II. International Seljuk Historical Geography Symposium FULL TEXT BOOK-I
THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE GREAT SELJUK EXAMPLES IN IRAN IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TURKISH TOMB ARCHITECTURE
Yayıncı:
Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi Yayınları
Located between the high plains of the Middle East and Central Asia, in a geography that is very productive despite the harsh and continental climatic conditions, rich in underground and aboveground resources and suitable for the cultivation of different agricultural products, Iran has an important place among the world states. Art gained an identity especially with the influence of Central Asian art community in the Islamic period in Iran, which has a rich historical past and a heterogeneous population structure with approximately half of them Persians and the rest of them Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Baloch, and Afghan. After the first artistic and architectural activities in the Abbasid period, independent states such as Tahirids in Khorasan, Saffarids in Sistan, Samanids in Eastern Iran and Transoxiana, and Buyids in Southern Iran and Iraq, established in Iran in the 9th and 10th centuries, and afterwards, the dominant Turkish rulers (Ghaznavid and Great Seljuks) also contributed significantly to the development of art in Iran. On the other hand, the artifacts revealed during the Harezmshahs, Ilkhanids, Timurids, Qaraqoyunids, Aqqoyunids, Safavid, Zend and Qajar dynasties, who had a say in the Iranian geography after them, also laid the groundwork for the further strengthening of this cultural heritage. The tomb monuments, which were built for well-known personalities (administrators and religious elders) and known as “mausoleum”, “kumbet”, “maqam”, “mashhad”, “buk’a”, “darih”, “dome” and “ravza” in the Islamic World are the works that stand out as remarkable architectural monuments that developed especially during the Great Seljuk period in Iran. It is an undeniable fact that the Great Seljuk tomb monuments in Iran made a very important contribution to the development of the general Turkish tomb architecture. It is possible to trace of Iranian structures, especially in the formation and development of tomb structures in Anatolia and the Balkans, Azerbaijan, the Middle East and North Africa, and Indian regions, where the Turks dominated later on. In this paper, the tomb monuments revealed in Iran during the Great Seljuks period will be discussed, and their contribution to the development of tomb architecture will be tried to be pointed out after being introduced with their plan, architectural and ornamental features.