Analysis of the Masjids of the Great Seljukid Caravanserais: Case Study of Ribati Sherif

Year 2024, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 201 - 225, 31.07.2024

Onur Şimşek

https://doi.org/10.61807/babdergisi.1490724

Abstract

“Ribat”, an Arabic word, means “keeping watch along the border to prevent enemy attacks”. In the history of Islamic architecture, it was used for the structures where soldiers tied their horses and kept watch along the borders. In addition to military training, worship and scientific activities were also important in ribats. Volunteer soldiers, called Muraabituun, would spend their time outside of military training with Qur’an reading, worship and dhikr, and prepare themselves for jihad. Therefore, the military function and the spiritual dimension were intertwined from the beginning. The masjids of the ribats are of great importance when evaluated in this context. The first ribats were built in Central Asia from the VIII century onwards. The Great Seljuks built ribats following the Samanids and Ghaznavids. Ribati Sherif, which is the subject of the research, is one of the most mature examples of the Great Seljukid ribats. Kâtib Ali al-Mansûr Asad b. Muhammed es-Sarahsî was the architect of the caravanserai, which is thought to have been built by the governor Şerefü’d-Dîn Ebû Tâhir b. Sa’d b. Ali b. İsa al-Kûmmî, in 1114-1115 and later became the vizier of Sultan Sanjar. Within the scope of this study, the architectural features and decorations of the two masjids of Ribati Sherif were analysed and evaluated within the architectural heritage of the Great Seljuks. As a result of the research in which literature review and field research methods were used as data collection methods, it is seen that the details of the Great Seljuk plan scheme, building technique, and ornamentation art can be called standardised spread over a large area.

Keywords

Great Seljuk, ribati sherif, masjid, history of architecture, calligraphy

References

• ALTUN, A., 1988. Orta çağ Türk mimarisinin anahtarları için kısa bir özet. İstanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları.
• ASLANAPA, O., 1993. Türk sanatı el kitabı, Istanbul: Inkılâp.
• ASLANAPA, O., 1972. Türk sanatı başlangıcından büyük selçukluların sonuna kadar, İstanbul: Milli Eğitim Basımevi.
• ARSEVEN, C. E., 1984. Türk sanatı, İstanbul: Cem Yayınevi.
• CEZAR, M., 1977. Anadolu öncesi Türklerde şehir ve mimarlık. İstanbul: İş Bank Culture publishing house.
• CHABBİ, J. and RABBAT, N., 1995. “Ribat”, encyclopaedia of islam, Vol. 8, Leiden, Brill, pp. 497.
• ERDMANN, K., 1961. Das anatolische karavansaray des 13. Jahrhunderts. Erster Teil. Katalog Abbildungen. Berlin: Verlag Gebr. Mann.
• ERDMANN, K., and Erdmann, H., 1976. Das anatolische karavansaray des 13. Jahrhunderts. Zweiter und Dritter Teil. Katalog Abbildungen. Berlin: Verlag Gebr. Mann.
• ERYAVUZ, Ş. A., 2022. “Kervansaray”, the encyclopedia of islam,v. 25 Ankara: Türkiye Diyanet Foundation publishing house, pp. 299-302.
• GODARD, A., 1964. Die kunst des iran; F.A. Berlin-Grunewald: Herbig Verlagsbuchhandlung.
• KİHTİR, T., 2012. Anadolunun beyleri - beylikler ve eserleri, Istanbul: Tusmed Sağlık Yayın.
• MARÇAİS, G., POPE, A. U., 1939. A survey of persian art volume i-vi, London - New York: Oxford University Press.
• POPE, A. U., 1965. Persian architecture, New York: George Braziller.
• SÖZEN, M., 1987. The evolution of turkish art and architecture, İstanbul: Haşet Publishing House.
• YETKİN, S. K., 1965. İslam mimarisi, Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Ilahiyat Fakültesi Yayinları.
• YİĞİT, I., 2008. “Ribat” The Encyclopedia of Islam, v.35, Türkiye Diyanet Foundation Press, pp. 76-79.
• KORN, L., 2018. Ribat-i mahi (khurasan-i razavi, iran): evidence of a saljuq building inscription. In: A. ANISI, ed. Adle Nāmeh. Studies in the memory of Chahryar adle, Tehran: Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, pp.1397.
• KUYULU, İ., 2000. Özbekistan ve Türkmenistan’da bulunan Orta Çağ Kervansarayları üzerine gözlemler, Celal Esad Arseven Anısına Sanat Tarihi Semineri Bildirileri, Mimar Sinan Üniversitesi, pp. 241-252.
• ATEFEH, S., 2019. Comparative study on the stucco decorations of two monuments from the greater khorasan: robat sharaf and faryoumad mosque (Seljuq, Khwarazmian, Ilkhanid) Nagareh Journal.14 (52), pp. 101-121.
• DELJAVAN, N. ve ÇINAR, K., 2023. Comparison of Anatolian and Persian caravanserais in the Seljuk period. Journal of Karatay Social Research. 11, pp. 27-43.
• ESİN, E., 1972. “Muyanlık” uygur “buyan” yapısından (vihara) hakanlı muyanlığına (ribat) ve selçuklu han ile medresesine gelişme, Ankara: Malazgirt Armağanı, pp. 75-102.
• ESİN, E., 1982. Tengrilik, türklerde gök tapınağına dair, Journal of Art History XII, pp. 45.
• ERYAVUZ, Ş. A., 1987. Anadolu selçuklu kervansaraylarındaki köşk-mescitler, STAD 1, pp. 3-7.
• KÖPRÜLÜ, F. 1942. Ribat, Journal of Waqfs, pp. 267-298.
• SOKHANPARDAZ, K., 2021. Brick-end plug decorations in the great selçuk period mosques, Journal of Bitlis Islamic Studies 3 (1), pp. 150-184.
• ROBAT SHARAF, 2024. Google maps. [online]. Available from: https://www.google.com.tr/maps/place/Robat+Sharaf/@36.2661697,60.6554408,1518823m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x3f6ad6c0e4c3084f:0xa4226998b6ea6fad!8m2!3d36.2661697!4d60.6554408!16zL20vMDRuXzds?entry=ttu [Accessed 11 May 2024].
• BÜYÜK SELÇUKLU MIRASI, 2024. Ribati şerif kervansarayı [online]. Available from: https://www.selcuklumirasi.com/architecture-detail/ribati-serif [Accessed 11 May 2024].
• KÜLTÜR ENVANTERI, 2024. Deyr-i gaçın kervansarayı [Accessed 11 May 2024].
• BÜYÜK SELÇUKLU MIRASI, 2024. Deyr-i gaçın kervansarayı [Accessed 11 May 2024].
• AKYOL, Y., 2024. Büyük selçuklu döneminde ribatlar ve sosyo-kültürel ve ekonomik fonksiyonları. Unpublished PHD Thesis, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University.
• ARAPOĞLU, M., 2020. Islâm mimarisinde ribatlar. Unpublished PhD thesis, İstanbul Yildiz Technical University.
• AYAN, B., 2022. Samsun arkeoloji ve etnografya müzesinde yer alan anadolu selçuklu dönemi sikkeleri. Unpublished Master Thesis. Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversity.
• DENKNALBANT, A., 2004. Anadolu selçuklu kervansaray mescitleri, Unpublished Master Thesis, Istanbul technical University.