Lesson 12: Timurid Cities in Iran and Central Asia

The twelfth lesson in a 22 lesson course on Monuments of Islamic Architecture developed by Professors Gulru Necipoglu and David Roxburgh at the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University. This lesson explores a dialogue between soft and hard architecture, between an architecture that is portable, ephemeral and essentially nomadic in nature, and its intersection with sedentary forms of architecture that were mostly permanent and fixed.

What exchanges occurred between temporary and permanent architecture?
How do ceramic tiles reflect the impact of portable architecture?
In Timurid Samarqand, we will explore a slightly different process of assimilation than that of the Ilkhanid projects, which primarily functioned as translation from the nomadic to sedentary. Rather, we will investigate how Timur and the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, who were already deeply familiar with the traditions of sedentary Islam, accumulated and redirected diverse cultural and aesthetic traditions.

Citation
Necipoglu, Gulru and David Roxburgh. “Timurid Cities in Iran and Central Asia.” Lesson 12/22 presentation developed for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture Education Programme, 2019.