A look at the history of urban planning of Iran in the Safavid period: A case study of Kerman city

At the beginning of the tenth century AH by establishment of the safavid dynasty the evolution of architecture and urbanisation in most cities of Iran was appeared and new style of urbanism and Architecture expanded in famous cities like Qazvin and Isfahan which were known as the capital. Moreover, a smaller city such as Kerman changed in Architecture and urbanisation. In Afshar, Zandieh and Qajarieh dynasty, the capital had frequent change and Western urbanization and architecture expanded herein which later influenced the native architecture and as a result, different buildings appeared. Because of its political position and importance, Kerman not only used architectural patterns from the ruling dynasty, but also received influence from special sample and climate condition in the process of shaping the city. The process of reconstruction and expansion of Kerman in safavid period was designed in coordination of the location of city, the methodical and systematic pattern. This was applied by the subsequent dynasty especially Qajar. Various, complicated and relatable factors shaped the structure of architecture and the city iself. The study of possible changes in Kerman structure during the Safavid period can illustrate the differences made in historical system of this city.The research questions that we will answer in this article are as follows:Firstly, what were the Spatial-physical characteristics of Kerman in Safavid period and what was the reason of shape changing in Safavid period in the aforementioned city.Secondly, whether Kerman is designed according to the Esfahan’s patterns of urbanization. It is hypothesized that the structure rules of kerman was based on spatial-physical characteristics of Ganjali Khan and according to this statement the city had changed flourishing and expanding in proportion to the commercial-economic spaces. The structure of Kerman is a bit affected by Isfahan urbanization, but the difference is that the development of Kerman is based on its special condition and communication position.

This study is descriptive, historical and analytic by using library research and studying the available written documents. Through these elements, the structure of the myth will be explained according to the local resource and adapting it to the current condition of city and archaeological data.

In Safavid period, Kerman had four important Spatial-physical characteristics including: 1- Kohandezh (Citadel)  2- Shahr i- no (new city) 3- Masjed Jame no (new Jame Mosque) and 4- districts of the city.In this period, part of some districs had changed. Even though from Safavid period until Shah Abbas I era, there exist few information about the architecture and mentality of Kerman and the developments of this city, but from Shah Abbas era,  this situation changed and different resources pointed out to this city regularly. According to these resources, we can study the changes and later present a general view.The available evidence shows that main expansions and changes in the structure of Kerman in Safavidperiod appeared in Shah Abbas I and Shah Abbas II; however, during Shah Safi and Shah Soleyman these expansions can be traced very rarely.In this period, one can trace the relation between three elements of mosque, citadel and square and their communicative element which is Bazar in different ways from previous periods.In kerman during Safavid period, major changes appeared in the structure of the city, these changes can be examined in several dimensions. First, changes in the structure of city constructing square and its surrounding buildings which were mad by rulers and political faces, and second, the changes made by the general public, such as the construction of districs in the north and south of the city. These changes took place significantly and on a large scale, which caused a new face of Kerman to be appeared in this period. The selection of this part of the city as part of the urban renewal and revitalization by Ganjali Khan had several important reasons. Firstly, due to population movement during the Muzaffarid period, with the construction of the Mosque Jame in the east and the Pamenar Mosque in the north-east, people wanted to go again to the tomb of Turan Shah, which was a holy place and also due to its proximity to Malek Mosque (which may have been the Kerman Grand Mosque before the construction of the Mozaffari Jame Mosque). Secondly, the renovation of places and  districts near Ganjali Khan square has been one of the priorities of urban reconstruction and expansion. The reconstructions of the central south part of the city ( districts around Malek Mosque) have been formed after the square and the buildings around it. This population transfer and revitalization of districts were part of the ambitious and long-term changes that were predictable due to the concentration of facilities and they justified the expansion of the city to the west at this time.The districts of Kerman were divided according to the tribal conflicts in the Safavid period (Mashizi, 1991, p. 389). That is, the east side of the Bazar belongs to one group and the west side of the Bazar to the other groups. This Bazar was known as Khajeh Bazar and led from the east to Tal Shahr quarter and from the west to Pai Katang and Qutbabad quarters, which then reached Ganjali Khan square. It then led south to the Malek Mosque, with the Nemati groups on the west and the Heydari groups on the east. The quarters that before the Safavid period actually formed the ossification of the city of Kerman were Shah Adel quarter in the south of the city, "Masjed-e-Molk" quarter Next to Shah Adel quarter, "Pikecting" quarter in the north of Ganjali Khan complex, "Bazar Qala" quarter in the south of the city "Qutbabad" quarter in the northeast of Ganjali Khan complex, "Mardakan" quarter in the north of the city and near "Gabri" gate, "Khawajajeh" quarter in the north of the city "Zoroastrian" " quarter in the north of the city and outside the city wall and "Kuliha" quarter (in the Kermani dialect of gipsies) in the northwest of Ganjali-Khan complex. During the Safavid period, quarters around the city center created by Ganjali Khan underwent significant changes and transformations. Three quarters in the northern part of Ganjali Khan complex were rebuilt. Sar-e-Tal or Sar-e-Pol quarter in the north-east of the complex (north of Optional Bazaar) and gipsies quarter in north. In Ganjali Khan endowment letter, the location of this quarter is mentioned near Ganjali Khan Caravanserai in the east of the square and it is called "the new quarters of Kerman" (Bastani parizi, 1991 ,p.  128).

During the Safavid period, the city experienced various changes that had a great impact on the growth of the city in this period and later periods. Following the example of Ganjali Khan in insisting on the implementation of his great plan, which he called "New City", lots of changes took place in the design and construction of Kerman, which were also used by the later rulers of the Safavid period in that city. In fact, in this period, the urban communication structure which was previously more north-south changed to west-east, the density of reconstruction of quarters around Ganjali Khan complex and especially "North Shahr-e- no" were more significant.About forty years later, this construction density was formed in the southern part of the complex, close to the southern communication road to the Ganjali Khan complex and also close to the government citadel. The construction of the East-West Bazar which took place during the reign of Shah Abbas I and during the reign of Ganjali Khan, was a sign of very extensive and long-term changes in the creation of a new city initiated firstly by the construction Ganjali Khan complex.