The architecture of the four-īwān building tradition as a representation of paradise and dynastic power aspirations

Paskaleva, E.G. (2010)

Doctoral Thesis

The dissertation analyses how architecture represents sacred realities. The main focus is on Tīmūrid architecture as an instrument to legitimize extreme and universal power. The four-īwān plan is examined as a dynastic architectural tool marking the centre of the world, from which power spreads along the cardinal points to all corners of the macrosomos. Kosh examples of Tīmūrid mosques, madrasas and tombs are used to illustrate this approach. The concept of recreating Paradise on earth is further developed in line with dynastic supremacy and the role of the ruler as cosmocrator. The geographical focus is on Transoxania (present-day Uzbekistan) and partly on Khurasan (present-day Afghanistan). The four-īwān plan was a power statement, rediscovered by the subsequent ruler trying to relate his power to a previous undisputed chief patron. Since the Tīmūrids fostered good relations with the Sufi community, the four-īwān compounds were a symbolically acceptable setting both for the Sufi orders and for the ‘ulamā’. That is why, the four-īwān plan can be seen as an architectural representation both of the cosmologies of Sufism and of orthodox Islam. For the first time, the four-iwan plan is discussed in terms of the hierophanic and architectural palimpsest. This approach offers comparative analysis with Buddhist and Hindu cross-axial monuments, encompassing the current theories that regard the four-īwān plan only as a strictly Islamic phenomena.

• Architectural palimpsest
• Cosmology
• Four-iwan plan
• Hierophanic palimpsest
• Islamic architecture
• Khanaqah
• Madrasa
• Mosque
• Sufism
• Timurid architecture
• Tomb

• All authors: Paskaleva, E.G.
• Supervisor: Mekking, A.J.J.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Leiden University Institute for Cultural Disciplines (LUICD), Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University
• Date: 2010-09-22
• ISBN (print): 9789081565516
• Court: LEI Universiteit Leiden