نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 دانش‌آموختۀ کارشناسی ارشد باستان‌شناسی، گروه باستان‌شناسی، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم‌انسانی، دانشگاه تهران، تهران، ایران
2 دانشجوی دکتری باستان‌شناسی، گروه تاریخ و باستان‌شناسی، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، واحد تهران مرکز، دانشگاه آزاد، تهران، ایران
چکیده
کلیدواژه‌ها
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
Abstract
The decorative motifs of gravestones reflect cultural, social and religious conditions, which are manifested in the form of different motifs. Studying the visible and hidden qualities of historical cemeteries is very important to understand the worlds and relationships governing past societies. In this research, which was carried out using the field and library data collection methods and written using descriptive-analytical method, the motifs and arrays on the tombstones of the historical cemeteries of Mahabad city were described, classified, designed, documented, and analyzed. The aim of this article is to understand the importance, and political, social and religious status of the city of Mahabad during the Islamic period by relying on written sources and archaeological evidence, including historical cemeteries. So far, no targeted archaeological survey has been conducted to identify and study the material that introduces these works. As a result, the study of the historical cemeteries of this region could depict the importance of this type of works in the archaeological studies of the Islamic period in Mahabad city and especially in Mukuriyan Kurdistan. The tombstones of the historical cemeteries of Mahabad as an example in the form of a statistical community, are comparable in terms of time and morphology with the tombstones of Mukuriyan Kurdistan and other regions of Iran, including Ardabil and Luristan. In this article, we try to answer these questions: Who were the prominent people buried in these cemeteries? And, what role or position did they play in the history of this region? And in the study of the literary inscriptions and the rich engravings of the tombstones of Mahabad cemeteries, in terms of the variety and quality of the works, what important cultural and social results of their era do they tell? The findings of the research indicate that most of the historical tombstones in Mahabad belonged to people with a high social status in the Mukuriyan region.
Keywords: Mahabad, Tombstone, Cemetery, Mukuriyan.
Introduction
From the beginning of human thought until today, one of the most fundamental thoughts has been the issue of death and the world after it. This vision, in all societies, has had a variety of manifestations and effects, from rituals, ceremonies, and hymns to the creation of works such as sculptures, paintings, and illustrations. One of the integral components of this thinking in all societies, which is used as a basic tool for its objective and spiritual manifestations, is the grave and tombstone (Salimi et al., 2021: 328). In the past decades, there have been historical cemeteries with significant tombstones in and around the city of Mahabad. But now, there are not many remains to be left from most of them. Qalandari Savajbalaghi is the first person to point out the importance of this type of work in her unpublished reports (Qalandari Savajbalaghi, 1992). However, until now, no comprehensive study or research has been done that deals with the importance of this type of work in the archaeological studies of Mahabad. In this article, the aim is to understand the importance and political, social, and religious status of Mahabad city during the Islamic period by relying on written sources and archaeological evidence, including historical cemeteries. So far, a targeted archaeological survey that identifies and studies the physical objects that introduce these works has not been done. Therefore, the study and investigation of the historical cemeteries of this region can show the importance of this type of work from the Islamic period in Mahabad city and especially in Mukuriyan Kurdistan. The tombstones of the historical cemeteries of Mahabad, as an example in the form of a statistical community, are comparable in terms of time and morphology with the tombstones of Mukuriyan Kurdistan and the other regions of Iran, including Ardabil and Luristan. In this article, we will try to answer these questions: Who were the prominent people buried in these cemeteries? And what role or position did they have in the history of this region? Plus, in the study of the literary inscriptions and the rich inscriptions of the tombstones of Mahabad cemeteries, in terms of the variety and quality of the works, what important cultural and social results of their era do they reveal? The findings of the research indicate that most of the historical tombstones in Mahabad belonged to people with a high social status in the Mukuriyan region. As a result, it was found that, based on the tombstones, Mahabad city had significant political and religious importance in the mentioned region during the Ilkhanate and Safavid periods.
Historical cemeteries of Mahabad
There have been many historical cemeteries in the political geography of Mahabad in the past decades. Today, due to natural and human factors, the cemeteries of Mahabad are those cemeteries with magnificent tombstones, each of which has been an important source in relation to the political, social, religious, and economic events of this land in the past centuries. There are not many works left, and in fact, it can be said that if it were not for the scientific activities of Kamran Qalandari Savajbalaghi, our information about the historical cemeteries of Mahabad would be very meagre and incomplete. From the gravestones of nine cemeteries (together with the gravestones preserved in the Museum of Anthropology and the Cultural Heritage Department of Mahabad) of the five gravestones of Mahabad by Kamran Qalandari Savajbalaghi in the 1970s, they have been studied and documented, and after thirty years, the reports have not been published. Based on archaeological evidence and written sources, the city of Mahabad had five cemeteries belonging to the late Islamic centuries (late Safavid to first Pahlavi periods): Budag Sultan Cemetery, which belonged to the ruling family of governors Mukri. Mullah Jami cemetery, which was located at the Domain of Dasha Majid Mountain. This cemetery was the burial place of a religious figure named Mullah Jami (the first religious leader of Sur Mahabad Mosque) and her children, as well as other Muslims (Kurds). In addition to the Kurds, who made up the majority of the residents of Mahabad, Armenians and Jews also lived in this city. In this way, Armenians buried their dead behind Se Ashan and on the north side of Mulla Jami cemetery, and Jews buried their dead on Garavan Road, near Sur Bridge. At the same time as the First World War and because the people of Mahabad favored the Ottoman Turks during the Qajar Period, the residents of Mahabad were brutally massacred by the Russians, and later, they buried the victims of this horrible crime in a place called “Taghadar”. Now, out of the five cemeteries mentioned, the only one is the tomb of Budag Sultan in a cemetery with the same name, Mullah Jami’s tomb, which has no trace of its original structure, and also two tombstones that belonged to Takhadar cemetery, and now, they have moved from their original place. In addition to the cemeteries inside the city of Mahabad, in each of the villages of Mahabad Nazir, there are also historical cemeteries with interesting tombstones in Qom Qala, Laj, Otamish Olia, Kohneh Deh Ghazi, Khataei, Dehbokar and Ziveh, most of which have been destroyed at present. At the same time, by emphasizing the following cemeteries, we could understand the importance and place of Mahabad in the political, religious, social and economic developments during the middle and late Islamic centuries.
Conclusion
Relying on historical cemeteries and tombstones, one can look at the political, social, religious, economic and cultural events of societies in the past. In Mahabad, with an emphasis on written sources and archaeological evidence, there were historical cemeteries with luxurious tombstones, but now there are not many remains left due to natural and human destruction. This article is the first targeted archaeological investigation that identifies and introduces these works. Now, in Mahabad, five cemeteries belonging to different classes and groups of society have been identified. They show that during the past centuries, various groups of Kurds, Armenians, and Jews lived peacefully in Mahabad. They lived together and each of them built their own religious spaces, such as mosques, churches, synagogues, and cemeteries. In addition, the governors of Mukri had created a cemetery called Budaq Sultan, two kilometers away from the city, which at first glance shows the class and social distance between the government and the city’s residents. Political and religious figures were buried in each of these cemeteries, who played an important role in the political and religious events of that time. There are also many historical cemeteries in the corners of Mahabad city, such as Pir Mohammad Laj, Baba Turgen Qom Qala, and Otmish Olia, which depict the importance of the Mahabad region and Mukuriyan Kurdistan during the Islamic Middle Ages and the Mongol era. In each of these cemeteries, relying on the tombstones, religious figures are buried, who most likely had an impact on the political and religious events of the Mukuriyan region during the Mongol patriarchal period.
کلیدواژه‌ها [English]
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