Isfahan

Isfahan is the name of an ancient province and city in central Iran, well known for its natural and architectural grandeur. Isfahan has a varied landscape of plains and hills and, in the West and South-West, it is bordered by the high Zagros mountains. In the earliest Muslim sources, the name Isfahan refers to the region and not specifically to the city. Arab geographers like Ibn Hawkal (the oldest manuscript of his work is dated 479 AH / 1086 CE) report that the Sassanian city of Isfahan comprised two adjoining towns: Jayy, the fortified province centre, and Yahudiya, a Jewish settlement two miles away, on the site later occupied by central Isfahan. Isfahan has also been noted by early Muslim travellers for its excellent climate, fertility and abundance of crops. In the accounts of geographers such as al-Mafarrukhi (fl. 465–85 AH / 1072–92 CE) and al-Qazwini (b. c. 600 AH / 1203 CE), the Isfahanis have also been noted for their vigour, quickness of intellect, and good craftsmanship. 

Isfahan is exceptional in the number and variety of works of local historiography; hardly any other Persian city has engendered as many such works. These works were written predominantly in two periods: the pre-Mongol (and in particular the pre-Saljuq) period and the 19th century CE.

Arab conquest of Isfahan: The conquests led by Arab armies in the 1st AH / 7th CE century coincided with and exacerbated a phase of intense de-urbanisation in the Sasanid province of Isfahan. By the year 23 AH / 644 CE, after a few failed revolts, Isfahan had capitulated and treaties were in place with the conquerors for the payment of taxes and tribute in exchange for military protection. Shortly after the conquest, the province of Isfahan came under the direct supervision of the governor of Iraq. During the first century after conquest, the lands of the province of Isfahan remained a rich source of revenue for the Umayyad caliphate. Initially, the revenues levied went to Basra; in 42 AH / 662 CE they were diverted to Kufa, probably because by that time troops that had participated in the conquest of Isfahan, including the Sasanid elite cavalrymen who played an instrumental role in the conquests, had mostly settled in Kufa. Isfahan also served as the center for the Abbasid revolution against the Umayyads (in 133 AH / 750 CE, the Abbasids seized the caliphate from the Umayyads).

Isfahan during the Abbasid period: The Abbasid rule (r. 133-656 AH / 750-1258 Ce century) opened a new chapter in the history of Isfahan. The province, still composed of several dispersed villages, underwent rapid urban growth, conversion to Islam, and increased cultural activity, primarily in the form of hadith transmission. A permanent marketplace (suq) was also established outside Yahudiya, the foundation of which marked a milestone in the economic evolution of the emerging city of Isfahan. Seasonal bazaars (markets) in the towns and villages had a long history all across the Iranian plateau, but there is no evidence to indicate that permanent marketplaces existed in Isfahan prior to the second half of the 2nd AH / 8th CE century.

Powerful local landowning families played a more enduring and significant role in local affairs than military agents and tax collectors. This privileged group of urban notables, often with roots extending to pre-Islamic times, had come into prominence especially in the aftermath of the Abbasid Revolution. As major landowners, merchants, and local leaders, these patricians exercised decisive control over local resources and effectively negotiated a variety of concessions from the caliph and his appointed agents. 

Military rule over Isfahan continued to change hands rapidly. In 301 AH / 913 CE, the Samanids of Khorasan briefly extended their control over Isfahan, followed by the Buyids. As the Buyids established their rule in Isfahan, the era of violent military exchanges came to an end.

Isfahan during the Buyid rule: The Buyids ushered the city in an almost century-long era of calm and prosperity in the Jibal region. Isfahan was fortified with building of an enormous city wall. As peace restored, the city prospered. Isfahan’s name appeared consistently on Buyid coinage from 323 AH / 934-35 CE, for almost a century thereafter, until the year 421 AH / 1029 CE. The Buyid rulers were Shia and the population of Isfahan was predominantly Sunni and pro-Hanbalite. However, they seem to have maintained agreeable relations with the populace as no major disturbances were reported during their rule. By the opening years of the 5th AH / 11th CE century, Buyid hold in the region had begun to crumble.  

Isfahan during Ghaznavids and Seljuk rule: In 420 AH / 1029 CE, Ghaznavids took advantage of the faltering authority of the Buyids. They invaded Isfahan, massacred its inhabitants and seized control of the city and its hinterland. This pushed Isfahan into another phase of depopulation and dilapidation that lasted more than two decades.

In 442 AH / 1051 CE, after several attempts over nearly a decade, the Seljuq army of Tughril Beg conquered Isfahan following a prolonged and devastating siege. Tug̲hril Beg moved his capital from Rayy to Isfahan and made it his chief residence for the last twelve years of his reign. He invested much in the public buildings and improvements in the city and its environs. Isfahan regained its prosperity and became one of the main centres of the Great Seljuk empire directly administered by the central government. 

During the reign of Seljuk sultan Malikshah, Isfahan became an important Sunni centre. Malikshah ordered extensions to be built to the old government offices. As a result, several quarters, mosques and new buildings were commissioned. The fortress of Shahdiz was also built in Diz-Kuh, where Malikshah kept his armoury and treasury. From 500 AH / 1106-7 CE until 511 AH / 1118 CE, Isfahan remained the main centre of the Great Seljuk empire. Thereafter, their power moved to Khurasan where Sanj̲ar ruled as the great Seljuk sultan. The Western provinces were disputed by the Seljuks of Iraq and their Atabegs. 

In 590 AH / 1194 CE, Isfahan was taken by Khwarzamshah Tekish. After that, the city changed hands several times between the caliph and Khwarzamshah, in the subsequent campaigns. In 623 AH / 1226 CE, the Mongol armies reached the vicinity of Isfahan and faced defeat in 625 AH / 1228 CE; however, the city could not be saved for long. In 638 AH / 1240 CE, Isfahan finally fell into the hands of the Mongols as a result of treachery within the city walls. 

Massacre in Isfahan by Timur-Lang: In 789 AH / 1387 CE, the Turko-Mongol ruler Timur Lang reportedly slaughtered 70,000 persons in Isfahan in retaliation for the killing of his tax collectors, which led to disintegration of urban life in Isfahan, leaving the city and its hinterland largely depopulated. In the following decades, nomadic warlords repeatedly took advantage of the region’s vulnerability. 

Isfahan under the Safavids: Isfahan came under Safavid rule in 909 AH / 1503 CE, following Shah Ismail I’s defeat of Sultan Murad, the ruler of Iraq-e ‘Ajam, near Hamadan. Isfahan became a place of interest for Shah Ismail (r. 907-930 AH / 1501-1524 CE) despite his conquests of other parts of the Iranian plateau. He is said to have stopped at the city from time to time and to have been keen to restore it to its pre-Mongol significance. He paid particular attention to the role and function of its squares. In 915 AH / 1509 CE he ordered the enlargement of the Meydan-e Naqsh-e Jahan (Royal Square) to accommodate qabaq-bazi, the playing of polo, and other games and forms of entertainment. He used the Old Meydan (Meydan-e kohna) as the place of execution of rebels. 

Shah Tahmasp (r. 930-986 AH /1524-1576 CE), who was born in a suburb of Isfahan, incorporated Isfahan into the royal domain in 940 AH / 1534 CE. He added mosques and several other buildings to the city. Then on, building activities continued in Isfahan. The city’s status as crown-land remained largely unchanged until the end of the Safavid period in the mid-12th AH / 18th CE century. 

Isfahan under the Qajars: During the Qajar period, Isfahan lost its status as the royal capital. It became a major provincial city comparable to and competing with Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashad, on the basis of its commercial position, fertile agricultural resources, and traditional status as a theological center. Dominated by merchant nobility and extremely influential and independent-minded ulema, Isfahan asserted a position of almost semi-autonomous urban polity.  

The Pahlavis and the Post-Revolution Era: The Pahlavi period (1925–1979) saw the development of a modern nation-state, rapid urbanisation and population growth. The establishment of a modern system of national education and a stronger state-directed economic policy made an impact on the entire province of Isfahan, but most of all on the city itself. During the reign of Reza Shah, Isfahan underwent two distinct phases of political change: the consolidation of central authority in the 1920s, and the social and economic development in the 1930s. The process significantly constrained the powers of Shia clergy and the Bakhtiari tribesmen in the province. 

Following the occupation of Persia by allied forces in September 1941, and the forced abdication of Reza Shah Pahlavi, Isfahan became an arena of struggle between different local powers. Nomadic and clerical influence also resurfaced. The power struggle in Isfahan reached its peak during 1944–46, mostly in reaction to the Tudeh party, that had made a concerted drive into the countryside by organising the peasants against their landlords.

Another politically eventful period for Isfahan occurred during the nationalisation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (in 1954). The new development in this period was the emergence of the National Front that filled the gap between the traditional royalists on the far right and the Tudeh party on the far left. 

During 1953–1978, Isfahan saw rapid population growth and urbanisation. The expansion of communication, transportation, and education brought about radical changes in the social and economic conditions of the city. The old neighbourhoods had to deal with a clash of the old and the new; the new had not evolved from the old. The city’s master-plan attempted in its first five-year programme to adapt the old city to the needs of modern citizenry.

Isfahan played an important role in the Islamic Revolution of 1979. However, like other cities of Iran, Isfahan experienced a post-revolutionary decade of hardship and regression. The “cultural revolution” (enqelab-e farhangi) led to the closure of universities for three years and to the dismissal of many educators and public employees. The countryside, however, saw a substantial developmental change. Men of the Construction Corps (Jehad-e sazandagi) arrived soon after the revolution, in almost all villages of the province. They began to build roads, bridges, schools, and houses, brought electricity and telephone lines to villages and set up a network of producer-and-consumer cooperatives, leading to change in rural conditions beyond recognition. 

Citation:

“Isfahan” Encyclopedia Iranica Online. 2012 

http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/isfahan [accessed June 2013]

"Isfahan." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online, 2012.

http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/isfahan-COM_0380 [accessed July 2013]

Hunsberger Alice C., Nasir Khusraw, the ruby of Badakhshan. I. B. Tauris, London, 2000.