Ribat of Sepanj, Comparative Study and Dating

Ribat-i Sepanj, located on the northeast of Shahrud, is among the valuable historical monuments boasting magnificent brickwork ornamentation. It dates from the middle centuries of the hegira and is mentioned in most research sources as a construction of the Ilkhanid period. A closer look at the history of the monument and the comparison of its decorations with that of a number of other caravanserais and monuments of the middle centuries of Islam raises the idea that it dates back to the pre-Mongol era. However, it is not easy to date the monument because many parts of the original building are destroyed and only the entrance and the enclosure wall remain in their original form. Although the original plan is recognizable in the form of the central courtyard, the construction of rural houses in the courtyard greatly distorted the plan in later periods. This study aims to determine the time of the initial construction of the Ribat-i Sepanj, and to answer the main question: can the Ribat-i Sepanj be considered a construction of the pre-Mongol invasion according to the available evidence and historical-comparative studies? The method of conducting this study, due to the limitations of field research (especially excavation and tracking) focuses on three main items: first, studying the monument based on historical sources and previous research works; second, studying the ornamentation and comparing it with similar other samples from contemporary monuments; and third, conducting a comparative study of the available evidence remaining of the plan and entrance of the monument with those of the well-known examples of contemporary caravanserais (specifically from the Seljuq and Ilkhanid period). Finally, although most researchers consider Ribat-i Sepanj to be an Ilkhanid monument, the present study finds that the monument recognizably dates from the pre-Mongol invasion, and the closest historical period attribution is the late Seljuq era.