‘Persian Architectural Styles through the Ages: 3. Samarqand & the Timurids’

The Timurid Empire امپراتوری تیموری

In the last blog post we looked at the rise and fall of the Mongols in Iran and the khanate that sprang up in their wake: ایلخانیان ‘the Ilkhanate’. Today we will be looking at the next great empire to develop in Iran: the Timurid Empire (1370 AD – early 1500s). The Timurids’ seat of power was further east than the borders of present-day Iran, with their heartlands being situated in modern-day Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, specifically in the cities of Samarqand and later Herat. The Timurids are remembered for their merging and blending of Turkic and Persian cultures, especially in Central Asia, as well as drawing on influence from the earlier Mongol rulers such as Genghis Khan. They are also celebrated for their stunning architecture, especially in the cities of سمرقند Samarqand, هرات Herat and بخارا Bukhara.

In English this empire is called Timurid, named after the first ruler of the dynasty: تیمور Timur or Tamerlane. The formal Persian name for the dynasty was ایران و توران Irān-o Turān, referring to the two historical regions encompassed by this empire – Turān being an old word used to refer to Central Asia, or more specifically ‘Transoxiania’ (the lands beyond the Oxus River). Another popular name for this dynasty was گورکان Gurkān, believed to be the Persianised form of the Mongol word Kuragan ‘son-in-law [of Genghis Khan]’. This title Gurkān was also in reference to the dynasty’s founder Timur, who claimed his sovereignty from the fact that he had married into Genghis Khan’s lineage. 

In this blog post we will be looking at some key monuments from the city of سمرقند Samarqand, a city located in Uzbekistan which is famous for its intricately mosaiqued mosques, mausoleums and madreses, as well as being a key stop on the ancient Silk Road route between Istanbul and China. Thanks to its central location approximately halfway along the Silk Road, for all of its history Samarqand has been known as a multicultural or ‘melting pot’ city. This remains true to this day, as the majority of the local population are trilingual: speaking Uzbek, Tajiki Persian, and Russian. The city has been inhabited for at least the last 2,500 years, making it one of the oldest cities in Central Asia. During Achaemenid times (553-329 BC), Samarqand was the capital of the Sogdian satrap [province]. In 329 BC, Alexander of Macedon conquered the city, which is known as Marákanda in Greek, and made it his base of operations in Central Asia.

Between the 8th century AD and the rise of the Timurid Empire, the city was quickly becoming an important scholarly centre, and many of its key monuments and buildings were built or reconstructed during this period. Therefore by the time Timur came to power in 1370 AD, there was really only one place suitable to be his capital: سمرقند Samarqand. The name Samarqand (or Samarkand) is composed of two parts: سَمَر samar meaning ‘rock’ or ‘stone’ in Ancient Sogdian, and قند qand meaning ‘city’ in Ancient Sogdian. This -qand (or -kent) ending can be found in other Persian or Turkic place names, such as Tashkent or Panjakent. This word -kent has also been borrowed into the modern Turkish language, where it simply means ‘town’ or ‘city’.

A Timurid style and renaissance سبک و رنسانس تیموری

The Timurid architectural style is perhaps most memorable for three things: its large double domes (the bulbous domes that resemble giant garlics); its use of polychrome tiles predominantly with a light and dark blue colour scheme; and its preference for monumental entrance façades. We saw the beginnings of this style in our last blog post when we looked at Ilkhanid architecture, so it wouldn’t be wrong to think of Timurid architecture as a more lavish or intricate form of the Ilkhanids’ monumental building style from a couple of centuries earlier. 

All of the buildings we will explore in this blog post contain the three main architectural features listed above. As an example, let’s take a look at the Gur-e Amir mausoleum, paying special attention to the epic size of the entranceway, the large “garlic dome”, and the blue colour scheme:

The Renaissance period of the 15th and 16th centuries is dominated in western circles of influence by that of the Italian Renaissance, led by artists and scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo Galilei. However there was an equally important renaissance happening further to the east, led by the Timurids. For this reason the Timurid empire is known as a time of great artistic and scientific renaissance on a par with 15th century Florence. The Timurids were proud patrons of the arts and of scientific discovery. Perhaps the most famous scholar and polymath from this period was Ulugh Beg (1394 – 1449 AD). He is thought to have spoken four languages fluently: Persian, Arabic, Mongolian, and Chagatai Turkic (the predecessor of Uzbek). He is responsible for building the largest observatory in Central Asia, and he made great progress in the fields of trigonometry and star calculations/star cataloguing. Famous poets from the Timurid Renaissance include Jāmi and Navā’i (امیر علیشیر نوایی in Persian or Navoi in Uzbek, considered to be the national poet of Uzbekistan). Navā’i in particular is notable for composing poetry in his native Chagatai Turkic as opposed to in Persian or Arabic, as he argued that Chagatai had the same poetic richness and breadth of vocabulary as Persian. It is largely thanks to Navā’i that Chagatai Turkic began to be taken seriously as a literary language during this time period.

Women as active patrons of art and architecture زنان به عنوان حامیان فعال هنر و معماری

It is important to mention here that the Timurid empire seemed to mark a shift in attitudes towards women’s role as patrons of the arts and of new religious building projects. Prior to the 15th century, it was extremely rare to find women who were credited as being a patron of a masjed ‘mosque’, madrese ‘religious school’, masjed-e jāme’ ‘congregational/Friday mosque’, or a khāngāh ‘Sufi convent’. The Timurids begin to break from this custom, as we see that noblewomen patronised several khāngāhs built during the Timurid empire. There is also evidence from miniature paintings produced in Herat during this time period that noblewomen were highly educated and both genders were receiving their education in the same rooms. Most remarkably, Timurid queen Gowhar Shād patronised two masjed-e jāme’ ‘congregational mosques’ during her lifetime, one in Herat and another in Mashhad. It was customary that only a male ruler could be a patron to a congregational mosque, so this marks a turning point for women’s perception and role within society (albeit only for royals and noblewomen).

The Registan میدان ریگستان

There is no better place to begin our virtual tour of Samarqand than with the ceremonial Registan Square (میدان ریگستان Meydān-e Rigestān). The word Rigestān means ‘sandy place’ in Persian, from ریگ rig ‘sand’ + ـستان -estān ‘place of’. This square in the centre of Samarqand is surrounded on three sides by madreses: the Ulugh Beg Madrese, the Shir-Dār Madrese, and the Tillā-Kāri Madrese. The iconic image of these three buildings’ façades stands out as being one of the most important defining images of Central Asia. Upon seeing the grand Registan square in 1888, George Curzon, the former viceroy of India, is believed to have said that it is ‘the most noble public square in the world’ (of course, this was before the Naqsh-e Jahān square in Isfahan was constructed by the Safavids).

The Registan was built in the 15th century, and was designed to be the main city square of Samarqand. Back in its heyday the large plaza in the middle would have been full of market stalls and travellers from all over Asia. In the 500+ years since construction of the Registan began, many of the buildings have suffered damages, such as collapsed domes, weathered mosaics, and minarets on the verge of toppling over. To preserve the Registan, a hugely successful restoration project was carried out by the Uzbek government in the years 1967-1987. Local ceramic workshops were tasked with producing new glazed tiles using traditional methods, allowing partially-destroyed façades and mosaics to be restored. 

The oldest building at the Registan is the Ulugh Beg Madrese مدرسه الغ‌بیگ, constructed in the 1440s. Its پیش‌طاق pishtāq (collosal entranceway) is twice the size of the rest of the building, and decorated with blue stars creating a constellation-like pattern. This astronomy theme is fitting for a madrese commissioned by Ulugh Beg, as he was most renowned for being a learned scholar of astronomy. Although this madrese was predominantly used for religious teaching, it is clear that Ulugh Beg’s passion for the stars influenced the design and artwork. 

Opposite the Ulugh Beg Madrese we can find the Shir-Dār Madrese مدرسه شیردار (or the Sher-Dor Madrasasi in Uzbek). Although this madrese was built 200 years later, it was designed to mirror or mimic the Ulugh Beg Madrese opposite it. It is notable for the two lion-tiger motifs in the top corners of the pishtāq (collosal entranceway). These two lion-tiger figures each carry a sun with a human face on their backs. This is thought to be a heraldic symbol for the Timurid dynasty.

In the above picture you can see clear examples of the بنّایی bannāyi decorative style used very widely by the Timurids. Bannāyi is a style of brickwork which uses blue and turquoise brick patterns, often incorporating square Kufic calligraphy. To give an example, see if you can find the word الله allāh ‘God’ written repeatedly in a dark blue kufic style in the above photo. The beauty of the bannāyi decorative style surely lies in its clever merging of geometric design with Kufic calligraphy.

The Tillā-Kāri Madrese مدرسه طلاکاری was the last addition to the Registan. When you face the square, this is the building you see opposite you, with the two other madreses flanking it on either side. It is the largest building on the square, and for a while was used as the main congregational mosque of Samarqand. Tillā-kāri طلاکاری means ‘gold-gilded’, and to understand why it got this name you have to enter the main chamber and look up at the ceiling. The inside of the dome is covered with a beautiful blue and gold mosaic:

The Bibi Khānom Mosque مسجد بی‌بی خانم

The Bibi Khānom Mosque (masjed-e bibi khānom in Persian, or bibixonim masjidi in Uzbek) was built between the years 1399 and 1404 AD to commemorate Timur’s wife, Sārāy Molk Khānom. This mosque remains one of the most ambitious building projects of its time. It could be said that Timur’s plans for this mosque were overly ambitious; the epic scale of the building, especially its large double domes and grandiose pishtāq, were plagued with problems during and after construction. The first pishtāq constructed for the mosque was allegedly torn down and ordered by Timur to be rebuilt on an even grander scale. Shortly following the completion of the mosque, bricks began to fall out of the large dome, and less than a century later the entire dome collapsed in on itself. For most of its history, the Bibi Khānom Mosque has been in a state of ruin or disrepair, especially following an earthquake in 1897.

Here you can see the state of the mosque shortly before restorations were started in the 1970s:

After the election of Uzbekistan’s first president in the 1970s, Islam Karimov, restoration of the mosque began in earnest. For Karimov, restoring the great Silk Road monuments of Samarqand was made a priority, as he believed that repairing the Timurid-era buildings would help to cement a cohesive national Uzbek identity. All of this restoration work hasn’t been without criticism: the art historian Robert Hillenbrand and numerous others believe that some of the restoration work was sloppily executed or fabricated entirely, such as the addition of calligraphic tilework that was not present in the original designs. Whatever you feel about the quality or authenticity of the restoration work, there is no doubt that they have greatly helped Uzbekistan’s tourism industry, now with over 5 million tourists each year coming to the country to see the sights of Samarqand.

Shāh-e Zende آرامگاه شاه زنده

The Shāh-e Zende mausoleum complex (or Shohizinda in Uzbek and Tajiki Persian) is a necoropolis located on a hill on the edge of the old city of Samarqand. The necropolis complex centres around the mausoleum of قثم بن عباس Qosam Ebn-e Abbās, a cousin of prophet Muhammad who is credited with bringing Islam to Samarqand. According to local legend, during a siege of the city he narrowly escaped death and went into hiding underground, just outside the old city walls. That is how this mausoleum complex supposedly got its name: شاه زنده Shāh-e Zende ‘The Living King’, a.k.a the king who evaded death. This name has begun to take on a new, evocative meaning today, as now when you walk through the Shāh-e Zende complex, you really feel like these ancient kings and queens live on through the sheer beauty of their mausoleums. 

It is unclear exactly how old this site is, as some of the Timurid mausoleums were built ontop of the ruins of earlier pre-Mongolian structures. The majority of the mausoleums date between the 12th and 15th centuries AD, although many of the mausoleums have been reconstructed and very little of the tilework visible today is original. There are more than 20 mausoluems located at this site; each building was designed to uniquely represent the royal who was laid to rest there. Three of my personal favourites from this site include: Shirin Bekā Āghā’s mausoleum آرامگاه شیرین بکا آغا, built for the sister of Timur, with its beautiful blue pishtāq and quotes from Socrates written in calligraphic script around the doorway; Turkān Āghā’s mausoleum آرامگاه ترکان آغا, a niece of Timur, again for the beauty of her tomb’s blue pishtāq; and the tomb of Qāzi-zāde-ye Rumi آرامگاه قاضی‌زاده رومی, an Ottoman astronomer who worked at the observatory in Samarqand, whose mausoleum has two big blue domes with Kufic bannāyi inscriptions.

Gur-e Amir Mausoleum آرامگاه گور امیر

To finish off, we are going to have a quick look at the most famous mausoleum in Samarqand: the tomb of Timur himself. The Gur-e Amir mausoleum has a large double dome (see the picture above), similar in style and size to the one at the Bibi Khānom mosque. The dome at the Gur-e Amir can be spotted on the skyline from all over central Samarqand. Gur-e Amir گور امیر means ‘Tomb of the King’ in Persian, gur گور being an old Persian word for ‘tomb’. 

My favourite design feature of this monument is the muqarnas مقرنس designs found at the entranceway and inside the main building. Muqarnas is the term used to describe a special kind of honeycomb vaulting used to give a three-dimensional composition to arches and entranceways. We will look at muqarnas in closer detail in the next blog post when we discuss Safavid architecture. In the picture below you can see how the muqarnas is used to add depth to the archway inside Timur’s mausoleum:

The Gur-e Amir mausoleum is said to have influenced the design of later Mughal building projects, including the Taj Mahal in Agra and Humayun’s tomb in Delhi. The Timurid architectural legacy is certainly continued by the three ‘Gunpowder Empires’ (the Safavids, the Ottomans, and the Mughals) that arise in the 16th century. In the next blog post we will be looking at the the city of Isfahan, and how the Safavids continued to develop and refine some of the architectural styles we have already explored through looking at the Ilkhanids and the Timurids. 

– Sam