SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis is essentially an art historical analysis on one particular Islamic architectural form, the minaret. Having explained the historical situation, before embarking on a detailed examination of the Iranian minaret I have felt it necessary to ascertain the exact function of the minaret, and then to detail its development in the western Islamic lands so that the difference between the Iranian minaret and those of the west may be more readily appreciated, I have then examined the various remains in Iran prior to the eleventh century, and have then described the various forms which the minaret took in Iran in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. I have then investigated the origins of the Iranian minaret form, and also why it spread so widely and so swiftly. The incursion of the Central Asian Turks into Iran is shown to have had a profound effect on a number of architectural forms and decorations but I have basically restricted myself to discussing the effects on the minaret forms. The title of the thesis concerns the development under the Saljuqs, and I therefore considered it important to define exactly what was meant by the terra Saljuq, in particular in the context in which I have been using it. This led me to describe the end of the Saljuq period and its successor period in some detail. As a result of these various investigations, it might be argued that the Saljuq achievement was less than had hitherto been considered, which has led me to make a comparatively detailed description of the actual Saljuq achievement particularly with regard to the development of the minaret. In conclusion I have compiled a catalogue of till existing Iranian minarets of this period of which I have been made aware, either through literary or field research, and have illustrated the thesis with plans, drawings and photographs.