Analytical Typology of Historic Mosques in the Cultural Kurdistan Region

The Kurdistan of Iran is one of the regions widely disregarded in the historical architectural study or architectural analysis, especially during the Islamic era. Studying the mosques of this region can lead to a deeper understanding of Iranian architecture in this era. This paper aims to introduce the characteristics of mosques by categorizing them through a typological approach. For this purpose, 27 of historical mosques in the region are studied and their main repetitive spatial units are considered as the basis of the typology. The compositional models of these mosques, from the simplest to the most complicated form regarding different combinations, are each separately introduced. Following these introductions, the relation of each type with simpler earlier types is discussed and it is maintained that all types are inter-related. The pillared shabestān is the most fundamental spatial unit of these mosques, which is the core unit in almost all examples and all types. Other units such as the iwān and rāhros are organized around it and define the first type of historical mosques in Kurdistan. The second type, which includes mosques with interior courtyards, combines the regional/traditional model of the first type with that of the mosques of central Iran. This second type of mosques includes a shabestān with hujrehs dispersed on three sides of the courtyard. These two main types include some sub-types and variations differing in the presence or the number of iwāns and rāhros. Based on these facts, a typology is suggested and is comprehensively illustrated in a table in the final section of the paper.