Safavid period markers of Innovations in the Architecture and Urban Spaces of Isfahan

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Negar Yousefi ¹

Reza Sameh ²

Fariborz Karimi ²

Seyed Rahman Eghbali ³

¹ PhD Candidate, Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

³ Associate Professor, Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

10.22067/jhistory.2026.96249.1415

Abstract

The Ṣafavīd period is characterized by transformations across a range of fields, including significant innovations in architecture, with Isfahan emerging as a particularly important site for the development of new forms of expression. The present article seeks to identify markers of the Ṣafavīd period on the basis of innovations in the architecture and urban spaces of Isfahan. It asks which markers of these innovations can be gained that are designable as markers of the Safavid period and therefore serve as a basis for identifying manifestations of modernity during this time. Modernity has generally been viewed as an imported phenomenon. The significance of this study lies particularly in its contribution to clarifying the beginnings of the modern era in Iran. Systematic review of the research literature and thematic analysis were employed in two stages: first, to collect the identified innovations and, second, to extract their markers. Findings indicate six such markers. Together, they depict the Ṣafavīd period as a new era characterized by the relative predominance of secular concerns, greater openness in public spaces, and increased engagement with the wider world. Within this context, people assumed a distinctive position through their role in the representation of government, their entry into new spheres, their exposure to new rights, and the emergence of the individual as a significant social presence.

Keywords

Ṣafavīd period

innovation

architecture

urban space

Isfahan

Subjects

• History of Islamic Arts

---

References

Aharī, Zahrā. "Khīyābān Chāhār Bāgh Isfahan, Mafhūmī Nū az Fażāy Shahrī". Gulistān Hunar 2, no. 3 (2006/1385): 48-59.

Aharī, Zahrā. "Shahr, Jashn, Khāṭirih Taʾmulī dar Nisbat Fażā-hā va Jashn-hā-yi Shahrī dar Durān Ṣafavīyān va Qājārīyān". Hunar-hā-yi Zībā-Miʻmārī va Shahrsāzī 3, no. 3 (Mihr 2011/1390): 5-16.

Aharī, Zahrā. "Sākht "Isfahān Nū": Rivāyat-hā va Ṣūrat-hā-yi Zindigī". Muṭāliʻāt-i Shahr Irānī Islāmī, no. 26 (winter 2017/1395): 27-38.

Aḥmadī, Nuzhat. "Bāztāb Zindigī Ijtimāʻī Zanān ʻAṣr Ṣafavīyih dar Safīnih Fiṭrat". Tārīkhnigarī va Tārīkhnigārī 25, no.16 (autumn and winter .2015/1394): 6-24.

Akbarī, Sārā va Vaḥīd Sīnāyī. "Dawlat Ṣafavīyah va Bāzpiykarbandī Jāmiʿah Irān; Taḥavul va Mirās Nahādī". Pazhūhishnāmah ʿUlūm-i Sīyāsī 17, no. 3 (Shahrīvar 2022/1401): 7-46.

Amīr Shāh Karamī, Sayyid ʻAbd al-ʻAẓīm. "Bāzkhānī Muhandisī Pul Khājū". Gulistān Hunar 2, no. 4 (2006/1385): 81-94.

Anṣārī, Jamāl. "Hunar Muqarnas dar Āsār Miʻmārī Irān". Mūzah-hā 1, no. 1 (Farvadīn  1981/1360): 14-27.

 Aṣlānī, Ḥisām. "Shīvih Ijrāy Tazʾīnāt Kushtihburī dar Kākh ʻĀlī Qāpū". Gulistān Hunar 2, no. 3 (2007/ 1385): 123-130.

ʻĀlamī, Mahvash. " Bāgh-hā-yi Durih Ṣafavī: Gūnih-hā va Ulgū-hā". Translated by Muḥsin Jāvarī, Gulistān Hunar 2,  no. 3 (2006/1385): 72-91.

ʻĀlamī, Mahvash. "Bāgh-hā-yi Shāhī Ṣafavī, Ṣaḥnih-ī barāy Namāyish Marāsim Salṭanatī va Ḥaqānīyat Sīyāsī". Translated by Maryam Riżāyīpūr va Ḥamīd Riżā   Jiyhānī, Gulistān Hunar 4, no. 2 (2008/1387): 47-68.

ʻAlīzādih Aqdam, Muḥammad Bāqir, Muḥammad Ḥarīrī Akbarī, Muḥammad Alī Mūsāzādih va Ibrāhīm Zāl. "Zabān va Jāmiʻah: Taḥlīl Ijtimāʿī Qarżgīrī Vāzigānī Zabān-hā-yi Fārsī va Turkī az Yikdīgar dar Durih Ṣafavī". Zabānshināsī Ijtimāʿī 7, no. 2 (Shahrīvar 2024/1403): 13-25.

ʻAlīzādih Shaʻrbāf, Mihrdād. Kārkird-hā-yi Qiṣih-hā-yi Mansūr ʿAṣr-i Ṣafavī dar Takvīn Huvīyt-i Millī va Mazhabī. Risālih-yi Dukturā, Mashhad: Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 2020/1399.

ʻAlīzādih Muqadam, Badr al-Sādāt. "Ḥayāt Ijtimāʿī Durih-yi Ṣafavīyih az Manẓar Tazkarah Naṣrābādī". Tārīkh va Farhang 51, no. 2 ( autumn and winter 2020/1398): 135-151.

Āqājarī, Sayyid Hāshim va Ibrāhīm Mushfiqīfar. "Taḥlīl Istirātizhī Niẓāmī Irān va Muʾallafah-hā-yi ān dar ʻAṣr Shāh ʿAbbās Buzurg (1587-1628/996-1038). Muṭāliʿāt Tārīkh Farhangī 1, no. 4 (Summer 2011/1389): 1-24.

Āqā Dāvudī, Muḥy al-Dīn va Imān Zakarīyāyī Kirmānī. "Taḥlīl Mażāmīn va Kārkird-hā-yi Katībih-hā-yi Madāris ʻAṣr Ṣafavīyh Isfahān, Nimūnih Mūridī: Masjid-Madrisah Chāhār Bāgh". Muṭāliʿāt-i Hunar-i Islāmī 13, no. 26 (Summer  2018/1396): 166-191.

Āyat Allāh Zādih Shīrāzī, Bāqir. "Irān va Jahān Islām az Nigāh Isfahān dar Shahr Muzah Naqsh Jahān". Asar 24, no. 35 (2003/1382): 3-22.

Bābāī, Sūsan. Isfahān va Kākh-hā-Yash: Kishvardārī, Tashayyuʿ va Miʻmārī Bazm dar Āghāz Durān Irān Mudirn. Translated by Muṣṭafā Amīrī. Tehran: Farhang Jāvīd, 2020/1398.

Bakhtīyārī, Farībā. Gul va Murgh dar Hunar-hā-yi Kārburdī Irān (ʻAṣri Ṣafavī  Mutiʾakhir tā Dawrah-yi Qājār Āghāzīn). Master Thesis, Tehran: Dānishkadih Hunar va Miʻmārī, Tarbiat Modares University, 2012/1390.

Bayātī, Hādī va Muḥsin Rustamī. "Zamīnih-hā va Dalāyil Girāyish Itīyād bi Mavād Mukhadir dar Jāmiʿah-yi ʻAṣri Ṣafavī  az Dīdgāh Shāʻirān". Tārīkh Pizishkī 16, no. 19 (2024/1403): 1-18.

Blair, Sheila; Bloom, Jonathan. Hunar va Miʻmārī Islāmī (2). Translated by Yaʿqūb Āzhand, Tehran: Samt, Farhangistān-i Hunar, 2002/1381.

Brignoli, Jean. "Biynish Shāh ʻAbbās: Shahrsāzī Salṭanatī Isfahān". Translated by Dāwūd Ṭabāyī. Gulistān Hunar 2, no. 3 (2006/1385): 60-71.

Buzurgmihrī, Zuhrih va Ānāhītā Khudādādī. Āmūd-hā-yi Irānī (Shinākht, Āsībshināsī va Maramat). Tehran: Surūsh Pāyā, 2013/1392.

Chardin, Jean. Safarnāmah Chardin. translated by Iqbāl Yāghmāyī, Tehran: Tūs, 1993/1372.

Della Valle, Pietro. Safarnāmah Pietro Della Valle. translated by Shujāʻ al-Dīn Shafā, Tehran: Shirkat-i Intishārāt ʻIlmī va Farhangī, 1991/1370.

Dhūlfaqārzādih, Ḥasan va Nigār Yūsufī. "Tajalī Baṣarī Jāygāh Miʻmār bi Musābih Hunarmand dar Katīnihnigārī Dūrih-yi Ṣafavī". Asar 45, no. 1 (spring 2024/1403): 101-120.

Falāmakī, Muḥammad  Manṣūr. "Nūāvarī-hā-yi Miʻmārānih Ṣafavī, Digargūnī Barāy Māndigārī Arzish-hā va Mafhūm-hā dar Miʻmārī Irān". dar Majmūʻah Maqālāt Kungirih-yi Tārīkh Miʿmārī va Shahrsāzī Irān. Tehran: Sāzimān-i Mīrās-i Farhangī-i Kishvar, 1995/1374.

Falāmakī, Muḥammad  Manṣūr. Gustarih-hā-yi Miʻmārī. Tehran: Nashr Fażā, 2010/1389.

Faqīh Malik Marzbān, Nasrīn. "Irān" va " Irānī" dar Farhang va Shiʻr Ṣafavī".  Muṭāliʿāt Irānshināsī 8, no. 2 (summer 2024/1403): 1-33.

Farshīd Nīk, Farzānih, Riżā Afhamī, Mujtabā Anṣārī  Luṭf Allāh Nabavī. "Naqsh Taʻādul Pūyā dar Sharhsāzī Islāmī Irānī ʻAṣr-i Ṣafavī". Naqsh Jahān 5, no. 3 (Mihr 2015/1394): 30-40.

Futūḥī, Maḥmūd. Ṣad Sāl ʻIshq Majāzī: Maktab va Ṭarz Vāsūkht dar Shiʿr Fārsī Qarn Dahum. Tehran: Sukhan, 2017/1395.

Galdieri, Eugenio. ʻĀlī Qāpū. translated by ʻAbd Allah Jabal ʻĀmulī. Tehran: Sāzimān  Millī Ḥifāẓat Āsār Bāstānī Irān, 1983/1362.

Gūdarzī, Ḥusayn. "Būzāfarīnī Mafhūm Irān dar Durih Ṣafavīyih va Rābiṭih-yi ān bā Hūvīyat Millī". Muṭāliʻāt Millī 8, no. 29 (Spring 2007/1386): 3-30.

Ḥabīb, Firishtih. "Taḥlīlī az Taʻāmul Farhang va Kālbud Shahr (Nimūnah Mavridī: Isfahān-Ṣafavīyah)". Huvīyat Shahr 3, no. 4 (spring and summer 2009/1388): 83-94.

Ḥabībī, Muḥsin. Az Shār tā Shahr; Taḥlīlī  Tārīkhī az Mafhūm Shahr va Sīmā-yi Kālbudī ān, Tafakur va Taʾathur. Tehran: University of Tehran, 2019/1397.

Ḥanāyī, Ghazālih, Dārāb Dībā va Ḥāmid ʻĀbidīnī. "Tarjum Fażāyī Tasāmuḥ Qudrat dar Isfahān ʻAṣri Ṣafavī (Muṭāliʻah-yi Mavridī:  Pul Allāh Virdīkhān)". Bāgh Naẓar 18, no. 98 (Murdād 2021/1400): 21-32.

Hillenbrand, Robert. "Miʻmārī Irān dar Dūrih-yi Ṣafavīyān". Translated by Yaʿqūb Āzhand. Dar Tārīkh-i Irān (Dūrih-yi Ṣafavīyān). Tehran: Jāmī, 2010/1388.

Ḥusaynīzādih, Muḥammad ʻAlī va Amīr Riżāʾīpanāh. "Kiyfīyat Bāznamāyī Andīshih-yi Irānshahrī dar Sunat Tārīkhnigārī ʻAṣri Ṣafavī (Mabānī Takvīn Digarbārih Amr Siyāsī)". Tārīkhnāmah Irān Baʿd az Islām 7, no. 13 (Mihr 2016/1395): 51-79.

Ilyāsī Āzād, Fatānah. Barrisī Nūāvarī-hā-yi Nuqūsh Islīmī Kāshīkārī ʻAṣri Ṣafavī ba Taʾkid bar Nuqūsh Ibdāʿī (Muṭāliʻah-yi Mūridī: Masājid Imām va Shaykh Luṭf Allāh). Master Thesis, Isfahān: Dānishkadih-yi Ḥifāẓat va Maramat, Art  University of Isfahan, 2018/1396.

Isfandīyār,  Maḥmūd Riżā. "Taṣavvūf dar Sarzamīn-hā-yi Gūnāgūn: Irān". dar Dāʾira al-Maʿārif Buzurg Islāmī, zīr naẓar Khāẓim Mūsavī Bujnūrdī. Tehran: Markaz Dāʾira al-Maʿārif Buzurg Islāmī, 2009/1387.

Ismāʻilī, Murād. "Bāztāb Jilvih-hā-yi Lazat In Jahānī dar Shiʻr, Naqāshī va Miʻmārī ʻAṣr Ṣafavī bā Rūykard Taṭbīqī  Henry Remak". Pazhūhish-hā-yi  Biyn Rishtih-ī Adabī 2. No. 4 (autumn and winter 2020/1399): 36-70.

Jiyhānī, Ḥamīd Riżā va Maryam Riżāyīpūr . Manẓar Bāgh, Siyr Taḥavvūl, Naqsh Shahrī va Uṣūl Shiklgīrī. Tehran: Pazhūhishgāh Farhang va  Ḥunar va Irtibāṭāt, Kashan: University of Kashan, 2017/1396.

Junābadī, Mīrzā Bayg. Rawḍa al-Ṣafawīya. ed. Ghulāmriżā Ṭabāṭabāyī Majd. Tehran: Bunyād Mūqūfāt-i Duktur Maḥmūd Afshār, 1999/1378.

Lārī Dārābī, Ziynab va Amīr Māzīyār. "Jāygāh Tafrīḥ va Tafaruj dar Kālbud va Ḥayāt Shahrī Isfahān ʻAbbāsī". Pazhūhish-hā-yi Bāstānshināsī Irān 12, no. 33 (Mihr 2022/1401): 383-408.

Makīzizhād, Mahdī. Tārīkh-i Hunar Irān dar Durih-yi Islāmī: Tazʾīnāt-i Miʻmārī. Tehran: Samt, 2009/1387.

Mihrābī, Fāṭimah va Sayyid Ḥasan Sultānī. "Naqāshī Khudāgāh dar ʻAṣr Ṣafavī (Nimūnih-yi Muṭāliʻātī: Āsār Ṣādiqī Biyg Kitābdār)". Hunarhā-yi Sanāʻī Irān 6, no. 2 (autumn and winter 2023/1402): 5-20.

Muḥibatī, Mahdī. Az Miʻmā tā Ṣūrat: Ṭabaqihbandī va  Taḥlīl Rishih-hā, Zamīnih-hā, Naẓarīyih-hā, Jarayān-hā, Rūykard-hā, Andīshih-hā va Āsār Muhim Naqd Adabī dar Irān va Adabīyāt Fārsī. Tehran: Sukhan, 2009/1388.

Mujtahidzādih, Rūḥ Allāh va Zahrā Nāmāvar. "Justārī dar Rīshih-hā-yi Piydāyish Tālār dar Miʻmārī Aṣr-i Ṣafavī". Muṭāliʻāt Miʻmārī Irān 9, no. 17 (Murdād 2020/1399): 35-56.

Muravij Turbatī, Khāṭirih va Ḥusayn Pūrnādirī. " Barrisī Tadāvum Sunat-hā-yi Muʿathir dar Shiklgīrī Pul Khūjū bar Asās Muṭāliʻah-yi Taṭbīqī Pul-hā-yi Thārīkhī Shahr Isfahān". Bāgh Naẓar 10, no. 27 (Diy 2013/1392): 61-70.

Mūsavī, Sayyid Nāṣir, Majīd Naqdī va Aḥmad  Avlīyāyī. "Barrisī ʿAnāṣur  Shikldahandih-yi Niẓām Irtibāṭātī  dar Zamān Ṣafavīyih". Islām va Muṭāliʻāt Ijtimāʻī 11, no. 4 (Farvadīn 2024/1403): 157-185.

Naʻīmā, Ghulām Riżā. Siyr Taḥavvūl Miʻmārī Irān dar Durih-yi Islāmī. Tehran: Surūsh Dānish, 2016/1395.

Najafīyān, Muḥammad Javād; Parvīz Iqbālī va Yāsir Ḥamzavī. " Muṭāliʻah-yi Taṭbīqī Shivih Ijrāyī Ārāyih-yi Gachī Kushtihburī bā Sāyir Ārāyih-hā-yi Gachī dar Miʻmārī Dūrih-yi Ṣafavī". Muṭāliʻāt-i Bāstānshināsī Pārsih 8, no. 30 (2024/1403): 309-336.

Pope, Arthur Upham. "Dūrih-yi Ṣafavīyān". Translated by Bāqir Āyat Allāh Zādih Shīrāzī, dar Siyrī dar Hunar Irān az Durān-i pīsh az Tārīkh tā Imrūz. ed. Arthur Upham Pope va Phyllis Ackerman. Tehran: Shirkat-i Intishārāt-i ʻIlmī va Farhangī,  2008/1387.

Pīrnīyā, Muḥammad Karīm. Sabkshināsī Miʻmārī Irānī. Tehran: Surūsh Dānish, 2008/1387.

Ravḥ Lāhī, Ilāhih, ʻAlī  Shujāʻī  Isfahānī va Saʿīd Qāsimīnizhād. "Muʿarifī Sākhtār Ābrisānī va Charkhih āb dar Kākh ʻĀlī Qāpūy Isfahān". Muṭāliʿāt Bāstānshināsī 16, no. 1 (Farvadīn 2024/1403):  207-230.

Rāvandī, Murtażā. Tārīkh-i Ijtimāʿī Irān. Tehran: Intishārāt Nigāh, 1990/1369.

Riżā Sulṭānī, Zahrā va Mītrā Shāṭrī. "Gūnihshināshī Mażāmīn Nuqūsh Insānī Kāshī-hā-yi Dūrih-yi Ṣafavīyih". Nigārīnih Hunar Islāmī 10, no. 25 (Shahrīvar 2023/1402): 138-155.

Roemenr, Hans Robert. "Dūrih-yi Ṣafavīyān". Translated by Yaʿqūb Āzhand. Dar Tārīkh-i Irān (Dūrih-yi Ṣafavīyān). Tehran: Jāmī, 2010/1388.

Savārī, Muḥammad va  ʻAlī Riżā Shaykhī. " Gūnihshināshī Tarkīb Baṣarī va Mażmūnī Gul va Murgh bar Dīvārnigārih-hā-yi Kākh-hā-yi Ṣafavī va Ilḥāqāt Qājārī". Hunarhā-yi Sanāʻī Irān 5, no. 2 (autumn and winter 2021/1400): 115-128.

Savory, Roger. Irān ʻAṣri Ṣafavī. translated by Kāmbīz ʻAzīzī. Tehran: Nashr Markaz, 2010/1389.

Shahābīnizhād, ʻAlī, Abūyī, Riżā va Maḥmūd Qalihnūyī va Farhang Muẓafar. "Miqyās Insānī dar Miydān Naqsh Jahān Isfahān". Maramat va Miʻmārī Irān 4, no.8 (autumn and winter 2014/1393): 1-17.

Shaykhī, Sumayih, Shahāb Shahīdānī va Mīnā Fażāʾilī. "Yikih Ṣūrat-hā-yi Riżā ʿAbbāsī va  Mażāmīn Ijtimāʻī ʻAṣri ShāhʿAbbās Avval Ṣafavī". Pazhūhishnāmah Tamadun Irānī 5, no. 2 (Diy 2023/1402): 88-118.

Si Dihī, Yāsir. Bāzshināsī va Taḥlīl Ulgū-hā-yi Miʻmārī Tālār-hā-yi Shāhān Ṣafavī dar Shahr Isfahān. Master Thesis, Isfahān: Dānishkadih Miʻmārī va Shahrsāzī, Art  University of Isfahan, 2016/1395.

Stierlin, Henri. Isfahān Taṣvīr Bihisht. Translated by Jamshīd Arjmand, Tehran: Furuzān, 1998/1377.

Ṭabasī, Muḥsin va Fahīmih Fāżil Nasab. "Bāzshināsī Naqsh va Taʾsīr Jarīyān-hā-yi Fikrī  ʻAṣri Ṣafavī dar Shiklgīrī Vurūdī Masājid Maktab Isfahān". Hunar-hā-yi Zībā-Miʻmārī va Shahrsāzī 17, no. 3 () autumn  2013/1391): 81-90.

Ṭahmāsibī, Farhād. "Guftimān Adabī-Intiqāī dar Sabk Hindī (bā Takīdih bar Ghazal-hā-yi Ṭālib Āmulī, Kalīm Kāshānī va Ṣāʾib Tabrīzī)". Pazhūhish-hā-yi Naqd Adabī va Sabkshināsī 9, no. 34 (Diy 2018/1397): 143-162.

Tavernier, Jean Baptiste. Safarnāmih Tavernier. translated by Ḥamīd Arbāb Shīrānī. Tehran: Nīlūfar, 2004/1383.

Yazdānpanāh, Muḥammad Muṣṭafā. "Tabyīn Ravand Pīydāyish va ʻUmūmīyat Yāftan Naqāshī bi Manzalih-yi Yik Risānih Hunarī Mustaqil dar Jāmiʿih Irān". Kīmīyāy Hunar 13, no. 52 (Autumn 2024/1403): 39-55.

Zāriʿī, Muḥammad Ibrāhīm. Miʻmārī Irānī (az ʻAṣri Ṣafavī tā ʻAṣri Ḥāżir). Tehran: Samt; Hamidān: Abu Ali Sina University, 2018/1396.