Gawhar Shad Mosque (Herat)
34°21′21″N 62°11′05″E / 34.3557°N 62.1847°E
| Gawhar Shad Mosque | |
|---|---|
Gawhar Shad Mosque in Herat, from the east. Durand, Illustrated London News, 1863 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Islam |
| Location | |
| Location | Musalla Complex, Herat |
| Country | Afghanistan |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Qavan ud-din |
| Type | Mosque |
| Style | Timurid |
| Completed | 1437-38 |
The Gawhar Shad Mosque (Masjid-i Jami‘ of Gawhar Shad) in Herat was built under a commission by Gawhar Shad, the main queen of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh. It is located in the southwestern corner of the Musalla complex.[1]
Structure
The mosque was commissioned by Gawhar Shad, and built by the architect Qavam al-Din b. Zayn al-Din Shirazi, after he had finished the Gawhar Shad mosque in Mashhad in 1418. Construction began in 1417–18, and partial completion was achieved in 1437–38.[2] The mosque measured circa 130 mx74 m, and was built around a four-iwan structure and crowned by four minarets.[2] The decoration consisted in blue glazed tiles, in a style similar to that of the nearby Gawhar Shad Mausoleum.[2]
The mosque was demolished by Afghan-British troops in 1885, in the Panjdeh incident, in an effort to prevent the potential use of the ruins by invading Russian troops as a defensive structure or protective terrain, and to provide a clear line of sight from the Herat fortress.[2][3] As of 1928, only two minarets remained in partially good shape: minaret No.8 at the southeast corner, and minaret No.6 at the northwest corner. Today, nothing remains, apart from the half-length ruins of the northwestern minaret No.6, almost without any decoration left.[4]
A few decorative slabs from minaret No.8 have been reused in the Shrine of Khwaja Abd Allah of Herat.[5]
Minaret No.8 (southeast corner)
Minaret No.8, the minaret at the southeast corner of the mosque, was still standing in 1928, but has since disappeared.[4] The decorative slabs at the basis have been reused in the Shrine of Khwaja Abd Allah of Herat.[5] Some are also displayed in the Great Mosque of Herat.[6]
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The Gawhar Shad Mosque minaret No.8 (southeast), 1928.[7]
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Gawhar Shad Mosque minaret No.8 (southeast), 1928
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Detail of the mosaics of the minaret No.8 (Southeast), 1928
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Minaret No.6 (northwest corner)
Only a half-length stump remains today of minaret No.6 (at the northwest corner of the mosque), with very little decoration left, damaged by Russian mortar fire in 1985.[4]
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Minaret No.6 (northwest), 1928
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Minaret No.6 (northwest), 1928
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Detail of underglazed ceramic tiles with “blue-and-white” decorations from minaret M6
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Sherds of mo'araq cut-tile mosaic from minaret M6, Gawhar Shad Mosque (Herat). National Museum of Herat.
References
- ^ Khairzade, Khair Mohammad; Franke, Ute (1 January 2020). "The 'Musalla'-Complex in Herat Revisited: Recent Archaeological Investigations at the Gawhar Shad Madrasa". Drawing the Threads Together Studies on Archaeology in Honour of Karin Bartl, edited by Alexander Ahrens, Dörte Rokitta-Krumnow, Franziska Bloch and Claudia Bührig. p. 94.
- ^ a b c d Khairzade, Khair Mohammad; Franke, Ute (1 January 2020). "The 'Musalla'-Complex in Herat Revisited: Recent Archaeological Investigations at the Gawhar Shad Madrasa". Drawing the Threads Together Studies on Archaeology in Honour of Karin Bartl, edited by Alexander Ahrens, Dörte Rokitta-Krumnow, Franziska Bloch and Claudia Bührig. p. 102-104.
- ^ Allchin, Raymond (2019). The Archaeology of Afghanistan: From Earliest Times to the Timurid Period (Revised and updated ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 559. ISBN 978-0748699179.
- ^ a b c Lorain, Sandra Aube; C, BENDEZU-SARMIENTO Julio (1 January 2019). "Sandra Aube, Thomas Lorain & Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento, 2019, Iran Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies The Complex of Gawhar Shad in Herat: New Findings about its Architecture and Ceramic Tile Decorations View supplementary material". IRAN: 5, Figure 8. doi:10.1080/05786967.2019.1571769.
- ^ a b Lorain, Sandra Aube; C, BENDEZU-SARMIENTO Julio (1 January 2019). "Sandra Aube, Thomas Lorain & Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento, 2019, Iran Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies The Complex of Gawhar Shad in Herat: New Findings about its Architecture and Ceramic Tile Decorations View supplementary material". IRAN: Figure 3. doi:10.1080/05786967.2019.1571769.
- ^ "Archnet > Site > Masjid-i Jami'". www.archnet.org.
- ^ Lorain, Sandra Aube; C, BENDEZU-SARMIENTO Julio (1 January 2019). "Sandra Aube, Thomas Lorain & Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento, 2019, Iran Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies The Complex of Gawhar Shad in Herat: New Findings about its Architecture and Ceramic Tile Decorations View supplementary material". IRAN: Figure 8. doi:10.1080/05786967.2019.1571769.
- ^ Lorain, Sandra Aube; C, BENDEZU-SARMIENTO Julio (1 January 2019). "Sandra Aube, Thomas Lorain & Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento, 2019, Iran Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies The Complex of Gawhar Shad in Herat: New Findings about its Architecture and Ceramic Tile Decorations View supplementary material". IRAN: Figure 3. doi:10.1080/05786967.2019.1571769.
- ^ Some are visible in the Friday Mosque in Herat