چكيده لاتين :
Architecture is among the important branches of art and civilization and architectural structures,
beside their practical uses, have also served as the ground for the emergence of different arts
and as indications of the grand status and glories of their founders. Among the various branches
of architecture, tomb structures and funeral monuments have long played significant roles in
culture, civilization and society of Iran and also have occupied an essential place in the history
of our architecture. Therefore, beside the mosques, shrines have been the most popular public
buildings in Iran and have entered the cultural tissues of Iranian life and society. A large portion
of the evolution of architecture in Islamic era can be traced in the holy shrines and tombs. The
formation, identity and being of these buildings are often closely connected with great local,
national, political and religious leaders and characters. Thee architectural monuments also
deserve scholarly studies in terms of their artistic, social, historical, cultural and religious
aspects. Caring for shrines and building them is related to belief in hereafter, desire for
immortality and love of followers and lovers of the deceased persons. Building of such places
which come under various names such as “burial place”, “shrine”, “sanctuary”, “sanctum”,
“receptacle”, “tomb”, “sepulcher”, “tower”, “imamzadeh”, etc. roughly began in 4th century A
H. and became then more prevalent is eastern and northern Iran through the practice and
believes of various sects and dynasties. The process became especially popular during the Shite
dynasties such as Alavids (250-360 A H), and Buwayhids (320-447 A. H.) whose political
power and rule helped the building of such places, shrines and tombs more than ever.
In the Islamic societies of middle centuries, shrines found a very high stature among the masses
and ordinary religious people. Interestingly, building shrines for great religious and social
leaders has been more passionately pursued in Iran than in other Islamic countries so that, Ernst
Diez, the Austrian art historian, “such buildings are the most popular and prevalent in Islamic
Iran.” In fact, it was for the grand status and importance of such places that the first major
undertaking that kings did after succession, was erecting graves and shrines for themselves and
their fathers and relatives so as to be redeemed by God and gain an everlasting fame and name.
Regarding their shape and format, sepulchers are basically divided into two forms: tower tombs
and non-tower (rectangles tombs). A large portion of the shrines in Islamic era are tower tombs
which have different shapes such as circular, multisided and finny, and also have common
features such as a tall outside tower, and in them, emphasis is on the altitude not the extent of
the building. Although some scholars have tried to work out a justification for the birth and
building of tower tombs, none has ever come up with an all-satisfying evidence for the
formation of such building along with the Islamic traditions governing them. In Hamadan
province, Iran, there are some tower tombs from different Islamic eras, such as Ghorban Tower, Baba Hossein Tower in Malayer, Hayaquq Tower Tomb, etc. in the present study, we have
undertaken to introduce one such tower tomb and describe its architectural and archeological
characteristics; that is “Azhar Tower” that is located at the Dargazin section of Razan city,
Hamadan Province. The city is situated at the north of Hamadan province and has many
historical and cultural works belonging to different historical epochs, mostly Islamic era. The
tower tomb with finny shape ,also called AzharImamzadeh, is one of the works from the Islamic
era, but has not so far been comprehensively studied and there exists still many ambiguities
about its history and being. The present study, thus, aims at considering the structural features
of this building, its decorative elements, architectural innovations, and finding about the identity
of the person buried under it. It also intends to consider this tomb as one of the few tower tombs
with a finny shape and a star-like base for the tower, and comparing it with similar buildings in
order to trace the mutual influences exchanged between it and similar forms both before and
after its date. The research methodology applied for this purpose is an archeological case
studythrough a descriptive-analytic study alongside using written sources such as historical and
geographical documents and travelogues. The main questions posed by the project are: 1- in
which historical age was the Azghar Tower built and with which similar architectural works can
it be compared? 2- What are the innovations, and the architectural and decorative elements of
the Tower? 3- Regarding the great importance of the Dargazin region in different historical eras,
especially in middle Islamic epochs and the great sociopolitical people that have emerged in this
region, what can be known about the identity of the person buried in there? The final results of
the study show that the Azhar Tower Tomb dates back to the first half of the eighth century A.
H. when the Ilkhanate (654-750 A H). Also, as the last tower shrine with a finny design in the
history of Iranian Islamic architecture, it had been built based on the architectural and
decorative forms dominant in the Ilkhanate age, and had been affected by some tower tombs in
the central and northern parts of Iran, particularly, Imamzadeh Abdullah, and Ubayd Allah of
Damavand, and the Bastam Tower. It is also most probable that the Azhar Tower was built for
the burial of one of the outstanding man of the Dargazin region, named Sheik Sharaf-o-
Aldin Dargazini.
