Investigating pavilions and multistoried Tombs in Indian Subcontinent, Iran and Central Asia

Modern Iran, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent regarded as the eastern realm of the Islamic world. Architecturally, in this area, there are various buildings follow similar architectural forms and patterns, among them is so-called “HashtBehesht” that was a multistoried building with various functions. Despite numerous researches on the Islamic architecture, there has not been fully scrutinized study on this form. Here, there is an attempt to understand, historically, this form of building. Based on previous studies, in Iran and Central Asia, the function of this form was ceremonial, while it was monumental in the Indian subcontinent. Despite different climates, the structure of these buildings was the same. Their extroverted design appropriately defined to garden and green spaces in dry climate of Iran and Central Asia, whereas it was an adequate response to the environmental condition, for various doorways guaranteed the continuous flow of the cool breeze into the structure. The unique design of this architectural form named differently in different regions such as “Namakdan”, “Mosamman” and “Chaukhandi”. regarding the fact that the regions were part of the Persian world, all these pavilion followed similar architectural tradition.