Al-Rashid Mausoleum ( fa, آرامگاه الراشدبالله) is a historical
mausoleum in
Isfahan,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. It dates back to the
Seljukid
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
era and is located on the northern bank of
Zayanderud
Zayanderud ( fa, Zāyanderud, script=Latn, from "fertile" or "life giver", and "river"), also spelled as ''Zayandeh-Rood'' or ''Zayanderood'', is the largest river of the Iranian Plateau in central Iran.
Geography
The Zayandeh starts in ...
beside the
Shahrestan bridge
The Shahrestan bridge is the oldest bridge on the Zayandeh River in Iran. The foundations date back to the Sasanian era (3rd to 7th century C.E.), but the top was renovated twice, first in the 10th century by the Buyids, then during the 11th centur ...
. This structure is the burial place of
Al-Rashid, the 30th
Abbasid caliph, who left his palace and fled from Baghdad to Isfahan, when
Mahmud II
Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839.
His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...
captured Baghdad. Two years later, Al-Rashid was stabbed and killed by
Hashshashins
The Order of Assassins or simply the Assassins ( fa, حَشّاشین, Ḥaššāšīn, ) were a Nizārī Ismāʿīlī order and sect of Shīʿa Islam that existed between 1090 and 1275 CE. During that time, they lived in the mountains of P ...
in 1138. The only decorative element of the mausoleum is a
stucco Kufic
Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...
inscription
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the w ...
.
See also
*
References
{{reflist
Buildings and structures completed in the 12th century
Mausoleums in Isfahan
Burial sites of the Abbasid dynasty