28. In fig. 4 I have reconstructed the maydān according to Chardin's description. On the northwest it had a qayṣāriyyah, or bazaar portal. This side was abutted by two “radial” streets, today called Kūchah Jubārah and Kūchah Kamāl al-Dīn Ismaᶜīl, leading to his tomb further north. One of these was probably the “Street of the Arabs,” mentioned in Chardin.
Further south along the maydān was the pavilion for the instruments, a naqārah-khānah. Chardin then comes to a minaret, the KhwājahĀᶜlam, which is no longer extant. The map shows its location according to oral report. I have put in a small mosque associated with the minaret. Near the minaret was a very old palace with four corner towers. We should also bear in mind that this area near the Harūniyyah was the takhtgāh, which tends to confirm our speculation that a pre- Safavid palace lay here.
What conclusions can we draw? In the period immediately preceding Shāh ᶜAbbās’ transformation of the city it is clear what a maydān consisted of: it was an open space around which were grouped three elements: 1) those associated with the prince; 2) those associated with the commercial life of the city; and 3) the Jāmiᶜ, the spiritual center and the symbol of the urban community at large. This became essentially the composition of Shāh ᶜAbbās’ maydān as well. It was a coming together of political, economic, religious, and social institutions.
But what was the age of the pre-Safavid maydān? How far back does it go in the life of the Islamic city of Isfahan? Working backwards in archaeological fashion, let us consider the evidence for each period. For the fifteenth century to the mid-sixteenth, there is neither archaeological nor literary data on this maydān. The picture is brighter for the fourteenth century. On the archaeological side we can put the extensive repairs in the Jāmiᶜ, particularly the late fourteenth century entrance complex built toward the maydān, as well as the Khwājū Āᶜlam minaret, which more than likely was attached to a small mosque.
The next piece of evidence comes from Mafarrūkhī and is fraught with problems. To begin with, I have had access only to the Persian translation written in the early fourteenth century, and not to the Arabic original of the eleventh century. I do not know therefore whether to relate the information to the earlier period or to the time of the translator. Immediately following the passage in question the translator does go on to deal with buildings of his own day.
After the text describes the walls and gates of the city, it mentions two government establishments: a Dār al-'Imārah (governor's residence) and a Majlis al-Vuzarā’ (the ministry). The complex contained extensive gardens and stables as well as several divān-khānahs or offices.
Immediately following the description of this lavish city-palace the author makes a cryptic remark. He says: “Every corner of its maydān is full of people.” Since this statement seems to begin a new paragraph, it is not clear whether “its” refers to the palace just described or to the city. If it refers to the city, then this could be a reference to the maydān of Chardin. But even so, we need not assume that the palace was associated with it or was anywhere near it. Such are the problems of this potentially important but very elusive passage.
The author then goes on to describe the thousands of palaces built for the viziers, each with its own iwans, stables, maydān and gardens. Here the term “maydān” clearly refers to large open spaces within private complexes.
What other evidence exists for a maydān of Seljuq origin? Tradition does attribute its foundation to the Seljuqs, but I have found no clear textual evidence for this, earlier than the nineteenth century.
On the archaeological side we do have quite a few Seljuq buildings constructed in the area presumed to be the Old Maydān: one could include additions and modifications to the Jāmiᶜ, particularly the north dome and portal; the Manārah ᶜAlī, standing to the south of the Old Maydān; and further east a Seljuq madrasah, probably that of Malikshāh, today the alleged tomb of Niẓām al-Mulk. Near the Jāmiᶜ in the Dardasht quarter Niẓām al-Mulk built his own madrasah, known only from texts, as is also the madrasah of Sulṭān Muḥammad, built in the Gulbārah quarter (south of the Old Maydān). One can therefore say that this central area of the city was a major focal point during the Seljuq period.
We may also infer from the existence of a Shāriᶜah Maydān, literally street of the maydān, in Seljuq times that an important maydān stood somewhere inside the city. This street lay near the south wall of the city and was the site of a Seljuq pavilion in the Bāgh-i Kārān. Perhaps it led north to the Old Maydān.
To complicated matters, however, let us recall that a maydān of some sort did exist near the Jāmiᶜ already in Buyid times. Abū Nuᶜaym of the early eleventh century in retelling the story of the Byzantine physician who settled in the village of Yavān identifies this site as being, in his own day, the Maydān-i Sulaymān. Elsewhere he states that a certain Muḥammad b. Sulaymān is the owner of this Maydān-i Sulaymān.
