Editing Iranian architecture (section)

=== Seljuk era (11th–13th centuries) ===
{{Further|Great Seljuk architecture}}

[[Turkic peoples]] began moving west across Central Asia and towards the Middle East from the 8th century onward, eventually converting to Islam and becoming major forces in the region. The most significant of these were the Seljuk Turks, who formed the [[Seljuk Empire|Great Seljuk Empire]] in the 11th century, conquering all of Iran and other extensive territories in Central Asia and the Middle East.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=348}}
[[File:Gran_Mezquita_de_Isfahán,_Isfahan,_Irán,_2016-09-19,_DD_43-45_HDR_Alt.jpg|left|thumb|Northern domed chamber in the [[Jameh Mosque of Isfahan]], built in 1088–89 under patronage of [[Taj al-Mulk|Taj al-Mulk{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|pp=368–369}}]]]]
While the apogee of the Great Seljuks was short-lived, it represents a major benchmark in the history of [[Islamic art]] and architecture in Iran and Central Asia, inaugurating an expansion of patronage and of artistic forms.<ref name=":05232">{{Cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=C.E. |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |last2=Hillenbrand |first2=R. |last3=Rogers |first3=J.M. |last4=Blois |first4=F.C. de |last5=Darley-Doran |first5=R.E. |publisher=Brill |year=1960–2007 |isbn=9789004161214 |editor-last=Bearman |editor-first=P. |chapter=Sald̲j̲ūḳids; VI. Art and architecture; 1. In Persia |editor-last2=Bianquis |editor-first2=Th. |editor-last3=Bosworth |editor-first3=C.E. |editor-last4=van Donzel |editor-first4=E. |editor-last5=Heinrichs |editor-first5=W.P.}}</ref><ref name=":24353">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Saljuq''}}</ref> Much of the Seljuk architectural heritage was destroyed during the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol invasions]] in the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bonner |first=Jay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9IxDwAAQBAJ&dq=seljuk+architecture+mongol+destruction&pg=PA69 |title=Islamic Geometric Patterns: Their Historical Development and Traditional Methods of Construction |publisher=Springer |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4419-0217-7 |pages=69 |language=en}}</ref> Nonetheless, compared to pre-Seljuk Iran, a larger volume of surviving monuments and artifacts from the Seljuk period has allowed scholars to study the arts of this era in greater depth.<ref name=":05232" /><ref name=":24353" /> Several neighbouring dynasties and empires contemporary with the Seljuks, including the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate|Qarakhanids]], the [[Ghaznavids]], and the [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]], built monuments in a very similar style. A general tradition of architecture was thus shared across most of the eastern Islamic world (Iran, Central Asia, and parts of the northern [[Indian subcontinent]]) throughout the Seljuk period and its decline, from the 11th to 13th centuries.<ref name=":05232" /><ref name=":24353" /> This period is also regarded as a "classical" age of Central Asian architecture.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=354–359}}

[[File:Ardestan Jame mosque.jpg|thumb|Courtyard of the [[Jameh Mosque of Ardestan]], one of the mosques given a four-iwan layout during the Seljuk period (1158–1160)<ref name=":2435" />]]
The most important religious monument from the Great Seljuk period is the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan, which was expanded and modified by various Seljuk patrons in the late 11th century and early 12th century. Two major and innovative domed chambers were added to it in the late 11th century. Four large iwans were then erected around the courtyard around the early 12th century, giving rise to the [[four-iwan plan]] in mosque architecture.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|pp=368–369}}{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=140–144}}<ref name="O'Kane">O'Kane, Bernard (1995). [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/domes Domes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511220458/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/domes|date=2022-05-11}}. ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'', Online Edition. Retrieved 28 November 2010.</ref> The four-iwan plan quickly became popular and was applied to other major mosques around this time, including those of [[Jameh Mosque of Ardestan|Ardestan]] and [[Jameh Mosque of Zavareh|Zavareh]], as well as in secular architecture.<ref name=":2435" /> It was probably also used for [[madrasa]]s, a new type of building introduced around this time, though none of the Seljuk madrasas have been well preserved.<ref name=":2435" />

[[File:Kharaghan.jpg|thumb|The [[Kharraqan towers|Kharraqan twin towers]] or mausoleums, built in 1068 and 1093 near [[Qazvin]]|left]]
Lodging places (''khān'', or caravanserai) for travellers and their animals, generally displayed utilitarian rather than ornamental architecture, with rubble masonry, strong fortifications, and minimal comfort.{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1999b|p=109}} Large caravanserais were built as a way to foster trade and assert Seljuk authority in the countryside. They typically consisted of a building with a fortified exterior appearance, monumental entrance portal, and interior courtyard surrounded by various halls, including iwans. Some notable examples, only partly preserved, are the caravanserais of [[Rabati Malik|Ribat-i Malik]] (c. 1068–1080) and [[Ribat of Sharaf|Ribat-i Sharaf]] (12th century) in Transoxiana and Khorasan, respectively.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=153–154}}<ref name=":2435" />{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=363–364}}

The Seljuks also continued to build "tower tombs", an Iranian building type from earlier periods, such as the [[Toghrol Tower|Toghrul Tower]] built in [[Ray, Iran|Rayy]] (south of present-day [[Tehran]]) in 1139. More innovative, however, was the introduction of mausoleums with a square or polygonal floor plan, which later became a common form of monumental tombs. Early examples of this are the two [[Kharraqan towers|Kharraqan Mausoleums]] (1068 and 1093) near [[Qazvin]] (northern Iran), which have octagonal forms, and the large [[Tomb of Ahmad Sanjar|Mausoleum of Sanjar]] (c. 1152) in Merv (present-day Turkmenistan), which has a square base.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=146}}

[[File:11 kyr.jpg|thumb|[[Kara-Khanid Khanate|Qarakhanid]] Mausoleums in [[Uzgen]], Kyrgyzstan, second half of the 12th century]]
Around the same time, between the late 10th century and the early 13th century, the Turkic Qarakhanids ruled in Transoxiana and executed many impressive constructions in Bukhara and [[Samarkand]] (present-day [[Uzbekistan]]). Among the known Qarakhanid monuments are the great congregational mosque in Bukhara, of which only the [[Kalyan Minaret]] (c. 1127) survives, the nearby Minaret of [[Vobkent|Vabkent]] (1141), and several Qarakhanid mausoleums with monumental façades, such as those in [[Uzgen]] (present-day [[Kyrgyzstan]]) from the second half of the 12th century.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=354–359}}

[[File:Jam5.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Minaret of Jam]] (late 12th century), present-day Afghanistan|left]]
Further east, the first major Turkic dynasty was the [[Ghaznavids]], who became independent in the late 10th century and ruled from [[Ghazni|Ghazna]], in present-day Afghanistan. In the second half of the 12th century, the [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]] replaced them as the major power in the region from northern India to the edge of the [[Caspian Sea]].{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=330–332}}{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=134}} Among the most remarkable monuments of these two dynasties are a number of ornate brick towers and minarets which have survived as stand-alone structures. Their exact functions are unclear. They include the [[Ghazni Minarets|Tower of Mas'ud III]] near Ghazna (early 12th century) and the [[Minaret of Jam]] built by the Ghurids (late 12th century), also in present-day Afghanistan.{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=336–337}}{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=150–152}}

[[File:Il_Arslan_Mausoleum_(2)_(45385810581).jpg|thumb|Mausoleum of Fakhr al-Din Razi or Il-Arslan in [[Konye-Urgench|Kunya-Urgench]], [[Turkmenistan]], late 12th or early 13th century ([[Khwarazmian Empire]] period)]]
As the Great Seljuks declined in the 12th century, various other dynasties (often also of Turkic origin) formed smaller states and empires. In Iran and Central Asia, the [[Khwarazmian Empire|Khwarazm-Shahs]], formerly vassals of the Seljuks and [[Qara Khitai]], took advantage of this to expand their power and form the Khwarazmian Empire, occupying much of the region and conquering the Ghurids in the early 13th century, only to fall soon after to the Mongol invasions.{{sfn|Ettinghausen|Grabar|Jenkins-Madina|2001|p=134}} The site of the former Khwarazmian capital, [[Konye-Urgench|Kunya-Urgench]] (in present-day Turkmenistan), has preserved several monuments from the Khwarazmian Empire period (late 12th and early 13th century), including the so-called Mausoleum of [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi|Fakhr al-Din Razi]] (possibly the tomb of [[Il-Arslan]]) and the Mausoleum of Sultan [[Ala al-Din Tekish|Tekesh]].{{Sfn|Hattstein|Delius|2011|p=360–366}}<ref name=":24352">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Kunya-Urgench''}}</ref>