Spatial Organization of Tabriz in the Turkmen Period and its Influence on the Relationship System between the Old City Center and the New Government Center in the Safavid Capitals

With the arrival of Shah Ismail I (1513-1551 A.D) to Tabriz and his coronation at Sahib-Abad government house, the Safavid dynasty was established in 907 AH / 1502 AD. The city of Tabriz, as the first capital of the Safavids, has had an elaborate spatial organization since the Turkmen period (Qaraqvinlu and Aghqvinlu). What impressed the nature of such a structure was how the old city center was linked with the new gov ernmental city center. The design of a new govern mental Arsan (complex) in Qazvin (962 AH) and Isfa han (1006 AH) as the next capital of the Safavids was influenced by this structure. In the city of Tabriz, the Atiq Square as an old ur ban space was connected to Sahib Abad Square as the new government city square via commercial spaces such as Bazaars and Qeysaries. With changes in the hierarchy of the communication elements, this sys tem can also be tracked in the Second Safavid capital of Qazvin, in the garden complex of Jafarabad Garden, Saadat Abad Square, and the new market complex and street.But the milestone of this developmental trend took place in the urbanization of the Isfahan school in Isfahan as the third Safavid capital. The present re search attempts to answer the questions related to the spatial organization of Tabriz during the Turkmen period, and how the urban elements in the form of a communication system in the Safavid capitals was used. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the pattern of the spatial organization formed during the Turkmen period in Tabriz on Sa favid urbanization in terms of the communication between the old and the new city centers.In order to explain the objectives of our research, a comparative study was carried out between the Safavid structure in three cities of Tabriz, Qazvin and Isfahan. The data were compiled and interpreted using the qualitative content analysis method. Finally, with the comparative analysis of the cases, it has been concluded that the pattern of commercial and public spaces in the form of a bazaar complex to link the old town center with the new government center has been a successful factor in creating a coherent urban structure.