Four Central Asian Shrines: A Socio-political History of Architecture

Publication Year
2021

Type

Book
Abstract

Robert D. McChesney, B.A. 1967, Ph.D. 1973.

In Central Asia, Muslim shrines have served as community centers for centuries, particularly the large urban shrines that seem, in many cases, to have served as the inspiration as well for a city’s architectural development. In Four Central Asian Shrines: A Socio-Political History of Architecture R. D. McChesney documents the histories of four such long-standing shrines—Gur-i Mir at Samarqand, Khwajah Abu Nasr Parsa Mazar at Balkh, the Noble Rawzah at Mazar-i Sharif, and the Khirqat al-Nabi at Qandahar. In all four cases the creation and evolution of the architecture of these shrines is traced through narratives about their social and political histories and in the past century and a half, through the photographic record.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Note on Transliteration

Figures, Maps, Plans, and Tables

Maps

Introduction

Chapter 1 Gur-i Mir: The Timurid Shrine at Samarqand 1405–2016

Chapter 2 Centering a City (1): The Khwajah Abu Nasr Parsa Shrine at Balkh

Chapter 3 Centering a City (2): The Noble Rawzah of Mazar-i Sharif

Chapter 4 The Shrine of the Prophet’s Cloak, the Khirqat al-Nabī of Qandahar

Conclusion

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

 

Series Title
Studies in Persian Cultural History
Series Volume
18
Publisher
Brill
City
Leiden and Boston
ISSN Number
Cloth: 9789004459588; ebook: 9789004459595
Category