Timurid architecture
Timurid architecture was an important stage in the architectural history of
Characteristics
Timurid architecture continued the tradition of Ilkhanid architecture, building monuments with an unprecedented scale and lavish decoration intended to impress, but they also refined previous designs and techniques.[1][2] Timurid rulers recruited the best craftsmen from their conquered territories or even forced them to move to the Timurid capital.[3]
Brick was used as the main construction material, as it was during previous periods in this region. To cover large brick surfaces with colorful decoration, the banna'i tiling technique was used to create geometric patterns and Kufic inscriptions at relatively low cost, while more expensive tile mosaic, developed in previous periods, continued to be used for more curvilinear floral patterns.[4] Tiles were favoured on the outside as they were more resistant to the elements.[4] On the inside, walls were often covered with a paper-mâché-like plaster which was painted, gilt, and carved with reliefs.[4][5] Marble paneling was also used in some monuments.[6]
Many Timurid religious monuments are marked by prominent domes. They are usually double-shelled, consisting of an inner dome visible from the inside and a taller, outer dome visible from the outside. On the outside, the domes are supported on a tall, cylindrical drum and have an onion shape (i.e. bulging on the sides and pointed at the top). They are covered with predominantly turquoise tile decoration and sometimes are fluted or ribbed.[7][6][4]
On the inside, the structural support of Timurid domes differed from earlier Iranian domes. Traditionally, domes rested on an octagonal base formed by four squinches transitioning from the square chamber below. In Timurid monuments, the dome is supported on a set of arches built over the edges of the square chamber. The transition between the square hall below and these supporting arches above is accomplished by squinches at the corners, while the small spaces between the top of the arches are occupied by concave spandrels which join together to form a more circular base for the dome itself above. This made the vertical transition between chamber and dome much more dynamic.[7]
Another important Timurid innovation was the more sophisticated and fluid arrangement of geometric
Overview of monuments
Monuments from Timur's reign
The most significant preserved Timurid monuments are found in and around the cities of Khorasan and Transoxiana, including
Other major monuments from Timur's time include the
The Gur-i Amir Mausoleum, which served as the resting place of Timur and some of his successors, was added at the beginning of the 15th century to a larger complex including a madrasa and a khanqah, which were built in the late 14th century. These elements stand around a courtyard with a monumental entrance.[11]
The Bibi Khanum Mosque, built between 1399 and 1405, was one of the largest mosques in the world when it was built and is named after Timur's wife, whose mausoleum stands across from it. Designed as a congregational mosque, it was entered via an imposing portal that leads to a large courtyard surrounded by four iwans, per the traditional layout of congregational mosques in the region. Except on the entrance side, each iwan leads to a domed chamber behind it. The eastern iwan is much larger and more elaborate and leads to the main prayer hall, covered by the largest dome of the building. Four thin minarets are also arranged symmetrically along the mosque's front façade.[6][12]
Other Timurid mausoleums for royal relatives and high officials were built as smaller and more traditional domed structures. Many can be found in the Shah-i Zinda necropolis in Samarkand.[13] This cemetery had already been in use long before this period, but it had fallen into neglect and was redeveloped into a monumental necropolis under Timur and his successors. The major mausoleums here are lined along a narrow street and feature rich decoration, restored in modern times.[6]
After Timur
Timur's successors also built extensively, although on a somewhat smaller scale.[4] Under Timur's son and successor, Shah Rukh (r. 1405–1447), the capital was moved from Samarkand to Herat (present-day Afghanistan),[14] He revived the city by rebuilding its bazaar, renovating its citadel, and building a madrasa combined with a khanqah. The madrasa-khanqah became a recurring type of building commissioned by later patrons in the city.[15]
Shah Rukh's wife,
Some of Gawhar Shad's monuments in Herat have been destroyed or severely damaged since the 19th century, including her mausoleum and mosque complex built between 1417 and 1438, which was partly demolished by the British in 1885. The mausoleum's surviving section nonetheless demonstrates the high quality of her architectural patronage, evidenced by the highly advanced interior vaulting and decoration.[14][17] Its architect was Qavam al-Din al-Shirazi, the chief royal architect under Shah Rukh, who also worked on the mosque in Mashhad and other commissions.[18][19]
Qavam al-Din's last work was on the Ghiyathiyya Madrasa (or Madrasa al-Ghiyasiyya) in Khargird, which was commissioned by Ghiyath al-Din Pir Ahmad Khwafi, a vizier under Shah Rukh. An inscription dates its completion to 1444, but as Qavam al-Din died in 1438, it was finished by an architect named Ghiyas al-Din Shirazi.[19] The madrasa's architecture shows a further culmination of certain design elements. Its tile-decorated courtyard is rectangular but has beveled corners which help to integrate all four façades with each other. Two chambers on either side of the entrance – one identified as a prayer hall and the other as a lecture hall – have a sophisticated system of squinch-net vaulting and muqarnas, combined in this case with a lantern dome that allows light to enter.[20]
Under Ulugh Beg (r. 1447–1449), the Registan Square in Samarkand was first transformed into a monumental complex similar to what it is today. He built three structures around the square, of which only the Ulugh Beg Madrasa (1417–1420) survives today,[a] with a large façade covered by a rich variety of decoration.[6] He also built an astronomical observatory in 1420, which has been partially preserved and uncovered by 20th-century excavations. It originally was a cylindrical three-story building that contained a giant sextant, sundial, and sector.[6]
Many new constructions occurred in the second half of the 15th century, but far fewer of these have survived to the present day.
Legacy and influence
Timurid patronage was of high importance in the history of art and architecture across a wide part of the Islamic world. The international Timurid style was eventually integrated into the visual culture of the rising
During the late 14th and 15th centuries, western Iran was dominated by two powerful Turkoman confederations, the Qara Qoyunlu and the Aq Qoyunlu. While few monuments sponsored by either faction have been preserved, what does remain shows that the Timurid style was already spreading westward during this period.[21]
Notes
- ^ The two other monumental structures that stand around the square today were built in the 17th century.
References
Citations
- ^ ISBN 9789004161658.
- ^ Hattstein & Delius 2011, pp. 416–417.
- ^ Blair & Bloom 1995, p. 37.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bloom & Blair 2009, Architecture (VI. c. 1250–c. 1500)
- ^ a b Hattstein & Delius 2011, p. 417.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bloom & Blair 2009, Samarkand
- ^ a b Hattstein & Delius 2011, p. 416.
- ^ Blair & Bloom 1995, p. 46.
- ^ Grabar, Oleg (1986). "Architecture V. Islamic, pre-Safavid". Encyclopaedia Iranica Online. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
- ^ Bloom & Blair 2009, Shahr-i Sabz
- ^ Hattstein & Delius 2011, pp. 419–420.
- ^ Hattstein & Delius 2011, pp. 418–419.
- ^ Hattstein & Delius 2011, p. 420.
- ^ a b c Bloom & Blair 2009, Herat
- ^ a b c Bloom & Blair 2009, Timurid
- ^ Blair & Bloom 1995, pp. 41, 44.
- ^ Blair & Bloom 1995, pp. 45–46.
- ^ Blair & Bloom 1995, p. 45.
- ^ a b O'Kane, Bernard; Kane (1976). "The Madrasa al-Ghiyasiyya at Khargird". Iran. 14: 79–92.
- ^ Blair & Bloom 1995, pp. 46–48.
- ^ a b Blair & Bloom 1995, p. 50.
- ISSN 1873-9830.
- ^ Bloom & Blair 2009, Architecture (VII. c. 1500–c. 1900)
Sources
- Blair, Sheila; Bloom, Jonathan M. (1995). The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250–1800. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-06465-0.
- Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila (2009). The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
- Flood, Finbarr Barry; Necipoğlu, Gülru, eds. (2017). A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture. Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 9781119068662.
- Hattstein, Markus; Delius, Peter, eds. (2011). Islam: Art and Architecture. h.f.ullmann. ISBN 9783848003808.
- Petersen, Andrew (1996). Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-20387-3.