List of ab anbars of Qazvin

Last updated
Ab anbar of Sardar-i Bozorg, in Qazvin, is the largest single domed ab anbar in Iran. Sardar Bozorg ab anbar.jpg
Ab anbar of Sardar-i Bozorg, in Qazvin, is the largest single domed ab anbar in Iran.

Qazvin is known to have had close to, or in excess of 100 drinking water reservoirs called ab anbars before modernization in the 20th century.

Contents

Only ten remain fully intact today. All are protected as national cultural heritage relics. The extant ab anbars of Qazvin are:

Built in 1682 (1093 AH lunar) during the reign of Shah Suleyman I Safavi, located next to the Jame’ (congregation) mosque, with the benefactor listed as Ali Khan-e Nāmi (6, 410). This ab anbar has a second private stairway that opens directly into the tank, for lay-rubi. The Sarooj covered walls are 2.4 meters thick (3, 80) surrounding all sides of the tank.

Two brothers by the names of Mohammad Hasan Khan and Mohammad Hosein Qoli Khan e Sardar who were commanders of The Qajar monarch Fath-ali shah's army make a vow to build a mosque, school, and ab anbar in the driest part of the city (3, 81) if they return victorious from a battle against the Russian army (1). This ab anbar was finished in 1812 (1227 AH lunar). Its walls are 3 m thick (3, 81).

With 37 steps, 4 faucets located at various intervals, four domes, and four semi-windcatchers, this ab anbar was built in 1814 (1229 AH lunar) as part of a school-mosque-ab anbar complex by the same two brothers (3, 82).

The sar-dar of the ab anbar of Haj Kazem, as sketched by French explorer Dieulafoy in the mid-1800s. Diolafoi Haj Kazem.jpg
The sar-dar of the ab anbar of Haj Kazem, as sketched by French explorer Dieulafoy in the mid-1800s.

With 40 steps, 2 faucets, and 2 windcatchers standing 8 m tall, and storage walls 3 m thick, this ab anbar was finished in 1840 (1256 AH lunar) in one of Qazvin's drier neighborhoods. The inscriptions on top of the sardar mention Haj Kazem Kuzehgar and his assistant Haji Ismail as the architects of the ab anbar.

With 36 steps, this ab anbar was finished in 1828 (1244 AH lunar) by Haj Mirza Hakim, a local physician. Next to the sardar, a saqqa-khaneh was built at the same time. This is a small enclave where people light candles in front of sacred images of Shia icons, and pray for requests (nazr).

Built in 1763 (1177 AH lunar) according to the inscription on top of the sardar, during the reign of the Zand dynasty. The pasheer contains 2 gushvars.

Constructed under charity by a benefactor by the name of Haj Mola Abdol-vahhab, who was a famous cleric in the Qajar era, its entry is located inside the bazaar of the coppersmiths, has 43 steps, 4 columns inside the storage tank, 10 flat domes, 5 windcatchers, and also has a separate stairway for layeh-rubi that is also connected to the basement of the adjacent mosque (3, 82).

Also a relic of the Qajar era, with 30 steps, and walls 2.2 m thick.

Dimensions and capacity

Fully intact surviving ab anbars of Qazvin in order of capacity
Ab anbar nameDimensions (m)Capacity (m3)
Sardar-e Bozorg17 x 17 x 174900
Jame’ Mosque37.5 x 10 x 103750
Nabi Mosque36 x 10 x 103600
Sardar-e Kuchak20 x 19 x 5.52090
Haj Kazem26 x 7.5 x 101950
Hakim18 x 18 x 61944
Agha11.5 x 10.25 x 5.5648
Razavi Caravanserai14.5 x 6.5 x 5471
Zobideh Khatun11.5 x 2.65 x 6.5198

See also

Related Research Articles

Golestan Palace

The Golestan Palace, also known as the Gulistan Palace and sometimes known as the Rose Garden Palace, is the former royal Qajar complex in Iran's capital city, Tehran.

Qazvin Province Province of Iran

Qazvin Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the north-west of the country, and its center is the city of Qazvin. The province was created in 1993 out of part of Tehran Province. The counties of Qazvin Province are Qazvin County, Takestan County, Abyek County, Buin Zahra County, Mobarakeh County, Alborz County & Avaj County. The largest cities are Qazvin, Takestan, Abyek, Alvand, Iran, Bidestan, Mobarakeh, Mohammadiyeh & Eqbaliyeh.

Sattar Khan

Sattar Khan, honorarily titled Sardār-e Melli was a pivotal figure in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and is considered a national hero by the Iranian people.

Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine Iranian national heritage site

The Shāh Abdol-Azīm Shrine, also known as Shabdolazim, located in Rey, Iran, contains the tomb of ‘Abdul ‘Adhīm ibn ‘Abdillāh al-Hasanī. Shah Abdol Azim was a fifth generation descendant of Hasan ibn ‘Alī and a companion of Muhammad al-Taqī. He was entombed here after his death in the 9th century.

Dowlatshah

Mohammad Ali Mirza Dowlatshah was a famous Iranian Prince of the Qajar Dynasty. He is also the progenitor of the Dowlatshahi Family of Persia. He was born at Nava, in Mazandaran, a Caspian province in the north of Iran. He was the first son of Fath-Ali Shah, the second Qajar king of Persia, and Ziba Chehr Khanoum, a Georgian girl of the Tsikarashvili family. He was also the elder brother of Abbas Mirza. Dowlatshah was the governor of Fars at age 9, Qazvin and Gilan at age 11, Khuzestan and Lorestan at age 16, and Kermanshah at age 19.

Architects of Iran Wikimedia list article

Traditionally, Iranian architects were known as Mi'mars.

Most rivers in Iran are seasonal and have traditionally not been able to supply the needs of urban settlements. Major rivers like the Arvand, Aras, Zayandeh, Sefid and Atrak were few and far between in the vast lands of Persian antiquity.

Ab anbar traditional Iranian water reservoir

An ab anbar is a traditional reservoir or cistern of drinking water in Greater Iran in antiquity.

Sardār-e Īravānī was the title of Hossein Khan Sardar Qajar (1740–1830) and his brother Hasan Khan Qajar, the last governor of Erivan (Yerevan) 1807–28. This title was also used by Mohammad Hassan Khan Sardari Iravani, the son of Mohammad Khan Iravani, the preceding Khan of Erivan. He was the ancestor of family Sardari Iravani, an old Qajar family.

Hossein Khan Sardar

Hossein Qoli Khan Sardar Qajar, better simply known as Hossein Khan Sardar was an Iranian statesman in Qajar Iran, who was the last governor of the Erivan Khanate from 1807 to 1828. Around 1826–1828, he and Abbas Mirza, the crown prince, attempted to win back the Transcaucasian and Dagestanian possessions lost to Russia during the war of 1804-1813 which had ended with the Gulistan Treaty. However, using superior tactics and weapons developed since their defeat of Napoleon, the Tsar’s generals inflicted even greater losses on Iran.

Persian Constitutional Revolution 1909 uprising against the ruling monarch of Iran, Mohammad Ali Shah

The Persian Constitutional Revolution, also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a parliament in Persia (Iran) during the Qajar dynasty.

Ganjali Khan Complex

The Ganjali Khan Complex is a Safavid-era building complex, located in the old center of city of Kerman, Iran. The complex is composed of a school, a square, a caravanserai, a bathhouse (hammam), an Ab Anbar, a mint, a mosque and a bazaar.

Sheikh Jafar Shooshtari

Sheikh Jafar ibn Hussein ibn Ali Shooshtari was a prominent Shia scholar from the city of Shooshtar.

Triumph of Tehran 1909 entry of pro-constitution forces into Tehran

The Triumph of Tehran refers to the entrance of the pro-constitutionalists in Tehran on 13 July 1909, which led Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar to seek refuge at the Russian legation in Tehran, before he was sent in exile.

Siege of Astarabad

The Siege of Astarabad took place in June 1908 when Mohammad Baqir Khan Salar Akram was commissioned by the authoritarian government of Mohammad Ali Shah to take Astarabad from the constitutionalists. Astarabad was located in a very important strategic region because on the one hand it had access to Russia and on the other hand it was a region with the necessary strength for emergencies. Salar Akram reached the gates of Astarabad in June 1908, a week after the bombing of the parliament with his army, but Sardar Rafi Yansari, Wali of the province of Astarabad, did not allow him to enter, which led to a three-month siege; But in the end, Salar Akram was killed in a clash and the constitutionalists won. After that, a group of authoritarians revolted against Sardar Rafi, and in the end, Sardar Rafi defeated all of them.

Hossein Gholi Khan Ilkhani

Hossein Gholi Khan Ilkhani (1821-1882) was an Iranian nobleman of the Bakhtiari tribe and a powerful khan. Hossein Gholi Khan united the Bakhtiari tribe and killed many of his opponents in the process, eventually turning the Bakhtiari tribe, which had no role in politics, into one of the most powerful political poles of Qajar Iran. Most of Hossein Gholi Khan's children, including Ali-Gholi Khan Bakhtiari, played a role in important events in contemporary Iranian history, such as the Constitutional Revolution.

<i>The Divān of Hafez</i>

The Divān of Hafez is a collection of poems written by the Iranian poet Hafez. Most of these poems are in Persian, but there are some macaronic language poems and a completely Arabic ghazal. The most important part of this Divān is the ghazals. Poems in other forms such as qetʿe, qasida, mathnawi and rubaʿi are as well included in the Divān. There is no evidence that Hafez's lost poems might have constituted the majority of his poetic output, and in addition, Hafez was very famous during his lifetime. Therefore he cannot have been a prolific poet. The number of ghazals that are generally accepted is less than 500: 495 ghazals in Ghazvini and Ghani edition, 486 ghazals in Natel-Khanlari's second edition and 484 ghazals in the Sayeh edition.

Sardar-e Bozorg Ab Anbar

Sardar-e Bozorg Ab Anbar is an Ab Anbar in Qazvin, Iran. It is the largest single-domed Ab Anbar(Water reservoir) in Iran.

References

  1. Memari e Islami e Iran. M. K. Pirnia. ISBN   964-454-093-X
  2. Minudar or Babuljanne. Gulriz, Mohammad Ali. Taha publications. 3rd printing. Qazvin. 1381 (2002). ISBN   964-6228-61-5
  3. Qazvin: ayinah-yi tarikh va tabi’at-i Iran. Hazrati, Mohammad Ali. Sazeman e Irangardi va Jahangardi publications. Qazvin. 1382 (2003). ISBN   964-7536-35-6
  4. Saimaa-yi ustaan-I Qazvain. Haji aqa Mohammadi, Abbas. Taha Publications. Qazvin. 1378 (1998). ISBN   964-6228-09-7
  5. Memari-ye ab anbar haye shahr e Qazvin. Memarian, Gholamhosein. Asar. Vol 35. Miras Farhangi publications. Tehran. (p187-197).
  6. Sair e Tarikhi e banaayi Shahr e Qazvin va Banaha-yi an. Siyaghi, Dr. Seyd Mohammad Dabir. Sazeman e Miras e Farhangi. Qazvin. 2002. ISBN   964-7536-29-1
  7. M.J. Strauss. Old ways of water management spring up again in arid regions. International Herald Tribune. Aug 20, 2005.