Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University
2
Ph.D. in Archaeology, Independent Researcher
10.22080/hpai.2024.4625
Abstract
Isfahan were playing an important role in the political, economic, and social developments during the Islamic centuries. Isfahan was chosen as one of the capitals during the Seljuq period and the development of roads between Isfahan and other areas became more necessary in order to facilitate exchanges and access to the entire territory of the government. Therefore, the north-ern roads of Isfahan were developed during this period. The questions are, what was the loca-tion and development of the northern roads of Isfahan during the Seljuq period? What are the characteristics of the mid-way buildings in the northern regions of Isfahan during this era? Therefore, the road network of the northern plain of Isfahan and the Seljuq mid-way buildings were studied in this article. The data were collected based on an archaeological field survey and the study of historical sources. Then, the spatial relationships between these roads and mid-way buildings were analyzed. The results show that some pre-Seljuq roads were improved and the mid-way buildings were reconstructed due to the developments of cities and villages during the Seljuq era. Three main roads passed through the Barkhor plain in the northern regions of Isfahan during the Seljuq period. The northeast road from Isfahan reached Robat Sultan, Na-tanz, Kashan, and Rayy. The northern road led to Morcheh Khort, Meymeh, Delijan, Qom, and Rayy. The northwest road reached the old Chaleh Siyah, Alavijeh, Golpayegan, Borujerd, and the west of the country. According to the following reasons; “The characteristics of mid-way buildings in these roads”, “natural and geographical features”, and “access to important cities” such as Ardestan, Naeen, Khorasan, Kashan, and Rayy, it seems that the main Seljuq Road of Isfahan was the northeastern road and the next main road was the northern road. While the northwestern road functioned as a secondary road.Keywords: Roads, caravanserais, mid-way buildings, Seljuq, Isfahan, Borkhar.
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