Table of Contents

• Isfahan x. MONUMENTS (1) A Historical Survey

  Sussan Babaie with Robert Haug

   Isfahan’s monuments developed, in the Islamic era: first, in the early medieval period under the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate and Buyid patronage. Many of the extant monuments of Isfahan, however, date to two periods in history when the city served as the capital of the ruling dynasties of the Great Saljuqs (1040-1194) and the Safavids (1501-1722).

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• Isfahan x. Monuments (2) Palaces

  Sussan Babaie with Robert Haug

  None of the royal palaces and pavilions of Isfahan built prior to the 17th century is extant. In contrast, of all the monuments of Isfahan, Safavid palaces represent the most coherent group of buildings to have survived from a single period.

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• Isfahan x. Monuments (3) Mosques

  Sussan Babaie with Robert Haug

  Isfahan is known historically for its large number of mosques. According to Abu Noʿaym of Isfahan, the first large mosque in Isfahan was built during the Caliphate of Imam ʿAli b. Abi Ṭāleb (r. 656-61). The French traveler Jean Chardin counted 162 mosques during his travels to Isfahan in the middle of the 17th century.

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• Isfahan x. Monuments (4) Madrasas

  Sussan Babaie with Robert Haug

  In Isfahan, as elsewhere in Persia, the earliest madrasas were established to spread and solidify Sunni orthodoxy.

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• Isfahan x. Monuments (5) Bridges

  Sussan Babaie with Robert Haug

  On the southern edge of the city of Isfahan lies the Zāyandarud River, the unnavigable river that has been the major source of water in the region since the earliest settlements in its environs. Until the transfer of the Safavid capital to Isfahan in the late 16th century, the river was well outside the city walls.

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• Isfahan x. Monuments (6) Bibliography

  Sussan Babaie with Robert Haug

• Isfahan xi. SCHOOL OF PAINTING AND CALLIGRAPHY

  Massumeh Farhad

  The “Isfahan” school of painting and calligraphy generally refers to works of art associated with the city from about 1597-98, when it was chosen as the Safavid capital, until the Afghan invasion of 1722. In the second half of the 17th century, many Isfahani artists  began experimenting with Europeanized pictorial concepts, such as modeling and shading—the second phase of the “Isfahan” school of painting.

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• Isfahan xii. BAZAAR: PLAN AND FUNCTION

  Willem Floor

  The bazaar of Isfahan is one of the best-preserved examples of the kind of large, enclosed, and covered bazaar complex that was typical of most cities in the Muslim world prior to the 20th century. The oldest areas of the present-day bazaar date from the early 17th century; its first stone was laid in 1603.

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• Isfahan xiii. CRAFTS

  Habib Borjian and EIr

  Isfahan has maintained its position as a major center for traditional crafts in Persia. The crafts of Isfahan encompass textiles, carpets, metalwork, woodwork, ceramics, painting, and inlay works of various kind. The work is carried out in different settings including small industrial and bazaar workshops, in the homes of craftsmen and women, and in rural cottage industries.

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• Isfahan xiv. MODERN ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES

  Habib Borjian

  This sub-section is divided into the following parts: (1) Modern Economy of the Province; (2) Industries of Isfahan City.

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• Isfahan xiv. MODERN ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES (1) The Province

  Habib Borjian

  On the whole Isfahan is an average province within Persia in terms of general economic indices.

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• Isfahan xiv. MODERN ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES (2) Isfahan City

  Habib Borjian

  The stagnation experienced after the fall of the Safavids was even more marked in the 19th century, owing to European competition that had rendered many local industries practically extinct.

• Isfahan xv. EDUCATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS

  Maryam Borjian and Habib Borjian

  Isfahan is distinguished among Persian cities not only for its size, centrality, position in a riverain plain, and numerous historical monuments, but also for the idiosyncratic characteristic of its inhabitants.

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• Isfahan xvi. FOLKLORE AND LEGEND

  Mahmoud Omidsalar

  Systematic collection of the folklore of Isfahan is mostly due to Amirqoli Amini, whose first publication was a collection of Persian dicta entitled hazār o yak soḵan.

• Isfahan xvii. ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

  Cross-Reference

  See JULFA.

• Isfahan xviii. JEWISH COMMUNITY

  Amnon Netzer

  The beginning of the Jewish settlement in Isfahan is mixed with legends, but there are fragmentary source materials that enable us to reconstruct the major historical events concerning it.

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• Isfahan xix. JEWISH DIALECT

  Donald Stilo

  The dialect spoken by the Jews of Isfahan belongs to the Central Dialect group. The original speech form of the city of Isfahan was probably very similar to it.

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• Isfahan xx. GEOGRAPHY OF THE MEDIAN DIALECTS OF ISFAHAN

  Habib Borjian

  The continuum of Central Plateau Dialects appears along a northwest-souteast axis traversing the modern provinces of Hamadān, Markazi, Isfahan, and Yazd, that is, the area of Ancient Media Major.

• Isfahan xxi. PROVINCIAL DIALECTS

  Donald Stilo

  The Iranian languages of Isfahan Province are of three basic types: Northwest Iranian dialects belonging to the Central Plateau Dialect group, and two different types of Southwest Iranian  languages: slightly divergent dialects of Persian, but intelligible to the standard language, and  large pockets of Lori.

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• Isfahan xxii. GAZI DIALECT

  Donald Stilo

  spoken in the city of Gaz in the district of Borḵᵛār, belonging to the Central Plateau Dialect group ( of Northwestern Iranian languages.

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