Origin of Dome's multiplicity in Samarqand Jame Mosque

Iwan and dome as independent spatial units entered mosques at least from the 4th century AH and on the plateau of Iran, it was probably in the Seljuk period that the first four-iwan mosques with a dome located behind the qibla iwan were created. The pattern of four-iwans with three domes around the courtyard, though visible in Ribat of Sharaf from the beginning of the sixth century AH, was not used in mosques before. The Bibi-Khanum Mosque in Samarkand with its four iwans and three domes around the courtyard, is one of the most important monuments of the Timurid period. Although this mosque has been analyzed many times, less attention has been paid to its several domes. To achieve the purpose of this article, which is finding the roots of Bibi-Khanum Mosque design, the following actions have been taken: The historical texts of the Timurid Era have been examined using the interpretive-historical method, contemporary researches in this field have been reviewed and the documents have been compared using the method of logical reasoning. In addition, answering these questions seems necessary: Where can you find the pattern of Bibi-Khanum Mosque? And what other examples exist with this Design? The results show that the addition of iwans and domes to Indian mosques probably dates back to the late Seljuk period and coincided with the beginning of the Delhi Sultanate period in the India. The oldest example of which is the addition of several asymmetrical domes around the Quwwatul-Islam Mosque in Delhi in the sixth century AH. In the middle of the eighth century AH, the Jahanpanah Mosque in Delhi with its courtyard, iwans and dome, was one of the first mosques to be built similar to the two-iwan mosques in Iran - except that four domes were built on all four sides of the courtyard. Until about a century later, this design was used in several other mosques in India with a few changes, such as Mosques of Jaunpur and Srinagar. According to historical sources, Timur visited the Jahanpanah Mosque during the conquest of Delhi, and after returning from India, ordered the construction of the Jami Mosque of Samarkand. In addition, the roots of the jami Mosque  of Samarkand design could be the previous experiences in buildings, such as Ribat of Sharaf in Khorasan, and possibly the grandiose attitude inspired by important Ilkhanid buildings. This pattern was not common in Iran, except for the Abbasi Mosque of Isfahan. In the Bibi-Khanum and the Abbasi Mosques, the domes on both sides are used for worship, while in the Jahanpanah and Jaunpur mosques and others in India, the surrounding domes are the entrance porches, Which, aside from the dome, were previously used in the design of Iranian mosques such as the Jami Mosque of Yazd. However, It is not as significant as Jahanpanah Mosque. As a result, it is possible that the architect of Bibi-Khanum Mosque was inspired by the domes of Jahanpanah Mosque, but he used his own method of using the space.