Then shall my native city, Samarcanda...
Be famous through the furthiest continents,
For there my palace-royal shall be placed,
Whose shining turrets shall dismay the heavens,
And cast the fame of Ilion's tower to hell.(Dickens, p.2)
As the name suggests, this blog will take a look at Persian influences on the beautiful architecture of Samarkand. We will first wonder into the history behind this great ancient city and explore its rich architectural heritage. Although the city has already celebrated its 2500th anniversary in 1970, we will review its history from the time of Hsuan-Tsang in the 7th century CE to the height of city's majestic stance on the crossroads of the Silk Road during the reigns of the Timurids in 14-16th century CE (Dickens, p.4). Afterwards, we will take a look into the city and analyze the architecture of the city against Persian and Islamic influences. Before we step back in time, I like to mention that the name of my blog is a personal reflection of Samarkand, as I was glancing through its pictures, it reminded me very much of Esfahan and my visit there in the summer. In addition, much of the grandeur architecture of Isfahan during the Safavids was in hand influenced by Timurid architecture. Thus, it only seems justified to hold these two cities as the watermark of the culture that was traded along the Silk Road, just as much as the Silk was.
A stroll back in time
Some time in the mid-seventeen century CE, Hsuan-Tsang making his way west, came to the city of Samarkand. His memoirs give a good account of the city at the time of his travels. According to his accounts, most of the residents of the city were Zoroastrians, Buddhism was no unknown and Nestorian Christianity had also found its way into the area. It was soon after that the “Land Beyond the River”, called by Muslims, would find Islam at its doorsteps. An Arab general, Qutayba ibn Muslim, launched a jihad (holy war) against Transoxiana in 705. Bukhara was the first to fall in 709, followed by Khiva in 711 and soon after Samarkand fell to Muslim armies. It soon became the center of Islamic scholarship. Also, it is worth to note that Samarkand was the first place the Arabs employed their newly gained technology of making paper, a skill they picked up after defeating the Chinese in battle. However, soon the rule of Caliphate was replaced by the succession of few dynasties, from 875-1210, finally followed by Chingiz Khan’s armies in 1221. However, the Turkic ruler of the Khwarezmian empire, Shah Sultan Muhammad’s resistance fueled the sacking and looting of the city, and slavery of its artisans. So it was not until the Mongols’ successor, Timur that the city gained its deserved place in history, as UNESCO hails as it, the “Crossroad of Culture”. (Dickens, p. 4-5)
Timur, Silk Road and Architecture
Samarkand’s position on the Silk Road meant that it was a jewel in Timur’s empire. Positioned in Central Asia, it meant that all caravans going West or East and taking the Northern route over the Taklamakan desert, would pass through its markets. Thus, all Timur had to do was to wait for the caravans to pass through his city, bringing with them wealth and technology from distant lands. However, Timur understood that to attract the most caravans, he needed to provide something in return. Thus, he turned the city into one of the most glorious and grand capitals in the known world and admittedly the most inviting of cities along the road of its time with its grandeur gardens, mosques and majestic architecture. ( Magowan, p.34)
Architecture
While strolling back in time, we will also take a closer look at the architecture of Samarkand, under the reign and supervision of Timur. This part will include an analysis of the Persian and Islamic influences on the architecture of Samarkand. However, it is important to note this is based on personal research and reflection, and thus, it is not by any means a comprehensive analysis of the subject. Also, in the aim of presenting few architectural structures built during the reign of Timur and to show how big a role the Silk Road played in not only trade but also in the transfer of culture and technology that has come to be evident in the architectural similarities exposed along the journey from East to West.
Timur’s Gardens
Gardens or Paradise as the Persians called them have been a long standing form of Persian architecture, going back to the time of Cyrus the Great, first one been erected some 2,500 years ago. Employing both architecture and planting, water rills and central shade-giving pavilions define Persian paradises, and seem to have influenced all further garden development in history(Gardens of Persia, Hobhouse, p7-8). The history behind the construction of such gardens seem to have been the background to the spiritual Islamic gardens in Persian during the Arab empire and the source of influence for most of Timur’s gardens in Samarkand between 1370-1405. The Timurid gardens of late 14th and 15th century are very important pices of architecture and worth discussing as they have most likely formed the model for later gardens of the Mughal gardens of 16th and 17th century in Lahore, Agra and Delhi. However, questions have arisen regarding the nature of the gardens’ design and the location of the pavilion as incase of Taj Mahal complex. While the traditional Persian garden is a fourfold division with the pavilion at its heart in the center, some of the gardens constructed under the Mugals, and especially the Taj Mahal commissioned by Shah Jahan, have the pavilion at the end of their gardens. So the question remains that considering that the Timurids influenced much of Mughul architecture, which of the two designs mentioned above represent the traditional Timurid ‘Chahar-bagh’ (The fourfold garden in Farsi, ‘chahar’ meaning four and ‘bagh’ meaning garden). Archeological evidence show that the garden with the central pavilion, influenced by the Persian model, predominated Timur’s Gardens and that none of the gardens commissioned by him followed the second model. Also, it seems that there is no evidence suggesting that any of gardens constructed before Timur followed that design either (Golombek, p.137).
The aerial image of Taj Mahal below is a great example the garden design with the pavilion at the end instead of the center. You can clearly see the chahar-bagh design in front of the mausoleum. It is amazing to see the influence of the Silk Road not only in trade but transfer of cultures that become alive in form of architecture. The design of Persian garden influencing Timur’s gardens traveled later to India by his successors to influence this garden and many more in the region.
The best sources for these evidences are descriptions of Timur’s gardens by Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi in Zafar-nama and the report of the Spanish envoy, Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo. They describe five of Timur’s gardens in detail: Bagh-i Bihisht (Paradise Garden), Bagh-i Shimal (Garden of the North), Bagh-i Naw (New Garden), Bagh-i Dilgusha (Heart's Delight Garden), Bagh-i Dawlatabad (Garden of Good Fortune).
Image from: The Gardens of Timur: A New Perspective, Lisa Golombek
Since descriptions for Bagh-i Dilgusha were the most detailed out of the five, I will use this garden as an example of Persian and Islamic influences in architecture of Samarkand. It was built in 1396, on the east side of Samarkand. It measured around 909m2. One gate stood in middle of each surrounding wall , with its vaults decorated with muqarnas, molded in glazed tiles or otherwise known in Persian architecture as kashi-kari. Each corner of walls had a tower decorated again with kashis. The mosaic kashis used are synonymous with the craftsmanship and architecture prevalent at the time in Persia and it seems that the technology and designs probably already available to a extent due to the constant transfer of culture and technology along the Silk Road was implemented to a greater extent by Timur’s architectures, which were mostly brought back from Persia and other Islamic regions. Thus making the influence of their culture on their architecture very obvious (Pickett, p.137)
Yazdi’s description provide more evidence regarding Persian and Islamic influence:
"He [Timur] divided the open space of the garden geometrically into square walkways and hexagonal and triangular chamans (planting beds). He ordered poplars to be planted along the edges of the walkways and the hexagons and triangles of their borders to be arranged with various fruit trees and diverse trees bearing flowers and fruit."
(Golombek, p 138)
He describes the design and layout of the garden to be very symmetrical and thus synonymous with the foundation of Islamic architecture practiced in Persia and other parts of the Arab empire. This form of complex geometric design was a first in Samarkand and was most likely brought here from far regions of Fars and Iraq and employed by architectures Timur brought back after his conquests.
Gur-i Amir ( The Great Prince)
Among the structures commissioned by Timur, the Gur-i Amir mausoleum constructed to house the body of his favorite grandson Muhammad Sultan (1375-1403) killed in one of his campaigns, stands as one his jewels in Samarkand. The Mausoleum eventually became his resting place as well as a few members of his family (Dickens p.8). Against the traditional unified design emphasized by Timur during the time, the Gur-i Amir was built not as one structure but rather as part of a larger complex that also included the madrasah (Islamic seminary), commisoned earlier by Muhammad Sultan. The grand entrance gate was later added by Ulugh Beg, another one of Timur’s grandsons. Measuring 12 meters high, the gate is elaborately decorated with tile work and Arabic calligraphy synonymous with Islamic Persian architecture of the time(Marefat. P.35). Thus, it does not come as a surprise when the name Muhaamad bin Muhmoud Isfahani, appears inscribed above the entryway, indicating that he was the architect of the entire foundation. Judging by his name on cane easily guess where this architect was from and the extent of Persian influence in the complex becomes very clear insight of its Persian architect (Chuvin, p.69).
A good video showing the courtyard from the blog
Coming back to the structure, past its gate is a square courtyard, with its walls flourishing rich tile mosaics. The method of tile work used in the construction is called mosaic faience. This costly and time-consuming process includes each individual tile fired separately, cut into the desired shape, colored and then fitted into place. The method was indigenous to Persia and brought to Samarkand. The courtyard was furthered decorated with floral and vegetal ornamentation, intertwined with Arabic calligraphy (look at image below). The design derived from the role of gardens in Persian architecture, which evolved and was perfected through Islamic architecture overtime and associated the garden with paradise/heaven.
Image from: http://taiwan.typepad.com/flavors_of_taiwan/
Pass the courtyard stands the tomb chamber and facing the gateway on the side of the chamber stands the iwan, the embodiment of Persian architecture, going before its fusion with Islam, to ancient Persia. Iwan, is a roofed space enclosed on three sides and open on one. It functions as a transition from the exterior and interior and was used commonly throughout Central Asia. The vaulted roof of Gur-i Amir’s iwan is decorated elaborately with a honeycomb design called muqarnas, which are individual cells in square, rhomboid and all sort of geometrical shapes. They symbolize the heavens and the composition of cosmos( Marefat, p.36). The muqarnas are visible in the image below and the video of the inside of the mausoleum.
Another video from the same blog showing the inside of the mausoleum:
Looking above is the dome that sits on the tomb chamber. The dome has along tradition of use in Islamic funerary architecture. However, the double-doomed structure used in Gur-i Amir is synonymous with Persian architecture and the incporation of the double-doom in their designs and constructions. (Cresweel, p.94). the double-doom allows for much more height, putting it at 34.09 meters above the ground, a majestic form designed beautifully with muqarnas like the iwan. The exterior of the mausoleum is embroiled with blue tiles, blue being the color of mourning in Central Asia. But, the preference to go with blue might have also had something to do with the association of it as the color to ward of the evil eye, a superstition well alive to this day, and also its majestic stance against the blue in the sky or a symbol of water, a rare resource in Central Asia and Middle East (Marefat, p. 36-37).
Below is another good image from the same blog showing the dome and the exterior of of the mausoleum, the exquisite tile work and the workers working on its maintenance.
The End or just another beginning
Although there are many other examples of Persian and Islamic influences in Samarkand, I hope this suffices you for now! However, before coming to end, its noteworthy to mention the importance of the Silk Road in making such influences and such beautiful architecture possible. Just as the architecture during Timur and his successor was influenced by Persian and Islamic art and culture, the Timurid works also played a significant role in influencing the architecture of Iran during the Safavids and the Mughals in India. The similarities between structures erected go beyond this blog and the interacting influence between them have given life to some of the most beautiful wonders of our history. To name one, the Taj Mahal.
Resources:
Chuvin, P. Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva. Paris: Flammarion, 2001. Print.
Cresswell, K.A.C.(1913) The Origin of the Persian Double Dome. The Burlington Magazine for connoisseurs, Vol. 24(128), pp. 94-98.
Dickens, M. TImurid Architecture in Samarkand. Retreived from http://www.oxuscom.com/Timurid_Architecture.pdf
Golombek, L. (1995). Muqarnas, vol. 12, Pp.137-1347.
Hobhouse, P. Gardens of Persia. Retrieved from http://books.google.ca/books?id=AMFRyiAxZ6YC&pg=PA165&dq=persian+gardens&cd=3#v=onepage&q=persian%20gardens&f=false
Magowen, Robin. Fabled Cities of Central Asia: Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva. New York: Abbeville Press, 1989,
Marefat, R. (1992). The Heavenly City of Samarkand. The Wilson Quarterly, vol. 16(3), Pp.33-38.
Pickett, D. Early Persian Tilework: The Medieval Flowering of Kashi. Retrieved from http://books.google.ca/books?id=YOFtvKqkni4C&pg=PA140&dq=haft+rangi+tilework&cd=1#v=onepage&q=haft%20rangi%20tilework&f=false
