A Survey on Water Management Methods in Urban Structure of Safavid Isfahan

Water shortage in the Iranian plateau has always been the main concern, and one of the most important achievements of people in this region is to devise methods of irrigation and water management. Following the selection of the city of Isfahan as the capital of the Safavid Empire, size of the city expanded, and its population continued to increase. These two factors created the need for a systematic structural design for water management. This research has tried to look at the water management system in the Isfahan in Safavid era, by researching the historical documents. This study is a historical research, and is conducted with an analytic approach, based on a documentary and library study. Shah Abbas I and his designers succeeded to organize the city water supply system in response to the significant increase of population of the city. In the first step of the decision to increase the volume of water from the originate which is taking place in different periods. But due to various technical, climatic, and instrument flaws, this project wasn’t successful in Safavid period. After the failure of this project, in the second step, decision for a better target management of this volume of water access was taken. Water volume and time management was planned based on Sheikh-Bahai scroll. This document is now the most important historical source in this regard. The most important Safavid achievements in the field of management practices is designing a developing city based on access to water resources. the expansion of the Safavid city generally occurs to the west and south, i.e. in the direction of the river entry and its splits into the city fabric. Accordingly, the loss of water due to its leakage and evaporation decreases during the water supply route in rivers along the way. In the region of Isfahan, when moving from the west to the east near to the central desert, the climate, evaporation, and type of soil changes. During this period, the urban needs of water was provided from underground resources; We read in all travelogues and historical sources of this period that there were several factors behind this choice: water wells, Qanats, and springs were lighter and softer than river water. The high level of underground water in the region of Safavid Isfahan made these resources in every part of the residential area accessible. Water for irrigation of gardens and fields was provided from branches of the Zayandehrood River called Maadi. Many of these splits were created before Safavid with the aim of irrigating gardens and farms. In the Safavid period, changes in these structures occur. Firstly, in addition to irrigating farms and gardens of outskirts, the urban structures and the architecture made for water supply also improves. Secondly, new splits were defined in order to supply the water of emerging parts in the developing process of the city. Niasarm watercourse that before Safavid irrigated only the farms, in Safavid period, due to the changes in the fabric of the northern shore of the river, firstly irrigated the gardens near to Alah-Verdi-Khan and Khaju bridges and then the residential quarters of this area. Farshadi watercourse also plays a similar role in his way to the east by crossing the Safavid structures such as Madar-Shah school and caravanserai. However, the most important watercourses for this research are Shah-Kabir or Jouishah and some ways are advised and the share of each space from the watercourse is identified. According to the Sheikh-Bahai scroll, the Fadan watercourse is the most effective water supply in the urban fabric, the ancient part particularly; and mentioning its share, a section titled "urbanization" is clearly identified. Following some of the shares named in the scroll, the water supply of this watercourse to the northern and the eastern fabric of the city are shown. In the heyday of the Safavid, management of water resources was very efficient and accurate. At the end of the Safavid period, the government fell, corruption and bribery were common, and simultaneously, the water management system became very shaky. Increasing pressure on farmers shook the foundations of the economy, and accelerated the fall of the government. On the other hand, the discontent of farmers, lead to the decline of government.