The Pastoral City and Mausolean City : Nomadic Regime and City Building in the Iran-Islamic World

This paper will examine some new developed cities during the Turkish and Mongol nomadic regimes such as Gazaniya, Sultaniya and Nasriya in 14th and 15th centuries (from the Ilkhan dynasty to the Ag Quyunlu dynasty). Through the common features of their city styles, one can notice how it related to the pattern of the city which was built under the Safavids. Among these three cities, several similarities can be observed. Firstly, the place inhabited by nomadic tribes provided fertile water and Bag. Secondly, the tomb of the sovereign surrounded by religious building complex was located at the centre of the city. Thirdly, finances donated for religious purposes greatly maintained its city function. Thus, when the cities are called pastoral cities, they must be described as mausolean city as well. The characteristic of a pastoral city, like the organic composition of Bag and Maydan, which can be found in Nasriya, was continuously inherited in establishing Isfahan by Sah 'Abbas. However, the nature of a mausolean city, due to the change of imperial mausolean concept, gradually disappeared