Dictionary of islamic architecture

See also:
Agra, Delhi, India, Lahore, Mughals, Taj
Mahal
riad
North African term for a walled garden.
ribat
Fortified enclosure for religious warriors, common in
North Africa in the early Islamic period.
A typical ribat is located near the coast and partially
functions as a look-out post. Usually ribats are square
or rectangular courtyard structures, two storeys high,
with storage rooms and stables on the ground floor
and sleeping accomodation and a mosque on the
upper floor. Later ribats seem to have lost their
military function. Important examples are at Sfax,
Monastir and Sousse in Tunisia.
See also:
Tunisia
Ribat-i Sharaf
Royal Seljuk caravanserai on the road between Nishapur
and Merv.
This building was founded in 1114 as a royal
caravanserai and expanded in 1156 when it was
used as a semi-permanent residence for Sultan
Sanjar and his wife who were held under house
arrest by the Öghuz Turks. The first part of the
structure is a square enclosure built around a central
courtyard with a central iwan in each side leading
to a domed room. The extension is half the size and
is built on to the front of the original structure. The
building was decorated with elaborate stucco work
and a monumental entrance pishtaq flanked with
twin blind niches.
riwaq
Arcade or portico open on at least one side.
riad

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sabil
See sebil.
Saffavid
Dynasty of Kurdish origin which ruled Iran during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Although the founder of the dynasty was probably
a Sunni, the Saffavids later became Shi
a and
adopted this as a state religion. Little remains of
the early architecture of the Saffavids who
established capitals first at Tabriz and later at
Qazvin. The little that does survive indicates that
they continued the architectural forms established
by their predecessors the Timurids. Thus the
Saffavids continued to use the complex vaulting
forms, with networks of arches, squinches and
pendentives, developed under the Timurids. An
early example of a Saffavid building is the tomb of
Harun-i Vilayat which although Timurid in form
has an emphasis on exterior tile decoration. This
was a feature which was developed in later Saffavid
architecture where the architectural form seems to
be subordinated to the tile patterns.
The most productive period of Saffavid
architecture began in 1598 with Shah Tahmasp’s
decision to redesign Isfahan as an imperial capital.
The centre of the new developments was the Maidan-
i-Shah which is a rectangular square or park around
which was built the palace, the principal mosques
and the principal bazar of the city. The main
characteristics of this architecture was the layout and
planning with the mosques built at a deliberate angle
to the maidan to show off both their monumental
portals (pishtaq iwans) and their glazed domes.
Similarly the main gate of the palace, the Ali Qapu,
was made into a pavilion overlooking the Maidan-
i-Shah from which the shah’s palace could be seen.
The emphasis on accessibility is also demonstrated
in the tomb complexes, where the outside faces are
pierced with arches instead of forbidding walls. This
is also seen on utilitarian structures such as the
famous Pol-i-Khaju bridge built in 1650. This bridge,
which links Isfahan to the southern palace, is 110 m
long and has two tiers of arcades which provide
shelter from the summer heat. Another characteristic
of the architecture is the use of lighter materials such
as wood, stucco, paint and tiles, and an increasing
emphasis on gardens. However, this may appear to
be a development simply because earlier structures
of this type have not survived.
Outside Isfahan buildings such as caravanserais
are generally larger and plainer than their pre-
decessors indicating the growth of commercial
traffic.