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, a town in the mediaeval Islamic province of northern D̲j̲ibāl some 50 km/32 miles to the southeast of Zand̲j̲ān [ q.v.] (lat. 36° 24′ N., long. 48° 50′ E.). 1. History. Sulṭāniyya was founded towards the end of the 7th/13th century by the Mongol Il K̲h̲ānids and served for a while in the following century as their capital. The older Persian name of the surrounding district was apparently S̲h̲āhrūyāz or S̲h̲ārūyāz/S̲h̲arūbāz (which was to be the site, adjacent to Sulṭāniyya, of the tomb which the Il K̲h̲ānid Abū Saʿīd [ q.v.] built for himself, according to Ḥāfiẓ-i Abrū). It was orig…

iii. Languages (a) Pas̲h̲to [see afg̲h̲ān . (ii). The Pas̲h̲to language] (b) Kurdish [see kurds , kurdistān . v. Language] (c) Zaza [ q.v.] (d) Ḵh̲wārazmian (e) Sogdian and Bactrian in the early Islamic period (f) New Persian (g) New Persian written in Hebrew characters [see judaeo-persian . ii. Language] (d) Ḵh̲wārazmian. Ḵh̲warazmian, last attested late in the 8th/14th century (before yielding to Turkish), belonged to the Eastern branch of the Iranian language family, being most closely related to Sogdian, its southeastern neighbour. Pre-Islami…

(p.) (from an Old Persian form * srāda , root Θrā “to protect”) means in Persian dwelling, habitation or house. The word is frequently compounded with another substantive to indicate a particular kind of building. The best known example is kārwān sarāy “caravanserai”, a roadside stopping-place for caravans [see k̲h̲ān ]. Similarly, the D̲j̲annat-sarāy added to the northern part of the shrine at Ardabīl by the Ṣafawid S̲h̲āh Ṭahmāsp I ca. 947/1540 is a domed octagonal building used for Ṣūfī gatherings and prayer (A.H. Morton, The Ardabīl shrine in the reign of S̲h̲āh Ṭahmāsp I , in Iran …

, the traditional capital of the Persian province of Ād̲h̲arbāyd̲j̲ān [ q.v.] and now the administrative centre of the ustān of eastern Ād̲h̲arbāyd̲j̲ān (lat. 38° 05′ N., long. 46° 18′ E., altitude ca. 1,340 m/4,400 feet). 1. Geography and history. Geographical position. The town lies in the eastern corner of the alluvial plain sloping slightly towards the north-east bank of Lake Urmiya. The plain is watered by several streams, the chief of which is the Ad̲j̲i̊ čay (“bitter river”) which, rising in the south-west face of Mount Sawalān…

, the site of a mediaeval Islamic monument in northern Persia. The tomb tower (Iranian National Monument 145) sits on the edge of an isolated, 1,300 metre long valley in the Alburz Mountains north of the Nikā River, 70 km/43 miles east of Nikā in the province of Māzandarān. It is often known as Rādkān West to distinguish it from another tomb tower, the Mīl-i Rādkān at Rādkān East near Ṭūs in K̲h̲urāsān. The cylindrical tower (height 35 m; exterior diameter 9.8 m; interior diameter 5.80 m) is bui…

, (a., pl. zawāyā), litt. «recoin, angle [d’un bâtiment]», à l’origine cellule d’un moine chrétien et puis, dans le contexte islamique, petite mosquée, oratoire ou salle de prière. A la fin du Moyen Age, en particulier en Afrique du Nord (voir 2. ci-dessous), le terme en vint à désigner un édifice destiné à abriter et nourrir les voyageurs et les membres d’une confrérie ṣūfīe locale. 1. Architecture. En plan, ces bâtiments comprenaient souvent des cellules disposées autour d’une cour. Tant la forme que le décor ressemblent à ceux utilisés dans d’autres institutions collectives comme la ma…

(p.) (du vieux perse *srāda, racine θrā «protéger»), signifie en persan habitation, maison. Le mot est souvent associé à un autre substantif pour indiquer un style de bâtiment particulier. L’exemple le plus connu est kārwān sarāy «caravansérail», halte routière pour caravanes [voir Ḵh̲ān], De même, le Ḏj̲annat-sarāy annexé à la partie Nord du mausolée d’Ardabīl par le Ṣafawide S̲h̲āh Ṭahmāsp vers 947/1540 est un édifice octogonal à coupole destiné aux réunions et prières ṣūfies (A. H. Morton, The Ardabīl shrine in the reign of Shāh Ṭahmāsp I, dans Iran, XII [1974], 31-64, et XIII […

(p.), terme persan désignant le minéral généralement connu sous le nom de jade, soit de la jadéite (silicate de sodium et d’aluminium), soit de la néphrite (silicate de calcium et de magnésium), deux pierres à grain fin, translucides. Toutes deux peuvent être blanches ou incolores, mais souvent elles sont colorées dans une autre teinte d’une large gamme, vert, brun, jaune, etc., à cause de l’inclusion de traces de divers éléments, fer, chrome ou manganèse. 1. Dans l’histoire musulmane. La néphrite était appelée kas̲h̲, par les populations de Turquie orientale (voir Clauson, An etymolo…

III. Langues (a) Le pas̲h̲to. [Voir Afg̲h̲ān. (II). Langue pas̲h̲to]. (b) Kurde. [Voir Kurdes, Kurdistan. V. Langue]. (c) Zaza [ q.v.]. (d) Le k̲h̲wārazmien. (e) Sogdien et bactrien au début de l’ère islamique. (f) Le néo-perse ou persan. (g) Le persan écrit en caractères hébraϊques. [Voir Judeo-Persan. II. Langue]. (d) Le k̲h̲wārazmien, Le k̲h̲wārazmien. attesté en dernier lieu à la fin du VIIIe/XIVe s. (avant de céder la place au turc), appartenait à la branche orientale de la famille des langues iraniennes, étant apparenté le plus étroitement au sogdien…

, capitale traditionnelle de la province persane d’Ād̲h̲arbāyd̲j̲ān [ q.v.], actuellement centre administratif de l’ ustān d’Ād̲h̲arbāyd̲j̲ān oriental (lat. 38° 05′ N„ long. 46° 18′ E., altitude 1 340 m. 1.La géographie et l’histoire. Position géographique. La ville est située dans l’angle oriental de la plaine alluviale inclinée légèrement vers la rive Nord-est du lac d’Urmia. La plaine est arrosée par plusieurs cours d’eau dont le principal est l’Ad̲j̲i̊-čay («la rivière amère»), lequel venant de la face Sud-ouest du mont Sawalā…

, ville de la province islamique médiévale du Ḏj̲ibāl septentrional, à environ 50 km au Sud-est de Zand̲j̲ān [ q.v.] (lat. 36° 24′ N., long. 48° 50′ E.). 1. Histoire. Sulṭāniyya fut fondée vers la fin du VIIe/XIIe siècle par les II Ḵh̲ānides mongols, et leur servit un temps de capitale au siècle suivant. Le nom persan antérieur du district environnant était apparemment S̲h̲āhrūyāz ou S̲h̲arūyāz/S̲h̲arūbāz (qui, selon Ḥāfiẓ-i Abrū, serait plus tard le site voisin de Sulṭāniyya où l’Il Ḵh̲ānide Abū Saʿīd [ q.v.] édifia son tombeau). La ville dépendait d’abord de Ḳazwīn. Les Mongols a…

, site d’un monument islamique médiéval, au Nord de l’Iran. Il s’agit d’une tour funéraire (Monument national de l’Iran n° 145) située au bord d’une vallée isolée, longue de 1300 m, dans les monts de l’Alburz au nord de la rivière Nikā et à 70 km de la ville de Nikā dans la province du Māzandarān. L’endroit est souvent appelé Rādkān de l’Ouest pour le distinguer d’une autre tour funéraire, le Mīl-i Rādkān, sise à Rādkān de l’Est près de Ṭūs dans le Ḵh̲urāsān. La tour cylindrique (hauteur: 35 m; diamètre extérieur: 9,50 m; diamètre intérieur: 5,80 m) est bâtie en brique cuite et…

A cenotaph (from the Greek κενοτάφιον, from κενός “empty” + τάφος “tomb”) refers in the Islamic lands to a large, typically boxlike monument set over a grave, because, according to Muslim tradition, the body must be buried in the ground. A cenotaph therefore differs from a sarcophagus, which contains the body. The Arabic words used most frequently in inscriptions to denote a cenotaph are ḍarīḥ, which can also denote the grille surrounding the cenotaph, ṣandūq (box, chest), and marqad (bed, resting place). These terms are usually distinguished from qabr, which refers to the grave, a…

The Būyids (or Buwayhids, r. 320–454/932–1062) were an Iranian dynasty who, despite—or perhaps because of—their rough-and-tumble origins, became great patrons who purposefully underwrote art and architecture to enhance their image. As with their assumption of the title shāhanshāh (“king of kings”), they used art to proclaim themselves heirs to the pre-Islamic tradition of kingship in Iran. Little remains of their art, however, so scholars have to piece together work done under their patronage from texts, a few archaeological invest…

Arg-i ʿAlī Shāh: The name Arg-i ʿAlī Shāh (literally, the citadel of ʿAlī Shāh) has been used at least since the 19th century CE to refer to the congregational mosque built in Tabrīz on the orders of the Īlkhānid vizier Tāj al-Dīn ʿAlī Shāh Jīlānī Tabrīzī between 711/1311, the year he assumed the vizierate, and 724/1324, the year he died. Renowned for its massive size, the mosque can be documented since the time of its construction over the course of seven hundred years down to the present day through the accounts of chroniclers, travellers and architectural historians. Now in the centre of…

Inscribing characters, letters or words for others to read; the instruments (q.v.) used in such inscription. The Qurʾān attests to written materials and the process of writing with a variety of lexemes — both metaphorical and concrete (see metaphor ) — supplying evidence that supplements epigraphic traces of the development of writing in seventh-century Arabia (see orality and writing in arabia; arabic script). Among the most prominent qurʾānic terms for materials used in the writing process are: ink ( midād,q 18:109), parchment ( qirṭās, pl. qirāṭīs,q 6:7, 91), pen ( qalam, pl. aqlām;…

From early times written copies of the qurʾānic text were embellished with various kinds of ornament that served to divide the text into manageable units, enhance readability, and enliven the visual qualities of the page and the book. Like the Torah of the Jews but unlike the Bible of the Christians, the Qurʾān was never illustrated with pictures, but rather embellished only with non-figural, nonrepresentational decoration. In contrast to the study of western manuscripts, where the term illumination encompasses both figural and non-figural decoration, scholars of Islamic…