پژوهشنامه خراسان بزرگ
پیاپی 30 (بهار 1397)

The data collected from friezes and cornices can help one know about the geographic history of a land. The Mesopotamian scripts since Ur III to the early middle Elamite period, mentioned a land named Tukrish which exported gold, lapis lazuli, chlorite, and marbled dishes to Mesopotamia. This paper studies the Mesopotamian written resources and compares them with the documents discovered in the archeological excavations of BMAC in the Northeast Iran and South Turkmenistan. Based on this comparative study, the paper intends to locate Tukrish somewhere within the boundaries of Northeast Iran and South Turkmenistan. In this comparative study, the traded products of Tukrish which have been listed in the Mesopotamian scripts were assessed against the Mesopotamian domestic products and the items discovered in the excavations of BMAC settlements. The most important questions concerned how the scripts correspond to the iconographic and geographic history interpretations and how the archeological discoveries in the area match the list of the traded products in the Mesopotamian scripts. The results indicated that the list of the traded products from Tukrish, detailed in the Mesopotamian scripts, correspond to the products and merchandise of BMAC. Moreover, BMAC is chronologically contemporaneous with Tukrish, as mentioned in the Mesopotamian scripts. Considering these points and the cultural-artistic propinquity between the Northeast Iran-South Turkmenistan region and Mesopotamia at that point in history, the study suggests Tukrish be positioned somewhere within the cultural-geographic limits of BMAC. Keywords: Tukrish, BMAC, Geographic history, mesopotamian scripts, Traded products (merchandise)

The region of Khurasan has undergone territorial expansions from pre-Islamic to present day. The current perspective on the realm of Khurasan in the early Islamic centuries places it in the south of the Jayḥūn River (Oxus). Nevertheless, a brief analysis and comparison of the views of Muslim geographers in the 3rd and 4th centuries AH cast doubt on the validity of this proposition. Therefore, the question that can be raised is the transformation that the concept of Khurasan has undergone in the works of geographers in these centuries. The present study, by adopting an analytical descriptive method, seeks to explore the views of Muslim geographers in the 3rd and 4th centuries AH to shed further light on the evolution of Khurasan in the Islamic period. The findings suggest that Khurasan covered a massive area until the early 4th century. Gradually, Khurasan became confined to the south of the Oxus (Madun-i-Nahr), following the separation of provinces of Khwarazm, Transoxiana, Qumis, and Sistan. Accordingly, terms such as “Great Khurasan" and "Small Khurasan" were proposed. In the next step, the question arises as to the relationship between this evolution and the geographical schools of Muslims. The findings of this study demonstrated that the focus of the representatives of the Iraqi school on concept of great Khurasan as opposed to the focus of the the representatives of the Balkhi School on the concept of small Khurasan could be seen as instances of the distinctions between these two schools. Keywords: Khurasan, Transoxiana, Madun-i-Nahr, Oxus, Turk territories, Balkhi School, Iraqi school.

Islamic Middle Ages can be considered as an era of mosque edifying activities. By passing the Islamic conquests era renowned by the Ghazi (warriors) and the Mujahedeen, the Ulema consolidated the scientific and theoretical foundations of the Islamic civilization. Hence, the religious achievements of Muslims in the conqueror period and the intellectual needs of the Islamic society caused the post-conqueror period to be accompanied by the scientific dynamics of Muslim scientists and scholars. Holding scientific circles and the presence of the Qariyan, theologians, commentators, and jurists in the mosques illustrate the dynamism and development of this religious and educational institution at this time of Islamic history. The main question that this article tries to address is that what was the role of the educational functions of the Samanid mosques, and what was the role of scholars in the development of religious sciences in the Islamic world under the domination of this ruling dynasty. The findings of this research, which are based on qualitative and descriptive-analytic approach, show that the religious policy of the Samanid emirs, in line with the Abbasid caliphs, was effective in the development of religious sciences in Khorasan and Transaxiana. On the other hand, the efforts of the scholars of the Samanid realm to hold educational sessions and teach religious sciences in mosques led to attracting scholars from all over the Muslim world to Khorasan and Transaxiana, with the aim of obtaining knowledge from them. Keywords: Samanids, Mosques, Ulama, Religious sciences, Islamic world

Khorasan was one of the most important states of Iran during the Mongol and Ilkhani times. The history of Herat is the most important and unique work of the local history of Khorasan in the Mughal and Ilkhani era, written by Seyfi Heravi in Herat at the Maluku Korte court (rule 643-783).This work is considered to be the first and foremost source for writing the political and social history of Khorasan in the aforementioned era. In this article, through the descriptive-narrative and analytical method, the insight and method of ruling on Seyfi Heravi historiography has been studied. Finally, the result was obtained in the intellectual system and in the context of the historiography of Seyfi, the aim is to address the benefit of the future to those who are believers, and to punish and inform the elites of the ruling community in a particular way and for the public in general. In terms of historical methodology, his method is also a combination of a narrative and historiography that refers to historical documentation for the purpose of explaining historical events and by using various historical data, he chooses to reach the historical truth.

The great Khorasan and Transoxiana during the Timurid period have been a context for massive changes in the formation of Iranian schools. One of the architectural masterpieces of this period is the Ghiasiyah School (Ghiasiyah Madrasa) of Khargers, which was built by Qavameddin Shirazi in 846 AH . Nevertheless, what is considered in terms of architectural studies is the use of geometric patterns in the plan of this complex, the adherence to the human proportions and the balanced volume in the façade and the plan. The present paper aims at clarifying the proportions of the applied geometry and the application of module and high scale in the construction of the Ghiasiyah School. Therefore, it is attempted to answer the following questions: What were the pattern and geometric proportion used in the construction of the dome house, the plan and the façade of this building? Which Timurid systems of proportions have been applied by the architect to design this building? Relying on a descriptive-analytical approach and using library sources and field observation and recording, it can be argued that one of the distinctive features of the Timurid architecture is the greater use of geometry in architectural designs, whose representation can be seen in concavity and convexity (Nahaz and Nakhir) of the plan of Ghiasiyah School in a circular manner. Moreover, since the Timurid period was the flourishing age of mathematical calculations, and architects used various systems of proportions in constructing buildings, it can be stated that in the construction of the Ghiasiyah School a simple system of proportions such as (√2) and its derivatives have been taken into account in the dome house and the plan, and the derivatives of (√5) have been applied for the façade and the segment.

Basically, the concept of landscape entered the archeological literature to study human settlement patters and the extent of human recognition of effective environmental elements, in the format of environmental and spatial studies. In this research, the abovementioned approach has been used to study the archeology of the cultural landscape of Bardaskan County. This research is based on the data derived from archaeological and geographical studies and the use of geographic information systems. In the new archaeological survey, 57 benchmark sites of the Islamic era have been identified.The majority of the sites date back to the early centuries (31%) and the middle ages (31%) and also 27% of the total Islamic era sites belong to the late centuries. Meanwhile, some sites have been determined as unknown, of which 11% are included in this set. According to GIS-based analyses, population centers of Islamic era in Bardaskan County have been influenced by their special environmental conditions and natural variables. It was also found that the effects of natural variables on different human factors were not identical. Considering the landscape of the area under the study, important variables such as the slope of the earth and soil type have been effective on the density and area of the sites. Furthermore, the sparseness and distances of the sites from surface waters have been indicative of the reaction of the cultural landscapes of the region to the constraints of environmental variables. At the same time, some of the historical structures are closely related to surface waters. Keywords: Bardeskan in Islamic era, Cultural landscape, Torshiz, Archaeological Modeling, Archeology of Khorasan