Seljuk Architecture - Arts and Architecture

 Seljuk Arts and Architecture in Persia, scarcely recognized as a distinct style before 1930, now comprises a repertoire of about fifty monuments and is increasingly regarded as one of the world's great architectural styles. A number of important monuments have been recorded within the last decade, still, many more come to light, Each discovery reveals new merits in structural inventiveness; double domes, ribs wider, vaults, taller minarets, and in decoration: stucco mihrabs, opulent and expressive overall arabesque networks, and in brick ornamentation patterns and bondings of infinite variety, vigor, and originality.

The power and nobility of Seljuk Arts and Architecture are doubtless best exemplified by the Masjid - i- Jami of Isfahan, one of the greatest buildings in the world. As a magnificent structure in a city chosen to be Persia's capital during widely separated epochs and under a variety of rulers, the Isfahan Jami is not purely Seljuk, but those portions which date from Seljuk times are yet is chief glories.

More than 900 years of Persian architecture revealed in this great mosque 20 distinct structures, varying in date from the 11th century. During its long history, it has been much fought over, repeatedly damaged, reconstructed, and all but ruined.

A four-iwan court is enclosed by arcades and two-story open galleries faced with mosaic faience on buff brick.  A deep iwan, embellished with especially strong faience revetments opens into a spacious domed sanctuary built, as the inscription state, by order of Nizam al Mulk at the beginning of MAli Shah's reign. Some of the earlier buildings are still visible, however, and it's probable that the lower section of this sanctuary itself dates from the late 10h century. The chamber supports a huge dome. The squinches are supported by huge cylindrical piers. The sanctuary is surrounded by arcades and corridors covered by an amazing variety of domical brick vaults. Frequently these vaults ret on columns that vary in date from pre-Seljuk to Safavid period. All of the iwans were rebuilt or redecorated on a Seljuk base, showing that the basic plan of the Jami existed during the Seljuk period.

Aesthetically, the most important unit in the Jami is the small but superlative north dome known as the Gunmbad - i - Kharka, dated 1088 and located at the opposite end of the central axis from the sanctuary. This is perhaps the most perfect dome known. In each corner, four small arched breaks form frames of Slender angle colonettes from the lower squinch extension. From Floor level, these colonettes lead the ee swiftly u to the typical tri-lobed squinch. The squinch itself is enclosed by a larger arch that, together with identical arches along the sidewalls, supports an octagonal ring of 16 shallow panels merged with the base of the dome.

All arch forms, including the dome, are of the same contour and constitute the key element of motif that, beginning in the corners, with successive comprehensive enclose one element within other until their multiplicity is resolved and merged in the dome. The dome is thus a culminating point in a vertically rising stream of force. 

There are some significant features of the building which are easily overlooked. The ceiling of the dome is ornamented by a huge cinquefoil in low relief which is assimilated to a five-pointed star. A section of these motifs penetrates at five spaced intervals from the periphery.

A beautiful little madrassa, the Hedariya is also in Qazvin, today incorporated into a large 19th-century mosque. Perhaps the finest Kufic inscription in relief in all Persia is in its stucco frieze. Its carved stucco mihrab is massively rich. The large Masjid I Jami at Qazvin is impressive by virtue of its serene sanctuary space, capped by a large dome. 

Several important Seljuk mosques, in the style of the Isfahan Jami, survive in relatively good condition: the Friday Mosques at Artisan, Zaware, and Gulpayagan and the shrine of Bayazid at Bistam, a brick minaret. The great Seljuk monuments of central Persia were rivaled by several structures built to the northeast, in Khurasan and the region of the Oxus. Of these, the gigantic RAbat-i-Malek Built before 1078  between Bukhara and Samarkand, is one of the most imposing ruins of the Islamic period. Only part of one wall of the Caravanserai remains. 

Sultan Sanger was buried at Merv mausoleum worthy of a noble and tragic figure. Constructed after his death in 1157 by devoted followers, this tomb is a solemn cubical chamber, about 90 feet high. The interlocking framework of the ribs seen on the interior seems to carry the weight of the dome but, in reality, it may be more decorative than structural. Brick latticework at the corners admitted light to the corridor around the base of the dome, further developing the tomb of Ismail Samanid. This mausoleum is the last, and one of the finest, examples of Seljuk Arts and Architecture.