Origins of the Tālār in Architecture of the Safavid Period

One of the remarkable spatial innovations in Safavid architecture is the tālār (acceptance hall). Although few examples remain today and as in some cases (e.g. Ali Qapu), they were annexed to previous buildings, the elegance and beauty of the overall architectural composition are such that nowadays it is almost impossible to imagine the buildings without tālārs. This raises some questions about their origins, their emergence, and their history of development in the architecture of this period. Although various statements have been proposed, none is sufficiently convincing in the opinion of most experts. The present article sheds light on the origin of the tālār emphasizing a little-studied element in Persian architecture, i.e., tents and temporary structures that were built in gardens. The research employs the interpretive-historical method, analyzing extant textual/pictorial sources. The results indicate that the invention of the tālār could be associated with the development of tent and kiosk structures, where they were repurposed as permanent structures having more columns and a larger scale.