Table of Contents

• ISFAHAN iii. POPULATION (1) The Qajar Period

  Heidi Walcher

  Moḥammad-Mahdi Arbāb, a native of Isfahan, maintained that, at the time of Nāṣer-al-Din Shah’s accession in 1848, there were 200,000 city inhabitants, with that number decreasing to about 80,000 for a period before growing again.

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• ISFAHAN iii. POPULATION (2) Isfahan Province

  Habibollah Zanjani

  In 2001, the sub-provinces of Isfahan (with more than 1.6 million), Kāšān, and Najafabād (with more than 300,000) were the most populated, while the sub-provinces of Naṭanz, Fereydunšahr, and Ardestān were the least populated with populations of less than 50,000 persons.

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• ISFAHAN iii. POPULATION (3) Isfahan City

  Habibollah Zanjani

  As the capital of Isfahan Province, the city accounted, in 1996, for about 32.2 percent of the total population of the province and 43.4 percent of its urban population. Isfahan is also the third most populated city in the country, behind Tehran and Mashad.

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• ISFAHAN iv. PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD

  J. Hansman and EIr

  The Arab geographers  report that the Sasanian city of Isfahan comprised two adjoining towns: Jayy, the fortified town and province center and, two miles (mil) away, Yahudiya, a Jewish settlement.

• ISFAHAN v. LOCAL HISTORIOGRAPHY

  JÜRGEN PAUL

  Isfahan is exceptional in the number and variety of works of local historiography; no other Persian city has attracted nearly as many such works.

• ISFAHAN vi. MEDIEVAL PERIOD

  Hossein Kamaly

  The history of Isfahan prior to the city’s efflorescence in the 17th century often traced alternating cycles of urbanization and de-urbanization.

• ISFAHAN vii. SAFAVID PERIOD

  Masashi Haneda and Rudi Matthee

  Isfahan came under Safavid rule in 1503 following Shah Esmāʿil’s defeat of Solṭān Morād, the Āq Qoyunlu ruler of Erāq-e ʿAjam, near Hamadān.

• Isfahan ix. THE PAHLAVI PERIOD AND THE POST-REVOLUTION ERA

  Habib Borjian

  In the process of consolidating his power in Isfahan, Reza Shah managed to constrain two powerful social groups: the Shiʿite clergy and the Baḵtiāri tribesmen.

• ISFAHAN x. MONUMENTS

  Sussan Babaie with Robert Haug

  According to the French traveler Jean Chardin, in the late 17th century Isfahan housed some 162 mosques, 48 theological colleges (madrasa), 1,802 caravansaries, and 273 bathhouses.

• Isfahan x. MONUMENTS (1) A Historical Survey

  Sussan Babaie with Robert Haug

   Isfahan’s monuments developed in the early medieval period first under the ʿAbbāsid caliphate and Buyid patronage. But many of the extant monuments of Isfahan date to the 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

  European visitors to Safavid Persia, for example, found themselves increasingly bound by Isfahan, where they were able to gain a royal audience or conduct their business with the court and government bureaucracy without having to follow the itinerant monarchs.

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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

  The earliest extant madrasa in Isfahan is the 1325 Emāmi Madrasa, which is also known as the Madrasa-ye Bābā Qāsem after the name of its first teacher, who is buried in a nearby tomb. As in Persian mosque type, this and most other madrasas in Persia follow the four-ayvān courtyard-centered plan.

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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, when it was chosen as the Safavid capital. The school has two distinct phases of first the followers of Reżā ʿAbbāsi and then the European style.

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• Isfahan xii. BAZAAR: PLAN AND FUNCTION

  Willem Floor

  It is one of the best-preserved examples of a 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

  The distribution of economic activities within Isfahan, with an urbanism of 76 percent, is highly uneven. The oasis of Isfahan, watered by the Zāyandarud, is responsible for nearly half of rural activities.

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