Dictionary of islamic architecture

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DICTIONARY OF
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

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DICTIONARY OF
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
Andrew Petersen
London and New York

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First published 1996
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
First published in paperback 1999
© 1996 Andrew Petersen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 0-415-06084-2 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-21332-0 (pbk)
ISBN 0-203-20387-9 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-20390-9 (Glassbook Format)

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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
Entries 1
Appendix
The Mediterranean World showing principal historic cities and sites
320
The Middle East and Central Asia showing principal historic cities and sites
321

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Dedication
This book is dedicated to my friend Jamie Cameron (1962–95) historian of James V of Scotland.

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Preface
Abu Abdallah Mahammad of Tangier, also known
as Ibn Battuta, is the most famous of the Arab
travellers. His journeys started with a pilgrimage
(hajj) to Mecca and afterwards he always tried to
travel within a Muslim context whether he was in
Timbuktu or China. What is notable about these
accounts is that they deal with Muslim communities
which are remote from the western stereotype of
Muslim society. For example most general works on
Islamic architecture tend to confine themselves to
the Middle East and North Africa, neglect-ing the
centuries old Islamic heritage of South-East Asia,
India, East and West Africa. It is an aim of this book
to include as many as possible of these less well
known Muslim cultures whose populations now
outnumber those of the central Islamic lands.
As a corollary to this approach there has been an
attempt to include vernacular architecture rather
than dealing exclusively with well known
monumental architecture. As well as being important
in its own right vernacular architecture provides an
architectural context for the more famous
monuments. In order to aid the reader’s appreciation
of this relationship, vernacular architecture has been
included in regional summaries, which also discuss
the geographical and cultural character of an area.
As a balance to the regional approach there are also
historical accounts dealing with particular dynasties
or historic styles.
The encyclopedic nature of this work has meant
that there is little room for theoretical discussions of
aesthetics or meaning. This is not because these are
unimportant considerations but because these are
issues best discussed in a different, more selec-tive
format. The main purpose of this book is to provide
basic information which includes defini-tions of
architectural terms, descriptions of specific
monuments and summaries of regional and historic
groups. Attached to each entry there is a short list of
books for further reading which refers the user to
the principal works on the subject. It is hoped that
the information provided will enable the reader to
gain some appreciation of the diversity and genius
of Muslim culture.
In one of the quarters of the city is the Muhammadan town, where the Muslims
have their cathedral, mosque, hospice and bazar. They have also a qadi and a
shaykh, for in every one of the cities of China there must always be a shaykh al-
Islam, to whom all matters concerning Muslims are referred.
Ibn Battuta, 
Travels in Asia and Africa 1325–1354,
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1929

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First, I must thank my parents who have enabled me to
pursue my interest in this subject. Gwendolyn Leick gave
me the idea for the book in the first place and subsequently
encouraged me in the long process of writing.
The research that I undertook for the book was
of two kinds—library based and field work. The
library research was carried out in a number of
institutions in Europe and the Middle East and I
would like to thank everyone who helped me with
references or information, in particular: Michael
Given, Tony Grey, StJohn Simpson, Benjamin Pickles,
Mark Horton, Alistair Northedge, Matt Thompson
and Jeremy Johns. The field research was usually
carried out as an incidental part of other projects.
Several individuals and institutions have been