BADR-AL-DĪN TABRĪZĪ

 

BADR-AL-DĪN TABRĪZĪ, architect and savant active in Konya in Anatolia during the third quarter of the thirteenth century. He is described by Aflākī (I, p. 389) as the architect (meʿmār) of the tomb of the great mystic poet Jalāl-al-Dīn Rūmī (d. 1273). He came to Anatolia probably as one of those Iranian craftsmen and men of learning who sought refuge in Asia Minor after the Mongol invasion of Iran in the middle of the thirteenth century. The Manāqeb al-ʿārefīn states that Badr-al-Dīn possessed, in addition to skills as an architect, knowledge of astrology, mathematics, geometry, spells and magic, alchemy, philosophy, and the cultivation of citrus (I, p. 141). A disciple (morīd) of Rūmī, Aflākī (I, p. 387) lauds him as “the second Socrates and Greek Plato.” After Rūmī’s death, he is said to have been charged by the Saljuq amir, ʿAlam-al-Dīn Qayṣar, with the construction of a tomb for the saint, apparently of the ayvān type, which is known today as the Yešil Qubbe (Green Dome) because of the addition of a turquoise-faience riveted tower over the original structure during the Qaramanid period (800/1397-98).

 

Bibliography:

Šams-al-Dīn Aḥmad Aflākī, Manāqeb al-ʿārefīn, ed. T. Yazıcı, Ankara, 1976, I, pp. 141, 193-94, 387-89.

H. Karamağaralı, “Mevlana’nın türbesi,” Türk etnografya dergisi 7-8, 1964-65, pp. 38-42.

L. A. Mayer, Islamic Architects and their Works, Geneva, 1958, p. 57.

Search terms:

بدرالدین تبریزی badr al din tabrizi badr al din tabrizy badr aldin tabrizi

 

(H. Crane)

Originally Published: December 15, 1988

Last Updated: August 22, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. III, Fasc. 4, p. 382