Study and Investigation of Monumental Buildings from Qajar and Early Pahlavi Periods in Darreh Shahr County;Case Studies: Qal'eh-i Pour Ashraf, Qal'eh-i Mir Gholam Hashemi, and Qal'eh-i Jahangir Abad

The historical buildings from the late Qajar and early Pahlavi periods of Darreh Shahr are the evidence based on which, one can understand the military, social and economic developments of these periods. The main objectives of this research are: first, to describe the architectural structures of each of these buildings, and second, to examine the reasons for their construction and, third, to study their distribution patterns in the region. Accordingly, the main questions of the study are: 1. What pattern does the layout of these buildings follow? 2. How explainable is, on the basis of historical studies, the reasons for the construction of these buildings in Darreh Shahr County? 3. What factors did their distribution pattern follow?The results of the study show that the historical buildings belonging to Qajar and early Pahlavi eras in Darreh Shahr County include Pour Ashraf Castle from the late Qajar period (date of construction or repair backs to 1335 AH), and houses of Mir Gholam Hashemi and Jahangir Abad from the Pahlavi period. The latter is assumed to be belonged to the second wife of Mir Gholam Hashemi. The initial reason for the construction of these buildings was the military conflicts between the regional rebellions and the military forces of the central government under the command of Seyd Mohammad Khan Pour Ashraf. Having the rebellions suppressed and with the accession of Mir Gholam Hashemi to power, the buildings of this type including Qal'eh-i Pour Ashraf and newly constructed buildings (Qal'eh-i Mir Gholam Hashemi and Qal'eh-i Jahangir Abad) served as places for tax collection and tackling socio-economic affairs. Finally, the increased importance of taxation on agricultural affairs, good-weathered, fertile-soil and water-filled areas such as Jahangir Abad and Sheikh Makan were the factors that advocated the construction of these buildings at these positions. They provided proper supervision of tax collection among nearby peasants and farmers. The methodology of this research is descriptive-analytic and has been conducted based on field and library studies.