FROM TENTS TO PAVILIONS: ROYAL MOBILITY AND PERSIAN PALACE DESIGN BY BERNARD O'KANE

FAZL ALLAH KHUNJI, THE LATE-FIFTEENTH-CENTURY Despite having built a new town at Sultaniyya, he biographer of the Aqqoyunlu Ya'qub, gives spent only around forty percent of his time there, a list of the qualities which demonstrated the which puts it into perspective as his chief seasonal ruler's distinguished origin. One of them reads as residence, rather than a permanently occupied follows: "He was not a town dweller affected by capital. Unlike , the plain around Sultaniyya dirty habits, as was the case with many rulers of was sufficiently large to accommodate the en- Khurasan, Fars and Kerman, but followed the campments of the Mongol hordes, which has led seasons wandering in open spaces going from to the suggestion that, far from becoming city summer quarters to winter quarters. " dwellers, Uljaytu deliberately picked Sultaniyya The rhythms of pastoral nomadism dominated to support their nomadic economy.6 court life in until the twentieth century. One might hope that a compilation of geo- Seasonal migrations were not only a way to pro- chronologies for other up to the Safavid vide the grazing lands essential to the nomads' period would help in determining, firstly, the flocks; they also served as a means to escape the inclination to nomadism or sedentarism of later extremes of heat and cold which characterize rulers, and secondly, whether this had any mea- most of the Iranian plateau. The basic necessity of surable effect on their policies regarding the fodder for the tens of thousands of horses, mules, building of or residence in palaces. However, the and camels which accompanied the royal armies movements of later rulers were more often dic- on campaigns was reflected in peacetime by the tated by military operations, whether combating choice of routes 2 and in by the frequent outside forces or dealing with internal revolts. cessation of hostilities in winter, when snow cov- The influence of individual whim in royal patron- ered much of the ground and the armies were age also makes it difficult to assess the impor- obliged to retire to winter quarters for pasturage. tance of this factor versus sedentarism, although As an example of the military importance of we shall see in the case of 'Abbas that, aswith fodder, one can cite the repeated Mongol with- Sultan Uljaytu, a semi-nomadic lifestyle could drawals from territory, which have been coexist with the erection of palaces in new capi- ascribed to the inadequacy of the pasturelands, tals. especially in southern .3 Various accounts exist of the ordu (imperial Apart from these movements which were dic- encampment) from the Mongol period onwards, tated by necessity, another motive was also impor- and it was clearly in many respects a mobile city.7 tant, that which was commended by Fazl Allah An elaborate ceremony accompanied the camp Khunji, the preference for life in tents in the every time it moved; a strict formation based on open countryside to that of towns. This also per- military rank was observed, with the drummers, mitted the ruler to indulge in the most favored of trumpeters, and pipers of each unit occupying nomadic recreations, hunting. Already in the prominent positions. 8 Mosques and bazaars were 1230s the movements of Ogedei, Chingiz 's to be found in each encampment, although son, were conditioned by pleasurable pursuits, prices were high because of the difficulties of including hunting, rather than by purely pastoral transport. The ruler and his household formed 4 considerations. Charles Melville has recently one camp and each of his wives had a camp of her examined in depth the geochronology (move- own, as did the amirs and viziers. The latter, ments over time) of Sultan Uljaytu.5 The very low together with their secretaries and officials of the number of military expeditions in his reign makes finance department, are described by Ibn it particularly valuable in determining how Battuta as presenting themselves for duty each much of his movements were due to nomad- afternoon.9 On some of the album leaves in the ism. He unfailingly moved each year between Topkapi Palace Museum, the signatures of summer and winter quarters, spending about Aqqoyunlu calligraphers suggest that they were one hundred days a year on the migrations. in the camp, indicating that at least part of the 250 BERNARD O'KANE royal ateliers accompanied the sultan on his was present, and his extremely detailed accounts travels.'0 can be verified and supplemented by those of The ruler's precinct, defined originally by rows Yazdi and Ibn 'Arabshah.' 7 of tents and carts, gradually gained importance as Clavijo first notes that all of the private tents the number of the guard was increased for pres- belonging to the royal family were placed within tige. The surrounding military camp was well enclosures (saraiparda);only the great reception regulated. An enclosure, probably with two or pavilions and awnings were left outside. The en- three entrances, had gatekeepers controlling closures had crenellations on top, were decor- access. This in turn was surrounded by a forbid- ated as if made of tilework, had windows and den zone, an arrangement which reflected earli- gateways with towers, and were made of silk.'8 er practice in Qaraqorum, the Mongol capital.ll Yazdi mentions that four of these enclosureswere The camp permitted the ruler to have the best of for 's wives, each containing a tent of state both worlds: the freedom of movement and open (bargaih), a guyed tent (khayma), a circular trellis spaces of the countryside, together with the facil- tent (khargah), and awnings (sayab7an).'9 ities of urban civilization. A mobile seat of govern- Clavijo describes in detail the trellis tent of ment has obvious advantages in maintaining au- Saray Mulk Khanum, Timur's principal wife, thority in conquered territories, although Sultan mentioning costly materials such as colored ap- Uljaytu's reasons for movement were usually the plique work and a lining of sable. Its height was less ambitious ones of going hunting or simply equivalent to three war lances which, thanks to setting out for winter or summer quarters. Peter Andrews's research, can be shown to be Just as the camps were mobile cities, the tents equivalent to 10 m. 20 Yazdi mentions that one of which the rulers occupied could be considered these tents had two hundred heads, that is, struts, mobile palaces. Rashid al-Din mentions a tent of and in comparison with modern examples this state with a thousand gold pegs and a trellis tent enabled Andrews to estimate the diameter of with royal appurtenances which Arghun had or- these largest trellis tents as ca. 11 to 13 m, a dered and which were made especially light for princely size indeed.2 1The inner doors had imag- travel.1 2 One of Ogedei's trellis tents' s was large es of saints in enamel on gold and were booty enough to accommodate a thousand people and from the treasury of the Ottoman sultan Baye- was decorated with gold brocade on the inside zid I. The custom of displaying trophies as sym- and gold studs outside;' 4 however, this was so bolic affirmation of conquest has a long history; 22 large that it was a permanent fixture at one of his Ibn 'Arabshah reports that a figural textile from camping grounds in the mountains.'5 An early Bayezid's treasury was also on display.2 3 indication of the association of the tent with The furniture inside the tent included a gold palatial structures is given by Rashid al-Din in an cabinet set with jewels and pearls, containing six account of a garden erected in 1302 by Ghazan goldjewel-encrusted flasks and cups. In front of Khan at Ujan near Tabriz. A partitioned garden it was a golden table displaying a large emerald, (chaharbiigh) was provided with pavilions, towers, while to one side was a golden tree with bejeweled and a bath, while its center was occupied by a fruit and golden birds on its branches.2 4 The golden trellis tent (khargah) adjoining a tent of furnishings were thus appurtenances of royalty state (bargah) with awnings (sayabain). The tent, which are unlikely to have been surpassed in any together with a golden throne inlaid with rubies urban palaces of the period. That Clavijo and his and other jewels, was three years in the making retinue-and presumably other ambassadorial and took one month to erect.'6 parties-were taken on a tour of these quarters shows a blurring of their ostensibly private na- ture, and indicates how they were calculated to Timur's Quriltay impress. The trellis tents are representative of the no- The best evidence thatwe have of the impor- madic heritage of the Timurids. Court tentage at tance, the variety, and the magnificence of the festival was represented outside the enclo- princely tentage comes from the descriptions sures by two great tents with guy ropes of silk, in of the quriltay, the assembly of Chaghatai tribes the form of pavilions in which Timur presided convened by Timur in Samarqand in 1404, to over banquets. The largest was square, one hun- celebrate the of six of his grandsons. dred feet 25 per side, and again about three Clavijo, the ambassador of the king of Castille, lances or 10 m high. Twelve poles supported FROM TENTS TO PAVILIONS 251 the interior, and arcades on the exterior were Darvish ', was persuaded to submit to Husayn supported by a further twenty-four poles. Crim- Bayqara, and cemented his new alliance with son and gold applique work decorated much of presents of multicolored trellis tents, guyed tents, the interior and exterior, and four eagles were tents of state, and assembly tents, in addition to depicted at the four corners.2 6 Yazdi writes that a silk carpets, china, and gold and silver vessels.3 3 great concourse of tent pitchers took a week to The carpets and vessels were not so much sepa- erect it.27 In addition there were smaller, but rate presents as the expected appurtenances of a matching sets of guyed tents. These were linked princely tent.3 4 There are numerous other in- to one another by a series of corridors, showing stances in the late Timurid and Safavid period of that the whole ensemble was conceived as a pal- tents being given as presents to superiors and of ace complex. their forming parts of treasuries. 35 These royal tents were surrounded by those of Just before Clavijo departed from Samarqand Timur's followers, and while they must have been he visited Timur in what he called the "palace" of lesser splendor, Ibn 'Arabshah informs us that opposite the mosque, describing how Timur their owners engaged in a "rivalry to the utmost emerged from a tent which was pitched in the limit" to display their wealth, including "unfold- courtyard and then presided over a feast there.6 ing the contents of. . . the volumes of their This "palace" must in fact have been the crimes," i.e., their booty.2 of Saray Mulk Khanum. One does not usually Ibn'Arabshah was an unwilling guest of Timur, conceive of a madrasa as being the equivalent of but the considerable space he devotes to this a palace, but such seems to have been its transfor- celebration shows that he was well aware that its mation by Timur's tents. Other evidence from tents were an expression of political power. Yazdi this practice comes from , the Mughal also gives an unusually long account of the cele- emperor, who on his visit to in 1506 was brations and descriptions of the tents. In the invited to a meal in a madrasa where the tents of context of his history, which was an encomium to KhadijaBegum, Sultan Husayn'swidow, had been Timur, this can only mean that the quriltayand its set up.37 Again, in 1581, amirs of the Safavid artifacts were as important a sign of royalty as the Sultan 's army camped in the madra- exploits of conquest to which most of his text is sa of Sultan Husayn Bayqara in Herat.3 8 devoted. Clavijo's exceptionally detailed descrip- Evidently, any building, even an ostensibly tions also reflect how such a magnificent display religious one, could be transformed into a palace was clearly the most appropriate way for a ruler to by the addition of tents. More importantly, great- underline his majesty. er luxury and a more obvious sign of royalty were The descriptions of great tents in the Persian to be had from accommodation in tents than sources from the Mongol period onwards are from living in the buildings-hence, presumably, usually couched in literary terms designed to the frequentjuxtaposition in miniatures of tents show how they corresponded to a concept of and garden pavilions.3 9 Before discussing this royalty, using similes describing them in para- combination further, it may be as well to review disial terms, or as being like the zenith of the briefly, since it is a better known subject, extant celestial sphere.2 9 A particularly revealing pas- Timurid palaces and pavilions. sage in this respect is one by the Mongol historian Vassaf, who compares the trellis tent to the sphere of the heavens, made in the image of paradise, Timurid Palaces and Pavilions and the sultan seated on his throne within it to in Miniatures and in Reality the sun of the .3 0 The value of tents can also be gauged from the The most impressive remains of a Timurid way in which they were considered to be parts of palace are those of the Aqsaray at Shahr-i Sabz treasuries.31 They were included in the dowry of (1379-96). The quality of its tilework, consisting one of Timur's wives, and on campaign Timur of both cuerda seca and tile mosaic, 40 is unsur- occasionally gave presents of tents to captured passed (fig. 1). Clavijo's lengthy description of royalty or to generals who had distinguished the interior is difficult to interpret, although it is themselves. 3 2 A relatively insignificant event, re- clear that it had a central courtyard 300 feet wide ported by Khvandamir in 1491, may be taken as and that the whole was surrounded by an or- indicative of the continuing importance of this chard. Although we cannot be sure of the exact tradition in the late Timurid period. A rebel, internal arrangements of this building, it is most 252 BERNARD O'KANE likely that it was a palace on older models, a were heirs to the traditions of Ilkhanid,Jalayirid, massive, self-contained building designed to im- and Muzaffarid architecture. The differences press from the exterior. 4 between them are based more on regional than Two Timurid garden pavilions have survived, on dynastic characteristics, as the seamless transi- at Afushta and Gazurgah. That at Afushta is un- tion from Timurid to Qaraqoyunlu architecture fortunately less well known, having been pub- in such cities as and shows. The lished as a khanaqah.42 Its small size, its exquisite corollary of this, however, is that on the grounds decoration, and its plan, identical on two stories, of geographical proximity Turkmen rather than of a square room leading to axial iwans with Timurid antecedents are more likely to have octagonal rooms in the corners4 3 is much more provided the immediate models. consonant with a garden pavilion than a kha- Both miniatures and literary sources can pro- naqah44 (figs. 2-3). The Namakdan at Gazurgah vide a useful guide to much that has been de- is unlikely to be typical in its twelve-sided plan, stroyed, although the miniatures in particular although its general layout corresponds closely to must be used with caution. Itwould be impossible the description of an octagonal pavilion in Herat to reconstruct the plan or elevation of Timur's by Babur.4 congregational mosque in Samarqand (the The Cinili or Tiled Kiosk in Istanbul is often mosque of Bibi Khanum) from Bihzad's illustra- cited as an example of a Timurid palace.4 Its tion of it,52 even though the details of the crafts- foreignness to the traditions of Ottoman archi- men and their work shown in it are likely to be tecture is not in dispute, but although tileworkers accurate. On a smaller scale, however, for exam- from Khurasan are known to have completed a ple from -school illustrations of the bayt al- pavilion in the Topkapi Palace,47 the decoration mu.shaf in the courtyard of the Shiraz Masjid-i of the Tiled Kiosk is closer to Tabriz than to 'Atiq, facades could be drawn accurately (figs. Herat, indicating Aqqoyunlu as much as Timurid 10-11). Since most garden pavilions are small links. The palette of the suls inscription in tile structures, one can expect a high degree ofversi- mosaic on the entrance portal (fig. 4) is largely militude from the painter. The frontispiece of blue and white, with some brown, but has none of the Cairo Biistan, showing Sultan Husayn Bayqara the green and black which would be expected in presiding over a celebration, may be taken as contemporary Herat tilework. The same color representative (fig. 12) .5 A tiled entrance portal scheme is found on the inscription at the en- leads into a paved court. At one side is a two-story trance to the Blue Mosque in Tabriz (fig. 5), octagonal pavilion, the lower walls decorated which also shares with the Tiled Kiosk a feature with tiles and an exquisite inlaid door, the upper unknown in Timurid inscriptions from Khurasan: with wooden grilles and a projecting balcony an upper smaller inscription in sulsinsteadof the through which a variety ofjugs in arched recesses usual Kufic. The small underglaze-painted blue are visible. A grilled skylight sits in the center of and white squares in the bannai tilework of the the roof, around whose edges is a tile mosaic Tiled Pavilion (fig. 6) are also closest to those of inscription topped by crenellations. Sultan the Blue Mosque (fig. 7).48 The gold stenciling of Husayn is seated on a carpet spread in front of a the interior dado is on dark blue monochrome tall trellis tent with a magnificently embroidered tiles (fig. 8), like the qibla dome chamber of the dome and awning. The depiction of luxurious Blue Mosque (fig. 9), rather than the dark green interiors varied little from those of the Jalayirid of Timurid examples. 49 mathnavs of Khvaju Kirmani,5 4 which give an idea The plan, too, can be related to central and of the varieties of textiles mentioned by Clavijo, northwest Iranian examples: it is an enlarged and also display elaborate tiled dadoes and win- version of the Afushta pavilion, while the villa at dows of colored glass set in stucco frames of Nardaran50 is of the same family. The vanished geometric, vegetal, or figural patterns. Hasht Bihisht palace of Sultan Ya'qub at Tabriz, Although they are not shown in miniatures, although later (begun 1483-84, finished 1486), the sources mention murals which can be divided may have provided the closest parallel.5 ' Howev- into two kinds, both with many Islamic and pre- er, although on the above evidence an Aqqoyun- Islamic antecedents. The first showed rulers tri- lu tile workshop is the most likely to have contrib- umphing over their enemies, a parallel to the uted to the Tiled Kiosk, to insist on Aqqoyunlu display of captured booty at Timur's quriltay at rather than Timurid parallels is in some ways to Samarqand. The second was the princely cycle, make a distinction without a difference. Both including erotic scenes.5 5 FROM TENTS TO PAVILIONS 253

Timur's Gardens mostly in different gardens, and in one long case in an encampment, an extraordinary testament After building the Aqsaray, all the subsequent to his ability to re-create a nomadic environment residences which Timur erected-and there was in the microcosm of a city and its surroundings. an exceptionally large number-were gardens Another motive for these frequent changes of studded with one or more pavilions. Having com- residence should be kept in mind. They are likely peted successfully on traditional terms, he may to have been accompanied by an elaborate cere- have felt free to command subsequent examples monial, such as the orchestral heralds and pro- to be built to nomadic taste, being more suitable cessions of troops and imperial guard which was for the erection of tents and more flexible in their described by Ibn Battuta at the camp of Abu accommodation. They emphasize the garden at Sa'id.W° Timur had planted an avenue of poplars the expense of built architecture, bringing the leading from the Bagh-i Dilgusha to the city walls delights of the meadows of the summer and of Samarqand, 61 perhaps to emphasize one of the winter quarters closer to the city. From descrip- grand ceremonial axes of the city. The Fatimids tions of Timur's gardens in Samarqand by Clavijo and the Ottomans, to name just two , and Yazdi it has been possible to attempt recon- recognized the value of the imperial prestige structions.5i However, less attention has been conferred by the pomp of regular public appear- focused on the way in which Timur used gardens, ances of the ruler. 2 or rather, how he used the city of Samarqand and the surrounding countryside to transform an urban agglomeration into a country estate. Craft-GuildDisplays This can be seen from his itineraries on his return in 1404 from campaigning. He entered Another way of enhancing the ruler's prestige Samarqand in early August and stayed in the was by having his subjects perform for him at Bagh-i Chinar, making a visit to the madrasa of festivals. The best known of these events, thanks Muhammad Sultan to order a mausoleum to be to its voluminous illustrations, is that commemo- built. His principal wife Saray Mulk Khanum rated in the Sirnama,6 the book of the festival joined him there. Meanwhile his wife Tuman given by the Ottoman sultan Murad III for his Agha had been making her way back to Samar- son's circumcision in 1582, when the guilds held qand and had camped in the Bagh-i Bihisht, a procession of moving floats with models of their where he nowjoined her. Next, several days were craft (fig. 13). It has not been realized how close spent in the Bagh-i Shumal, followed by supervi- this was to Timurid practice. All three major sion of the building of the tomb of Muhammad sources, Ibn 'Arabshah, Yazdi, and Clavijo, give Sultan, i.e., the Gur-i Mir, including the construc- substantial descriptions of the guilds' extrava- tion of a small garden around it. From there he gant constructions which were paraded around moved to the madrasa of Saray Mulk Khanum, the area where Timur's quriltay was celebrated.64 where, as we have seen,5 7 he resided in tents in its The earliest mention of the practice among his courtyard to oversee the building of the Friday successors is in 815 (1412-13), when Shahrukh mosque. He then went in turn to the Bagh-i ordered that the bazaar and town be decorated Chinar, the Bagh-i Dilgusha, and the Bagh-i Shu- and that each craft be visible in its utmost artifice mal. Timur decided to add a pavilion to the south in its appropriate shop.6 In 852 (1448-49), 'Ala' end of the latter, bigger and more magnificent al-Dawla ordered celebrations in the Bagh-i than those of his other gardens in Samarqand, Zaghan in Herat for the circumcision of his son and when this was finished a feast was held there. Ibrahim, which were adorned with "every craft The quriltay at Kan-i Gil followed. Timur then and art of the craftsmen of the seven climes in moved back to the madrasa of Saray Mulk Kha- every fashion that you might wish. "6 While these num, and finally, to the G6k Saray, a four-storied accounts may seem somewhat circumstantial, a pavilion which he had built in the citadel, where subsequent description of a joint birth and cir- trophies, including a throne, captured from the cumcision festival ordered by Abu Sacid in 870 defeated Ottoman Sultan , were also (1465-66) is more specific: displayed." This was his last stop before setting out on campaign once again on 27 November. 5 9 The masters of various crafts caused wonders of marvel- In the space of four months he had changed his ous power and discerning elegance to appear, with the place of residence over a dozen times. He resided utmost ingenuity and skill, in a suitable place to be 254 BERNARD O'KANE viewed; artists from around the world were present and The Timurids in Herat all showed strange things and wonders to their utmost effort; amongst them was Khvaja cAli Ardagar Isfahani Shahrukh, Timur's successor, was much less who showed in a rosewater bottle thirty-two types of ambitious in his building programs.73 While he trades of the workshops of the world with each trade built a chaharbagh and palace (saray) in engaged in its own speciality. Thirty-two shops and for his use on pilgrimages there, 7 4 in Herat he is workshops were opened [to view], and every craftsman was engaged in his own special trade, and those which only known to have restored the Bagh-i Safid, necessitated movement in the plying of their trades, erecting new pavilions within it. The Bagh-i such as tailors, cotton pressers, carpenters, and - Zaghan, another pre-Timurid garden in Herat, workers, were seen to be moving.6 7 also figures largely within Timurid history. A kiosk in it is described as a chihil sutiin75 (a many- This contraption, to which the more familiar columned pavilion), one ofthe earliest mentions ships in bottles must be pale shadows, suitably of this type of structure, although Babur men- awed Sultan Abu Sa'id and his retinue. tions one in Samarqand of stone columns which Khvandamir's accounts of three of Sultan was built by and would therefore have Husayn's feasts indicate similar guild participa- been contemporary. 76 tion. The first, in early 892 (1487), was for the Shahrukh made three campaigns against the circumcision of Muzaffar Husayn : "Engi- Qaraqoyunlu in western Iran, and several others neers of every trade and clever craftsmen caused against, and on behalf of, his various sons, which various kinds of strange and wonderful artefacts makes his proclivities towards nomadism much to appear; every group produced rare images and more difficult to gauge than that of Uljaytu. His awe-inspiring models of their trade."' Having favorite summer quarters were Badghis, north of given this explicit description, his next two men- Herat, but he is also known to have wintered in tions are progressively shorter. In 895 (1490) the Hilmand. Abu Sa'id spent several winters in Mary, "leaders of the craftsmen caused various kinds of although one of these followed on from a sum- wonders to appear" for a wedding procession,6 9 mer quarters in Badghis, where he had gone for and in 901 (1495-96), to welcome Sultan Husayn the very practical reason of escaping the plague back to Herat, "temporary booths were erected which was then raging in Herat. 77 and various arrangements were on display."70 Husayn Bayqara's reign was also punctuated It is likely that this tradition was continued by by numerous campaigns against his rebellious the Safavids. The description by Natanzi of the sons, which lessens the value of a geochronology decoration of Kashan for the passage of Shah in determining his nomadic bent. He wintered 'Abbas in 1595 recalls those of the Timurid cele- twice in Marv and once in .78 On the latter brations: occasion he was encamped on the outskirts of the city in the chah7r bigh of Amir Mazid Arghun. In accordance with the way things had been done in Further confirmation that itwas the normal prac- past years, they decorated the alleys, streets, gates, and tice by this time to make his winter quarters in a citadel of that paradise-like city as was customary and garden can be found in the reports of the year 910 fitting, so that the minds of the devisers of artful (1504-5), when Sultan Husayn moved his winter productions (muhandisi n-i san&?-ipisha) and the com- quarters from the Bagh-iJahan Ara (on the north- prehension of the inventors of innovative thought, in ern edge of the city) to the Bagh-i Safid (beside reviewing and perceiving those miracle-marked sights, the citadel), as he had received reports that the were confounded and stupified." 71 were advancing into his territory, and obviously feared a lightning attack.79 There seem Immediately after this, a festival of lights was to be no reports of his spending his summers away ordered in the Maydan-i Naqsh-iJahan in Isfahan from Herat, other than on campaign. This evi- in which leaders of the crafts (arbab-i hirfa) and dence of a more sedentary disposition could be artisan masters ( 4ahb-isan'at)participated. While taken as the reason for his construction of the they may have been principally involved in mak- Bagh-iJahan Ara in Herat, although his infirmi- ing the fireworks, light displays, and mock for- ties, which necessitated his being carried on a tresses which formed the main entertainment, it litter for the last twenty years of his life, must should not be ruled out that they also displayed obviously have curtailed his desire to move around. samples of their various specialities.72 The extent to which tentswould regularly have FROM TENTS TO PAVILIONS 255 been erected in the major gardens when the ruler an enclosed garden with musicians and atten- was present is difficult to gauge." They are most dants (fig. 15). frequently mentioned in connection with the festivities which took place for weddings and circumcisions. These mention all the kinds of Shah Abbas I and Isfahan tents which were used to describe Timur's quriltay at Kan-i Gil-trellis tents,81 guyed tents, enclo- Shah cAbbas I was born and brought up in sures, tents of state, and finally chahar f.tiqs,2 Herat, and one can imagine what an impression booths or small pavilions-and couch them in the multitude of gardens in the city which were terms of the same epithets of height and celestial available for his leisure would have made on him. imagery that were used to describe earlier royal His development of the Naqsh-i Jahan maydan tents.8 3 The importance of these ceremonies in and palace complex in Isfahan, togetherwith the the tradition of kingly behavior is shown by a chaharbagh avenue leading to the Bagh-i'Abbasa- letter of Husayn Bayqara to Sultan Yaqcub de- bad south of the river, at first sight looks to be of scribing a feast which he held for the circumci- a very different nature to the Timurid examples sion of his son in the Bagh-i Zaghan, and by the (see Necipoglu, figs. 10a-b, 11). Before looking fact that Fazl Allah Khunji thought it worthwhile at it in greater detail, however, Shah 'Abbas's to reproduce it in his history.84 geochronology should be considered. Like The opportunity which these celebrations of- Isma'il I and Tahmasp before him, he regularly fered for processions should not be overlooked. moved, allowing for campaigns, from summer to The importance of such ceremonial occasions winter quarters. It is difficult to determine the for advertising the wealth of the state was dis- exact beginning of the palatial complex in the cussed above in relation to Timur, and the lesson Bagh-i Naqsh-i Jahan," but it is likely that it was was not lost on his descendants. The ceremony of begun shortly before 1596-97, when Shah cAbbas istiqb7il (going out to meetan incoming dignitary) spent the winter there. He wintered there in most was regularly observed on the arrival of members subsequent years until September 1603, leaving of the royal family and important visitors at the on campaigns in , , and Geor- capital. The descriptions of the festivities on the gia from which he did not return until November of Muhammad Ma'sum to a daughter of 1607. Ulugh Beg b. Abu Sa'id in 895 (1490) may be In the winter of 1612-13 he commenced the indicative of the expense lavished on comparable building of the palaces at Ashraf and Farahabad occasions. Sultan Husayn ordered the town and in Mazandaran to facilitate his greatest love, hunt- the streets to be decorated appropriately, and the ing. They are described as capitals by contempo- amirs and government ministers set about their rary historians," and their eclipse of Isfahan in tasks accordingly. The Bagh-iJahan Ara was duly this respect is underlined by the amount of time made ready, and the leaders of the craftsmen which he spent there. He was totally absent from caused various kinds of wonders to appear; from Isfahan for three years, up toJune 1619. Between the Pul-i Malan to the Bagh-i Jahan Ara (a dis- the time he left Isfahan for winter quarters in tance of aboutnine kilometers) all the streets and Mazandaran in autumn 1624 and his death in bazaars were decorated. Booths were set up and early 1629, despite the peace which reigned in his all the walls and shops were adorned with multi- kingdom, he did not return to the city, never colored Chinese brocade, Frankish velvet, and traveling far from Mazandaran where his obses- Chinese silk,85 and with various images which sion with hunting could be indulged. His average beggar description. When the party was met at time in the capital has been calculated as 58, 77, the Pul-i Malan, such an amount of largesse of and 46 days each year for the three parts of his gold and jewels was distributed as to open the reign when , Isfahan, and Farahabad re- doors of riches on the poor. All along the route, spectively were the capitals.90 Even considering on both sides, the sound of sweet voices in song the much greater time which Shah 'Abbas spent and lutes and cymbals was to be heard.8 6 The campaigning than Uljaytu, it still reveals him as a festivities can be better imagined with the help of monarch very much in the same nomadic tradi- two contemporary miniatures, one ofwhich shows tion. Timur being entertained in front of a trellis tent Shah 'Abbas's first major development in Isfa- by dancers (fig. 14), the other, Sultan Husayn in han was the Maydan-i Naqsh-iJahan, which was 256 BERNARD O'KANE laid out in 1590 as a space for polo and horse hunting trips,' 03 they seem to have been com- racing.91 In 1594 he had ordered a celebration in pletely secluded while in residence at any one of the Maydan-i SaCadatabad in Qazvin, where the his capitals.'0 4 Despite the evidence cited above shops had been provided with arcades on which for Shah 'Abbas's nomadism, the position of lamps were hung, and where he watched and women at his court shows the increasing influ- engaged in polo and shooting contests.9 2 The ence of the sedentary Irano-Islamic tradition on greater space which the Maydan-i Naqsh-iJahan the Safavids, 0 5 which in turn is reflected in the afforded for these entertainments was exploited appearance of the as a separate building to the full in a major festival there in 15959 and, in Safavid palaces.'06 given Shah 'Abbas's love of riding, may even have been a minor factor in the move of the court to In conclusion, we should emphasize one feature Isfahan. 94 The Bagh-i Naqsh-i Jahan alongside of the residential architecture of the dynasties we the maydan was large enough to create the variety have considered which highlights their nomadic which in Herat and Samarqand was provided by legacy and sets them apart from their Mamluk, separate gardens. With its different pavilions sit- Ottoman, and Mughal contemporaries. This is its uated in various gardens in the precincts, one autonomy from citadels. The Mamluk sultan's may be reminded of the Timurid garden ensem- residence was the citadel of Cairo, and his depu- bles, brought together within a tighter frame- ties in and lived in the citadels work than the more formal aspects of the Mughal of those towns (see Rabbat, fig. 1; Tabbaa, fig 6). Red Forts and Fatehpur Sikri. The participation The walls of the Red Forts of and Agra of the sultan in receptions within the pavilions encompassed the principal palaces of the Mu- again recalls Timurid models rather than the ghal emperors (see Necipoglu, figs. 21-22). The static role which the Ottoman sultan played in Topkapi Palace was set within the well-fortified the more clearly defined boundaries of the Top- Byzantine walls of Istanbul, and its defenses were kapi Palace.9 5 Just as the pavilions in these gar- further assured by the walls of its concentric dens have been celebrated for their merging of courts, the outermost being known as the impe- garden and architectural space, so one should rial fortress (see Necipoglu, fig. 1). Pre-Mongol keep in mind the degree to which Timurid and citadels already existed in the towns we have Safavid palaces represent an interpenetration of considered: Tabriz, Samarqand, Herat, and Isfa- the princely traditions of urban and nomadic han, 0 7 butit is not difficult to understand how life ideals. in them would be anathema to those of nomadic The main difference in the Naqsh-i Jahan heritage. Even the palace complex of Isfahan palace and Timurid models would seem to be in which, with its sprawling permanent construc- the provision of permanent and substantial quar- tions, is closest to the Topkapi, did not have ters for the harem.' This reflects the differing strongly fortified boundaries. It might be object- status of women under the Safavids. At Timur's ed that Isfahan's central location precluded the quriltay his wives were unveiled, and women were necessity of strong defensive constructions, but permitted to host feasts themselves. 9 7 Gawhar even in Qazvin, closer to the Ottoman front, the Shad was a major political figure, as well as the palace constructed by Shah Tahmasp was in a mostimportant architectural patron of her time.98 garden outside the citadel.'08 Even if later women never quite attained her The garden complexes with pavilions, verdure, power, they aspired to it: Sultan Husayn's wife numerous canals, and open spaces with the flex- KhadijaBegum and Sultan Ya'qub's mother were ibility to accommodate a multitude and variety of notorious for their influence. 99 Even at the twi- tents represented the ideal compromise between light of the Timurid Babur was still enter- nomadic and urban life. Even though the gar- tained at a feast hosted by Khadija Begum.' ° ° dens were vulnerable to attack,'09 a nomadic While women wielded considerable political pow- dynasty retained its ability to move the court and er at the Safavid court, they operated from inside its entourage quickly out of danger. Faced with the harem' 0° and were never patrons of architec- the alternative of the claustrophobic quarters of ture or other arts on anything approaching the a citadel, for an even semi-nomadic ruler this was scale of the Timurids.' 0 2 Although members of a sacrifice worth making. Shah 'Abbas's harem were to be seen on his FROM TENTS TO PAVILIONS 257

Notes havati-yi Darjazin; fol. 110a, Shaykh Mahmid Haravi, 871 H., fi haviai-yi Darjazin; fol. 116b, 1. Fazlallah b. Rfizbihan Khunji, Tarikh-i Alamariiyi Shaykh Mal)mid, 871 H., fi naviihi-yi Hamadan. Amini, trans. V. Minorsky as Persia in A.D. 1478- 1490 (London, 1957), 20. On p. 107 he explains 11. Andrews, "Felt Tent," 468. These successive zones how the army had regular summer (Mt. Sarhand) of security are reflected in the Ottoman imperial and winter (Tabriz or Qarabagh) quarters. For an encampments, which in turn underlie the plan of overview of the nomadic tendencies of the Timu- the Topkapi Palace; Gfilru Necipoglu, Architecture, rids, see Monike Gronke, 'The Persian Court be- Ceremonial and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the tween Palace and Tent," in TimuridArt and Culture: Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (New York, Cam- Iran and CentralAsia in theFifteenth Century, ed. Lisa bridge, Mass., and London, 1991), 31. Golombek and Maria Subtelny (Leiden, New York, and Cologne, 1992), 18-22. 12. Andrews, "Felt Tent," 502.

2. SeeJ. Aubin, "Reseau pastoral et reseau caravani- 13. The Persian sources consistently use khargah for a er: les grand'routes du Khurassan a l'6poque mon- trellis tent; see Andrews, "Felt Tent," 472 ff. I am gole," Le Monde iranien et l' 1 (1971): 105-30. indebted to Peter Andrews's magisterial work for most of my information on tents; according to the 3. D. Morgan, The (Oxford, 1976), 157. author ('The Generous Heart or the Mass of Clouds: The Court Tents of ," Muqar- 4. J. A. Boyle, 'The Seasonal Residences of the Great nas4 [1987]: n. 1) itwas to have been published in Khan Ogedei," Central Asiatic Journal 16 (1972): 1987, but to my knowledge it has not yet appeared. 125-31; Peter Alford Andrews, 'The Felt Tent in Middle Asia: The Nomadic Tradition and Its Inter- 14. One of the illustrations of the Diez albums shows action with Princely Tentage," Ph.D. diss., School a Mongol tent of state decorated with what might of Oriental and African Studies, 1980, 524. be gold studs: M. S. Ipsiroglu, Saray-Alben:Dicz'sche Klebebdnde aus den BerlinerSammlungen(Wiesbaden, 5. "The Itineraries of Sultan Oljeitii, 1304-16," Iran 1964), pl. 8. 28 (1990): 55-70. 15. Boyle, "Residences," 127; Andrews, "Felt Tent," 6. Melville, "Itineraries of Sultan Oljeitui," 60; A. K S. 480-83. Lampton, Continuity and Change in MedievalPersia (Albany, N.Y., 1988), 184. The area was also used 16. Rashid al-Din, Jami al-taviinkh, ed. K Jahn as as summer quarters by Shah Tahmasp and Shah Geschichte Gazan-jan's (London, 1940), 137-38, cAbbas: Iskandar Munshi, Tikh-i Alamrii-yi discussed in Andrews, "Felt Tent," 485-86, and in 'Abbasi, trans. R. M. Savory as History of Shah'Abbas Lisa Golombek and Donald Wilber, The Timurid the Great, 2 vols. (Boulder, Colo.,1978), 1:154; Architecture of Iran and Turan (Princeton, 1988), 2:1248, 1281. It also was used by Shah 'Abbas as a 181-82, where awnings, syabin, are misread as mustering ground for troops. parasols, siiya. When this garden was restored and extended by Sultan Yaqub in spring 895 H., tents, 7. E.g., The Travels ofIbn Baf.tta, trans. H. A. R. Gibb, pavilions (kandalan), and awnings (sayaban) fig- 2 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1962), 2:342-44,481- ured amongst the accommodation for its inaugu- 87; Travels to Tana and Persia byJosafa Barbaroand ration; Khunji, Persia, 100. Ambrogio Contarini, trans. W. Thomas and S. A. Roy, ed. Lord Stanley of Alderly, Hakluyt Society, vol. 17. The translations of Andrews in "Felt Tent," 544 ff., 49 (London, 1873), 130-35, and the sources dis- partially reproduced in P. A. Andrews, "The Tents cussed in Andrews, "Felt Tent," 534-36. The ac- of Timur: An Examination of Reports on the counts of Timur's quriltayoutside Samarqand, dis- Quriltay at Samarqand, 1404," in Arts of the Eur- cussed in detail below, are also relevant. asian Steppelands, ed. P. Denwood (London, 1978), 143-81, are to be preferred to those of the stan- 8. Ibn Battita, Travels, 2:342-43, describing Abu dard account in English, Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Sacid's camp. Historiadel GranTamorlan, trans. Guy Le Strange as Clavijo:Embassy to Tamerlane (London, 1928). The 9. Ibn Battita, Travels, 2:343, again describing Abu other sources are Sharaf al-Drn 'AlI Yazdr, Sacid's camp. ,afarnama, ed. Mubammad Abbasl, 2 vols. (Te- hran, 1336 A.S.H.), 2:422-45, trans. W. M. Thack- 10. H.2153, fol. 6a, Shaykh Mahmiid, 871 H.,ft bulda- ston in A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid yi Siiva; fol. 20a, Yiisif b. Jahanshah, 871 H., bi- History andArt (Cambridge, Mass., 1989), 91-100; 258 BERNARD O'KANE

and , Aja'ib al-maqdiirfi byJuvayni's father to K6rgfiz and by the governor nawa'ib Ti mfir, ed. Ali Muhammad 'Umar (Cairo, of Khurasan, AmirArghun, to Hulagu; 'Ala' al-D n 1399 H.), trans.J. H. Sanders as Tamerlane or Timur cAta Malik Juvaynr, Trikh-i jahin gusha, ed. the Great Amir (London, 1936), 214-22. Muhammad Qazvini, 3 vols. (Leiden and London, 1937), 2:237, 3:101; Andrews, "Felt Tent," 498, 18. Andrews, "Felt Tent," 545-47. 502-3. Babur reported that gold and silver vessels were used in the trellis tent of Badi' al-Zaman 19. Zafarnama, ed. 'Abbisi, 2:424-25. Mirza in Herat; , trans. Thackston, Cen- tury of Princes, 271. For additional sources on silver 20. Andrews, "Felt Tent," 1018-20. and gold plate, see A.-S. Melikian-Chirvani, "Silver in Islamic Iran: The Evidence from Literature and 21. Andrews, "Tents of Timur," 151. Epigraphy," in Pots and Pans, ed. M. Vickers, Ox- ford Studies in 3 (Oxford, 1986), 95- 22. See, for instance,Jonathan M. Bloom, "The Mosque 100. of Baybars al-Bunduqdari in Cairo," Annales Islam- ologiques 18 (1982): 72-73. 35. In 902 (1496-97) Khusraw Shah, the ruler of Qunduz, gave presents of tents (khayma), trellis 23. Trans. Sanders, 216. tents (khargah), enclosures (saraiiparda), and tents of state (bargah) to Sultan Husayn's son Badic al- 24. Trans. Le Strange, 269-71. Zaman; Khvandamir, Habib al-siyar, 4:211; eight years later, his presents again included tents and 25. Clavijo has paces, which Andrews has irrefutably trellis tents, together with vessels of gold and silver shown must refer to feet, as it can be checked which, as we have seen (n. 32), frequently accom- against Clavijo's measurements of Hagia Sophia, panied such gifts; Khvandam r, Habibal-siyar, 4:307. "Felt Tent," 1020-21. Sultan Husayn's disgracedvizier Majd al-Din's trea- sure included tents (khayma); Khvandamir, Habib 26. Andrews, "Felt Tent," 561-62. al-siyar, 4:197. His successor Nizam al-Mulk's trea- sure consisted, in addition to gold, jewels, and 27. Zafarnama, ed. 'Abbasi, 2:424. books, of tents (khayma), trellis tents (hargh), enclosures (saraparda),and tents of state ( bargah), 28. Trans. Sanders, 216. togetherwith their furnishings: silk ziliis and Egyp- tian, Anatolian, European, and Chinese carpets; 29. Yazdi, gafarnama, ed. 'Abbasi, 2:425. Khvandamir, Habib al-siyar, 4:219. After Sultan Muhammad Khudabanda's accession to the Safa- 30. Describing the tent of Sultan Tegfder, quoted in vid throne in 1577 he set out for Isfahan where he Andrews, "Felt Tent," 472. was presented with khayma, khargah, sariiparda,and bargiih by Husayn Quli Sultan Shamlu; Hasan 31. Donations of tents in the Mongol period are men- Riimli, Ahsan altaviinikh, ed. and trans. C. N. tioned in Andrews, "Felt Tent," 497-98. Court Seddon (Baroda, 1931-34), text 500, trans. 212. ateliers were also closely involved with the decora- tion of tents, as the petition from the head of 36. Clavijo, trans. Le Strange, 281. Elsewhere (p. 234) 's library staff shows; Andrews, "Tents he mistakenly ascribes the same building to Saray of Timur," 167-68. Giilru Necipoglu has recently Mulk Khanum's mother. referred to unpublished Ottoman records which show that court designers also drew patterns on 37. Baburniima, trans. Thackston, Century of Princes, paper for royal tents; "From International Timurid 273. to Ottoman: A Change of Taste in Sixteenth-Cen- tury Ceramic Tiles," 7 (1990): 167 n. 25. 38. MunshT, trans. Savory, 1:416.

32. Yazdi, afarnma, ed. 'Abbisi, 1:184 (dowry of 39. For a discussion of representations of trellis tents Khanzada), 2:316 (trellis tent of Bayezid), 1:433 in miniatures, see Andrews, 'Tents of Timur," (reward for Aq Bugha); these and other examples 159-66. are discussed at greater length in Andrews, "Felt Tent," 595-96. 40. The underglaze tiles on the frames of the panels of the socles mentioned by Golombek and Wilber, 33. Khvandamir, Habibal-siyar, 4. vols. (, 1333 Timurid Architecture, 1:272, are rather cuerda seca. A.S.H.), 4:190. 41. Golombek and Wilber, TimuridArchitecture,1:274, 34. Gold and silver vessels accompanied gifts of tents argue for a series of detached or semi-detached FROM TENTS TO PAVILIONS 259

structures, but this would hardly have been in 53; and the references inJ. E. Woods, TheAqquyun- harmony with the massive portal which, as its rear lu: Clan, Confederation, Empire (Minneapolis and shows, was attached to rooms at the third-story Chicago, 1976), 281 n. 47. There is no evidence level. Clavijo's account, trans. Terry Allen, is given that I know of for equating the palace described in in Golombek and Wilber, Timurid Architecture, Tabriz by Barbaro in 1474 (Josafa Barbaro and 1:273-74. They may have been misled by the mis- Ambrogio Contarini, Travels to Tana and Persia, translation of paso as pace instead of foot (see n. 25 trans. William Thomas and S. A. Roy, ed. Lord above). Stanley of Alderley [London, 1873], 52-55) with the Hasht Bihisht. 42. Golombek and Wilber, Timurid Architecture, 1:359, and M. Ferrante and E. Galdieri, "Architettura 52. See Thomas Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, Timurand persiana poco nota: alcuni monumenti timuridi the Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the ad Afushte, presso Natanz," Palladio23 (1972): Fifteenth Century, exhibition catalogue (Washing- 164-66, figs. 7-16. For an analysis of the stucco see ton, D.C., and Los Angeles, 1989), 289. Bernard O'Kane, Timurid Stucco Decoration," Annales Islamologiques 20 (1984): 81-82. 53. Lentz and Lowry, Princely Vision, 260-61.

43. One of them, now destroyed, must have contained 54. Illustrated in Lentz and Lowry, Princely Vision, a staircase.Just enough tiling remains on the floor 55. For further discussion of the evidence from of the upper story to show that it was similar to the miniatures, see O'Kane, TimuridArchitectur, 12-13. lower. 55. Ibn Arabshih, trans. Sanders, 309-19; Babur, 44. Its identification as the khanaqah of a local saint is Bburnama, trans. A. S. Beveridge (London, 1922), based solely on hearsay. 78, 302. The earlier references are to Timur; the last is to a pavilion of Abu Sacid in Herat which 45. Bernard O'Kane, Timurid Architecture in Khurasan depicted his and battles. Yacqub's Hasht Bih- (Costa Mesa, Calif., 1987), cat. no. 42, also contain- isht in Tabriz had murals ofbattles, embassies, and ing Babur's description. hunting; Narrative,trans. Grey, 175. Erotic murals were added to a palace in Herat by the Ghaznavid 46. 'The exterior glazed bricks are very much in the Sultan Mahmud; C. E. Bosworth, The Ghaznavids: tradition of ," Godfrey Goodwin, A Their Empire in and Eastern Iran 994- History ofOttomanArchitecture(London, 1971), 137; 1040 (Beirut, 1973), 140; the Safavid examples of 'The plan ... is a Timurid conception borrowed the Chihil Sutun are the best known. from Central Asian palace and tomb structures," Walter Denny, "Points of Stylistic Contact in the 56. E.g., Donald N. Wilber, PersianGardens and Garden Architecture of Islamic Iran and ," Islamic Pavilions (Washington, D.C., 1979), fig. 15. The Art 2 (1987): 33. most accurate summary of the sources on Timur's gardens is Roya Marefat, "Beyond the Architecture 47. Necipoglu, Topkapi, 214. On pp. 213-14 she also of Death: The Shrine of the Shah-i Zinda in Samar- discusses possible Aqqoyunlu and Karamanid pro- qand," Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 1991, 44- totypes. 52.

48. For those on the Blue Mosque, see Bernard O'Kane, 57. See n. 36 above. 'Taybad, Turbat-i Jm and Timurid Vaulting," Iran 17 (1979): pl. IIIc. 58. A. Vambery, "Beschreibung von ," Mit- theilungen ausJustusPerthes' GeographischerAnstalt 49. For the Timurid examples, see O'Kane, Timurid iiberwichtige neueErforschungenaufdem Gesamtgebiete Architecture, 67. der GeographievonDr. A. Petermann(1865), 226-27; Marefat, "Shrine," 43-44. 50. Golombek and Wilber, Timurid Architecture, fig. 133. 59. Yazdi, Zafarniima, ed. Abbasi, 2:419-49.

51. The comparison is also made in Necipoglu, Topha- 60. See n. 8 above. pi, 213. The most complete description is in A Narrativeofltalian Travels in Persia,trans. and ed. C. 61. Babur, Baburnama,trans. Beveridge, 78. Grey (London, 1873), 173-78. The anonymous Italian traveler attributes the palace to , 62. For the Fatimids and the Ottomans, see P. A. but the Persian sources unanimously say it was the Sanders and 6. Nutku, "Mawakib," Encyclopaediaof work of Yacqub; see, for instance, Khunji, Persia, Islam, 2nd ed., 6:849-51, 858-65. 260 BERNARD O'KANE

63. Topkapi Palace Museum, H.1344; see N. Atasoy compared with Khvandamir's laconic description and F. Cagman, Turkish MiniaturePainting (Istan- of the guilds' displays at Timur's great feast: ,una' bul, 1974), 39-42, and Nutku, "Mawakib," 860-61. va pishavarin-iIran va Turdn va Mirva Sham va az an chahar.tqha basta tabiyaha-yigiinagiinsakhtand 64. Yazdi mentions jewelers, drapers, musicians and (Habib al-siyar, 3: 528). For the use of chahr.tiiqs singers, fruitsellers, butchers, tentmakers, cotton- at a New Year's celebration of Shah 'Abbas, see dressers, leatherworkers, and acrobats; Thackston, Munshi, trans. Savory, 2:977. Century of Princes, 93-95; Clavijo adds cooks, bak- ers, tailors, and shoemakers; trans. Le Strange, 71. Nuqawat al-athir, trans. R. D. McChesney, "Four 248-49; and Ibn Arabshah, linen weavers, iron- Sources on Shah cAbbas's Building of Isfahan," workers, and bowmakers; trans. Sanders, 217-18. Muqarnas 5 (1988): 107. Admittedly this is not a very explicit reference to guilds' displays, but it 65. Kamal al-Din cAbd al-Razzaq Samarqandi, Ma tla' uses imagery similar to Khvandamir's descriptions al-sacdayn va majma' abahrayn, ed. Muhammad (see n. 70). Shafi' (, 1941-49), 219: farman-i humayiin nifaz yaft ki shahr va bazarha yin bandand va har 72. McChesney, "Isfahan," 107. ,san'atdarkaml-i hunarzahirkarda, dukan-i khudr arayad. 73. The most complete information on Timurid gar- dens is in Terry Allen, A Catalogue of the Toponyms 66. Samarqandi, Ma.tla' al-sa'dayn, 930: har san'at va andMonuments of Timurid Herat(Cambridge, Mass., hunar ki pishavaran-i haft kishvar dshtand bi-har 1981),192-224. .tariq ki khatstand iyin bastand. 74. cAbd al-Razzaq, Matla' al-sa'dayn, 379. 67. Samarqandi, Ma.tla' asa'dayn, 1304: va arbab-i sana'i' anva'-i badi'tr bi-quvvat-i tabi'at va lataffat-i 75. 'Abd al-Razzaq, Matla' al-sa'dayn, 1425. fitnat istikhraj va istinbat namiidand, va darghayat-i hazaqat va kamal-i maharatdar mahall-i munasib baz 76. Babur, Baburniima, trans. Beveridge, 80. dashta biidand, chi hunarmandan-i a.traf-i 'alam bi- takhsis-i mamalik-i mahruisa bar dargah-i mu'azzam 77. In 868 (1464): 'Abd al-Razzaq, Ma.tla' al-sa'dayn, hazirbfidand,va bi-quvvat-izihn-ikhudghar'ib 1280. Similar reasons kept Sultan Yacqub from va aja'ib namidand.Az anjumla Khvaja 'Ali Arda- wintering in Tabriz on two occasions; Khunji, garIsfahani dar shisha-yi gulhbdalni si u dujama'at- Persia, 123. But one of these was a ruse by the i muhtarifa-raki dar karkhana-yi 'alam dar hisi band inhabitants, who disliked Ya'qub, to keep him namuda bid, chunancha har pishavar bi-.san'at-i away; Woods, Aqquyunlu, 154. makhsiis-i khud ishtighal namidand, va s u du dukan va karkhana kushida, va har has bi-hirfa-yi khaiss-i 78. Khvandamir, Habib al-siyar, 4:152, 179, 190. khish qiyam namida, bai ki dar san'at bi-harakat ihfiyaj dashtandmisl-i khayyat va naddafva najjarva 79. Khvandamir, Habib a-siyar,4:315. haddadbi-siiratijunbish va harakat-ianranigah dashta bud. For shortened versions of this account which 80. The fact that one section of the petition of Baysun- also mention the participation of the craftsmen, ghur's library staff isdevoted to a khargah (see n. 31 see Khvandamir, Habt bal-siyar,4:84, and Muin al- above) is good reason to believe that they were Din Muhammad Zamchi Isfizari, Rawzat al-jannat fairly permanent fixtures. fi awsaf madinat Harat, ed. Muhammad Kazim Imam (Tehran, 1338 A.S.H.), 2:274. 81. At the same feast as that referred to in n. 65, Sultan Husayn is described as being seated on the auspi- 68. Khvandamir, Habib al-siyar, 4:178: muhandisan-i cious throne in the heavenly trellis tent of the feast harpishava suna'-i naykii andisha anv'1i tabiha-iyi (dar khargah-i sipihr ishtibiih-i fiykhana bar tahht-i ghartb va asnaf-i umiir-i ajib bi-'arsa-yi zuhir bakht); KhvandamTr, Habib alsiyar, 4:185. On the rasanidandva har.tit'ifamunasib-ihirfa-yikhud surati- occasion of the marriage of MuhammadJahangir yi nadirvapaykai-yi badit ma'asirzahirgardanidand. b. Mirza Muhammad Sultan in 816 (1413-14) a kitchen (matbakh) and cistern (abkhana) are men- 69. Khvandamir, Habib al-siyar, 4:185: arbab-i sana'iF tioned among the other tented structures; 'Abd al- asnaifi bad&ti ¢ bi-zuhur avarda. Razzaq, Ma.tla' al-sa'dayn, 244.

70. Khvandamr, Habib asiyar, 4:206: chahar itaqha 82. While these were usually modest structuresin which, sakhta shuda va tabi'habis-arsa-yi zuhur amada. The for instance, craftsmen were accommodated, temporary booths are often mentioned in connec- occasionally they were more luxurious, as were tion with craftsmen. The connection is clear when those erected in the Bagh-i Zaghan in 892 (1486- FROM TENTS TO PAVILIONS 261

87) for the circumcision of Muzaffar Husayn Mir- Kaempfer, Amoenitates Exoticarum Politico-Physico- za. That of Sultan Husayn (chahar taq-i kha.sa-yi Medicarum, trans. W. Hinz as Am Hofe des persischen humayuin) was decorated with gold and lapis lazuli, Groflk&nigs, 1684-1685 (Tiibingen and Basel, 1977), and each of the amirs and princes were also as- 227-35, andJ. Chardin, Voyages ... en Perse,et autres signed chahar fiqs; Khvandamir, Habib al-siyar, lieuxde l'Orient,ed. L. Langles (Paris, 1811), 7:381- 4:178. 88.

83. See the references in Allen, Toponyms, under the 97. Clavijo, trans. Le Strange, 244 ff., describing a respective gardens. feast hosted by Khanzada, Timur's niece.

84. Khunji, Persia, 59. 98. O'Kane, Timurid Architecture, 83-84.

85. The festivities recall the occasion when the city of 99. Khadija Begum, in order to strengthen the posi- was bedecked with textiles for the visit of tion of her son Muzaffar Husayn, tricked Sultan the sovereign of Ferghana; for this and other Husayn into executing his grandson Muhammad occasions when a display of textiles was used to Mumin, and on the death of Sultan Husayn impress visitors, see Lisa Golombek, "The managed to have her son made joint ruler; V. V. Draped Universe of Islam," in Content and Context Barthold, FourStudies on the History of CentralAsia. of Visual Arts in the Islamic World, ed. Priscilla P. III: MirCA Shir, trans. V. and T. Minorsky (Leiden, Soucek (University Park, Penna., and London, 1962), 57; Rfimli, Ahsan al-taviinikh, text89, trans. 1988), 31. 39. Khunji, Persia,108, gives an obituary notice of Sultan Ya'qub's mother, showing her powerful 86. KhvandamTr, i-abib alsiyar, 4:185. status.

87. The most complete information is to be found in 100. Baburnama, trans. Beveridge, 301. Charles Melville, "From Qars to Qandahar: The Itineraries of Shah Abbas I (995-1038/1587- 101. On Shah Ismacil II's death in 1577 the main power 1629)" (in press). I am most grateful to the author struggle was between Sultan Tahmasp's daughter for sending me a copy of his manuscript. PariKhan Khanum and Sultan Muhammad Khud- abanda's wife Mahd-i cUlya Fakhr al-Nisa Begum; 88. The garden itself already existed, having been Munshi, trans. Savory, 327-37; both were mur- used by Seljuq, Timurid, and early Safavid rulers; dered for their interference. M. Haneda, "Maydin et bag: reflexion a propos de l'urbanisme du gSh Abbis," in Documents et ar- 102. For female Timurid patrons, see O'Kane, Timurid chives provenant de lAsie Centrale, ed. A. Haneda Architecture, 82-84. (Kyoto, 1990), 93 (I am grateful to Charles Melville for sending me a copy). 103. M. Membr6, Relazione di Persia, ed. G. Scarcia (Naples, 1968), ch. 3, mentions the "maidens' 89. Melville, "Itineraries of Shah CAbbas," n. 65 whowere visible when Shah Tahmasp's ordumoved (in 1539): 'They ride like men and dress like men, 90. Melville, "Itineraries of Shah Abbas," table 5; except that on their heads they do not wear caps, Haneda, "Maydan et bag," also draws attention to but white cloths." Pietro della Valle writes that the Isfahan's status as merely a winter capital. women of the harem traveled by night with the eunuchs, but went unveiled on horseback 91. McChesney, "Isfahan," 106, quoting Natanz, when with the shah; Lettere dallaPersia, vol. 1, ed. Nuqiwat alathar. F. Gaeta and L. Lockhart, I1 Nuovo Ramusio 6 (Rome, 1972), 280. I am most grateful to Charles 92. Munshi, trans. Savory, 2:673-74. Melville for both of these references; see also his "Itineraries of Shah Abbas," n. 102. The scene 93. See n. 71 above. described by Rashid al-Din where Ghazan Khan and his wife watched a hunt together from a 94. The major factor was the Uzbek incursion into temporary wooden pavilion (Geschichte Gazan- central Iran; Melville, "Itineraries of ShahcAbbas," .Hiin's, ed.Jahn, 137) must still have been far from n. 20. Safavid sensibilities.

95. Necipoglu, Topkapi, 15-22; see also the paper by 104. The extent to which this was true in the late Necipoglu in this volume. Timurid period is difficult to gauge from the sources; it is a question which was usually com- 96. The most detailed accounts of these are E. mented on only by visiting Europeans, and there 262 BERNARD O'KANE

were none for Herat at this time. However, the Timur, even though he rarely occupied the evidence from fig. 14, which shows Sultan Husayn's pavilion which he built inside it; Bburnama, harem screened off from all the male retinue trans. Beveridge, 77. The Herat citadel was still of apart from a black eunuch, suggests that the such military importance in 1885 as to be the trend may have been well established by then. cause of the destruction of the Mosque; O. Caroe, "The Gauhar Shad Musalla 105. On the competing strains of the Turko-Mongol (Mosque) in Herat," AsianAffairs 60 (1973): 295- nomadic and the sedentary Irano-Islamic tradi- 98. Heinz Gaube, IranianCities (New York, 1979), tions in late Timurid and early Shibanid society, 79, suggests that even in the early medieval period see Maria E. Subtelny, "Art and Politics in Early the citadel of Isfahan was not of great importance; Central Asia," CentralAsiaticJournal for its location, see Gaube, Iranian Cities, fig. 50. 27 (1983): 121-48. Like the Herat citadel, it was used as a place of imprisonment; Shah cAbbas's brothers were in- 106. The royal palace at Qazvin also had a separate carcerated there before they were' blinded (see harem; Munshi, trans. Savory, 1:288-89. McChesney, "Isfahan," 106 and n. 20).

107. The strength of the Tabriz citadel can be gauged 108. Haneda, "Maydan et bag," 97. by the difficulties of Sultan Muhammad Khuda- banda's troop in retaking it from the Ottoman 109. When attack was threatened, Sultan Husayn still forces in 1585-86; Munshi, trans. Savory, 1:451- preferred to move to a garden near the citadel 54,480-81. The Samarqand citadel was rebuilt by rather than into the citadel itself; see n. 79 above.