When Abbas Mirza seized power from his father in 1587 to become Shah Abbas the First, he inherited a country in crisis. As well as securing his external borders – initially in yearly campaigns against the Uzbegs – he had to struggle to create internal order. As part of that, in 1590 he went on a year-long trip around Southern Iran. This posting is going to focus on the time he spent in Isfahan.
In 1590, Isfahan was still based on the pre-Safavid, essentially Seljuk, plan shown on the right – centred on the Old Maydan next to the ancient Friday Mosque. Natanzi gives some fascinating details about what happened when “the air of the City of Rule [Isfahan] was sweetened with the musk and ambergris of the dust of the hooves of the World Rulers’ steed, and [the Shah] alighted at the Bagh-i Naqsh-i Jahan”.
Naqsh-i Jahan was then a garden precinct south of, and outside, the main town. The first Safavid Shah, Esmail I (r.1501-24), had stayed there several times in the first decade of the 16th century. Under Shah Abbas it was to become the centre of the huge Safavid development of the city of Isfahan. You can see the later Palace of Naqsh-i Jahan (now destroyed) on the sketch map below.
In 1590, Abbas apparently ordered a banquet and a “convivial gathering”. Then, “unbeknownst to the guests, [he] betook himself to the citadel [fortress]” where he met his imprisoned family and, “acting under the dictates of anxiety and care which are the necessary adjuncts of world rule and the means of tying together the accoutrements of success, without hesitation or reflection, he did that which was concealed in his royal heart.”
Or put just a little more explicitly, he blinded his father and brothers and sent them to the famous mountain fortress of Alamut.
Later, “when his mind was cleared of this matter, [Abbas] cast the rays of his attention on the construction and renovation of the buildings of that city whose rank is that of Paradise [Isfahan]”. Since the Shah wanted a place to play polo and have horse races, “the maydan [large square] was levelled, river sand was spread on it and it thus became a coloured reflector of the forms of the heavenly bodies”.
Abbas also gave orders to rebuild the old bazaar area and “create a qaysariyya structure like the one that was [once] located in Tabriz”. Click here for an amazing interactive 360 view of the Isfahan qaysariyya [bazaar entrance] as it is now (and dont forget to ‘turn round’ electronically to see the view of the maydan [square]. This is the specific view that Abbas wanted his many foreign visitors to be greeted with.
This was all “in accordance” with the twin kingly duties of “dispensing justice and building” – and was all done when Abbas was only 20 years old!
Very interesting part of the Iranian History!
Part of this article , reminds me of a story I read years ago about the Hassan Sabbah and the Ghaleh-ye Alamut.[Ghal-eh = Fortress]
Thank you for this,
Sia
Amazing what on can do ‘under the dictates of anxiety and care’ – watch out! Felt a little dizzy looking at some of the pictures but loved them all the same. Sarah
Thanks Siavash
Yes, Alamut has been used by different dynasties for different things – but always exploiting its natural advantages!
Caroline
Hi Sarah
I’m also worried by the extremes reached following a bit of ‘anxiety and care’!
I’m assuming your dizziness was with the Qeysariyya pics – not the sketch maps? You’re right, I should have warned about that. Though if you take them slowly, they are definite fun . . and almost like being there!
Thanks!
Caroline
hi
thanks for your paper
i have a question about this map
what is the refrence of your map?(Seljuk Isfahan)
bita
Hi Bita
I was given this map in Isfahan – by a town planner there, who was part of deciding where parking and other new developments should be sited in the city – bearing in mind information about where the historic parts are / were.
Why are you asking, may I ask you? What is your interest in Seljuk Isfahan?
Best wishes
Caroline
Bita!
I should have added – the map corresponds reasonably well with Lisa Golombek’s very helpful paper: ‘Urban patterns in pre-Safavid Isfahan’. This is in the journal Iranian Studies 1974 Vol 7 1/2 pp18-44. Her work on the pre-Safavid Maydan, up near Masjid Jame, is especially helpful
Best wishes
Caroline
Congratulations, master writer. You are one of a kind.
hey, nice blog…really like it and added to bookmarks. keep up with good work
Thanks Ashley!
Your nice comment is much appreciated – please do keep reading, and commenting.
Best wishes
Caroline
Dear Ms Caroline,
The maps in your website are unique and useful which I couldn’t find like them after surfing in internet for many times. Thank you.
Regards,
Morvarid
Hi, I’m also curious about where you got the map of Seljuk Isfahan. It’s more sophisticated than any other maps of pre-Safavid Isfahan than I’ve seen, and I’d be interested to know who created it and how I might get in touch with him or her.