A Dialogue between Friends and Foes: Transcultural Interactions in Ilkhanid Capital Cities (1256-1335 AD) by Atri Hatef Naiemi B.A., University of Qazvin, Iran, 2006 M.A., University of Tehran, Iran, 2010 M.A., University of Victoria, 2014 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Art History and Visual Studies © Atri Hatef Naiemi, 2019 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This Dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. Supervisory Committee A Dialogue between Friends and Foes: Transcultural Interactions in Ilkhanid Capital Cities (1256-1335 AD) by Atri Hatef Naiemi B.A., University of Qazvin, Iran, 2006 M.A., University of Tehran, Iran, 2010 M.A., University of Victoria, 2014 Supervisory Committee Dr. Marcus Milwright, (Department of Art History and Visual Studies) Supervisor Dr. Evanthia Baboula, (Department of Art History and Visual Studies) Departmental Member Dr. Tsung-Cheng Lin, (Department of Pacific and Asian Studies) Outside Member Dr. Brendan Burke, (Department of Greek and Roman Studies) Outside Member ii Abstract The period following the Mongol conquest of vast areas of Eurasia in the thirteenth century, the so-called Pax Mongolica, witnessed the emergence of a new visual language in Persian art and architecture. Various Islamic and non-Islamic visual traditions that permeated the whole body of the arts of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Iran played a pivotal role in the formation of the hybrid style characterizing the art and architecture of the Ilkhanid period (1256-1335 AD). Along with the reconstruction of the cities that had been extensively destroyed during the Mongol attack on Iran, the Ilkhans (Mongol rulers) founded a number of new settlements. Both literary and archaeological evidence testifies that the foundation and development of urban centers was one of the primary objectives of the Ilkhans throughout their rule over Iran. Putting emphasis on Ilkhanid urban architecture, this project focuses on two major cities in the northwest of Iran (Ghazaniyya and Sultaniyya) in order to show how the architectural and urban features of the cities were determined through the complex interaction of local and global forces. Challenging the stereotypes that looked at the steppe people as destroyers of civilizations in earlier scholarship, this study argues that the Ilkhanid city as a physical entity manifests the dialogue between Perso-Islamic sedentary concepts and Mongolian nomadic traditions. iii Table of Contents Supervisory Committee............................................................................................................. ii Abstract...................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents....................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures............................................................................................................................ vi Acknowledgements................................................................................................................... x Dedication.................................................................................................................................. xi Notes on Transliteration and Dating......................................................................................... xii Introduction............................................................................................................................... 1 Sources.......................................................................................................................... 6 Methods and theories.................................................................................................... 15 Chapter outline.............................................................................................................. 21 Chapter One: The Foundation of Urban Centers under the Ilkhanids....................................... 25 The socio-religious transformation of the medieval Islamic city................................. 29 The architectural and urban transformation of the medieval Islamic city..................... 31 The transformation of patterns of patronage in the medieval Islamic city.................... 37 Major construction activities in pre-Mongol Iran.......................................................... 40 Ilkhanid urban foundations: A brief overview................................................................ 51 Capitals and summer/winter camps............................................................................... 62 Chapter Two: The Ilkhanid City of Ghazaniyya........................................................................ 85 A general description of Ghazaniyya............................................................................. 87 The location of Ghazaniyya........................................................................................... 92 The abwāb al-birr of Shanb-i Ghazan............................................................................101 The religious eclecticism of the Mongols.......................................................................104 Ghazan Khan: A Mongol Ilkhan or a Muslim sultan?....................................................107 The encounter between Persian/Islamic and Mongol traditions in Shanb-i Ghazan........110 Chapter Three: The Grand Capital of the Ilkhans at Sultaniyya....................................................119 Sultaniyya, the imperial capital.................................................................................... 121 The citadel of Sultaniyya............................................................................................... 126 iv The outer city of Sultaniyya...........................................................................................134 Sultaniyya: A Persian/Islamic capital city or a Mongol camp?......................................150 Chapter Four: Political Agents and their Role in the Transcultural Interactions under the Ilkhanids.........................................................................................................154 Rashid al-Din: A Persian patron.................................................................................... 158 Bolad Aqa: A Mongol intermediary................................................................................171 Liu Ping-chung: A Chinese counselor...............................................................................179 Concluding note: The facilitators of the dialogue...........................................................183 Chapter Five: Urban Foundations under Yuan Patronage......................................................... 191 A brief overview of Mongolian urban settlements/cities.............................................. 195 Major activities of the Mongols in urbanism..................................................................199 Daidu: The pinnacle of Mongolian urbanism.................................................................210 Concluding notes.............................................................................................................215 Chapter Six: Theorizing Intercultural Contact in Ilkhanid Architecture and Urban Planning........................................................................................................................ 219 Intercultural contact and the complexity of the terminology........................................ 223 Postcolonial theories..........................................................................................................227 Theory of translation..........................................................................................................229. Authorship of Mongol histories by Persian historians...................................................235 Active and passive agents of transportation........................................................................239 Dialogues.............................................................................................................................241 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................265 Bibliography......................................................................................................................................272 Appendix....................................................................................................................................291 Figures................................................................................................................................................298 v List of Figures Figure 1-1: The structure of Seljuq Isfahan. Figure 1-2: The main structural elements of Seljuq Nishapur. Figure 1-3: The approximate locations of the Metropolitan Museum excavations within the outline of medieval Nishapur. Figure 1-4: Nishapur and environs. Figure 1-5: The location of camps and cities of the Ilkhans. Figure 1-6: The observatory of Maragha and the temple of Rasad-daghi. Figure 1-7: One of the cells of the temple of Rasad-daghi. Figure 1-8: The Ilkhanid palatial complex in Takht-i Sulayman. Figure 1-9: Takht-i Sulayman;