literary sources, will be discussed in Chapter 8 on garden estates. The only standing remains o f a residential structure is the villa at Nardaran (Cat. No. 190). It follows the typically Timurid cross-in-square plan, with one large ivan as its main en­ trance. It is, therefore, similar to what the texts describe as the small palace situated in the garden. Examples o f domestic architecture have simply not survived, and the literary sources tell us nothing about housing.

Civil and Commercial Architecture

Administrative functions are assumed to have been the purpose of the so-called Divan Khaneh in the palace compound at Baku (Cat. No. 143). The design o f this structure is unique. It has a stately portal, leading into a vestibule that opens into an octagonal chamber and. also, into the arcaded ambulatory that surrounds it. One can imagine the dome chamber as a kind o f baldachin under which the prince sat to hear petitioners gathered in the court that encloses this structure. Other buildings dedicated to this purpose are not known, although the some­ what similar Bayt al-Mashaf in the court of the masjid-i ’Atiq of Shiraz, built in 1351, may have functioned in this way. / Commercial structures existed in considerable number, but only one is sufficiently known to give an idea o f what such buildings looked like. The caravansary at Qush Ribat consisted of two structures, one court-centered, the other covered (Cat. No. 107). The exterior with its round towers has a fortified look. The main entrance to the larger court-centered building is prominent and set off by massive rectangular towers. Opposite this entrance across the court lies the masjid, a square-domed hall, and beside it, other small-domed rooms reserved for un­ known functions. Otherwise, the sides of the court are surrounded by long halls divided into transverse bays. The alcoves thus formed would have provided the privacy necessary, and curtains could be hung across the front of them. The covered hall had similar but smaller rooms. Animals could have been accommodated in the court or in the large halls flanking the [ 84 )

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

IM S C t.P T Dt.SU.S

main entrances. Thus, the Timurid caravansary is similar to the Anatolian Seljuq type, the only type to have been studied in detail from pre-Timurid time, except that the components (particularly the transverse hall) come from the Timurid vocabulary. Two of the Timurid baths are known in detail (Cat. Nos. 44, 148). That o f Shahrisabz has all o f the elements o f the traditional Islamic bath, but these are now arranged around the cen­ tral chamber, much as in the radial composition resulting in the cross-in-square plan. The en­ tire bath is contained within a rectangle.

Religious and Charitable Foundations M A S J I D - I JAMI*

Some twenty-nine monuments in the Catalogue are categorized as large masjid-i jami’s that were either entirely new foundations or complete reconstructions. With few exceptions these buildings tended to be very formal, with well-defined entrances, for the most part, axial, in line with the sanctuary. In some the entrance is further emphasized by a monumental pishtaq and towers in the corners o f the facade or on all four corners (Cat. Nos. 5, 28. 69. 211). Only the masjid-i jami’ of Timur at Samarqand had towers Hanking its entrance portal, a theme no doubt borrowed from palace architecture. Court spaces may be very large or relatively small, but all seem to have been formally or­ ganized, having either two- or four-axial ivans. The rarer is the four-ivan plan (Cat. Nos. 5, 67, 78,90. 123, 175, 226A), and these tend to be very large buildings, although the court itself need not have been that grand, particularly in the examples from Central Iran. The qiblah side o f the court facade may be accentuated by the reduction o f the normal multiple arcade to single arches flanking the ivan-i maqsurah. This solution appears at Ziyaratgah (Cat. No. 123) and. according to literary sources, occurred in the two masjids o f Herat (Cat. Nos. 69, 78). The sanctuary almost always takes the form o f a large dome chamber entered from the ivan-i maqsurah. opening on the court. In several examples the mihrab area is located in an extension o ff the dome chamber (Cat. Nos. 5, 69, 90) or in the arm of a cruciform room (Cat. Nos. 120, 123). Occasionally, the sanctuary is an ivan (Cat. Nos. 78, 86), but in these cases the design probably resulted from having to work from pre-existing structures. The ivan-i maqsurah o f three large masjids was emphasized through the addition of flanking minarets (Cat. Nos. 28, 90, 123), as was, possibly, the restored masjid of Herat (Cat. No. 78). Covered prayer halls were o f two types: the traditional columned hall (e.g., Cat. Nos. 5. 28, 78, 123) and the vaulted hall (e.g., Cat. Nos. 221, 225, 138, 154). Regional preference seems to have dictated the choice, with the masjids of Central Iran, particularly the Yazd re­ gion, favoring the vaulted halls. Characteristic o f the Timurid masjid-i jami’ was the demarcation of spaces for specialized use within the covered prayer hall areas. At Yazd a space equal to that o f the court and sanc-

[ 85 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 4

tuary was dedicated to the housing o f a winter masjid (Cat. No. 226A). Small areas frequently appear as isolated rooms within the large masjids, but their function is not clear. At Tim urs masjid-i jami’ in Samarqand behind the lateral ivans were small dome chambers, a unique oc­ currence in the Timurid period. These could have functioned either as small prayer halls or as lecture halls, since teaching was most certainly carried on in the masjid. The Timurids did not build single minarets. Many of the city masjids still utilized old min­ arets, such as the Kalyan minaret of Bukhara (Cat. No. 5), and sometimes the new building encased an old minaret (Cat. Nos. 220, 225). Only the few monuments mentioned above as having pairs o f minarets Hanking portals, ivan-i maqsurah, or the corners o f the building were provided with some form o f minaret. Because most o f the masjid-i jami’s in this period were built without them, we are led to conclude that their presence had either iconographie or aes­ thetic significance, but were not essential (and perhaps not even used where they existed) for the call to prayer. The masjids o f Azerbayjan and Shirvan do not correspond to these patterns. The masjid at Derbent looks more like the Umayyad Mosque o f Damascus with its longitudinal prayer hall and dome chamber. The small masjid of the Shirvan Shahs at Baku (Cat. No. 147) is evidently a palace masjid not intended for the community, and even the larger masjid within the citadel could not have served the population. Two other buildings referred to at masjids have been compared with early Ottoman Tplan masjids at Bursa (Cat. Nos. 95, 214). They consist o f two axial dome chambers, the first serving as a covered “court," the second containing the mihrab (the case is not clear for Mash­ had). Like the Bursa masjids, these two buildings also have rooms flanking the central room, which give the plan the appearance o f a T. The building at Mashhad has an additional prayer hall to the right o f the central room, and tombs have been found below the rear chamber. If these are not masjids, perhaps they are the secular version of the two-chambered mausoleum known otherwise only from shrines (see below).

MASJ I D ( Q U A R T E R AND FUNERARY)

What must have been the most plentiful type of public house of prayer, the small quarter mas­ jid, has all but vanished. Only in the royal masjid at Baku (Cat. No. 147), the village masjids at Mardakyan (Cat. No. 188), Timeh (Cat. No. 52), Ziyaratgah (Cat. No. 122), and possibly Taft (Cat. No. 217), can a glimpse o f its physical appearance be gained. Most often, it was a single dome chamber; the more elaborate versions are o f cruciform plan with small rooms in the corners. Some followed the hypostyle hall plan with columned porch (Cat. No. 122). The dis­ tribution of these small masjids around a city is suggested by the five fragmentary remains of such masjids at Yazd (Cat. Nos. 223,224,225, 227, 228). The funerary masjid, erected near a tomb enclosure (hazirah) or in a cemetery, was bas­ ically a single dome chamber. An elegent radial adaptation of this plan occurs at Tayabad (Cat. No. 117). Other classes o f structures, such as madrasahs, shrines, mausoleums, and caravansaries, [ 86 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

COSCEPT D E MO S

included a small prayer hall for the visitor’s use. These were either square (or cruciform) or rectangular. The rectangular hall was normally divided into three transverse bays (Cat. Nos. 21,71,87). MADRASAH

The madrasah as a court-centered building with one or more ivans on its axes is known to have existed from the late eleventh century on. Much debate has focused on the number of these ivans, particularly for regions in which a madrasah could be devoted to more than one school o f jurisprudence. Theoretically, it has been suggested that certain ivans were assigned to par­ ticular schools, but in actuality this practice is confirmed only in a few cases. No evidence for this practice in the Iranian world has come to light. Therefore, the number of ivans in a Per­ sian madrasah probably had more to do with aesthetics and building traditions than with the potential “eclecticism” o f the madrasah. The most striking aspect o f the Timurid madrasah is the rationality o f its organization and its extreme symmetry. More than anything else, these characteristics make it immediately distinguishable from its ancestors, such as the Imami madrasah of Isfahan. Like these, how­ ever, the Timurid examples were all provided with courts, onto which opened either two- or four-axial ivans and an arcade, generally of two stories. Behind this arcade lie students' dor­ mitories, consisting o f narrow cells and provided with minimal lighting and a few shelves. The most interesting feature o f the Timurid madrasah is its complex entrance block. The characteristic entrance block usually contains two identical public meeting rooms, disposed symmetrically, one designated as a masjid only by the presence of a mihrab. Communication with these corner rooms from the entrance and from the court posed special problems for the architect, and he seems to have delighted in finding newer, more complex solutions (see es­ pecially the Samarqand madrasah. Cat. No. 30). This madrasah is also remarkable for its placement of the masjids, not behind the en­ trance facade, but in the back o f the court. Perhaps this long rectangular hall provided more space than could be obtained from a corner room. Other variations from the norm may be observed in this plan and suggest that Ulugh Beg had very special considerations in mind when commissioning it. Five o f the madrasahs are known to have included mausoleums for the founder (Cat. Nos. 27, 70, 77, 94, 119?), occupying either a corner room or a room extending beyond the rectangle o f the exterior, along an axis (Cat. Nos. 27, 77). Most madrasahs, unless located in the bazaar, had elaborate facades with corner towers and a pishtaq. The corner lowers o f Ulugh Beg’s and Gawhar Shad’s madrasahs were full-size minarets (Cat. Nos. 30, 70), as were those o f the four corners of Sultan Husayn’s (Cat. No. 77). KHANAQAH

Only one o f the buildings designated in the Catalogue as a khanaqah is identified as such by its inscription (Cat. No. 191), and not enough remains o f the structure to determine its plan. ( 87 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 4

In a second monument, however, the term khanaqah occurs in an inscription, suggesting that its identification is correct (Cat. No. 172). To this building are related in plan type the group locally reported to be khanaqahs (Cat. Nos. 8, 32, 50,62, 72, 172). All have one large room in which the Sufi ritual o f sama’ could take place, and most have small, subsidiary rooms for re­ treat, both on ground level and on upper stories. Several also have a very spacious pishtaq in which the circle o f Sufis could gather in suitable weather. Three o f the buildings display the more elaborate radially planned interiors, forming the cross-in-square (Cat. Nos. 64, 124, 130). Many o f these khanaqahs bear the name of the Sufi teacher wrho lies buried in a tomb inside or just beyond the portal. None of the buildings appears to have been the original kha­ naqah used by the teacher during his lifetime, although he may have resided at that site in some other structure. These khanaqahs are therefore, all commemorative and will be men­ tioned again in the context o f the shrine. The institutions known as langur should be included within this group as they are o f de­ sign similar to the khanaqah (Cat. Nos. 89, 185). To this group might also be added buildings w'hich were designated as jama at khaneh, a room for gathering, which wras sometimes a com­ ponent o f a larger structure (such as Gazurgah, Cat. No. 71). The masjid at the tomb of Shaykh Zayn al-Din at Tayabad is called a jama'at khaneh in texts (Cat. No. 117). Its form is discussed below under “Shrine.”

MAUS OLEUM ( S E C U L A R )

The tomb chamber may be free-standing or embedded within a larger structure. In the latter case, the mausoleum element may constitute an addition to an existing building or may be a contemporary with the adjoining structures. The tomb chamber is either square, polygonal, or cruciform, and in most cases it overlies a crypt. Most o f the square tombs, such as those o f the Timurid nobility at the Shah-i Zindeh (Cat. Nos. 12-20) have decorated facades and only one entrance. Polygonal tombs are rarer, the most elaborate being that o f Kunya Urgench (Cat. No. 9), but these also tend to have a pishtaq. The third plan type, the cruciform, was popular during the second half of the century (Cat. Nos. 36,49, 65, 146, 149). Its most complex expression may be found in the'Ishrat Kha­ neh (Cat. No. 35), the entire ground plan of which was based on the geometry o f the central dome chamber. A single tomb chamber was included in the madrasah in numerous cases, either as a cor­ ner room (e.g.. Cat. Nos. 94, 70) or an extension of the building (Cat. Nos. 27, 77). In the Hazrat Imam (Cat. No. 40) a tomb chamber was tucked in behind the facade of a court-cen­ tered building, and a second tomb chamber was situated at the end of the central axis. Emu­ lating these examples, the Gur-i Amir (Cat. No. 29C) adjoins the court, which fronted a mad­ rasah. The tomb chamber w'as not always integrated into a host building. Sometimes it retained its integrity by having joined to it the required auxiliary spaces, such as a small masjid (Cat. ( 88 J

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

COXCF.PT l) F S UI S

Nos. 21, 87). Rarely does one find a secular mausoleum preceded by an antechamber, as was common in the shrine. The two-chambered plan of the so-called Qazizadeh Rumi (Cat. No. 23) may have belonged to a secular complex like the ’Ishrat Khaneh.

SHRINE

Although both the secular mausoleum and the shrine are funerary buildings and tend to look alike, the usage differs. The shrine must often accommodate the needs o f pilgrims and the requirements o f certain rituals not shared with the secular mausoleum. The square, “canopy" type o f tomb chamber competed with the popular tower type, and both were frequently covered by pyramidal or conical external domes. Tomb towers were either circular or polygonal, the rarer choices being the hexagon (Cat. No. 165) and the duodecagon (Cat. Nos. 195,200). Occasionally the entrance was emphasized through a projecting pishtaq (Cat. Nos. 132, 133). A number o f shrines consist o f two dome chambers, arranged on an axis. The first is the ziyarat khaneh, the antechamber, and the second is for the tomb (Cat. Nos. 45, 53,61,96, 170, 187). In Mazanderan many o f the tomb towers had antechambers added to them at later dates (e.g., Cat. Nos. 240, 241,250). Popular during the latter half of the century was the cross-in-square composition with multiple entrances (Cat. Nos. 59, 66, 75, 89). Shrines accommodating a burial enclosure (hazirah), as opposed to the covered mauso­ leum, show a variety o f solutions. At Gazurgah (Cat. No. 71 ) the entire building surrounds the tomb, and the court is the organizing element. At Tayabad and Turuq (Cat. Nos. 117, 121) a funerary masjid stands behind the hazirah. During this period many old shrines were expanded in as space-efficient a way as possi­ ble. New madrasahs, masjids, khanaqahs cluster round the original shrine buildings (Cat. Nos. 10, 11,51,90-94, 118-120, 153). The only principle of organization to be observed is that the new parts, when viewed from key positions such as the court, should appear symmetrical and have regular angles. The junctions between structures, which were not generally visible, might appear irregular. Attempts were made to create configurations in joining the old and the new. The rooms Hanking the ivan at the entrance to the old masjid at Turbat-i Shaykh Jam were to look like elements in a formal Timurid entrance complex (Cat. No. 118). Similarly, the long hall which joins the tomb o f the Imam Riza at Mashhad with the new masjid-i jami’ (Cat. No. 90) formalized the connection between the two. For shrines that were newly created at the time, the spaces could be ordered according to the current principles of organization. The shrine at Turkestan has both axial and radial sys­ tems o f organization (Cat. No. 53). The shrine at Anau is composed around a court (Cat. No. 57).

f 89 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 4

REFERENCES

Ardalan and Bakhtiyar have attempted to ana­ lyze Iranian Islamic architecture in terms of its morphology ( 1973). T he attempt was new and re­ freshing in its approach, but for a variety of reasons did not completely succeed. One of the difficulties with their approach was that they insisted on as­ signing symbolic values to the components which they identified. These components, as we have tried to show, did not always operate in the same way in every configuration. Furthermore, the vo­ cabulary of architecture and its syntax altered and evolved through the ages. It was not in any respect static, as these authors would lead us to believe. In the present chapter, commentary on the syntax of components and ways o f arranging them refers only to the Timurid period. It remains for future detailed studies to define the lifespan of these fea­ tures beyond the period (before and after).

The only other work to approach Iranian archi­ tecture morphologically may be criticized for the opposite reason. Man’kovskaia’s monograph deal­ ing only with Central Asia, but through all periods, classifies forms of architecture as if they were mem­ bers of species (1980). It is never clear whether the basis for differentiation is one of function or style. Nevertheless, it docs demonstrate the variety of configurations that can be generated from a mini­ mum of forms, and it identifies these forms. For bibliography on specific classes of structures, the reader is referred to the References for Chap­ ter 3, the first section. Of particular interest to the study of forms has been the controversy surround­ ing the origins of the four-ivan plan for masjids and madrasahs, neatly summed up by Grabar (in The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 5. pp. 631 ff.).

I 90 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

5. Materials and Methods of Construction Craftsmen o f artisans considered earlier come to life in two miniatures, one ascribed to Bihzad and possibly completed by his assistants, and the second more securely ascribed to that master. The first is a double-page illustration in a Zafat Nameh o f Sharaf al-Din ’Ali Yazdi which was copied by Shir 'Ali in 872/ 14(>7 and illustrated, possibly some years later (PI. 4 8 1). The miniature in question is on fol. 359b and 360a. It was deposited in the treasury o f Husayn Bayqara, found its way to India, passed through the hands o f European dealers and was pur­ chased by Robert Garrett. It is now in the Milton S. Eisenhower Library o f The Johns Hopkins University (PI. 481). The miniature depicts the building of the masjid-ijami* o f Timur at Samarqand. As could be expected, artistic license is present in bringing together several stages in the construction and in an arbitrary selection o f building activities. Most of the figures wear turbans, probably indicative o f special skills or relative ranks. Skin tints range from light pink to jet black, as in the case o f one Negro, and those with the dark faces are primarily the unskilled workmen. Near the top o f the left-hand page a group of three najjars is assembling planks for a scaf­ fold. One, who seems to be a shagird, is using the type of small saw still employed in Iran, while the adze in the hand o f a najjar is also the same type still in use. The second najjar is planing a plank, although the rough scaffold did not require planed planks. The group is working within an undecorated part of the mosque, although the decoration is underway, as is shown by two spur walls that display elaborately carved marble slabs. T o the left o f the group, a supervisor stands in front o f a completed portal with a fiat arch. Arch and horizontal panel above it are decorated with mosaic faience and a horizontal band above the faience reflects a carved inscription. With raised staff, the supervisor urges a group of three kashi tarash to work more rapidly. They each hold the double-pointed, thin hammer of a type that remains in use in Iran. On the ground before one o f them is a right angle in wood or metal o f the kind used to check the accuracy of the trimmed faces of the tiles, as well as what appears to be a short ruler. These tiles had glazed surfaces in several colors, but to fit in with the tones o f the miniature they are all buff-colored. The artisans are cutting the small pieces, some are strewn on the ground, which will be fitted together on a full-size pattern to create mosaic faience. Indeed, in front of these men is a completed panel o f mosaic faience, very like those found on the surviving mosque, ready to be raised into its place on the fabric of the structure. In front o f the kashi tarash is a group o f four hajjar, one of whom may be a shagird. One is using what appears to be a kernel hammer to smooth the surfaces of a slab o f stone or marT

he types

I 91 I

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER J

ble, another carries o ff a specially shaped block. The third hajjar and the shagird are using steel hammers and sculpturing chisels to carve designs. The foreground o f the left-hand page is taken up by men working near a horse-drawn cart. Two unskilled workmen are unloading stone slabs; it takes three higher ranking men to supervise the two. One o f the three, at the rear of the cart, holds what appears to be a right angle tool o f iron; possibly it was used for sliding the slabs along the bed o f the cart, and a second holds a very small right angle tool. An elephant enters from the left with very large blocks carried in special cradles. On the right hand page the builders are at work. Within a spacious court, a rather small structure is being built o f fired brick. In the foreground two workmen appear to be mixing mortar in a puddle, while a Negro brings water in an animal skin. The workmen are wielding the same type o f spade with foot protection shoulders which is still employed in Iran in agri­ cultural work. The puddle resembles those made to prepare wet mud and straw for making sun-dried bricks. The mortar used was a mixture of hydrated lime and sand, mixed in a con­ tainer somewhat similar to the two shown in the scene. A workman climbs a ladder with a full container o f mortar. The banna', or the ustad banna*, is laying up an arch with the square bricks placed on their edges; they are passed to him by a shagird who takes them from a work­ man. On the ground level, four men carry dressed slabs that will form the dado of the struc­ ture. Their supervisor holds a small sickle-shaped tool. In the background o f the page is an arcade of five marble columns, spiral fluted and with stalactite capitals, which display flat-headed arches and mosaic faience in the same pattern and colors as on the other page. At the left rear is a figure which, it has been suggested, may be Timur himself. Given an inconspicuous place and rather ordinary dress, he is more likely the architect or the official in charge o f the construction of the mosque. There are three addi­ tional background figures: the one on the left appears to hold a shallow bowl, that in the cen­ ter is the supervisor o f the building o f the structure, and that on the right holds a tool with a quarter-moon-shaped blade, possibly a light axe. The second miniature is a single page from a Khamsah of Nizami depicting the building of the castle o f Khawarnaq (London. British Library. Or. 6810, f. 154b). Twenty men are very busily engaged in erecting a structure with a pointed-arch portal. There seems to be only a single supervisor who checks progress from a perch on a ladder, and is unaware of a certain amount o f confusion among the workmen. Turbans are not in evidence: the men are dressed, even half-dressed, for hard work. There is a puddle in the lower left corner with two spade-wielding figures whose postures are identical with those shown working at the puddle in the other miniature. The confusion appears in the fact that two half-dressed men lug two containers o f mortar away from the point where they are hoisted by rope to the top of the structure. The rather elaborate scaffold fulfills a useful purpose. A worker on the ground tosses fired bricks to one on the scaffold, who relays them on to the top and to the banna’, who checks the shape of each one with a small tool. Unfortunately, the man on the ground is throwing up his last brick: the two men in the lower right corner should be bringing along a fresh supply. Two kashi tarash cut steadily ( 92 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

M A T E R I A L S A X O M E T H O D S Oh C O X S T R C C T I O X

away, and three men manipulate dressed slabs in a rather aimless manner. The informal, down-to-earth aspect o f this scene contrasts strongly with the formal, courtly atmosphere of the building o f the masjid-i jami*. These paintings give us some idea of the composition and organization of the work crews and the techniques of construction and decoration.

Materials Used in Construction liricks: Sizes, Shapes, and Types T he s t a n d a r d , or commonly employed, bricks were square, continuing a tradition extend­ ing far back into the pre-Islamic periods. A certain amount of variation in sizes and colors and textures suggests that they were produced at many sites and as near as possible to the places where they were to be used. It does not appear, however, that remains of brick kilns have been found at sites o f major monuments. It is very probable that the kilns themselves would have been broken up at later periods to obtain bricks for reuse. While it has been suggested that tables o f the sizes o f bricks employed at various times could help date anepigraphical monu­ ments, the suggestion has little merit. What is clear is that changes in sizes o f bricks on a single structure indicate successive stages of construction, with stages separated by a scant period of lime or by a much longer one. Marked changes in size do not seem to take place within rela­ tively brief periods. However, it must be noted that during the II Khanid period the standard bricks were usually 20 or 21 cm. square by 5 cm. in thickness, while during the Timurid period the range o f sizes was betw een 24 and 27 cm. square by from 4 to 7 cm. in thickness. Cut bricks were produced by two methods. Wret bricks still in the frames for standard bricks, were cut by a sharp wire or knife before firing. The so-called brick ends were produced by this method as were square bricks of less than standard dimensions. Fired bricks were cut by the masons in order to adapt to special situations, such as to fit at angles against inset dec­ oration. Molded bricks have been noted on a very few monuments. At least one dome displays wedge-shaped bricks throughout its fabric. On the dome o f the mausoleum o f Gawhar Shad at Herat, the base o f the “organ pipe" ribs of the dome display semicircular bricks and seg­ ments o f semicircular bricks (Cat. No. 70). It may be noted that molded, cut, and small standard fired bricks were not produced in the numbers and the variety o f shapes common to monuments of the II Khanid and Seljuq periods. This was because the virtuosic displays of brickwork patterns had been replaced by faience decoration in very large part. The fired bricks range in tonality from a light buff to darker and more intense shades. Local clays are reflected in the finished product: the cherry-colored bricks of Qush Ribat re­ sult from the use o f the local red clay (Cat. No. 107). It is generally believed that many more religious structures, and secular ones as well, were f 93 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER

5

built of mud brick than o f fired brick. Pre-Timurid periods display many such monuments, usually in ruin from the effects o f exposure. However, scarcely a single mud brick monument o f the Timurid period remains except in the Ya/.d region. Gypsum (plaster o f Paris) mortar—gach in Persian—made by calcinating hydrated cal­ cium sulphate in small kilns built o f rubble masonry, was preferred to lime mortar, made bycalcinating limestone. Gach hardens very quickly. Samples o f gach vary considerably in hard­ ness and color. Certain monuments, in particular those at Ghazni, used a clay mortar, which was less effective in establishing a firm bond among the bricks. In earlier periods there was a considerable variety in the width o f the horizontal and ris­ ing joints. This was due, in part, to the use of so-called brick-end plugs within the wide rising joints. In the Timurid period, both horizontal and rising joints tended to be quite thin, less than 2 cm. Some monuments display thin strips o f glazed terra cotta set into the horizontal joints. The courses o f brick were usually laid on a scanty bed of mortar with the result that the wall surface appeared to have slightly raked joints. Flush pointing does not seem to have been popular and in cases where the brick lay did not produce slightly raked joints, these joints seem to have been faked during construction. Stone Dressed stone was used extensively in Azerbayjan during the II Khanid period, when most of the monuments were in that part o f the very large province that lay south o f the Aras River, later to become the boundary between Iran and the USSR. In the Timurid period the situa­ tion was reversed. The masjid-i Muzaffariyah at Tabriz displays six courses o f foundation blocks, each dressed block some 2 m. long and 60 cm. in height and depth. Floors were paved with stone slabs (Cat. No. 214). However in the Azerbayjan o f the Shirvan Shahs, to the north of the river, nearly all construction was in cut stone, normally laid in even courses. In Khurasan and Turan stone was very rarely used in construction. One of the exceptions is the shrine o f Ahmad Yasavi where stone foundations were placed under walls which were to carry heavy weights at higher levels (Cat. No. 53). Wood The use o f wood as a construction material was very limited. In the discussion of domes, men­ tion is made o f the use o f wood poles and beams as stiffening elements. Several structures dis­ play the use o f wood planks or beams as squinches. The dome of the so-called mausoleum of Qazizadeh Rumi is carried on wood beam squinches (Cat. No. 23). Many lintels were o f wood and have been cut out to be reused. One such lintel survives at Shah-i Zindeh (Cat. No. 15), and the lintels of the windows of the dome o f the masjid-i Shah at Mashhad (Cat. No. 95) are intact. However, the wood lintels o f the dome of the shrine at Sangvar (Cat. No. 114) have been robbed. I 94 j

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MA TER! ALS AND METHODS OE COS S T R UCT I OS

At the structure at Tayabad, small rectangular pieces of wood, 6 cm. x 15 cm., are in­ serted radially from the top of the semi-domes which flank the central dome (Cat. No. 117).

Methods of Construction Foundations As w a s the case for the structures of the II Khanid period, there is very little information about the type o f foundations employed by the builders within Iran. However, as concerns Turan, Soviet scholars and architects engaged in the restoration of monuments o f the period excavated alongside standing walls to reveal foundations. At the 'Ishrat Khaneh at Samarqand some walls rose from foundations of rubble masonry that extended 5 m. below ground level (Cat. No. 35). Other walls were built on a layer of baked brick 1 m. in depth, which was on top of a lower level o f rubble masonry. At the shrine of Ahmad Yasavi there was evidence o f deep foundations below the walls o f the central hall and below the pylons o f the entrance portal (Cat. No. 53). However, in this same structure other walls seem to have been placed directly on a cleared surface. Excavations by Un e s c o at the base of one of the minarets of the complex of Gawhar Shad at Herat revealed that it t ested upon a series o f stone slabs laid horizontally at a distance o f some 1.75 m. below the original ground level. Scaffolds Scaffolds o f wood were essential to a construction of any size. Such scaffolds could be o f three types: (1) completely free-standing, with no points of contact with the rising fabric; (2) free­ standing, but with some points o f adherence to the fabric; and (3) erected in stages, with each stage resting directly on wooden supports embedded in the fabric and projecting from it. In the well-known Timurid painting described above (Brit. Lib., Or. 6810, f. 154b), the impres­ sive but rather rickety scaffold appears to be mostly free-standing, but with some adherence to the structure. The use o f scaffolds erected in stages is reflected by the presence of scaffold holes on the monuments. On the Iranian plateau structures continued to be erected in a manner practiced over many centuries. Once a wall o f square, fired bricks has risen a meter or so above the ground, the mason mounts on the wall and builds it up under him. He hauls up loaded baskets o f mor­ tar, just the method shown in the miniature noted earlier. The bricks are thrown up to him by an apprentice, who times his throws to accents in a chant, and who speeds them into the ma­ son’s hand with remarkable accuracy. In this manner, the wall rises to a height o f three or four meters, the range o f throw. Above that height a scaffold is necessary. The scaffold holes are square in profile, usually two bricks plus joints and thus about 15 cm. on a side. Evidence from structures o f the 11 Khanid period where the wood supports re­ main embedded in the fabric indicate that these supports were usually the trunks of poplars. [ 95 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER

5

A number o f fine structures of the II Khanid period display gaping scaffold holes on dec­ orated exterior wall surfaces, but many more structures reveal holes in the fabric, which were hidden by the revetment o f the surfaces. This must also have been the case in the Timurid period, during which the tendency to cover exteriors with revetments was far more devel­ oped. The structure at Tayabad displays a great number of square scaffold holes, in three hor­ izontal rows, on its undecorated exterior wall surfaces (Cat. No. 117). No beam ends remain in these holes, an indication that the beams were removed as the scaffold was taken down. Should this suggestion seem self-evident and not worth making, there are examples where the beam ends were sawed o ff flush with the wall surfaces as the scaffolds were taken down. Scaffold holes are apparent at several monuments where sections of the decorative sheathing has peeled away from the fabric. At Shahrisabz. the Aq Saray displays several hori­ zontal rows o f holes, and similar rows are very conspicuous on the fabric o f the mausoleum of Jahangir (Cat. Nos. 39, 40). At the masjid-ijami’ of Timur at Samarqand a section o f the dec­ orative sheathing o f the vault o f the entrance ivan has fallen to reveal several rows of scaffold holes (Cat. No. 28). At the madrasah Ghiyathiyah at Khargird the panels o f the main facade display applied three-quarter colonettes, and where these have been damaged scaffold holes are visible (Cat. No. 84). The existence o f horizontal rows o f scaffold holes beneath the revetted surfaces makes it perfectly clear that all decorative elements must have been applied top to bottom, so to speak. Thus, the scaffold would be taken down stage by stage as the revetment was applied in hori­ zontal zones. Although the practice o f erecting scaffolds supported by timbers projecting from the fabric appears to have been more prevalent, there is one example in which free­ standing scaffolds were used. This monument is the so-called mausoleum o f Qazizadeh Rumi, where two domes rise above huge cubes executed in brick laid in common bond and where the wall surfaces display no trace o f scaffold holes (Cat. No. 23). The structure at Tayabad displays the exterior surface o f its central dome and the exte­ rior surface o f the vaulted ivan. These surfaces were never intended to be decorated. Both are provided with fairly regular rows of fired bricks set on edge, which project a number o f cen­ timeters above the surfaces. On the ivan surface the first horizontal row is a number o f meters above the springing line. It seems apparent that a ladder was placed on the surface, and a workman then used the projecting bricks as steps for an inspection and, if necessary, a repair to the vaulting. On the dome the bricks are placed at a lower level.

Arches A treatise o f the Timurid period, discussed in a later section (Chapter 7), was concerned, in part, with the theory o f the design and construction of arches. The type of arches mentioned include most o f those found in the surviving monuments: two-centered, three-centered, fourcentered, and segmental, or broken-headed, arches. Three-centered arches are possibly in the majority and the larger number appear to be high-crowned, that is, with heights greater [ 96 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MA T E R I A L S AXD METHODS O f l . O S S T R V C T t O S

than half their spans. The types were all in use in the II Khanid period, but not in such a great variety of profiles. Nearly all the arches are of fired brick: the exception being the stone arches of the region o f the Shirvan Shahs. The known ability o f the masons of Islamic Iran to erect large domes without centering and the advantages o f the very quick-setting gypsum mortar combine to suggest that the brick arches were put up with a minimum number o f technical devices. Such devices would include a cord, a horizontal plank, wooden angles, and. possibly, form boards. The horizontal plank would be placed across the opening o f the arch at the springing line. It would have a mark at its midpoint and others at chosen fractions o f its length. The wooden angles would be like the celluloid triangles used by architects but much larger in size. Using either a 45- or a 60-degree triangle, the upper end o f the cord would be run along the hypotenuse to its peak and the lower end past the midpoint mark to be fastened to the opposite wall. A second cord would relate to the other wall. Thus, the cords would establish the profile of three-centered arches, with the mason holding the bricks in place until the mortar set. Two-centered arches could be constructed from planks marked in thirds. Form boards for erecting arches have been found embedded in the masonry of the Tur­ kestan shrine (Cat. No. 53), but no such boards have survived in regions where wood was al­ ways scarce and precious for heating. However, about a quarter o f a century ago structures at Teheran were being constructed using form boards and no centering. The form board was placed on a cross member at the springing line and its upper end established the apex o f the arch. The board was held in place by a diagonal brace from the cross member. Obviously, this method represented a survival o f a much earlier practice. Form boards would have been made by soaking thin planks in water for a prolonged period and then bending them to certain pro­ files. The lower end o f such a board would be placed on the horizontal planks across the open­ ing at the springing line and its upper end would establish the apex of the arch. The first row o f bricks could be laid against the board, which could be shifted horizontally for a wider arch. A method of investigation into the possible use o f form boards would be to select a monument that displayed a very large number of arches of similar sizes, such as the madrasah at Khargird, and determine how many were of identical profile. If the number were quite consider­ able, it could be assumed that a single form board, or a pair of boards, had been moved from arch to arch.

Domes and Vaults

Domical forms run the gamut from the simple squinch vault of the interior to the complex elliptical shell, sometimes called the "melon-shaped” dome, that was so characteristic of Timurid exteriors. The structure of all these forms is intimately linked with their supporting systems, both structurally and aesthetically, and cannot be analyzed intelligently without ref­ erence to these systems. Domical forms occurring inside the building will therefore be dis­ cussed in the next section, which deals with structuring o f interiors. External domes constitute an entirely different set o f forms and will be dealt with in the context of exteriors. [ 97 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER

5

Stairs The minarets are provided with the usual interior stairs, which rotate around a core o f baked brick, except for those that are rather more like corner towers than minarets. As found on the madrasah o f Ulugh Beg at Bukhara and on the Gur-i Amir, they lack stairs (Cat. Nos. 4 , 29C). Stairs within other structures are either spiral or successive straight flights. Some o f them served for the inspection, maintenance, and repair o f the fabric of the structures. This type ascended to the roofs, flat or vaulted, of the structures, while from the roof access could be gained through openings to the spaces between the inner dome and the outer dome o f the structures. Other stairs, both spiral and with straight flights, served to give access to a secondstory level. In contrast to the II Khanid period, a considerable number of structures had welldeveloped second-floor plans. O f course, the madrasah displayed living quarters on two floors. Other monuments with fairly complex second-story plans include the ’Ishrat Khaneh at Samarqand and the shrine of Ahmad Yasavi (Cat. Nos. 35, 53).

The Structuring of Space R ela tio n of M o n u m en t s to T h eir S ites

in Iran or Turan has any monument of the Timurid period been preserved along with its contemporary urban surrounding. Certain monuments that were once embedded within built-up areas are now free-standing and owe their preservation to continued religious significance and superiority o f construction. The urban surroundings were built o f ephem­ eral materials, which had to be replaced in each generation. In modern times much of this original urban fabric w'as cleared away, leaving the medieval monument as a relic. Some idea of the original context can be gathered, however, from the monument itself. Exteriors deco­ rated on all sides suggest a free-standing building. Grand facades must have originally faced on a street or plaza. Multiple entrances indicate accessibility from various directions, and thus, the centrality o f the location. The continuing existence of medieval monuments along a thor­ oughfare helped to preserve that thoroughfare, so that we can be fairly certain about avenues of communication contemporary with the monuments. The large avenue running between the masjid-i jami’ o f Samarqand and the Registan square echoes the path of Timur’s grand bazaar, as described by Clavijo. Certain generalizations can be made about the siting o f the various classes o f monuments: mausoleums and shrines, masjids, madrasahs, and ensembles. Mausoleums o f rulers and members of royal families w'ere placed on specially selected sites, while the tombs o f very important civil and religious personalities were occasionally erected in built-up areas adjacent to an existing mosque or shrine. However, the normal lo­ cation for a mausoleum or a tomb tower was in one o f the local cemeteries situated outside the gates o f the towns. At Qumm the surviving tombs—one o f the Seljuq period, a number from II Khanid times, and a score from the Timurid period—appear to fall within four groups asA t n o s it e

l 98 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MAT ERI AL S AXD METHODS OF COXS T RL CT I OX

sociated with as many now vanished gates o f the town: the Rayy gate to the north, the Kashan gate to the east, the Qal’eh gate to the south, and an area to the west, arbitrarily called the Hamadan gate. In Ma/.anderan most o f the tomb towers o f the Timurid and other periods were outside the town gates in cemeteries. Some o f these cemeteries were swept clear of their grave slabs in later centuries. At Damghan some four mausoleums were grouped in relation to the earlier Imamzadeh ’Ali b. Ja’far. At Ghazni rather prominent hills were favored as sites for mauso­ leums. Masjids were either free-standing or were embedded within urban areas. In the Timurid period most were free-standing, but many were still built into the bazaar, such as the masjid-i Maydan-i Sang o f Kashan (Cat. No. 175). It is enclosed on all sides except for a small area fronting its double portal. It is not always easy to tell whether exteriors which now are revealed were intended to be that way. The southwest exterior wall of the masjid-i jami' o f Gawhar Shad at Mashhad was recently cleared of encroaching structures and decorated with modern tiles in the Timurid style. According to the foundation document, a major street ran parallel to this wall, but there still may have been structures intervening between the masjid-i jami’ and the street. Even if an empty space were originally intended, it would not have taken long be­ fore stalls and makeshift lean-tos were erected, and then transformed into mud-brick shops and dwellings. There seems to have been less of a preoccupation with the outward appearance of the building, except for its portal, in the Iranian provinces of the Timurid empire. The exterior boundaries o f large masjids tend to be irregular, following either the dictates o f the surround­ ings or the needs o f the interior. Most o f the madrasahs were intended to stand alone. At Samarqand and at Khargird the exterior wall surfaces were extensively decorated with patterns o f glazed brick (Cat. Nos. 30, 84). By contrast, the contemporary madrasah at Bukhara appears to have been thrust into a heavily occupied area and arranged to open onto a busy street. Buildings constructed as part o f an ensemble might relate to a central, organizing space, such as a maydan. The facade o f the building would stand free, but the other sides might not (e.g., Afushteh, Cat. No. 129; Samarqand, Cat. No. 29). Possibly the masjid-i Mir Chaqmaq at Yazd had one side facing a maydan, while the others bordered on streets, as suggested by the multiple entrances (Cat. No. 22GA). Other elements of the ensemble that may have been lo­ cated around this space were a khanaqah, a qanat, and a well. Another type of ensemble clustered around the intersection of neighborhood streets and often included the quarter bazaar and masjid. Today only the masjid and a few shops may survive. The quarter masjids identified in the previous chapters probably belonged to such ensembles, but the evidence o f their foundation documents is not available to confirm this suggestion. Timurid elements were often intruded into pre-existing ensembles, for the most part, shrines. The new elements tended to reorganize the complex along the lines of a Timurid building. Exteriors were squared off, angles were regularized, courts were introduced to [ 99 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER

5

bring order to chaos. In the shrine atTurbat-i Shaykhjam the additions provided an entrance complex and several new courtyard areas (Cat. Nos. 118-120). At Mashhad the construction o f the new masjid-i jami* brought with it a new way of approaching the shrine, and the later addition o f the “Old Court” facilitated the orderly procession to the tomb (Cat. Nos. 90-94). All o f this was fitted into a pre-existing urban structure, known from the vaqf nameh of the masjid, without essentially disturbing it. The use o f multiple minarets, flanking portals or in corners o f a building, was certainly related to the siting o f a building. These could be seen from a considerable distance above the urban mass and helped to orient the city dweller. In Turan the builders began to move the minarets to the corners o f the entrance facade, as in the madrasahs o f Ulugh Beg at Samarqand and Bukhara. The entire facade then became the major element to relate the mon­ ument to its site. These observations notwithstanding, it appears that monumental planning as we have come to think o f it was not practiced in the Timurid period. Such devices as the opening of vistas, the climactic arrangement of successive structures, the establishment o f a means of communication to a major monument, or a planned relationship between important struc­ tures in the same general area were simply not used. There is no indication from historical sources that such an imposing structure as the masjid-i jami* of Timur at Samarqand was pro­ vided with a monumental approach, although arriving at the Iron Gate, the visitor could not fail to be captivated by its mass, looming over the city. The Firuzeh Gate did open to an avenue leading to the gardens o f Timur, but the character o f this avenue is not clear. Even the Registan o f Samarqand as a striking composition may be the outcome of its transformation in the early seventeenth century. Although we know that several Timurid buildings clustered around it, the precise organization of the buildings is not known and the aesthetics o f the whole can only be conjectured. That Timurid ensembles were rationally organized according to principles o f geometry does not mean that these principles worked toward an aesthetic ef­ fect. The design o f a building was strongly affected by its siting. In particular, its exterior form corresponded to the environment. The process o f design, however, began not with the shape of the exterior, but with the needs o f the interior. Once the components had been arranged according to a satisfactory scheme, the outline of the exterior could be drawn. In some cases the exterior shape reflects the interior. In others, the exterior might be completely independ­ ent o f the shapes inside the building. The architect might wish to create a strongly geometric form, as at Turkestan, where each interior space is a different form but the whole is encased in a rectangle. Timurid architecture was designed from the inside out.

I nteriors

One o f the salient features o f Timurid architecture is the visual fusion of walls with super­ structure, that is, the support system with the vaulting, for most Timurid monuments were roofed in brick, necessitating some kind o f vault. The wide range of brick vaults in Persian architecture has always elicited much interest. The look of the interior as a whole concerned ( 100 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MAT ER I A L S A M ) METHODS OE COS STR LCTI OX

the architect, however, not which kind of vault to use. Any consideration of vaulting would be closely tied to the means o f support—walls, arches, or piers, and the variety of ways in which these could be combined. Further, there was a widespread tendency in Timurid architecture to conceal the functional masonry behind revetment (of plaster, brick, or tile). Previously, revetment had only been applied to surfaces and reflected the planimetric volumes o f the masonry. In the Timurid period even the volumes o f the structure were ig­ nored by the revetment. Whole membranes were constructed in prefabricated plaster sections and mounted inside curved spaces. The interiors of Timurid buildings are therefore visually more complex than ever before. It would be incorrect to consider this membrane as mere revetment, for it appears out­ wardly as if it were part o f the structure. It is often difficult to determine what is revetment and what is structure, particularly if the revetment is brick. In some cases we discover the real­ ity only when it is revealed through deterioration of the revetment. The revetment follows certain structural principles that at times are quite independent of the masonry. Revetments will, therefore, be distinguished here from functional features wherever possible. With the increasing importance of geometric designs in interior spaces, ribs o f brick or plaster, functional or decorative, became widespread. The employment o f such ribs in the construction o f these designs is discussed in Chapter 7. The designs themselves will be de­ scribed as elements o f style in Chapter 6. T h e c h a ra c te r o f an in terio r space may be defined in term s o f th re e stru ctu ral elem ents: th e su p p o rt system, th e transition system, a n d the covering.

Support Systems In Timurid architecture there were five types o f support systems: 1. parallel walls (with or without a nonsupportive terminal wall). 2. tangent walls (square or polygon). 3. parallel arches.

4. tangent arches (square or polygon). 5. intersecting arches (square or polygon).

PARALLEL WALLS

(PI. 235)

Spaces defined by two parallel load-bearing walls (supporting some form o f tunnel vault) are found with broad spans in features such as the ivans on courts or in monumental portals (pishtaq). With narrow spans these unidirectional spaces form corridors.

T A N G E N T WALLS

(Pis. 62, 1 19)

The most common spatial unit in pre-Timurid architecture was the second type, with four or more adjoining walls, and is found in such contexts as mausoleums, garden pavilions, and [ 101 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER

5

masjid sanctuaries. Its evolution during the last quarter of the fourteenth century is most im­ portant. Evident is an attempt to break away from the earthbound, space-binding, boxlike quality o f the solid walls. This was done by gouging deep arched niches into the supporting walls. As they became deeper and wider they provided more floor space and the room took on a cruciform appearance. As the niches became higher, they approached the transition sys­ tem (generally an octagon). These aesthetics led eventually to the adoption o f the three sup­ port systems based on arches.

PARALLEL A R CHE S

The possibility that such systems could work may have been suggested by the parallel arch support system, which had been evolved earlier for unidirectional structures as an alternative to parallel walls. Instead o f constructing the vault directly over the two parallel walls, arches were built transversely, across the space between the walls (Pis. 179, 319). Coverings o f one sort or another were then built over the bay thus formed. In the early fourteenth century a special type o f vault was developed for this kind of bay (variously termed “complex," “tripar­ tite," “transverse," "segmental,” discussed below). Spaces with this support system were par­ ticularly favored for prayer halls that flank a dome chamber, as in the masjid-i jami’ o f Yazd, where they are oriented longitudinally (PI. 436) or which serve as masjid within a madrasah or complex, such as the masjid-i Kirmani at Turbat-i Shaykh Jam and the Muzaffarid addition to the masjid-i jami* o f Isfahan (PI. 368). Although these spaces appear to be related structur­ ally to those having parallel walls, the walls in these cases are really curtain walls, while the supporting members are thick piers embedded in the walls or concealed by galleries. The spaces between the piers became arched alcoves, as at Gazurgah (PI. 178), and were frequently provided with a mezzanine level which added floor space while at the same time strengthening the structure by tying the piers together. This form of support system was used in many variations in the Turkestan shrine (Cat. No. 53) and later in Yazd (e.g., Cat. Nos. 156, 224). It seems to have come to Turan from Iran and then to have returned to Iran in a refined form about mid-century.

TANGENT ARCHES

At the same moment that the parallel arch system arrived in Turan, the tangent arch system also appeared. The four walls o f a square were replaced by four broad arches, which spring from common corner piers or from tangent corner piers. There is very little wall surface. The alcoves thus formed beneath these arches absorb the thickness of the supporting piers, as in the system of parallel arches. The new form is described in Timurid texts as a “chahar taq,” or “chahar suffeh," mentioned in Chapter 4 as a component in itself. Structurally it bears no relation to the Sasanian fire temple, also called chahar taq, which is essentially a tangent wall system having four arched openings (thus “four arches”). For the tangent arch system a new type o f transition to dome was demanded. Instead of [ 102 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MATERI ALS A.\D METHODS OF COS S T RCCT I OX

building up the wall above the shoulder of the arch, the mason constructed partial arches di­ rectly on the shoulders to bridge the corners (PI. 226). This system will be discussed below as the “recumbent arch” transition system. Tangent arches are also found in the hypostyle arrangement o f interior space, where col­ umns or piers are the supporting members (PI. 287). The scale is usually very modest, how­ ever, and the bays formed by the piers can be easily covered with a variety o f different vaults. These bays were never independent units and were always contained within walls. By con­ trast, the new form is a unit that could be free-standing or attached and is o f much larger scale. It served the same purposes as the tangent wall system. The evolution o f the tangent arch system is difficult to trace. It is not clear whether the tangent arch system evolved in Timurid Turan or was imported there from central Iran. The late fourteenth-century lantern domes at Isfahan (PI. 367) and Turbat-i Shaykh Jam (PI. 294) rest on four arches, but in both cases one pair o f arches is recumbent on the other pair. These are examples, therefore, o f parallel arch systems. The masjid in the Turkestan shrine (Cat. No. 53) has a similar arrangement but supports a much larger dome than the earlier exam­ ples. They are, however, indications of the direction in which the architects of Iran were mov­ ing in the late fourteenth century before they entered the service of the Timurids. None o f the monuments built by Timur, with the exception of the Turkestan shrine (in the kaduk khaneh) shows familiarity with the tangent arch system. The next appearance is made some twenty-five years later at Gazurgah (Cat. No. 71 ). The gap between Turkestan and Gazurgah could no doubt have been filled by monuments no longer extant (particularly at Herat, such as the complex built by Qavam al-Din in 1410, SCN 90-91 ) or insufficiently known (the madrasah o f Ulugh Beg in Samarqand, the masjid-i jami* of Gawhar Shad at Mashhad Cat. Nos. 30, 90). The broad, high, arched niches at Shahrisabz (Ha/.rat Imam) and in the masjid-i jami' at Samarqand may be interpreted as imitations o f the foreign system (Cat. Nos. 40, 28). The chahar taq at the Shah-i Zindeh, associated with the Tuman Aqa complex, ap­ pears to have a tangent arch system, but its structure cannot be studied because it is covered by a plaster muqarnas (Cat. No. 21). It is only with the shift o f initiative to Shah Rukh, his family, and his court that this sup­ port system clearly begins to play a role of increasing importance. First in Khurasan, in the cells lining the court at Gazurgah (1425), then at Khargird (I436T, PI. 234) and from there to Mashhad (masjid-i Shah, Do Dar madrasah), Yazd (Mir Chaqmaq, etc.), and back to Turan (Cat. Nos. 7 1 ,8 4 ,9 5 ,9 4 ,226A). By the middle of the fifteenth century the tangent arch system was in wide use, not only for small spaces but also for large domes (c.g., Mashhad, Khargird). It could I k * utilized by village masons as well as by master builders working for the royal house­ hold.

I N T E R S E C T I N G A R CHE S

The second structural innovation o f the Timurid architects with regard to interiors was the square, or occasionally the polygonal, room (e.g., at Afushieh, Cat. Nos. 132-133) constructed I 103 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER

5

around a frame o f four or more free-standing, intersecting arches. The upright section o f the arch is both a pier and a buttress. In a square space the piers are rectangular in plan, begin­ ning at the periphery o f the building and extending to the edge of the central square. In the polygon, the piers are triangular, with the apex pointing in toward the center of the circle. This support system spun an aerial web with many openings, which required roofings ad­ ditional to the central dome. A variety of different vaults were used. The space left for the dome was always much smaller than the dimensions of the room because the arches were set somewhat in from the corners. In the earliest examples— Herat (PI. 166), Khargird (PI. 224)— the arches lie just inside the square. Later they were moved further in toward the center o f the room, and the dimensions o f the dome were substantially reduced (Tayabad, Cat. No. 117; Langur, PI. 239). The interior takes on an upward soaring movement. It was in these spaces that the great plaster membranes played a vital role. The masonry and vaults filling the interstices between arches and walls defined only the basic planes. The plaster membrane introduced a wide variety of details: muqarnas, arch nets, secondary ribs, etc. These details smoothed out angles and filled voids. Plaster ribs gave emphasis to the main lines o f the architecture and suggested additional support and buttressing, thus appearing to fortify the structure. Functiotwl Transition System Various devices were created to transform the square or polygon, defined by the support sys­ tem, into a circle over which a domical cap could be erected. The Timurid architects contin­ ued to use traditional methods, which they modified to suit new support systems and aesthetic ideals. But they also evolved new systems.

squinch

The squinch is achieved by building a bridge over the corners of the square to form an octa­ gon. The walls o f the octagon are carried upward to a certain height and form a base for the dome. One or more polygons (multiples o f eight) may be interposed between the octagon and dome to decrease the incongruency of polygon and circle. Many different forms o f squinches are known from earlier periods. All of these occur in Timurid architecture. The simplest form consists of wood or iron beams laid across the cor­ ner, resting on tangent walls. The masonry o f an octagon or the dome itself may be built di­ rectly on top o f the beam foundation. This method could only be used when the interior of the dome was to be concealed behind plaster revetments such as the muqarnas, because o f the need to hide the awkward corner void. This system is found in the mausoleum of Saray Mulk Khanum in Samarqand and the mosque of the shrine at Turkestan (Cat. Nos. 27, 53). It may also underlie the muqarnas plaster revetments o f the Tuman Aqa mausoleum at the Shah-i Zindeh and the so-called mausoleum o f the Qazizadeh Rumi (Cat. Nos. 21 A, 23). Another sys­ tem that places the dome almost directly over the walls is the cellular console squinch (PI. 3). ( 104 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MA TEHIALS AXD METHODS O t COXSTKL CTIOX

It was common in Central Asia before the Timurid period and is found only infrequently in Timurid buildings. It is also a form that becomes masked by plaster revetments, as was the case in the tomb o f Jahangir at Shahrisabz (PI. 114). These are essentially bracketed lintels. The most common squinch system involves arches thrown over the corner angles. The corner arches become part o f an octagonal plinth over which the dome is built. They are com­ plemented by blind arch panels or arched niches in the intervening facets of the octagon. The octagonal zone became an important element in the design, often posing as an arcade, with elaborate revetments, decorative arches, and windows. Although the squinch arch alone could bear the weight set down upon it, architects tended to buttress it with a variety o f devices. In a few Timurid monuments one still finds the nested or stepped arch squinch (PI. 113). It was used in other Central Asian monuments of pre-Timurid date but was not common in Iran. More common were the squinch arches backed by semidomes or groined vaults (Pis. 62, 118), forms o f longstanding tradition in Iran and Central Asia, since the tenth century. The Shah-i Zindeh mausoleums all have squinches of this type with the exception of the Tuman Aqa and “Qazizadeh Rumi" (PI. 57). The great domes of the masjid-i jami* o f Timur at Samarqand display this feature on a monumental scale (PI. 74). In fact there are only three or four Timurid monuments in Samarqand that do not have octagonal transition zones with squinch arches backed by semidomes. Most interesting are the modifications to the transition zone by the architects o f the Ya/.d region. The wall niche and the arched recess of the octag­ onal zone merge. In the masjid o f Mir Chaqmaq the four walls of the dome chamber had been hollowed out to hold a gallery with openings below the squinch arches (PI. 454). Some twentyfive years later at Taft this gallery appears as a downward extension o f the squinch (PI. 427). It is difficult to determine whether in this case the arches rest on an upright pier or on the adjacent wall niches. The support system seems to be a hybrid of the tangent wall and tangent arch systems, particularly in the masjid-i Muzaffariyah at Tabriz (Cat. No. 214). It was this peculiar hybrid that was to appear later in the Safavid masjid-i Shaykh Lutfullah at Isfahan. Squinches were often filled with muqarnas or arch-net ornament.

R E C U M B E N T A R CHE S

Support systems that involve arches must use as a transitional device a form consisting o f the uppermost section o f an arch, generally having the same profile as the support arches, and springing f rom the shoulders o f the support arches across a corner or between two parallel arches. In the earliest examples the recumbent arch appears alone. The area beneath it is groined and gives the unit the shape o f a “kite’*or rhomboid (Persian, trunj). It is often referred to as a “kite-shaped squinch.*' Because it is used in conjunction with supporting arches and grows between them, it has also been called a “pendentive.” The term “recumbent arch" describes more accurately the functional character of the form, as it “rests” on the shoulder o f full arches. The area beneath has no load-bearing value, and its treatment must Ik* considered a separate problem. The clearest examples o f recumbent arches in dome chambers are found 1 105 J

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 5

in the masjid o f the Khargird madrasah (PI. 226) and the mausoleum in the Do Dar madrasah at Mashhad (PI. 255). In the latter the “pendentive" is clearly a membrane of brick. At Khar­ gird there is no in-fill at all. At Turbat-i Shaykh Jam the recumbent arches in the Masjid-i Jadid are abutted by semidomes extended down to fill the space between arches (Pis. 302, 304). While all o f these examples may appear to produce “kite-shaped" pendentives, each is a distinctly different structure; nevertheless the functional element in all is the recumbent arch. Domical vaults on recumbent arches laid across tangent arches replaced many o f the cloister vault forms that had been used in pillared halls. Examples can be seen in the caravan­ sary at Ribat-i Safid (PI. 287) and in the masjid-i jami’ of Nishapur (PI. 272). The recumbent arch is the key element in vaults laid between pairs of parallel girder arches. They make it possible to divide the bay into three sections, each of which can be vaulted separately (see be­ low, “tripartite transverse vaults." p. 110).

PENDENTIVES

The term pendentive may be used for a device that fills the corner between the springing of tangent arches up to their crowns to form a continuous base for a dome or vault. Courses of brick are corbeled or warped inward. In Timurid architecture such forms could be curved (as at Ziyaratgah, the bays o f the rivaqs, cf. PI. 314), fiat (as in the rare stone-lined vault of the Hazrat Imam crypt at Shahrisabz, PI. 111), or groined (masjid-i Kalyan, Bukhara, PI. 16). The dars khaneh in the madrasah o f Ulugh Beg in Bukhara (Cat. No. 4) has a unique muqarnas pendentive (see below). The groined pendentive was used in conjunction with shoulder arches, whose flat crown formed one o f the facets o f the polygonal base o f the vault (Gazurgah, vestibule, PI. 176). The vaults that were commonly used in this configuration were gored or complex and tended to be shallow or flat. They were also often recessed (Isfahan, Shahshahan; Turkestan, see PI. 372). Pendentives were used as transitional elements in certain types of cloister vaults (PI. 285) as well as with domes and domical vaults. It is difficult to distinguish the recumbent arch transition from the pendentive when a revetment covers the pendentive area. Plaster or brick ribs may imitate the recumbent arch. In the mosque at Ziyaratgah the vaults in the rivaqs are constructed as pendentives but have an overlay o f brick in the form o f two intersecting arches (see “Arch Net” below). During the second half o f the fifteenth century the less luxurious buildings favor pendentives concealed behind a more elaborate revetment.

Nonfunctional Transition Systems MUQARNAS

In Arabic literature, the term muqarnas describes a variety of different decorative techniques: painting, carving, or simply very elaborate decoration. The term occurs in twelfth century I 106 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

A M TL Hi A L S A M ) A I t T/ I ODS OH C O \ S T H C C T I O S

Genizah documents from Cairo synagogues, describing the decorated vault o f a house, and it was the subject o f concern to the Timurid mathematician Kashi. The muqarnas has a long history and a complicated evolution going back to the tenth cen­ tury. It may be defined as "the filling of a concave surface or area by two or more tiers o f com­ binations o f miniature quarter domes, with the apices of the quarter domes in each tier pro­ jecting forward from the tier below.” The geometric design of the muqarnas changed during the early Timurid period and will be discussed below, but the function of the Timurid muqar­ nas remained similar to that o f the II Khanid period. It served as a filler for semidomes, par­ ticularly mihrab niche hoods, for squinches (PI. 62; early Shah-i Zindeh mausoleums. Cat. Nos. 12-20, 26) for portals (Shirin Bika Aqa, Cal. No. 17), for tripartite vaults (Gazurgah, PI. 179). and for the interstices o f vaults built on intersecting arch systems (Cat. No. 84). Muqar­ nas cornices encircled the bases of external domes. The interiors o f some of the early domes were filled with muqarnas (Cat. Nos. 21,23, 27, 40). It was particularly effective in unifying the arched niche o f the supporting walls with the dome. The muqarnas began in the dome or at its base and continued along the transition zone down into the backs of the niches (Turkes­ tan, Cat. No. 53). By the middle o f the fifteenth century, this popular form, which had enjoyed so distin­ guished a career, gave way to the arch net. At Kuhsan is found one o f the last examples in which muqarnas and arch net are used together (Cat. No. 87).

ARCH NET

In this transitional system a curved surface is broken up by a pattern of intersecting arches. It is frequently referred to as a “squinch net,” but as it is not genetically related to the squinch, “arch net” is preferred. The Persian builder’s term, rasmisazi, describes the manner in which such configurations were laid out (lit., "made by drawing"), for the arch net is but part o f a larger stellate composition, which is "drawn" (Pis. 177, 322. 464). An arch net results from the projection onto a curved space o f a stellate geometric pattern or portion thereof. The lines in the pattern appear as a series o f intersecting arches. The sys­ tem transforms a polygonal base on one plane into a polygonal star, on a higher plane. The points o f the polygonal star are the "valleys” between the points o f the intersecting arches. When a stellate pattern is projected onto a dome over arches, the profile of the intersecting arches corresponds to the profile of the supporting arches. The rhomboids, or “kite-shaped,” interstices formed by the intersecting arches are folded along their vertical axis, which is an extension o f a line connecting the point of the arch with the center o f the star pattern. The domical cap o f the stellate pattern appears supported by a prism. The arch net may be confined to pendentive areas or may fill the entire dome. As the number o f elements in the arch net is increased, the area to be covered by a vault or dome is reduced. In the second half o f the fifteenth century the arch net often formed a projecting console between the primary transition system, usually a squinch octagon, and the dome. Some o f these consoles were decorative (Gazurgah; Zarnigar Khaneh; Ghazni. Cat. No. 65), I 107 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER

5

while others may have had some load-bearing function (Herat, ’Abdullah, PI. 194; Ghurian; Hindvalan; Isfahan: Darb-i Imam, PI. 377, Abu Mas’ud, Shahshahan; Cat. Nos. 75, 67, 82, 170, 172, 169). In the mausoleum at Kuhsan the circle of the dome is transformed into a po­ lygonal star and integrated with muqarnas (Cat. No. 87). By the middle o f the fifteenth century the arch net had supplanted the muqarnas as the common transitional device, although the muqarnas survived in restricted areas, such as por­ tal semidomes (PI. 458). The arch net also replaced the Ranking tunnel vaults of tripartite transverse vaults. Employed in every conceivable curved space, it remained a vital form well into the nineteenth century. In order to explain the ubiquitous success o f the arch net, one must grasp the extent to which the architect was dominated by the impulse to geometricize three-dimensional space, particularly in the dome. The dome was the perfect receptacle for star patterns as these were based upon the circle. Stellate patterns in a dome also made sense iconographically since the dome was often compared to the cosmos. Geometric star patterns formed by ribs or segments of masonry appeared in domes and vaults as early as the Seljuq period and continued in use through the fourteenth century, but during the Timurid period geometric design became an obsession. The accomplishments of fourteenth century masons provided the technology that permitted this obsession full rein. Indications that architects in the late fourteenth century were already using an arch net of some form appear in the Muzaffarid additions to the masjid-i jami’ of Isfahan (PI. 367). Unlike the ribbed vaults in the mosque itself, those of the addition are securely dated (the ribbed vaults in the masjid-i jami’ may well date from the same period or even later). The com­ plex ribbed groin vault capping the lantern in the addition provides an example of the tech­ nology that Timurid architects were to build upon. An arched brick rib encloses every two windows. These ribs intersect high above the windows and form a console on which the gored vault is set. The interstices between the ribs are filled in decorative lay (alternating headers and stretchers). This arch-net system is an integral part of the vault and served as an armature for constructing the various lozenges. The experiments o f masons during the fourteenth century demonstrated that stellate patterns could I k * modeled in three dimensions in the fabric of the dome or vault. Their meth­ ods grew out o f the traditional system of building vaults in sections, varying the direction of the lay to secure the courses. The recumbent arch, which was also being developed during the fourteenth century seems to have been an additional influence on the evolution o f the arch net. The earliest ex­ amples o f the arch net arc no more than two tiers high and are situated in the same relative positions as recumbent arches (PI. 177). The limited height of the early arch net suggests a close conceptual, if not structural, link with the recumbent arch. Two intersecting arched ribs gave the same appearance as two tiers o f recumbent arches, the shoulders of the upper tier resting on the crown o f the lower. The real, or functional, transitional element behind the plaster or brick membrane, however, was usually a pendentive. The substitution o f brick or plaster revetment as a medium for the stellate patterns of

(

Digitized by

Goo

108 1

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MATE K I M S A M ) METHODS OF COS S T RUC T I OS

ceilings was the logical step in a tradition that habitually translated costly, time-consuming techniques into rapidly executable, inexpensive ones. Decorative brick bonds had been imi­ tated in plaster. Mosaic faience would give way to haft rangi tiles. It was not long before Timurid architects realized that stellate vaults need not be painstakingly constructed of sections o f masonry (PI. 234). The same effect could be achieved with even greater flexibility in brick revetment or in prefabricated plaster membranes. The armature of intersecting arches used to build a vault was distilled from its original matrix. This armature no doubt had suggested the possibility of a support system consisting of intersecting arches as well as the nonfunctional transition system of the arch net.

Coverings DOMES

Timurid architects favored the dome as a covering structure for both large and small closed spaces. Domes were generally built up of tipped courses forming concentric rings. The fast­ setting gypsum mortar permitted the construction of the dome without centering. A template was rotated inside the dome to ensure a homogeneous profile. A few Timurid domes, mainly in provincial areas, are constructed in decorative brick lay (herringbone, diamond pattern). Domes over large spaces were o f considerable thickness at the base, a practice that coun­ teracted the thrust through weighting. The dome then tapered to two or three courses of brick in the crown. Domes were the most common form of covering for bays of pillared halls and for the smaller rooms in institutional buildings such as madrasahs. In these areas the dome rarely exceeded one brick in thickness and might also be called a vault, except that the methods o f construction were the same as those used for larger domes. They were laid up in annular courses. Domical caps o f similar construction filled the central area o f transverse tri­ partite and stellate vaults.

CL O S E D VAULTS

In addition to the domical form architects used a variety of vaults to cover small spaces. Vaults consisting o f radial gores were suitable for rooms of low height such as vestibules, crypts, and room in tiers (PI. 176). The recessed flat vault was built up on corbeled horizontal courses and concluded in segmental lays. Gored vaults were laid up in wedge shaped segments. The ar­ chitects o f the Yazd region preferred a vault wit h groined gores particularly for the centers of transverse vaults. In the Mir Chaqmaq masjid these "accordion-pleated" domes (PI. 458), which had already appeared in the late fourteenth century additions to the masjid-i jami’ of Yazd (Cat. No. 221) dominate the tripartite and stellate transverse vaults. The cloister or cruciform vault is formed by the intersection o f four pointed vaults built in­ ward from four tangent arches. Variations on the cloister vault were not common in Timurid architecture, except in the Yazd region (PI. 455). It is found with level crown in the winter I 109 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 5

masjid at the Mir Chaqmaq and frequently replaces the dome as the central cap o f transverse tripartite vaults. The cruciform vault with raised crown appears in the masjid at Anau (Cat. No. 57) and at Turkestan (Cat. No. 53). The squinch vault is built by laying up a series o f concentric arches across the corners in the manner o f a squinch. These arches continue until they touch. The central area that re­ mains is filled in with courses laid prone to the walls or in a geometric pattern. Squinch vaults do not seem to have been common in monumental architecture, although they were widely used in vernacular building because they were easily constructed. Some are no doubt con­ cealed behind plaster stellate revetments. The mosque at Ziyaratgah has a semidome con­ structed in the manner o f a squinch vault (Pi. 310). Also rare are ribbed groin vaults set over walls. The vaults in the masjid-i jami’ of Nishapur and at Qush Ribat (PI. 286) have high groined segments with prone lay in the corners. Other segments o f the vault outlined by the intersecting arched ribs are laid up separately. The vault concludes above with a small dome on recumbent arches. Earlier examples of this vault are found in the masjid-i jami’ o f Isfahan and over the crossing in the early fourteenth-century masjid at Turbat-i Shaykh Jam.

O P E N VAULTS

The prominence o f the ivan in court-centered buildings ensured the continuation o f the tra­ ditional tunnel vault covering. Methods of construction vary. At Ziyaratgah the ivan o f the Mulla Kalan shrine is composed of horizontal courses in the lower segment and vertical lam­ inae in the upper (Cat. No. 124). At Qush Ribat the ivan o f the masjid (PI. 282) has courses of headers and stretchers intersecting to form a diagonal seam beginning at the rear o f the ivan and ending at the crown in front. At Khargird the upper section of the vault shows bricks laid as voussoirs between two arches of vertical laminae about sixteen bricks thick. The treatment o f the springing o f the vault is unclear because it is concealed by tile revetment. The ivan of the masjid at Khvaf Rud (PI. 235) is built in sections between arched ribs. The central part of the vault is laminated. Along the lower section appears a rectangular framed panel in chevron lay. Whether it is revetment or part o f the fabric of the vault is not clear. By the middle o f the fifteenth century the tunnel vault gave way to a series of parallel transverse vaults set between parallel arches. This system had appeared in an ivan of the II Khanid period at Garladan. It had also been used for the rectangular halls o f interiors in early Timurid buildings but did not become common for ivans until the second half o f the fifteenth century. The transverse vaults in ivans were of several distinct types: tripartite, stellate groined, and ramping tunnel vaults. All of those forms project above the crowns of the girder arches that support them and appear as humps on the extrados of a tunnel vault. Transverse tripartite vaults (Pis. 179,319, 368,436) cover the rectangular bays between par­ allel girder arches. The bay was divided into three parts: a central square which was to be cov­ ered by a square vault or dome, and a tunnel vault flanking each side o f the square. Initially the flank vaults were horizontal and were related to the horizontal courses over the piers of [ HO 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MATERIALS AXD METHODS Of COXSTRCCTIOX

the girder arches. Eventually, these vaults were abbreviated and rested directly on the shoul­ ders o f the girder arches. The flank vaults were often reveted with a plaster or brick arch net membrane. The central square could be opened up as a lantern. The flank vaults were suffi­ ciently elevated to permit windows high up in the walls, thus forming a clerestory. The transverse stellate vault (FIs. 300,448) is a ribbed groin vault constructed between par­ allel girder arches. It is composed o f segments laid up in the openings formed by the inter­ secting arched ribs which make a star pattern. The center of a stellate vault may be gored or domical. The segments are usually constructed in herringbone lay. The same patterns as appear in true stellate groin vaults could be achieved in brick linings and plaster membranes laid over tunnel and tripartite vaults. It is difficult to distinguish be­ tween the true stellate vault and the stellate revetment. A superb example o f the ramping tunnel vault is found in the masjid-i jami* o f Ziyaratgah (PI. 312). The flanks are laid up as curved courses between the arched ribs of the ivan and arc tipped slightly inward. These courses continue along the curve o f the arches until just before the crown, where they merge as a cloister vault without the intervention of recumbent arches. Vaults of irregular shape were created to fill the interstices of large star patterns, especially those that resulted from a support system o f intersecting arches. Quarter-domes and semi­ domes abutted the arches but had their lower portions extended to fill pendentive areas. Tunnel vaults were slung between arches of different levels at Langur (Cat. No. 89). At Langur the four intersecting arches spring from the gallery level (PI. 239). Their in­ tersection in the corner forms a massive groin. The arch continues upward, but in modified form. As it outlines the square for the emplacement o f the dome, it divides into two parts: an arch o f some ten bricks in thickness, laid in vertical laminae, and a rectangular curving vault connecting this arch with the arch of the niche below it. The vault is laid in courses perpen­ dicular to the upper arch and thereby abuts it. The flexibility o f the Timurid mason is evident in the many different solutions used even in one monument, such as the masjid-i jami’ at Ziyaratgah (PI. 313). Here the mason had to deal with a triangular bay open to the court, supporting a gallery opening through the same arch. He divided the semidome o f the gallery into three sections revetted in herringbone lay and treated the awkward corners behind the triangle as sections o f stellate vaults with one point suppressed. The treatment of corner areas in the building to the right of the shrine at Anau is extraordinary (Cat. No. 57). Here, pieces o f two different stellate designs are juxta­ posed to fill the awkward space.

E xteriors

Decorative Treatment The definition o f an exterior in this period must include the facade o f the court (if there is one) together with the outer walls o f the building. Timurid architects felt no compulsion to make the exterior reflect the structure o f the interior. Thus, in the madrasah at Khargird, the [ 111 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 5

blind reveals outside the building do not correspond to the ordering of the walls abutting from inside (Cat. No. 84). The engaged piers surrounding the court facade at Qush Ribat do not match the emplacement o f the alcove divisions behind it (Cat. No. 107). When an exterior was to be visible, the surface is frequently given decorative treatment. In the more luxurious buildings the decoration may include a complete tile revetment o f the surface. In lower budget situations the architect designed in a series of blind arcades or re­ veals. The monuments sponsored by Timur, Ulugh Beg, Shah Rukh and Gawhar Shad dis­ play extensive exterior decoration. The wide variety o f techniques will be discussed in Chap­ ter 6. In northwestern Iran (Azerbayjan) the exterior surfaces, which were of dressed stone, were undecorated except for accent points, such as the portal, window grills, moldings, and domes. In general, the tomb towers o f the Mazanderan region and of the city of Qumm are sparsely decorated. Where decoration does occur it is limited to brick bonding patterns, sta­ lactite cornices and related ornaments at roof level, and to short inscription friezes executed in a variety o f materials. Evidently, where funding permitted, exterior decoration flourished. With limited funds, the patron concentrated the expensive tile decoration on the facade. Where funds were even scarcer, tilework was not commissioned, except perhaps for the foundation inscription on the portal, as in the buildings o f Ziyaratgah (Cat. Nos. 123, 124). The presence or absence o f ex­ ternal decoration was, for the most part, economically rather than aesthetically determined. The exception may be the monuments o f the Yazd-Isfahan area, which, although richly dec­ orated inside, tended to ignore the appearance of the exterior.

External Domes While applied decoration was one method of enhancing the exterior, the most effective way o f attracting attention was to build a high and impressive dome, which could also be reveted in tile if funds permitted. Before the II Khanid period the exterior of a dome was the outside of the dome shell that performed as a roof. While this type of (single) dome continued to be used, new forms were introduced beginning in the fourteenth century that transformed the exterior into a showcase in itself. External domes o f the Timurid period comprise four types: (1) the single dome, (2) the double dome, (3) the triple dome, and (4) the polyhedral or conical dome erected over the inner dome.

S I N G L E DOME

The single dome appears in at least thirty-five monuments, employed over a square or octag­ onal chamber. O f this sample, preference seems to be concentrated in two geographical re­ gions: Azerbayjan and Khurasan. In Azerbayjan the single dome of cut stone predominated. [ 112 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MAT ERI AL S A M ) METHODS Oh CO S S T R V C T I O X

In the Herat region the favored use of the single dome may be related to the lack o f decoration in many o f these monuments, which is a reflection of low budget construction.

D O U B L E DOME

The double dome appears in at least two dozen monuments, used over a square or octagonal chamber. The II Khanid double dome has been described bv Wilber: “Aesthetic considérations brought about an accentuation o f the height, the outline and the conspicuousness of the dome . . . While the outer dome rose high in the air, the much lower inner dome remained in a pleasant and proper relationship to the chamber. Not only did these outer domes rise higher than the earlier single domes, but the drum of the dome was also increased in height so that it became fully detached from the lower walls." During the II Khanid period the use o f octagonal, sixteen-sided, and polyhedral stages below the base o f the dome gave way to that of the circular drum, which became the standard form for Timurid architecture. The Timurids, however, modified the profile of the dome. Outer domes o f the II Khanid period displayed the profile of three- or four-centered arches, which continued downward into the drum as a straight line. The Timurid dome began a re­ turn below the base o f the arch, producing thereby a slight bulge (Pis. 264, 298). This kind of dome, which developed toward the middle o f the fifteenth century, is often referred to as bul­ bous. The early Timurid double domes continued the II Khanid type of profile. The begin­ nings o f the double dome can be seen in the Mil-i Kadkan in Khurasan (c. 1280-1300), in which the partially disintegrated dome reveals its inner construction. Above the interior dome are exposed substantial spur walls, radial in direction and triangular in direct elevation, with the vertical side o f the triangle toward the center and the sloping side attached to the shell of the conical roof. These walls served as a stiffening membrane for the outer shell. The masjid at Dashti in the vicinity o f Isfahan, which is dated c. 1325. displays a number of spur walls built along the radii o f the outer dome. Some dozen monuments o f the Timurid period display spur walls, including those with conical dome. Probably the earliest is the conical dome of the Dar al-Siyadah at Shahrisabz (Cat. No. 40), which lies outside the mainstream o f Timurid design. A very high pointed inner dome rises above a square chamber and is covered by a conical dome. Resting on the shoulders of the inner dome are twelve, perhaps sixteen, spur walls, which step inward from narrow bases. Actually, the design o f the external conical dome made these spurs quite unnecessary as stiffening agents. Perhaps their role was as an armature in the construction process. The Gur-i Amir (Cal. No. 29C) combines spur walls with an unusual array o f devices. A masonry pier was erected on the summit of the inner dome to rise to something over half the distance to the crown o f this dome. From its top, a number o f wood poles splayed out at angles to establish contact with the inner surface of the dome. Twelve spur walls rose from the shoul­ ders o f the inner dome until they made contact with the inner surface of the outer dome. A photograph taken in the late nineteenth century o f the dome of the masjid-i jami’ of 4

I 113 1

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CHAPTER 5

Timur at Samarqand (PI. 71) reveals a system used for supporting the outer dome very like that o f the slightly earlier dome of the Gur-i Amir. That is, a rather massive column of fired brick was erected on the exterior summit o f the inner dome. A number o f thin, deep spur walls rested on the shoulders o f the inner dome and appear to have been bonded into the fab­ ric o f the exterior dome. Wood poles connected the adjacent spur walls and the central col­ umn. This makeshift construction may well have hastened the partial collapse o f the inner dome. The mausoleum o f Tuman Aqa at the Shah-i Zindeh (Cat. No. 21) shows a vertical timber embedded in the crown o f the inner dome, and its direction is continued by a second timber attached to it and with its own top embedded in the crown o f the outer dome. The mausoleum o f Chupan Ata at Samarqand was provided with a curious mix o f spur walls and horizontal and vertical wood members (Cat. No. 34). The single available section drawing does not make clear the relationships o f these elements. The mausoleum o f Gawhar Shad at Herat displays an improved version of these devices (PI. 164). Above the shallow inner dome is a second shallow dome and upon its shoulders rest the bases o f spur walls, which rise to meet the inner surface of the outer dome. Jagged “bites” have been taken out o f the bases of these walls and about two meters above the bases. It is probable that the spur walls were tied together by horizontal timber grids at these levels with the ends o f the timbers embedded in the walls. Also, the holes indicate that wood poles pro­ jected toward the center o f the area and may have carried all the way across it to opposite walls. Given the local shortage o f wood, it is highly probable that the timbers were ripped out o f the walls at some undetermined date. The dome o f the structure at Kuhsan displays eight spur walls (Cat. No. 87). The masjid-i Shah at Mashhad displays eight spur walls and the shrine of Abu Nasr Parsa at Balkh has some ten such walls (Cat. Nos. 95. 59). At Turbat-i Shaykh Jam. the dome called Gunbad-i Sabz, related to the madrasah o f Firuzshah, has timber stiffening within the outer dome, and the mausoleum of'Abd al-Salam at Mahan displays wood posts within the dome (Cat. Nos. 119, 185). Also, at Afushteh the Imamzadeh MirSayyid has spur walls which rest on T-shaped sup­ ports with wood poles tying them together (Text Fig. 1). This group comprises several examples of the uniquely Timurid bulbous dome (Cat. Nos. 59,95, 119). The spur walls here served an additional purpose, to keep the projecting zone of the dome (the bulge) from simply slumping to the ground.

T R I P L E DOME

The triple dome appears for the first time in the Timurid period, and its earliest occurrence was in the mausoleum o f Gawhar Shad at Herat (Cat. No. 70). From the flat roof alongside the dome, an opening in the drum gives access to the space l>etween the shallow dome over the square chamber and the second shallow dome above it. The distance from the summit of the inner dome to a circular hole in the crown o f the second dome is not much over a meter, so that a person may place his elbows over the edge of the hole and pull himself on to the upper ( 114 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

MAT ER I A L S A M ) METHODS Ot COS S T R I C T I OX

I.

Aliishicli. Shrineol MirSayyid al ("hi st") for aqall ("least”). 3. (On small drum) four-part pattern, not reada­ ble. Stylistic comparison: The vault of the mausoleum may be compared with others of around 1400 (Tuman Aqa mausoleum, mausoleum o f the Turkes­ tan shrine, Hazrat Imam at Shahrisabz). Domes on high drums were particularly notable in the Shah-i Zindeh compound (Tuman Aqa, Shirin Bika Aqa, Burunduq, etc.). The absence of mosaic faience and the extensive use o f brick mosaic arc typical of Ulugh Beg's minor buildings (madrasah at Ghujdivan, Gok Gunbad mosque at Shahrisabz). Illustrations-. Pis. 54-57, Fig. 23. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cohn-Wiener 1930, pis. XXII, XXIII (upper left), XXIV (nos. 2.3). Hist. Mon. Islam, pp. 35-37. Nemtseva and Shvab 1976, pp. 82-84, 132-134. Pugachenkova and Rcmpel’ 1958, p. 11, pis. 64-65, 67. Shishkin 1970, pp. 12-14, table 111.

Smolik 1929, p. 17, figs. 22,26 (no. 2). Zasypkin and Dzhakhangirov 1951, pp. 215-228 (elevation).

24 Samarqand

complex: Shah-i Zindeh; octagon mausoleum first half of 15th century

Summary: The unique octagonal mausoleum lies on the west side of the corridor north of the Shirin Bika Aqa. Its outer walls are buried below almost a meter of deposit. It stood originally on a paved ter­ race. Below the octagon is a crypt. Each facet of the octagon has a narrow arched opening. The main entrance was originally on the east. Outside, enclos­ ing the shallow dome, is a circular drum which once held a second dome. This dome has been entirely reconstructed in recent years. The pylons and soffits of the octagon, which form an arcade, are revetted in brick mosaic inside and outside. The spandrels and the panels over the spandrels had tile decorations in haft rangi tiles or mosaic faience, all of which have disappeared. In excavations (1946) fragments of the haft rangi tile cornice of the drum were found. The interior of the inner dome was covered with paintings on white plaster. A painted inscription band with blue ground encircling the top of the octagon is Quranic (Surah 2:256). The mausoleum is attributed to the period of Ulugh Beg on the basis of its brick mosaic revet­ ments. Illustrations: Pis. 58, 59. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brandenburg 1972, figs. 48-49. Cohn-Wiener 1930, pi. XXXVI (no. 8). Hist. Mon. Islam, pi. 39 (restored). Pugachenkova and Rcmpel’ 1958, p. 112 (no. 7). Shishkin 1970, p. 26. Tcrcnozhkin 1970, pp. 109-113 (excavations).

25 Samarqand

shrine: Qutb-i Chahardehum mid-15th century

Summary: Drawings and photographs of this mon­ ument taken before its destruction in 1880 show an

[ 252 1

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

impressive domed building, surrounded by smaller structures, presumably of later date. The shrine was built by Timur on the suggestion of the son of the Sufi shaykh Burhan al-Din Sagarji. Timur moved the remains of Nur al-Din, known as the "Fourteenth Pillar," from its former resting place to a position inside the walls of his new citadel, erected in 1371-72. This date is the earliest that the shrine could have been built. Stylistic comparisons suggest a dating toward the mid-fifteenth century. The circumstances of the construction of the shrine, but not its dating, are described in Samariyah. The original mausoleum seems to have been a square, elongated on one end (south) to include a pishtaq. The exterior measures 8 m. x 8 m. square. The dome is double, its overall height approxi­ mately 20 m. On the outside was visible an octago­ nal zone of transition, on which rested a cylindrical drum. Over this rose a sphericonical dome of slightly bulging profile. Drawings show a series of vertical stiffeners inside the outer dome, connected by timbers, as in other domes of this type (e.g., Gur-i Amir). Decorative treatment: The walls of the octagon and cylindrical drum were revetted with glazed bricks in hazarbaf technique. The kufic inscription on the drum is executed in diagonal lay. Above this was a narrow frieze of thulth, either of mosaic faience or haft rangi tiles. The dome shell was covered in light blue glazed brick. Stylistic comparison-. Pugachenkova compares the profile of the dome to that of the Shirin Bika Aqa at the Shah-i Zindeh. T he profile of the dome and its decoration also closely resemble that of the Rabi'ah Sultan Begum at Turkestan.

2 6

Samarqand

shrine: Burkhan al-Din Sagarji (‘•Ruhabad") c. 1404

Summary: The structure, popularly known as Ru­ habad, or "Abode of the Soul," is a short disiance to the north of the contemporary madrasah and khanaqah of Muhammad Sultan and the later Gur-i Amir. Contemporary literary sources suggest that the building was begun after September 1399 and completed by 1404 when it was visited by Timur. It is known that by 1404 it was in use for the teaching of the Quran. Burhan al-Din Sagarji died in China and his body was brought back to Samarqand by a son. A modern work suggests, without giving a source, that this return took place in the 1380s, but it is possible that it occurred a good many years ear­ lier. The monument has an archaistic look. Ii is a con­ struction of baked brick. The square dome cham­ ber is 9 m. on a side with shallow reveals on each side. There arc openings to the interior on both axes of the chamber. Simple architectural frames surround the reveals and above their heads is a zone of transition which features squinches and squinch arches, filled with plaster muqarnas. The dado consists o f unglazed hexagonal tiles separated by strips of black faience. A single dome rises above. The blocky exterior mirrors the interior plan and section, especially in the case of the octagonal base of the dome which reflects the style of the zone of transition. The remaining ornamentation of the exterior consists of a simple muqarnas system above the principal portal. Illustrations: Pis. 61,62, Fig. 24.

Illustrations: PI. 60.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abu Tahir Khvajeh Samarqandi (Samariyah) 196465, pp. 68-70. Run 1871-72, pis. 128-129 (plan and elevation, old photograph). Pugachenkova 1962, pp. 178-183.

Knobloch 1972, p. 127. Oumniakov and Aleskerov 1973, pp. 131-132. Pugachenkova 1976a, p. 80. Voronina 1969, p. 34. pi. 54.

[ 253 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CA TALOG UE

27 Samarqand

madrasah (with mausoleum): Saray Mulk Khanum

c. 1397 Summary: Located about 200 meters southeast of the portal of the masjid-i jarni’, this octagonal mau­ soleum has been identified on the basis of texts as the tomb of Timur’s wife, Saray Mulk Khanum. Al­ though three female burials were discovered in the crypt, the sarcophagi bear no fifteenth-century in­ scriptions. The official historians of Timur men­ tion only a madrasah built by Saray Mulk Khanum opposite the masjid, but do not refer to a mauso­ leum. Archaeological investigations carried out in 1941 by I. G. Guliamov, and in 1956 and 1957 by Pletnev, Zakhidov, and Iurenev have led to hy­ potheses concerning the relationship of the lost madrasah and the standing mausoleum. Abut­ ments on the west facade indicate that the mauso­ leum was added to an earlier structure, presumably the madrasah. Pletnev suggests that the model for this composition was the Gur-i Amir, which was also inserted into the court of a madrasah, although in that case it was the court connecting a madrasah and khanaqah. That the madrasah was earlier in date than the masjid is suggested by texts, which say that Timur resided at the madrasah to observe the construction of the mosque in 801/1398-99. Ac­ cording to Ibn 'Arabshah, it was, in fact, competi­ tion with the madrasah that made Timur demand the rebuilding of the masjid portal. Excavating around the mausoleum, archaeologists have all been unable to locate the foundations of the mad­ rasah, but it is possible that no real foundations ex­ isted and that the brick courses set below ground level would have all been pillaged. Already in the sixteenth century, the madrasah had been de­ stroyed by ’Abdullah Khan. The alternative hy­ pothesis proposed by Zakhidov sees the mauso­ leum as free-standing with its portal (the abut­ ments) on the west. Today the mausoleum stands in very ruined con­ ditions. The inner dome is gone, and very little re­ mains of the outer superstructure. Spatial organization: The exterior is a square with cut-off corners, with its north-south sides extended toward the west to form a facade and entrance por­ tal. On the interior the room becomes a square with deep, high-arched niches in each side, giving it a

cruciform appearance. Below the floor is a semi­ basement crypt, also cruciform, with a very low ceil­ ing. The crypt first became visible in 1875, when the upper roofing collapsed, bearing down on the dome of the crypt and destroying it. The crypt is constructed of brick, with Hat arches. There was a narrow corridor in the southwest corner of the west niche, presumably leading outside. Three sunduqs were found in the north niche and two in the east. The main room is essentially a chahar taq, four arches joined at the corners and extended back to form the alcoves. The exterior has arched recesses of the same proportions as the interior. There are windows above the arches, in the tran­ sition zone. Vaults: The square formed by the arches of the main hall is transformed into an octagon by sets of wooden poles laid across the corners and later masked by plaster muqarnas. Above this zone rises a cylindrical drum that concealed the inner shallow dome. It continued upward for a short distance be­ fore the beginning of a tall, slightly bulbous outer dome shell. The vault of the crypt was a twelvesided tent dome, resting on pendentives and the crowns of the four flat arches. Decorative treatment: Despite the ruined condition of the building, much of the decoration has been pre­ served and shows a wide range of techniques. The socle of the crypt and main room consisted of mar­ ble tiles. The vault of the crypt, including the pen­ dentives, was revetted in polished brick and square glazed bricks of light and dark blue, forming kufic inscriptions or geometric designs. Brick mosaic was also used for the outside of the drum, which bore the same inscriptions as the masjid-i jami’. In the niches of the main room were panels con­ sisting o f geometric designs composed of pen­ tagonal blue tiles, rhomboidal white tiles, and pol­ ygons outlined in green. Within the central square hall the tiles are gilded by means of an overglaze technique, probably using mercury as a flux. Tile mosaic was used for the borders of floral and foliate designs. The outer dome was revetted in blue tiles, with muqarnas cornices of mosaic faience. Above the panels of the interior the niches were filled with muqarnas, which also marked the zone of transition and probably filled the inner dome. The plaster walls were covered with paintings, pri­ marily blue on a white ground, but with elements in green, yellow, turquoise, brown, black, and red.

( 254 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

Many of the designs arc geometric, but some arc freely drawn plant motifs and wispy trees, ar­ ranged schematically. Documentation-. One of the sunduqs bears the date 507/1113-14, but this is undoubtedly a reused stone. The madrasah of Saray Mulk Khanum is mentioned twice by Sharaf al-Din Yazdi: in 801/ 1398-99, “Most of the time he (Timur) stayed near the masjid in the madrasah of the Khanum and in the khanaqah of Tuman Aqa” (vol. 11, p. 145); "the madrasah of Saray Mulk Khanum, which is oppo­ site the Jami’ " (vol. II, p. 421). Ibn ’Arabshah gives the construction of the madrasah as the reason for Timur’s reconstruction of the masjid: “Now he had diverse reasons for that deed, of which this was the chief: the queen, the chief wife of Timur, ordered to be built a college and the architects and geometersjudging by unanimous consent that it should be built opposite that mosque, raised its columns high and elevated its structure and lifted its stories and walls above that mosque, wherefore it became stronger than it and stood higher, but since Timur was by nature like a leopard and of the temper of a lion, no head was raised above him but he brought it low and no back grew stronger than his but he broke it and he was thus in all things which con­ cerned or touched him. Therefore when he saw the great height of that college and that it bore itself more proudly than the slighter structure of his own mosque, his breast was bitter with anger and he blazed forth and dealt as he did with that superin­ tendent, who did not find the fortune which he had hoped” (p. 223). A similar account is recorded by Fasihi for the year 807/ 1404-05: "Timur was angered by the mis­ appropriation and corruption of his officials who were supervising the construction of the masjid-i jami’. The ivan of the madrasah of Saray Mulk Khanum, which had been built very high, and the ivan of the masjid-i jami’, which the Amir (Timur) had been building, both were their construction. It stood opposite (the masjid], turning its back . . . ’’ (vol. Ill, p. 151). Stylistic comparison: Although no trace of the mad­ rasah remains, the location and direction of the sur­ rounding streets suggest that its dimensions resem­ bled those of Ulugh Beg's madrasah in Samarqand. The mausoleum itself, with polygonal exterior and square interior, is paralleled by the Gur-i Amir,

which may have been the model for the mauso­ leum-madrasah combination. The proportions of the tall outer dome and mass of the building recall the Tuman Aqa mausoleum and the Hazrai Imam (despite the conical shape of its outer dome). T he muqamas interior also is found in these two mausoleums. The use of mosaic faience for the muqarnas cornice of the drum may be an indication of a date slightly later than the pe­ riod of Timur, when this device was generally done in haft rangi tiles. Illustrations: Pis. 63-65, Fig. 25. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pletnev 1962, pp. 90-108. Pugachenkova and RcmpcP 1958, p. 119. Ratiia 1950, p. 22. Smolik 1929, pp. 14-15, pis. 17-18 (out-of-date). Zakhidov 1960. pp. 60-74.

28 Samarqand

masjid-i jami': Timur (“Bibi Khanum") 801-808/1398-1405

Summary: Returning from a victorious campaign in Hindustan, Timur ordered the construction of a new Friday masjid for his capital city. Just south of the Iron Gate, which lay between the old site of the city (Afrasiyab) and the newly settled quarters to the south, Timur laid the foundations of one of the most colossal monuments ever built in the Islamic world. It was connected to the commercial center of the city, the Registan, by a covered bazaar. Oppo­ site the entrance to the masjid. Timur's wife, Saray Mulk Khanum, erected a madrasah with mauso­ leum. Already in ruins in the nineteenth century, the masjid was dealt a lethal blow by the earthquake of 1897. Today only the minaret that stood in the northwest corner of the perimeter and the four massive units, located on the original axes of the masjid, survive. The four units consist of a massive entrance portal with Hanking minarets, an equally massive sanctuary with dome and ivan Ranked by minarets, and two similar but smaller units (without minarets) in the middle of the long sides (north and south) of the court. Schubert-Soldern published a reconstruction of the masjid (upon which the dis­ cussion in Pope 1938 was based) in 1898 which con-

( 255 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CA T A LOG LE

tains many inaccuracies. These were corrected by Ratiia through archeological investigations, which uncovered a number of marble columns that sup­ ported the large hypostyle rivaqs connecting the standing units. These finds confirmed the textual sources which mention some 400 to 480 marble col­ umns. hauled from quarries by the 95 elephants brought from Hindustan by Timur. All of the major chronicles mention the construc­ tion of the masjid, and some describe it in great de­ tail. They also report that following its completion work was resumed by Timur’s order in 807/14045. The reasons for this order vary, ranging from in­ sufficient grandiosity to faulty construction. There arc, in fact, indications in the existing structure that the original building was modified during the course of construction, but it is difficult to interpret these changes. Ratiia suggested early deformation as the reason for reinforcement of some of the arches below the domes. Pugachenkova allowed for a change in plans which the architects believed would permit increasing the dimensions, and therefore the weight, of the domes. Man'kovskaia viewed these changes as a reconsideration not of the dimensions of the domes but of the type of tran­ sition zone which would be interposed between the supports and the dome (see below. Vaults). These changes may not be related to the reports at all. Spoliai organization: The building was contained within a rectangle 109 m. X 167 m., with the en­ trance unit projecting beyond the cast facade. The ivan of the entrance portal rose to a height of about 19 m. before its collapse. It sprung from massive pylons, some 10.5 m. wide. Projecting from the cor­ ners of these pylons are minarets with decagonal socles and cylindrical shafts. The rear wall of the ivan opens up into a much lower, narrower ivan. The wall closing this second ivan contained the ac­ tual doorway to the masjid, set in a rectangular frame of stone blocks. This wall has disappeared, but can be seen in photographs of the late nine­ teenth century. The passageway beyond the door once again opens into an ivan that looks onto the court. Directly opposite looms the parallel unit—a similar projecting portal, but with octagonal flank­ ing minarets, and a tall ivan screen some 30 m. high that all but hides the remains of the tiled dome of the sanctuary behind it. The ivan leads directly into the dome chamber through a doorway one-third the width of the wall

in which it is set. The pylons of the ivan turn out­ ward to accommodate the minarets. As these forms are continued upward they present a spectacle of volumes appearing to move in space, particularly when viewed from the side, revealing an angular plane between the minaret and the sides of the py­ lon. The interior of the dome chamber is square with arched niches in each side and a double recess for the mihrab. Secondary doorways lead out from the north and south niches. All of the niches were de­ creased in height and breadth shortly after the building was erected, but before it was decorated. Blind arcades outside the dome chamber show the attachment of the gallery arcades. On the qiblah side the arcades were nine bays deep. While ap­ pearing similar to each other, the small dome units north and south of the court have slightly different measurements, and only the north one shows the same reduction of the size of the niches (north and south) as found in the main sanctuary. The ivan screens were almost flush with the facade of the court, part of which remains on the west side of the north unit. The outside corners of the units contain staircase wells. The interiors arc square with deep arched niches in each side (originally). Traces of the gallery arcades outside indicate that the rivaqs were four bays deep here, as they were also on the east, flanking the main entrance. The court arcades consisted of at least three tiers close to the north and south dome units and may have been stepped down, probably to two stories around the remaining sections of the court. During the second phase of construction, at the time that the niches in the dome units were reduced in size, the court arcades were blocked in. Access to the ri­ vaqs was through a limited number of doorways from the court and from outside the masjid. Per­ haps the area east of this unit was thereby trans­ formed into a winter masjid. Vaults: All three domes are constructed in the same manner. The supporting walls arc cut away by un­ usually broad and high recesses. Above the walls sits an octagonal zone of transition with arched squinches and arched panels. Between the arches of this zone arc recumbent arches which, together with the arches, provide a base for the dome. The domes are sphericonical and are entirely enclosed outside by a cylindrical drum. The exterior of the octagonal zone is cubical, with chamfered corners.

[ 256 )

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CA TALOGVE

Above (he inner dome, rising from ihe drum was a tall ellipsoidal outer dome, supported by a series of spur walls attached to the outer surface of the inner dome and rising to the height of the outer one. The smaller units had ribbed domes, as indicated by tiles found in the area. Two problems are posed by the vaulting of the masjid. The first regards an explanation for the re­ duction in the size of the niches. Ratiia suggested that this was precipitated by deformation setting in already during early stages of construction. Ac­ cording to Ibn 'Arabshah. the great dome fell on men in prayer. Man'kovskaia suggests that the sup­ porting walls were prepared for a different tvpe of superstructure, perhaps “balochnye" squinches (plank), but plans were changed during the course of construction. The use of deep arched recesses may also indicate an intention to roof with recum­ bent arches, but the architects were apprehensive and therefore continued in a more familiar vein. Most of the chronicles indicate that work was halted or restarted in 807/1404-5, and perhaps it was at that time that the building became unsafe. As for the reasons, authors vary. Hafiz-i Abru says that the maqsurah was lower than the entrance ivan and had to be raised. Clavijo reports the opposite, that the entrance ivan was too low. Ibn ’Arabshah claims that the madrasah opposite surpassed the masjid in height (see no. 27). It is difficult to sec how the changes in construc­ tion that have been observed could have facilitated the correction of any o f these “faults.” unless it was decided to heighten the profile of the domes, which may have aroused the architects’ concern for the strength of the supporting walls. According to Clavijo, new foundations were dug for the entrance portal. While this possibility has not been investi­ gated archcologically, soundings below the in-fill in the north domed unit show new foundations, much deeper than the ones for the original walls. Perhaps none of the chroniclers correctly understood the reasons for the resumption of work, which may not have involved heightening or lowering anything but served merely to increase the margin of safety. Rumor would have taken hold of the imagination, attributing to Timur the type of complaints that were typical of his grandiosity. Then, too, the mod­ ifications observed in the existing remains may have no connection with the later rebuilding. A second problem relating to vaulting is the na­ ture of the roofing in the rivaqs. Man’kovskaia sug­

gests that it was flat, because no capitals were found, the interval between first and second tier is too narrow for vaults, and the sources speak of pavement and ceiling of stone slabs. Ratiia had re­ constructed the rivaqs with domical vaults. Stone­ masons were specifically brought from Azerbayjan, Pars, and Hindustan for work on the mosque. The construction of the masjid of Timur is depicted in detail in a miniature from the Zafar Nameh attrib­ uted to tiihzad. c. 1490 (PI. 481). Decorative treatment: The corpus of ornament still visible on the sparse remnants of the masjid is ex­ traordinary. Large surfaces are covered with glazed brick ends in hazarbaf technique, showing a wide variety of square kufic designs (sacred names). When contained within arched panels, they are sta­ ble. oriented with the axis of the panel and fully contained. On large unframed surfaces, they stress diagonal lines, appearing to be placed "on the bias,” like a gigantic cloth, cut wherever interrupted by the architectural volume. All of the visible faces were covered, including the exterior of the mosque itself. Most extraordinary is the zone of vertical zig­ zags occupying the lower section of the outer wall, still recognizable on the south dome unit, the sanc­ tuary, and the fragment of wall adjoining the cor­ ner minaret. Above it runs a frieze of crenellations, making the lower zone appear to be a tent wall, such as can be seen in some late fifteenth-century miniatures. The entrance portal and the sanctuary ivan have panels of mosaic faience, tile inset compositions (in both polished brick and stone matrices), and haft rangi tiles. A horizontal inscription frieze, executed in these tiles, divided the lower section of the sanc­ tuary ivan wall from its enormous tympanum, a lit­ tle of which remains today. The opening of the ivan was framed with a spiral molding, of light blue tile. The domes of the small lateral units were revetted in light blue tile, rising above several tiers of rnuqarnas, over the cylindrical drums. These carried naskhi inscriptions in hazarbaf technique extending the full height of the drum. The cube of the tran­ sition zone is decorated with blind arches revetted in hazarbaf. The decorative program of the large dome is similar, the inscription being in kufic rather than in cursive script. Stone, with traces of gilding, was used for the main historical inscriptions on the entrance portal. Old photographs show a magnificent stone case-

[ 257 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

ment into which the actual door of the mosque was placed. Carved stone was also used for column bases of these units and probably also their dados, and was combined with tile. The interiors of the dome chambers have lost most of their painted plaster decoration. Traces of gilt papier-mâché have been found. Tile docs not seem to have been used inside the building. The historical inscription on the ivan of the sanctuary is a rare example of carved unglazed terra cotta. Documentation: The inscriptions on the qiblah ivan and entrance portal attribute the foundation to Ti­ mur and date the beginning and end of the work to 801 /1398-99 and 806/1403-4: 1. (Carved stone, formerly over door of entrance, now fragmentary: read from photograph in Kun collection and checked with recent photograph and field notes) “The great sultan, pillar of the state and the religion, Amir Timur Gurgan [above, in smaller script] b. Taraghay b. Burgul b. Aylangir b. Ichil b. al-Amir Karachar Noyan, may God pre­ serve his reign, was helped (by heavenly favor) to complete this jami’ in the year 806." This inscription is partially transcribed, with er­ rors, in Abu Tahir Khvajeh Samarqandi 1964-65: 43. It is interesting to note that the genealogy of Ti­ mur is much shorter than the one composed for Ti­ mur’s cenotaph in the Gur-i Amir. 2. (Carved unglazed terra-cotta panel over en­ trance to sanctuary) “Ordered the construction of this lofty, blessed jami’. . . . Timur Gurgan b. alAmir Taraghay in the year 801.” The transcription in Abu Tahir Khvajeh Samarqandi 1964-65:43 is defective. Texts: The chronicles confirm the inscriptions: Ibn ’Arabshah 1936: 222-224; Fasihi, vol. Ill, p. 142; Clavijo 1928:280-281 ; Abu Tahir Khvajeh Sa­ marqandi 1964-65:42-44. A variant (14 Ramadan) is found in some mss of Sharaf al-Din Yazdi (195758, vol. II. p. 144). The resumption of work after the completion of the building in 806 is also re­ corded by these sources under the year 807, Rabi’ I (continuation of Nizam al-Din by Hafiz-i Abru 1959: 442-444; Sharaf al-Din ’Ali Yazdi, vol. II, p. 421; Fasihi, vol. Ill, p. 151; Clavijo: 280). (Trans. L. Golombek from Yazdi 1957-58, vol. II, pp. 144-147) In accordance with the words of the noble Quran, "He who builds masjids in honor of God, testifies to his faith in God and in

the Last Day,” which means that the building of masjids is what follows from telling the truth about the substance and essence of the Great Creator and believing in the circumstances of the Resurrection and the Last Judgment, his Excel­ lence, the Lord of the Conjunction of the Planets (Timur)—who with the help of God, during the campaign against Hindustan, had been occupied with destroying the buildings of the pagans and the disobedient and with ruining the fire-temples and temples of the unbelievers—resolved, and "the intention of the believer is better than his deed," to build in Samarqand a Friday masjid, with pinnacles that raise their heads to the heav­ ens. When the army of the W'orld-Conqucror, under the wing of protection and help of God, the Giver of Victory, the Guide(?), returned to Samarqand, the supreme order was issued for the construction of that building which would rub against the heavens—if there is any limit to what can be built! On Sunday, the 14th of the blessed month of Ramadan in the year 801, which corresponds to the Year of the Stag, at a time when the moon was in the domicile of Leo, going out from the sixthplace of the Sun and arriving at the sixth-place of Venus, the most skillful engineers and welltrained masters, at the lucky moment and most propitious time, laid its foundations. The work­ ers and dexterous artisans, each one of which was the master craftsman of his country' and unique in his realms, made manifest the subtleties of in­ genuity and skill in constructing foundations and lending strength to the structure. Two-hundred men worked inside the masjid itself, such as the stone-gravers of Azerbayjan, Ears, and Hindu­ stan; and five hundred persons were constantly in the mountains, cutting stone to be transported to the city. The various types of craftsmen and artisans who had been gathered in the capital from all parts of the inhabited world, each one in his own assignment labored to his utmost capacity. For the collection of apparatus, 95 elephants, the likeness of mountains, which had been sent from Hindustan to Samarqand, all of them were used to draw the enormous stones in ox-carts, with many men (?). The supervision of this work was distributed among the princes and amirs. The efforts and endeavors were such that thev might exploit the range of human capabilities *

[ 258 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CA T A 1.0 G UE

and abilities. N'o detail in any opening would be neglected. In the midst of these happenstances. Mirza Muhammad Sultan, who had been residing, ac­ cording to orders, on the border ofjatah, arrived with a multitude of private attendants. In the khanaqah of Tuman Aqa he paid his respects{?) to (Timur). He fulfilled the custom of distribut­ ing money and magnificent presents. (Timur) embraced the prince and caressed him. During the completion o f this affair, his Majesty was oc­ cupied with the utmost concern and solicitude with passing judgment. Although he. his blessed self, was present to oversee the construction work, during that time he very often frequented the madrasah of the Khanum. which is near the masjid, and the khanaqah of Tuman Aqa. In these places he settled religious and civil cases which the Worker of Justice and Lover of his Subjects was concerned about. Until, by the ben­ ediction of his royal favor, its (the masjid's) lofty pinnacles, making the qadrbani answer to the ivan of Saturn, and the purity of the courtyard, a Dilgusha (i.e., like a garden, or the specific gar­ den of this name built by Timur), and the venti­ lation system, an augmentor of wind—the pen of forgetfulness passed over the attributes of the Chinar Garden and the Garden of Paradise. How marvelously high is the building whose upper rooms arc Paradise! To estimate its loftiness, all must admit to inadequacy. Four hundred and eighty columns were carved out of stone, each one rising to a height of seven gaz. Its elevated roofing and its marvelous pave­ ment were cut from stone slabs and polished, such that its (the masjid’s) height from the floor to the covering is close to nine gaz. In each of the four corners is a minaret, whose head is directed toward the heavens, proclaim­ ing: "Our monuments will tell about us!” which reaches to the four corners of the world. And the grating sound of the great door which is com­ posed of the seven elements will call the men of the seven climes to the I)ar al-Salam—Islam. Around its walls, outside and in. and around its arched portals there was ornament consisting of letters carved in stone, and in these glittered the powerful letters and words of the Surah of the “Cavern” and other significant verses from the Quran. The perfect beauty of the minbar and

qiblah niche, which testify to the truth of “We ap­ pointed a qiblah for him which he desired," lend splendor to the intelligente?) eye which gazes upon. . . . Its iron mihrab is composed of the sighs and groaning of persons begging for for­ giveness. (Claviho 1928:280-281) The Mosque which Timur had caused to be built in memory of the mother of his wife the Great Khanum seemed to us the noblest of all those we visited in the city of Samarqand, but no sooner had it been completed than he began to find fault with its entrance gate­ way, which he now said was much too low and must forthwith be pulled down. Then the work­ men began to dig pits to lay the new foundations, when in order that the piers might be rapidly re­ built his Highness gave out that he himself would take charge to direct the labour for the one pier o f the new gateway while he laid it on two of the lords of his court, his special favourites, to see to the foundations on the other part. Thus all should see whether it was he or those other two lords who first might bring this business to its proper conclusion. Now at this season Timur was already weak in health, he could no longer stand for long on his feet, or mount his horse, having always to be carried in a liner. It was therefore in his litter that every morning he had himself brought to the place, and he would stay there the best part of the day urging on the work. He would arrange for much meat to be cooked and brought, and then he would order them to throwportions of the same down to the workmen in the foundations, as though one should cast bones to dogs in a pit, and a wonder to all he even with his own hands did this. Thus he urged on their la­ bour: and at times would have coins thrown to the masons when especially they worked to his satisfaction. Thus the building went on day and night until it had to stop—as well as work on the street—when snows began to fall. Stylistic comparison-. In concept and in scale the mas­ jid represents a departure from the usual four-ivan court masjid. It is the first masjid tocombinethe lat­ eral ivans with a domed unit. Timur may have been inspired by the Tughluq masjid of Jahanpanah, a quarter of Delhi which he conquered in 1398 (Welch and Crane 1983. fig. 1) The example was copied later in the masjid-i Shah of Isfahan and reappears in the masjidsof Mughal India. Most in-

[ 259 )

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

tcrcsting arc the massive ivans with flanking min­ arets of the entrance portal and sanctuary. A fur­ ther development of the II Khanid twin-minaret portal, here the minarets are removed from the top of the ivan and placed at the sides, like the salients of a fortress gate. This fortified appearance for a masjid is new and recalls the ribat, a religious-mili­ tary building. It is the earliest remaining example of this form, although a portal of an unidentified structure at Sultaniyah (no. 211) built in the four­ teenth century, showed very similar flanking min­ arets, with polygonal shafts below. The extensive use of stone has been seen as In­ dian influence, but could have come from Azerbayjan as well. With the exception of the stone dec­ oration. the ornamentation is typical of the period, and parallels can be found in the Turkestan shrine. The vaulting of the dome chambers does not show any new developments over early fourteenth-cen­ tury squinch-arch arrangements. IHush(liions: Pis. 66-78. Col. PI. V. Fig. 26, Text Figs. 16-19. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hill and Crabar 1964, pis. 39-58. Hist. Mon. Islam, pis. 43-49. Man’kovskaia 1972, pp. 94-118. Masson 1926b. Pope 1938, pp. 1124, 1151-1152. Pugachenkova 1953, pp. 99-130 (on reconstruc­ tion). P u g ach en k o v a a n d R em peP 1958, pp. 115-119.

Ratiia 1950. Sarre 1901. pp. 151-152, pi. CXV1. figs. 210-212. Schubert-Soldern 1898. pp. 25-26.

29 Samarqand

complex: Gur-i Amir c. 1400-1404

In the southwest quarter of the Timurid city, not far from the old citadel, stands the most famous monument of the period, the tomb of its founder, Timur, crowned by a tall blue dome. It is sur­ rounded by other fragments of buildings, the iden­ tity of which has been clarified through recent ex­ cavations. The Gur-i Amir stands behind the south facade of a square court which lay between the madrasah (on the cast. fig. 29A) and the khanaqah (on the

west, fig. 29B). In the middle of the north side of the court stood an entrance portal which still re­ mains. In the corners of the court were four min­ arets, one of which can still be seen today. This complex must have been completed by 1401, for it is reported to have been in use at that time. Late in 1401 Muhammad Sultan joined Timur at Qarabagh and took part in the campaigns to the west in 1402. However, in 805/1403 he died in the field at the age o f twenty-nine. For a long time Timur was desolated with grief at the loss of his favorite grand­ son, who was also his heir-presumptive. Timur re­ turned to Samarqand in July/August 1404 and went at once to visit the madrasah of Muhammad Sultan, where the body had received temporary burial. He ordered a mausoleum built (the Gur-i Amir). There may have been a temporary structure erected, which was replaced by 1405. Timur himself was buried in the Gur-i Amir in February 1405. Soon a son. Miranshah, and a grandson, Pir Muhammad, were buried there. The body of Shah Rukh was brought there from Herat in 1448. Ulugh Beg devoted a good deal of atten­ tion to the Gur-i Amir, and it was he who made it the dynastic mausoleum of the Timurids. He him­ self was killed by one o f his own sons in 1449 and buried there in 1450: he was the last of the Timurid line to be placed in the mausoleum. Ulugh Beg’s in­ terest included adding elements to the complex. In 1424 the so-called eastern gallery' was added, and it became the sole means of access to the interior of the mausoleum. For some unknown reason the portal which led directly to the interior was closed. In the seventeenth century a large ivan was added to the west, but was never completed. Excavations have revealed much of the plan of the madrasah, but the original form of the kha­ naqah is far from clear. The Gur-i Amir does not apparently contain any historical inscriptions other than the epitaphs on the stone grave-covers. It seems possible that in­ scriptions may be concealed behind later construc­ tions which fit against the walls of the mausoleum. According to Glenn Lowry, a mosaic faience panel in the Hermitage. Leningrad, identifies the build­ ing as the tomb of Timur, but the date of the panel is uncertain. Illustrations: Pis. 79, 83, Fig. 27.

[ 260 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOClt

29 A, B Samarkand

complex: (Gur-i Amir) Muhammad Sullan A. madrasah c.1400

B. khanaqah

c.1400

Summary: The background of this complex and its relation to the Gur-i Amir are discussed in the pre­ ceding paragraphs. The importance of this com­ plex is that it represents the earliest standing evi­ dence for ensemble planning that was to become so popular in the Timurid period and later. Two pub­ lic buildings (the madrasah and khanaqah) face each other on opposite sides of a court. The madrasah is also the earliest Timurid re­ mains of its type. It had a central court with two ax­ ial ivans and a niche facade, from which the stu­ dents' cells could be entered. In the four corners were larger rooms, lecture halls, and probably a small masjid. Only the foundations were discov­ ered. The entrance to the central court of the complex, however, still stands and retains much of its original tilework. although the upper part has been com­ pletely restored. The naturalism of the floral orna­ ment and the palette suggest relations with Central Iran (e.g., Isfahan, Cat. No. 167), as do the muqarnas elements. The design of the mosaic faience on the columns also resembles work in this region, such as the mid-fourtcenth-ccntury repairs of the masjid-i jami' of Yazd (Cat. No. 221 ). The inscription on the portal gives the name of the architect on a cartouche over the door, provid­ ing him with a visibility that most architects never deigned to seek: “work of Muhammad b. Mahmud al-banna’ al-Isfahani." He was, no doubt, the builder of the entire complex of Muhammad Sul­ tan. including the madrasah. The architect’s nisbah, which indicates that he came from Isfahan, ex­ plains why the tilework shows close affinities with examples from that region.

29 C Samarkand

complex: Gur-i Amir; mausoleum 807/1404

Spatial organization: On the exterior, the building is a modified octagon with five sides exposed, two partially cut off by the projecting portal (which joined the south ivan of the ensemble court), and the final one coinciding with the back wall of this

ivan. On the interior the chamber is square in plan, 10.22 m. on each side, with lour rectangular bays which are 4.57 m. wide and 2.83 m. in depth. Con­ cealed wall arches above the bays serve to support the zone of transition, each side of which displays three shallow, pointed arch wall niches. Those at the center of the sides are provided with openings filled with marble grills. For reasons which are not clear Ulugh Beg added a corridor, called Ulugh Beg’s “Gallery,” along the east side of the Gur-i Amir, entered through a small vestibule from a niche in the court. This corridor consisted of four square bays with recesses. Each bay is covered by a domical vault on recumbent arches. The dado of the corridor is composed of light blue hexagonal tiles. Ulugh Beg was also re­ sponsible for the carved wooden doors. A stairway leading to the crypt is located in the southeast corner of the dome chamber. The cruci­ form crypt contains the tombs of Muhammad Sul­ lan. Timur, Miranshah, Shah Rukh, Ulugh Beg, and Sayyid Barakah, Timur’s spiritual guide. Vaults: The inner dome over the square chamber has an unexpectedly steep profile, as compared with the more customary shallow inner domes of the period. It rests on a traditional octagonal squinch zone of transition. The exterior dome rises on a very high drum. By 1905 approximately the upper third of the dome had fallen. It was rebuilt and its decoration restored in the 1950s. The construction of the outer dome is known only through a detailed section drawing in the huge format publication of 1905, since no photographs have been published of the interior space. A pillar, presumably of baked brick, was erected on the cen­ tral exterior point of the inner dome. It rose to over half the height of the inner space, and from its top a number of round timbers sprung at various an­ gles to make contact with the inner surface of the dome. In addition, there are thirteen spur walls, radially arranged, joined to each other by timbers and ris­ ing to a height of 7.70 m. It should be noted that while one illustration in the 1905 publication shows the upper third of the dome as missing, the section treats it as if it remained intact. The height of the tip o f the exterior dome from the ground is 37 m. Decorative treatment: The exposed surfaces of the ex­ terior octagon are revetted in patterns that contain

I 261 j

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

the names Allah and Muhammad, and these names also appear on the minarets. In both cases, they are executed in light blue glazed, cut tiles. The very high drum displays a monumental inscription in kufic of white glazed tiles framed by black ones, which repeat around the drum die phrase "God is Eternal." This inscription is interspersed with geo­ metric patterns in black and light blue tiles, while above the inscription two bands of continuous geo­ metric patterns in the same colors encircle the drum. Above these bands is one made up of hun­ dreds of vertical panels, each with the same geo­ metric patterns executed in dark blue and light blue glazed tiles and in plain baked tiles. Above this level spring the sixty or more “organ pipe” ribs of the dome, which display the same repeat pattern running vertically up each rib and executed in dark blue and plain tiles on surfaces of light blue tiles. The interior decoration of the chamber is quite overwhelming, as well as being unique among the monuments of the period in patterns and materials employed. The dado is of hexagonal onyx “tiles." and it is crowned by a muqarnas cornice of very shallow projection done in marble. The dado and cornice rise to over 2 m. above the Hoor of the chamber. Just above, a horizontal inscription band encircles the chamber: it is of greenish jasper with letters painted in gold. About 3.70 m. from the floor is the base of a band of geometric designs painted on plaster. Over this band the wall surfaces flanking the bays display very large panels with ra­ diating star designs executed in a variety of mate­ rials. The muqarnas areas of the bays were covered with pressed and molded paper, with the paper painted in light blue and gold and fastened to the surfaces with small iron nails. Above the tops of the bays a horizontal inscription band with letters painted gold marked the base of the zone of tran­ sition. This zone was covered with the pressed pa­ per. as was the entire inner surface of the dome, which was done with a pattern of identical palmettes which decreased in size as the summit of the inner dome was approached. As noted, the paper deteriorated more rapidly than the other decora­ tive materials, and most of those surfaces hung in shreds before the tedious and costly work of resto­ ration was undertaken. Documentation: On problems later resolved by ex­ cavations see Bart old (1974).

Inscriptions: The only historical inscription is the undated mosaic faience panel in Leningrad, iden­ tifying the building as the tomb of Timur. The in­ terior has extensive Quranic quotations and reli­ gious epithets, carved in marble and painted on the walls. The inscriptions on the grave-covers have been recorded by Blochet (1897), Semenov (194849), and Masson (1948). These articles have been summarized by Grabar (1957:553-555). There are six tombs in all, but the most interesting are the pair (in the crypt and in the dome chamber) over the tomb of Timur. They record Timur’s genealogy at length, showing descent not only from Chingiz Khan, but also from 'Ali. with possible Christological implications. The famous jade grave-cover had been brought back by Ulugh Beg from Mongolia and set up in 828 / 1425. Texts: 1. The main text comes from the ZafarNameh (Yazdi 1957-58:419-420) In Muharram 807 Ti­ mur returned to Samarqand, visited the madrasah of Muhammad Sultan and returned to the Bagh-i Chinar. He went again to Samarqand and stopped at the house of Muhammad Sultan. “Then he gave the order that a mausoleum (gunbad) to serve as his {i.e., Muhammad Sultan] resting place be built ad­ joining the madrasah which that prince . . . had built. In accordance with his command, they raised a domed building (qubbah), resembling the heavens, in the fore-court (pnhgah-i sahat) of the khanaqah, adjoining its southern ivan (suffeh). They executed the dado (izareh) from marble, painted with gold and lapis lazuli. A crypt (sardabeh) was quarried out for the burial of the deceased. Several houses which were in the vicinity were destroyed and a small gar­ den resembling Paradise was laid out." 2. Clavijo visited the mausoleum on the anniver­ sary of Muhammad Sultan's death in October 1404. “To the palace adjacent thereto and but recently constructed Timur came that day. .. . Then as we presented ourselves we were shown over the chapel, which was the place of interment of the Prince, and we found it square in plan and very loftily built. Both outside and in it was magnifi­ cently adorned in gold and blue tiles beautifully patterned, and there was much other fine work in gypsum (i.e., plaster). Now (the prince’s body had been brought home to Samarqand and orders had been given to erect the ‘Mosque,’ i.e., the Gur-i Amir), but recently Ti­ mur had come in from the Horde to view the build-

( 262 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

ing and he had found that the chapel was not to his liking, holding that it was built too low. Immedi­ ately he ordered the walls to be demolished, and laid it on the architects that it should be rebuilt within ten days' time, under threat of a terrible for­ feit to the workmen. Without delay the rebuilding was set in hand, day and night the work went on, and Timur himself already twice had come into the city to sec what progress had been made, on which occasions he had caused himself to be carried in a litter, for at his age he could no longer sit his horse. The chapel had now been completely rebuilt within the appointed ten days’ time, and it was a wonder how so great a building could have been put up and completed within so brief a space" (1928:275-276). Indeed, the account of Clavijo can hardly be be­ lieved, but this was not the only occasion on which Timur called for the rebuilding of a nearly com­ pleted structure (see also masjid-i jami' of Samarqand, Cat. No. 28). 3. Various texts report Timur's burial (on 22 Sha'ban 807) in the mausoleum: Ibn 'Arabshah 1936:244-245; Yazdi 1957-58:478. Stylistic comparison: The tall ellipsoidal outer dome with "organ-pipe fluting" is not the earliest exam­ ple in Central Asia. It was preceded by the shrine which Timur built at Turkestan in 1395 (Cat. No. 53). The extensive use of papier-mâché for the inte­ rior, however, is the earliest and most extensive in­ stance. The dado composed of semiprecious stone cut in the form of hexagonal tiles is certainly a more luxurious version of the usual glazed tile dado. The covering of large surfaces with hazarbaf tile ornament is typical for this period and closely re­ sembles surfaces of the Turkestan shrine. Illustrations: Pis. 80-87, Col. PI. VI, Fig. 27, Text Fig. 37. BIBLIOGRAPHY

This list is not exhaustive. It includes early publi­ cations as well as easily accessible illustrations. The more recent works are mainly in Russian (e.g.. Plei­ nes-, Pugachenkova, Borodina). Primary sources are given in the Catalogue text. Bartol'd 1974. Blochet 1897. Borodina 1976a. Brandenburg 1972, pp. 102-142. Cohn-Wiener 1930, pis. LXVIII-LXXII.

Grabar 1957. Hill and Grabar 1964, pis. 31-38. Hoag 1977, p. 264, figs. 345-346. Knobloch 1972, pp. 128-130. Plctncv 1967. Pletnevand Shvab 1981. Pope 1938, pp. 113, 1152-1155, 2620; pis. 1468, 1469 A-C, 1470. Pugachenkova 1961;1968. Rcmpel' 1961. Schubert von Soldern 1911, pp. 131-139; 1898, pp. 39-52. Semenov 1948-49. Shakhurin 1963. Smolik 1929, fig. 66. St. Petersburg 1905. Hist. Mon. Islam, pis. 50-56. Voronina 1969.

Samarqand

madrasah: Ulugh Beg 820-823/1417-1421

Summary: As a monument to his own image Ulugh Beg, grandson of Timur, built not a Friday masjid nor a magnificent tomb, but a university, sited on the large town square, the Registan. In scale it rivals the monuments of his grandfather, but it reflects the unique interest in learning of Ulugh Beg, the "astronomer-king." At the very same historical mo­ ment, Ulugh Beg founded a madrasah in Bukhara, but it pales by comparison. Somewhat later the madrasah at Ghujdivan (Cat. No. 7), even smaller than that of Bukhara, is perhaps also due to his or his son’s patronage. It is difficult to explain the comment of one me­ diaeval text (Rashahat 'Ayn al-Hayat, cited by Bartol’d 1963:119n8) that Ulugh Beg’s tutor, Shah Ma­ lik, built the madrasah. Perhaps he only inspired the young master, for it is Ulugh Beg’s name that occurs in the inscriptions. The madrasah attracted some of the greatest scholars of the age, not only in the religious, but also in the secular, sciences (see Kennedy 1960). As a work of architecture, it is unique in its complexity and its ambitiousness. It ranks among the best work of this period. Unfortunately, the name of its archi­ tect has escaped record. As a teaching school, the madrasah remained ac-

( 263 ]

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CA TA LOG UE

live until the late seventeenth century. In the eight­ eenth century it stood empty until it was used as a storage warehouse for grain. Early in the twentieth century, its original function revived, and it was at­ tended by some sixty students: they were warned that the area of the structure which contained the lecture rooms was unsafe to enter. Photographs taken by Cohn-Wiener in 1925 re­ vealed that the tops of the entrance ivan and of the Hanking arcades were missing, that nearly all of the mosaic faience patterns on the spandrel of the great ivan arch had vanished, and that some of the domes over the chambers in the corners of the structure had fallen. Soviet engineers made early efforts to repair and consolidate parts of the structure, and by 1932 the leaning minaret at the northeast corner of the mad­ rasah was pulled to an upright position. In 1952 the work of repair was renewed and has now been com­ pleted. One result of this very intense campaign was that the original areas of mosaic faience, haft rangi tiles, and marble decoration were largely re­ stored, or, when not completely restored, were pro­ vided with the broad outlines of the original deco­ ration. Nothing remains of the khanaqah which Ulugh Beg erected opposite the madrasah. On its site now stands the seventeenth-century Shir Dar madrasah, a close (but not exact) copy of the Timurid madra­ sah. Spatial organization: The building occupies a rectan­ gular space 56 m. by 81 m. There are four minarets in the corners of the rectangle, and two-thirds of the side facing on the Registan square is taken up by a towering pishtaq (height 34.7 m.). This grand entrance is supplemented by smaller entrances on the cross-axes of the court. From the broad ivan of the main entrance one proceeds into a smaller ivan in the middle of the rear wall, and then through a doorway into the ivan on court. Two smaller doors flanking this doorway (which itself is closed by an attractive iron grill) lead into L-shaped corridors which conduct the visitor away from the central axis toward the large corner halls, probably dars khanehs (lecture halls). The hall to the right of the entrance is no longer acces­ sible from this corridor. Both halls could also be en­ tered from outside the building. The hall to the left has a small portal of its own on the southeast. No scientific study of the plan has yet been published to

ascertain the original relationship of these spaces to each other. The court is square (30 m. on a side) and has four axial ivans. Arranged around the court in two tiers were fifty student rooms, each one housing two stu­ dents, according to contemporary sources. Across the court from the entrance the ivan becomes the pishtaq for the masjid, which takes the form of a long rectangular hall, divided into five bays by transverse arches. There are two dome chambers in the rear corners of the building accessible from this hall. None of this area is open to the visitor. More than half the height of the theatrical en­ trance ivan is visible from the rear above the court­ yard structures. The corners of this ivan were backed by massive brick piers up to its full height, and its central section is abutted by three massive walls, somewhat lightened by deep pointed arch re­ veals. Lack of access to, or photographs of, the vaulted areas prevents further detailed discussion of these systems. Decorative treatment: Hazarbaf technique appears extensively on wall surfaces. Sacred names are ex­ ecuted in light blue cut tiles within geometric out­ lines of dark blue cut tiles. Such patterns are found everywhere on the facade and on the structures flanking the ivan. Most striking is the way these pat­ terns cover the entire exterior wall surface and carry over onto the secondary entrance portals. Mosaic faience seems to have been used sparingly and then primarily in places of high visibility, no­ tably on areas of the entrance ivan. On one of the spandrels of the ivan a few patches remain: the overall star design has been restored in outline only for these spandrels. Mosaic faience is conspicuous within the secondary arch of the ivan—the actual doorway—where it is found in small panels, in an inscription band around the head of the doorway, and in the muqarnas semidome. Superb panels also occur in the entrance to the masjid. Haft rangi is everywhere. On the specially shaped pieces that create the rope molding around the ivan arch, as separate inserts into the brick re­ vetment, as elements inset into patterns formed by pieces of baked off-white tile, and in the spandrels of the arches of the court facade. Marble was used in the entrance ivan and in the bay of its doorway. As a low dado it was inset with strips of dark blue glazed tile, as a three-dimen-

[ 264 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATA LOG VE

sional moldingjust above the dado, and in attached columns of the doorway bay. Also, it was exten­ sively used, again inset with strips of tile, at the bases of the piers of the facades of the court ar­ cades. Documentation. Inscriptions: 1. (In the doorway niche of the entrance portal, the smaller script of the hor­ izontal frieze above the door; Masson I926a:4) .. the builder of this institution for learning is .. . Ulugh BegGurgan . . . in the year 820/ 1417-18.’' 2. (Over the portal of the masjid on the southwest side of the court) "This suffeh [i.e., portal or vaulted masjid] is built to resemble Paradise . . . in it are teachers of the truths of the sciences useful to the religion, under the direction of the greatest of sultans . . . (at end of small script] in the months of the year 822/1419." 3. (In large kufic letters surrounding the portal screen of the entrance; Masson 1926a:4) "The building of this madrasah was completed, whose magnificent facade is of such a height it is twice the heavens and of such weight that the spine o f the earth is about to trem ble. . . in the year 823 /1420.” Texts: According to Bartol’d (1963:119). the date is given by Hafiz-i Abru and Samarqandi as 823. Samarqandi notes that Ulugh Beg built a khanaqah opposite the madrasah, and that the site was located in the middle of the city, near the lofty citadel, flanked by flourishing bazaars and by houses ( 194649:236). Most important for an understanding of the role of the madrasah in Ulugh Beg’s time is the letter sent by his leading mathematician, Ghiyath al-Din Kashi, describing the academic atmosphere of the madrasah to his father (Kennedy I960). Stylistic comparison: The building follows a tradition established at some time during the early Timurid period for the madrasah, examples of which can Ijc seen at Bukhara, Khargird, and elsewhere (exten­ sively discussed as a plan type under “madrasah"). By comparison with these, however, it is the largest and most complex. None of the others had a masjid along the rear wall of the building. Four corner minarets arc found only on the masjid-i jami’ of Ti­ mur at this time (Cat. No. 28). Whether the front corner rooms ever had tall fluted domes, like those of the Shir Dar now opposite it, is not confirmed. Excavations suggest they were clad in smooth blue tiles. Much of the hazarbaf and haft rangi tile work

can be compared with that of the masjid of Timur. Certain details in the mosaic faience are paralleled in the mausoleum and masjid of Tuman Aqa (Cat. No. 21). Illustrations: Pis. 88-95, Col. PI. V ila, Figs. 28. 29. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bartol’d 1958, p. 119. Brandenburg 1972. pp. 190-200. Bulatova 1969. Cohn-Wiener 1930, pis. LXXV. LXXVI. Hill and Grabar 1964, p. 53, pis. 60-64. Hist. Mon. Islam, pis. 60-65. Hoag 1977, pp. 267-268, figs. 351-352. Kennedy 1960. Knobloch 1972, p. 133. Masson 1926a. Oumniakov and Aleskerov 1973, pp. 150-155. Pugachenkova 1961, p. 34, pis. 55-58. --------1976, pp. 68, 74. Veimarn 1946. Voronina 1969, p. 34.

31 Samarqand

observatory: Ulugh Beg

823/1420 Summary: Ulugh Beg's interest in astronomy has often been attributed to the influence of his tutor, the astronomer Salah al-Din Musa b. Mahmud, known as "Qazizadeh Rumi." As a child, Ulugh Beg had visited the famous observatory of Nasir al-Din Tusi at Maragheh, built in 1258 by Hulagu Khan. The atmosphere in Samarqand during Ulugh Beg's youth was conducive to scientific research. The Qazizadeh Rumi, who had studied in Bursa, had himself chosen to come to Samarqand because of its opportunities for learning. Sometime after 1416, when Ghiyath al-Din Jamshid Kashi, the renowned mathematician, had com­ pleted a scientific work for Iskandar Sultan, he was brought to Samarqand by Ulugh Beg. In a letter to his father reporting the events of his new home, Ghiyath al-Din discussed the building of the ob­ servatory. It was modified according to his specifi­ cations and included as its main feature an enor­ mous meridian arc (suds-i Fakhri), or sextant. At the time o f the writing of the letter, the observatory was more than half finished. The building of the

[ 265 |

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

observatory is also mentioned by 'Abd al-Razzaq alSamarqandi and Fasihi. Despite its world renown, the institution did not survive the death of its founder. According to Babur, who conquered Samarqand in 1497 and 1511, the observatory stood intact. Sayili estimates that it took thirty years for Ulugh Beg to complete the new zij (astronomical tables). The site of the observatory was excavated north of Samarqand by Viatkin in 1908-9. Further exca­ vations in 1941 led to the hypothetical reconstruc­ tions of Zasypkin and Nil’scn, but the building was not correctly understood until investigations were resumed in 1965 and 1967. The results and inter­ pretations are presented by Pugachenkova, to­ gether with technical details on the operation of the scientific instruments. The observatory combined three giant-size astro­ nomical instruments, built as part of the architec­ ture, together with service rooms for related activi­ ties. The three instruments were a sextant (the suds-i Fakhri), a solar clock (i'tidal), described by Birjandi, and a quadrant sector (ustuvan), de­ scribed by al-Biruni. The outer wall of the observatory formed a cir­ cle, 48 m. in diameter. On the ground floor, en­ tered from the south, were the service rooms. Above this was a two-story arcade that ran the full circumference of the building. Through the center of the building, along the north-south axis, the me­ ridian arc of the sextant was built, penetrating far below the floor of the first story and rising several meters above the perimeter walls. Steps led down from the first floor to the lower part of the arc (this, in fact, still remains). Another flight of steps ran along the top of the sextant to the opening of the dioptor, through which the rays of the luminaries entered and fell on gradations marked on the great arc. The second giant instrument consisted of a wall with concave profile, built perpendicular to the sex­ tant along the east-west axis of the building. The top of this curving wall was inclined to catch the shadow of the walls of the sextant, which served as its gnomon. The sextant divided the circular ground floor in half, and a corridor underlying the solar clock, which was perpendicular to the sextant, formed a corridor further dividing these halves into quar­ ters. The main rooms in the north quarters were cruciform. Those on the south were rectangular

and were divided into sections by transverse arches. Smaller rooms occupied the remaining spaces. The roof was marked off as a grid along which the azimuth of luminaries, sighted through the ar­ cades of the periphery, could be determined. In ex­ cavations. stone slabs with circles for inlaying bronze plates and other markings were found which formed part of this grid. The piers of the ar­ cades may have been marked by similar devices to aid in the sighting of objects. Pugachenkova has cited parallels to standing monuments in India, at Delhi and Jaipur, built in the eighteenth century, no doubt under the influ­ ence of Timurid technology. Recent excavations of the thirteenth-century observatory at Maragheh have revealed a circular building (45 m. in diame­ ter), with a stone mount for a giant metal quadrant set along the meridian. Historical sources report that this observatory had a dome, but it must not have interfered with the operation of an ustuvan on the roof, in which the circular form of the building played a role. Whether it also included the third in­ strument. found later in Samarqand, the solar clock, is not known. Decorative treatment: The exterior was revetted in glazed brick mosaic in the style of the monuments of the period. Inside, along the walls of the arcade, the decoration could not have been such that it ob­ scured the functioning of the ustuvan, although the bronze plates, used as markings, must also have served a decorative purpose. The service rooms of the first floor were likely to have been painted, as suggested by the report of ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Samarqandi. It is not clear whether these images were simply decorative, or were, in fact, accurate maps and charts that could be utilized. Documentation: ’Abd al-Razzaq al-Samarqandi (1946-49:236-239), under the year 823/1420, re­ ports the construction of the madrasah and the ob­ servatory of Ulugh Beg at Samarqand. The place­ ment of the observatory was selected by the astronomers. The most interesting comments con­ cern the decoration: “Inside the rooms (khaneh-ha) he had painted and written the image (hay'al) of the nine celestial orbits (aflak), and the shapes (ashkal) of the nine heavenly spheres, and the degrees, min­ utes, seconds, and tenths of seconds, of the epicy­ cles; the seven planets (aflak-i tadawir) and pictures (suwar) of the fixed stars, the image (ihay'al) of the

[ 266 ]

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CA TALOG U t

terrestrial globe, pictures (suwar) o f the climes with mountains, seas, and deserts, and related things . . such that it resembled the "qasr-i muqamas-i sab'.'' The allusion is difficult to interpret. It may re­ fer to the seven-dome palace of Bahram Gur in the Haft Paykar o f Nizami. Sayili suggests that these were three-dimensional representations, part of the "planetaria" of the observatory (p. 282). Kashi names the head mason of the observatory, a certain Isma’il (Sayili: 282). Fasihi (1962-63: vol. Ill, p. 245), under the year 823, reports that Ulugh Beg laid the foundations of the rasad (observatory). Babur (1921a:8l) remarked that the building stood two stories high. Illustrations-. PI. 96. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Babur 1921, pp. 80-81. Bartol’d 1958, pp. 130-134. Kennedy 1960. Pugachenkova 1969, pp. 107-131 (contains com­ plete bibliography). Sayili 1960, chap. 8 (description of instruments). Vatjavand 1979, pp. 527-536. Viatkin 1908.

32 Samarkand

complex: 'Abdi Darun: khanaqah

c. 1430 Summary. Southeast of the city, within view of the 'Ishrat Khaneh, is the pleasant shrine complex as­ sociated with the name of Mu’izz al-Din b. Muham­ mad Ya’qub b. 'Abdi, son of the Caliph ’Uthman and himself honored by a shrine south of Samarqand (the “ 'Abdi Birun"). Mu’izz al-Din is be­ lieved to have been a qadi at Samarqand. The site of his tomb was inside the Qal’eh Iskandar, accord­ ing to the nineteenth-century author Abu Tahir. He tells us also that the earliest building at the shrine was a mausoleum erected by Sultan Sanjar (in the twelfth century), and that one of the Timurid sultans built there a khanaqah and rooms. The revetments were executed in the time of Ulugh Beg. These statements are borne out by the style of the architectural remains, but no historical inscrip­ tions have been found. The existing mausoleum, located behind the khanaqah, is part of the Timu-

rid building but may rest on earlier foundations,, which could account for the change in floor level. Spatial organization: On one side of a large pool is the khanaqah and mausoleum unit. On the adjoin­ ing side is a late, columned masjid of wood, and on the third side, a madrasah. Only the first unit is Timurid, and it appears to have been built in stages. The khanaqah consists of a large pishtaq, followed by a square domed hall with recesses in each side. This is connected at the rear to the mausoleum, the floor of which is on a level considerably higher than that of the khanaqah. A panjareh in the intervening wall permits a view of the tomb from the khanaqah. Outside the mausoleum a narrow corridor sepa­ rates the outer wall from the cemetery. The wall of this corridor opposite the mausoleum has the re­ mains of a Timurid tile dado, suggesting the for­ mer existence of other rooms behind the present ones. Their floor level would have corresponded to that of the mausoleum. Adjoining the khanaqah and mausoleum unit to the left of the pishtaq are two rooms with vaults like that of the mausoleum. Similar rooms seem to have been built at the back of the complex joined to the mausoleum. They ap­ pear to be family mausoleums, creating an ensem­ ble like the Shah-i Zindeh. It is not clear whether some of these belong to the same period of con­ struction as the pishtaq and large-domed hall. Vaults: The pishtaq is covered by a simple barrel vault. The dome of the khanaqah rests on the four niche arches. Together they form a base for the dome of sixteen points. The interior of the squinch contains a second arched niche in a rectangular frame. It is, therefore, a variation on the "nested arch" squinch. The inner dome is hemispherical. It is enclosed on the exterior by a cylindrical drum, on which is set another hemispherical dome. The small dome of the mausoleum rests on the four arches of the wall recesses and on the four recum­ bent arches between them. A similar system was ap­ plied in the rooms to the left of the pishtaq. The dome of the mausoleum is enclosed on the outside by an octagonal drum, over which was constructed another octagon with pyramidal roof. One of the rooms left of the pishtaq also has a pyramidal roof. Decorative treatment: The architectural lines of the interior are emphasized through the use of bold plaster moldings. A horizontal molding delineates the zone of transition in the khanaqah. It also out*

I 267 )

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

lines the arches and arch net under the recumbent arches. A dado of light blue hexagonal tiles of greenish hue is found in the khanaqah. It has mo­ saic faience borders. In the center of each section of wall is an cight-lobcd medallion of mosaic faience. The honeycomb panjarchs were once also revetted in mosaic faience. The pishtaq is revetted in hazarbaf patterns in brick mosaic of black, light blue, and unglazcd tile. The black tiles form the outlines of a geometric pattern, which contains filler ornaments and sacred names in light blue. The drum of the dome of the khanaqah retains traces of a large cursive inscription executed in hazarbaf technique. Illustrations'. PI. 97, Fig. 30. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abu Tahir 1964-65, pp. 99-103. Brandenburg 1972, pp. 154-156 (plan of ensemble and sketch), fig. 88. Pugachenkova 1961, pp. 91-93 (English, pp. 9596), fig. 50. -------- 1965, fig. 70 (sketch). --------1976a, p. 22 (elevation), p. 75 (plan; interior incorrectly drawn as an octagon). Pugachenkova and Rempel’ 1958, pp. 122-123, pis. 92-93.

Samarqand

masjid: Alikeh Kukcltash before 1439-40

Summary. This masjid is reported to have stood south of the khanaqah of Ulugh Beg on the Registan. According to Pugachenkova and Rempel’, the masjid occupied a rectangle about 90 m. x 60 m. There were 80 arches on the court and 210 small domes. The rivaqs were supported by marble col­ umns. Alikeh Kukcltash (d. 843/1439-40) had been the tutor of Shah Rukh. He took little part in affairs of state but rather used his influence and wealth to protect the oppressed. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bartol’d 1958, p. 123. Pugachenkova and Rempel' 1958 p. 128, fig. 36.

Samarqand

shrine: C hupan Ata mid 15th century

Summary: The structure lies on a rocky outcropping to the northeast of Samarqand and not far from the site of the observatory of Ulugh Beg. Guliamov studied the structure in 1941 and assigned it to the period of Ulugh Beg. The structure is that of a mausoleum, but there is no grave below it. It is suggested that it was built over a real or mythical burial to become a place of pilgrimage. However, there is a tombstone within the chamber. The single square chamber is 4 m. on each side and displays four niches, each 2.40 m. in width. The hemispherical inner dome is carried on intersecting arches. The corners of the drum of the exterior dome arc sharply chamfered. It displays a monumental kufic inscription in faience on a ground of baked brick. Above the drum rises an ex­ tremely high cylindrical dome. Buttresses on each exterior side of the square chamber arc probably later in date than the original construction. Illustrations: Pis. 98.99, Fig. 31. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brandenburg 1972, pp. 154-156. Guliamov and Bunakov 1968. Knobloch 1972, p. 135. Oumniakov and Aleskerov 1973, p. 164. Pugachenkova 1976a, pp. 35 (section). 80 (plan). Smolik 1929, pp. 39-40, fig. 79 (plan). Voronina 1969, p. 35.

Samarqand

mausoleum: 'Ishrat Khaneh c. 869/1461

Summary: The structure bears the somewhat inap­ propriate name of 'Ishrat Khaneh, or Pleasure House. The construction was ordered by Habibah Sultan Begum, eldest wife of Abu Sa’id as a mau­ soleum for a daughter who died young. In 1464 it must have been substantially completed as in that year a vaqf was established for its maintenance: some relative documents have been preserved. Very soon it became the burial place for women and children of the Timurid family and there are some twenty tombstones in the crypt. By the end of

[ 268 ]

Digitized by

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOG CE

the seventeenth century, it was totally abandoned, and the deterioration of the structure continued with the collapse of the dome and its drum in 1903. While several Soviet scholars have described the monument in articles in Russian, the most compact and informative article is one by Pugachcnkova which was published in English. Spatial organization: The monument displays a rich complex of rooms on the ground level and a some­ what different arrangement of spaces within its sec­ ond story. The facade is 28 m. long and the depth of the structure is 25 m. On the southwest a very high arched portal ivan is at the center of the very damaged facade. It leads directly into the large, square central dome chamber of the monument, some 8 m. on a side. Its four niches, each 2.70 m. deep, establish a cruciform plan. On the longitudi­ nal access of the portal ivan there is a doorway from the chamber to the rear of the structure, and there are doorways from the chamber on the cross axis. The niche in the east corner of the dome chamber displays a stair to the crypt. To the east of the dome chamber are four rooms along a second longitudi­ nal access. Three of them comprise the miyan saray, an “intermediary” room or gallery, in which the final funeral rites were observed. The central room was the place from which the corpses were taken to the stairs and down to the crypt. A doorway on the west side o f the dome chamber leads into a masjid, which stretches along a third longitudinal axis and includes three bays. A large room, its purpose unknown, is to the south of the masjid, adjacent to the facade of the monument. In each corner pier, or element, of the dome chamber a circular stair leads to the second floor. This floor is in a very damaged condition; the re­ mains being scarcely sufficient to enable the plan layout to be established. Vaults: In the central dome chamber a system of in­ tersecting arches and arch nets establishes the tran­ sition to the sixteen-sided star of the flat elliptical dome whose diameter is two-fifths narrower than the side of the square from which it rises. The thrust of the inner dome and of the outer one, raised on a very high drum, is transferred to eight points which are the intersections of the supporting arches and their crowns. The other rooms display more than ten different types of vaulting, all based on systems of arch nets and nearly all of flat profile. In the masjid, the first

area which contains the mihrab has a stellate vault. The central rectangle is covered by a dome of de­ cagonal base and the third area by a half dome whose base is half of an octagon. Decorative treatment: Fired brick forms the fabric of the structure and is used extensively in its decora­ tion. The side edges of the portal ivan display three-quarter columns in baked brick. The ivan is flanked by two levels of shallow pointed arch ar­ cades within which are patterns in square, glazed bricks. The rear facade is treated as five very large panels which are decorated with geometric designs in brick and faience. The earlier use of sacred names does not appear. Photographs taken before 1903 show the drum of the dome decorated with patterns based on eight-pointed stars, with the dome itself clad with blue glazed tiles. The central dome chamber has a dado of 2.20 m. which was decorated with mosaic-like panels in light blue, dark blue, and green on which elegant vegetal forms were drawn in lines of gold. Above the dado level, all surfaces were decorated with kundal designs. In this case, the kundal material was a mixture of plaster, red clay, and a vegetable glue. To the surfaces of this material gold leaf was applied, and on the gold leaf flowers, stems, and in­ scriptions were drawn in white lead. Larger spaces related to the vaulting systems contained frames, medallions and cartouches which were filled with vegetal forms. Excavations brought to light pieces of thin glass in purple-red, light blue, dark green, and yellow, and panes of glass once filled the windows of the central dome chamber. Documentation: References to the construction of the monument arc found in the contemporary lit­ erary sources cited by Pugachenkova. The docu­ ments relating to the vaqf arc the subject of an ar­ ticle by Viatkin in Masson et al. 1958. Stylistic comparison: The vaulting of the central dome chamber follows in a direct line from that of the mausoleum of Gawhar Shad at Herat and the m a in r o o m s o f t h e m a d r a s a h a t K h a r g ir d . Illustrations: Pis. 1 0 0 -1 0 2 , F igs. 3 2 -3 5 . BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brandenburg 1972, pp. 142-150. Cohn-Wiener 1930, pi. LXIII. Hill and Grabar 1964, pi. 59.

[ 269 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

Hoag 1977, pp. 275-276, figs. 363 (plan), 364 (sec­ tion). Knobloch 1972, pp. 130-131. Masson et al. 1958. Oumniakov and Aleskerov 1972, pp. 161-162, color plate. Pugachenkova 1958. --------1963, pp. 177-190. -------- 1970.

Knobloch 1972. pp. 129-130. Oumniakov and Aleskerov 1973, p. 131. Pugachenkova 1963, pp. 177-190. -------- 1976a, p. 85.

Samarqand

complex: Khvajeh A hrar; khanaqah

895/1490

Samarqand

mausoleum: Aq Saray c. 1470

Summary: According to Pugachenkova, this struc­ ture may be dated to the seventh decade of the fif­ teenth century and to the reign of Sultan Ahmad (1469-1494). It is situated a short distance to the southeast of the Gur-i Amir and earlier in this cen­ tury was occasionally wrongly identified as the first structure erected by Timur to house the body of Muhammad Sultan. It may have served as a mau­ soleum for members of the Timurid line later than Ulugh Beg: a decapitated skeleton found in the crypt may have been that of ’Abd al-Latif, son and murderer of Ulugh Beg. The construction work was never completed: the outer dome was not erected and the decoration of the exterior surfaces was not executed. The struc­ ture is of baked brick. The facade is 15.80 m. across and the depth of the monument is 19 m. A portal in the center of the facade leads to the central dome chamber, a square of 7 m. on a side which has been brought to a cruciform plan by deep niches on each side. The dome rests on inter­ secting arches. The plan is asymmetrical in that the area beyond the dome chamber is deeper than that in front of it. There are a number of small cham­ bers. The interior of the structure displays a dado 2.20 m. of thin glazed mosaic in light blue, dark blue, green, white, and yellow with an ovcrglazc o f gold paint. In the middle of each side panel there is an elegant vase with stylized floral designs. Above the dado all surfaces are covered with kundal work. Illustrations: Pis. 103-105. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brandenburg 1972, pp. 142-148, 150-153. Cohn-Wiener 1930, pp. 272-277.

Summary: Nasir al-Din ’Ubaydullah, known as Khvajeh Ahrar, controlled the politics of Central Asia during the second half of the fifteenth cen­ tury, as leader of the Naqshbandi dervish order. South of the city in the village of Kamangaran (the "bow-makers”) the powerful shaykh took up resi­ dence during a three-month illness that preceded his death. He was buried there in a choice location, near which his eminent sons erected a lofty build­ ing. This is the report o f Fakhr al-Din Va’iz (d. 1532-33), author of the Rashahat 'Ayn al-Hayat, a biography of saints, dedicated to the memory of Khvajeh Ahrar. Today the tomb of the shaykh is situated in a walled complex south of the Registan, near the for­ mer Suzangaran Gate, but inside the city. His tomb lies on a takht surrounded by a wall (hazirah). The enclosure forms the south side of a court, on the west side of which is a summer masjid. Directly north, on the axis of the burial platform, is a large octagonal pool. Across the north side is a large madrasah, which forms an oblique angle with the west wall because of its orientation with the qiblah. The madrasah was built by Nadir Divan Begi. ac­ cording to an inscription on the portal, between 1630 and 1635. Recent investigations have shown, however, that the masjid which forms its western end is of an earlier date. It has been suggested that this structure represents the remains of a khanaqah known to have been built here by Khvajeh Ahrar himself. More likely, it is the building erected by his sons as a funerary masjid to accompany his hazirah tomb. The structure will be described below, and the suggestion made that it is a form of musalla. Spatial organization: The masjid consists of a large dome chamber, with deep niches on each side, flanked by smaller rooms and fronted by a facade with pishtaq on the east. The photographs from the Kun collection indicate that there was a tall cylin­ drical drum over the large hall which supported a

( 270 ]

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATA LOG U t

dome, no trace of which can be seen. At a more re­ cent date the drum was demolished, and the room was covered by a flat roof on four wooden columns. Decorative treatment: The interior was covered with plaster and painted in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Traces of old tile work still vis­ ible are similar in technique to the revetments on the madrasah portal, which is dated by the inscrip­ tion to the seventeenth century. If this structure does belong to an earlier period, then it must have been redecorated when the madrasah was added to it. Stylistic comparison: The masjid plan can be related to various musallas in Central Asia, particularly of the sixteenth century, such as that of Qarshi. Oc­ curring in conjunction with a hazirah it recalls the Shrine of Zayn al-Din at Tayabad. In its propor­ tions it resembles the Gok Gunbad of Shahrisab/., built in 1435, which may also be a musalla as its ar­ cades do not extend around a court.

the transition zone create an arch net to form a six­ teen-sided zone. The dome is of a single shell and rises steeply before emerging as a hemisphere. On the exterior, the zone of transition is contained within a cube. The smaller domes also have octag­ onal zones of transition with squinches. Apart from the plastering of the interior there is no applied decoration. The inscriptions on the marble cenotaph and in the mihrab (in ink) have not been read. Although archaic in its technology, the building relates stylistically to other late fiftcenth-ccntury buildings with regard to its use of the arch net. The facade resembles the sixteenth-century addition to the Buyan Quli Khan of Bukhara. Man'kovskaia suggests that it is the prototype for a number of three-dome mausoleums in Khvarazm. Illustration: Fig. 36. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Man’kovskaia 1975, pp. 25-28.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fakhr al-Din 1911, pp. 360-361. Kochnev 1976, fig. 14. Kun 1871-72, vols. IV-VII. Shvaband Pletnev 1977, pp. 160-164.

Shaburgan Ata

Shahrisabz

palace: Aq Saray 781-798/1379-1396

shrine: Chibirdan Baba late 15th century

Summary: The mausoleum is entered from the cast through a broad ivan. The building is rectangular (18.5 m. x 10.8 m.) and has round, short towers in the corners of the facade. There is an open arcade along the top of the ivan screen and in the upper portions of the towers. The interior is composed of a large domed hall, followed by a pair of small domed rooms, arranged along its west side. The large hall has shallow arched niches on the axes ex­ cept on the west side, which has a mihrab. To the left of the mihrab is a doorway giving access to the small room on the south. From its north side a door leads into the north room. The small rooms also have shallow arched niches on the axes. These rooms are the actual mausoleums, and the large hall is considered to be a ziyarat khaneh. The large dome rests on squinchcs. Recumbent arches between the squinches and arched panels of

Summary: Following the successful campaign against Urgench in April 1379, Timur ordered the construction of an impressive palace in the northcast quadrant of the new walled enclosure at Shah­ risabz, near his birthplace, and a stronghold of the Barlas clan. In doing so, Timur signified that Shahr­ isabz was to become his second capital, with the fa­ cade of the Aq Saray facing north toward Samarqand, his chief city. The name “Aq Saray” (White Palace), which is used in the contemporary literary sources, is believed to connote "aristocratic” rather than to refer to the actual color of the build­ ing, which was resplendent with colored tiles. All that remains of this palace is the massive, co­ lossal entrance portal, whose vault of some 22 m. in width must have disappeared centuries ago. In the sixteenth century 'Abdullah Khan systematically d e stro y ed m an y o f th e m o n u m e n ts in S h ah risab z.

Despite its impressive dimensions and unparal­ leled tile revetments, the great pylons of this portal have received only passing attention. The compo­ sition of the palace as a whole is not clear, nor is there certainty about the manner in which the pres-

( 271 ]

Digitized by

Goo

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

cnt remains fitted into it. A few excavations were carried out in 1936 by Mauer (unpublished), but these failed to reveal the plan. The palace has been reconstructed according to the description by Clavijo (see below) as a court building with four axial ivans. The existing remains are identified as the pishtaq (entrance), lying in front of the north ivan of the court. Opposite that entrance was the grand reception hall of Timur, probably covered by a dome with tiled exterior. The historian, Fasihi (vol. Ill, p. 141) refers to the palace as the “Green Dome” (qubbat al-khudra’), an allusion to the fa­ bled palace of Mansur in Baghdad, but no doubt also a description of its color (i.c., light blue). A Per­ sian poem in an inscription on the entrance portal makes mention of the qubbat al-khudra’. The portal is covered with inscriptions, few of which have been published, although many were recorded by Sitniakovskii in 1899. The date of in­ ception given by the literary sources is 781 /1379, while an inscription on the flanking cast tower gives the date 798/1395-96, believed to refer only to the revetments. The building was still not completed in 1404 when Clavijo visited, and there are indications in the existing remains that the revetments were never completed. The artist’s signature has been found on the ca­ ble molding in tile mosaic, attesting to the presence of Iranian (Azerbayjani) craftsmen at Shahrisabz. This inscription has raised questions about the ori­ gin of the design, since the literary sources attrib­ ute the work to Khvarazmian architects (Rogers 1978:118). Spatial organization: The portal consists of two nested ivans, a very broad one Hanked by cylindri­ cal towers over duodecagonal socles, and a nar­ rower. lower ivan, whose rear wall was closed by an arched doorway leading into the court. In the lat­ eral walls of the first ivan is a tall, deep arched re­ cess near the rear wall of the ivan. The second ivan has small doorways close by its rear wall which led to rooms, presumably used by the guards. Most of the west wall of the second ivan has been destroyed. Only a fragment of the tunnel vault which once covered this space can still be seen above its east wall. The view of the portal from the rear reveals a multitude of windows and abutments of domes on at least five levels. Staircases in the towers and py­ lons led up to these rooms and the palace roof. The

cast and west flanks arc not identical. No cross-sec­ tions or elevations of this most complex interior that would permit further study have been pub­ lished. Decorative treatment: The facade, the flanking tow­ ers, and the interiors of the two ivans were entirely revetted in tile. The rear walls of the pylons were in part prepared to receive revetments, which were never put in place. Outside the east tower arc the remains of a horizontal zigzag pattern, which might have covered some portion of this rear wall. The large areas—the upper sections of the tow­ ers and the vault of the large ivan—were covered in brick mosaic with large geometric patterns contain­ ing sacred names in square kufic. Although the or­ ganization of pattern zones on the two towers is identical, the large geometric patterns arc curiously dissimilar. This lack of symmetry is remarkable in that, as both elements could be viewed simultane­ ously, the dissimilarity would have been apparent. Even the wide band of kufic dividing the polygonal socle from the cylindrical shaft contains a subtle dif­ ference. The east flank bears the words "al-Sultan Zill Allah (fi’l-ard)," while the west abbreviates by omitting the word “Allah." (Masson believed this to be a “scribal” error or oversight; perhaps it was in­ tentional to avoid symmetry.) The frames of the panels on the socles are exe­ cuted in inset technique, using underglaze relief tiles on a ground of polished brick. The revetments on the walls of the first ivan con­ sist of haft rangi hexagonal tiles, forming large panels of intricate vegetal, arabesque, and calli­ graphic ornament. These panels are arranged around the deep arched niche as a series of rectan­ gular frames, square and rectangular panels, span­ drels, and friezes. The back wall of the niche was also tiled. The second ivan begins with the spectacular spi­ ral rope molding outlining the arch, executed in mosaic faience. It was here that the craftsman pul his signature, perhaps as an indication of the value he placed on this remarkable detail. The composi­ tion of the tilework on the lateral walls is organized into three sections: a taller flat arched niche sur­ rounded by a rectangular frame and two flanking narrower panels, with an arched panel below and a square panel of muqarnas brackets above them. The composition of the rear wall,judging by the re­ mains of its eastern section, must have followed

[ 272 ]

Digitized by

Google

Original from

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

CATALOGUE

similar lines. A wide frieze containing an inscrip­ tion in kufic divides the wall composition from the vault. The style of kufic found in this inscription is most unusual for monumental scale, as it is nor­ mally found on a relatively minuscular scale in the background of large ihulih inscriptions. It is char­ acterized by narrow bars and wide intervals be­ tween the letters. It is also unusual because this style of kufic is generally reserved for religious formu­ las, while the remaining words indicate that it is part of a poem or proverb (see below). The vault of the second ivan was revetted in square light blue tiles, only fragments of which can be seen. The ornament of the Aq Saray is so rich that it deserves a detailed study. The vegetal ornament is exceptional for its organic qualities, which were to disappear from Timurid design in the succeeding decade. Documentation. Inscriptions: 1. (East tower) the date 798/1395-96 (cited from Masson and Pugachenkova 1953:119). This date is believed to refer only to the revetments. 2. (Cable molding, lower section on cast side, in mosaic faience) signature of craftsman "Muhaminad-i Yusuf al-Tabrizi.” 3. Two Persian inscriptions were published in Roger's 1978 translation (p. 117) of Masson and Pugachenkova 1953: (a) "Oh Benefactor of the People, long may you rule like Sulayman. May you be like Nuh in lon­ gevity! May this palace bring felicity (to its ten­ ant). The Heavens arc astonished at its beauty.” (b) “The Sultan binds his enemies with (the chains of) his good deeds. Whosoever turns to him gains satisfaction. The fame of his good deeds, like a sweet odour, is ubiquitous. His goodness is evident. His face is clear and his motion agreeable." 4. (Vertical frieze surrounding archway in south wall of large ivan, beside cable molding) Portions read from photographs suggest a eulogy praising the palace, mentioning the qubbat al-khudra’, its arches and its decoration. 5. (Kufic inscription frieze in second ivan) Pho­ tographs show the word 'imarah, possibly a part of the inscription cited by Pugachenkova: “If you have doubts about our grandeur, look at our edifice (‘imarah}).“ 6. (Kufic band on towers) east. “The Sultan is Al­

lah's Shadow (on earth).” West, "The Sultan is (sic] Shadow.. , . ” Texts: 1. Sharaf al-Din 'Ali Yazdi (1957-58, vol. I. p. 221 ) describes Shahrisabz as a center of learning, known also for its verdure. Work was begun in the month of Rabi’ 1 781/June-July 1379. In an other­ wise uninformative poem, he mentions the crenellations (kungureh) of the palace. 2. Nizam al-Din Shami (1937, vol. I, pp. 81, 97) gives the same date as Sharaf al-Din, adding: "Out of respect for the excellence of His Excellency Ti­ mur a majestic palace, the Aq-Sarai was built. This is a monumental (Persian sangin, "stone!”J building and its iwan is visible 7 farsakhs away" (cited from Roger’s 1978 translation, p. 119. of Masson and Pu­ gachenkova 1953). Guests were received there al­ ready by 787/1385. 3. Hafiz-i Abru (ibid., p. 119): “The arch (/«