Explore Timurid Chahartaq in Shirvan
Timurid Chahartaq (an architectural unit consisting of four-barrel vaults and a dome) in Shirvan, North Khorasan Province, belongs to the Timurid dynasty. It is the resting place of Amir Timur. There is a description over the tomb of this military leader that indicates he died in 1405. It is natural that the building was constructed at the same date. The Chahartaq is located on the site of Imamzadeh Hamzeh Reza, a shrine in the village.
What can be seen from the outside of the building is the view of an octagonal structure. Although the tablet of the Chahartaq dates it back to the Timurid dynasty, the fact that it is octagonal and has basements provides a basis for the speculation that it was built during the Ilkhanate era.
Another hypothesis is that the tomb belongs to Sheikh Timur. But it has been rejected by many scholars because, according to the endowment contract of the Chahartaq, written in 1636, the building was endowed by a person named Amir Mohammad Sheikh Timuri. There are some words on the tombstone located in the Chahartaq that, despite being unreadable and faded, show two words of Eid Khajeh. According to historical books, this is the name of one of Amir Timur’s commanders in chief, visitiran.ir wrote.
There is a gateway on each of the eight sides of the building. The upper part of the structure has been constructed using vaults. There are also windows positioned above the doors and having the same width as them, and ivans each decorated with unique brickwork.
The entirety of this tomb is made of bricks and cob bricks. It should not be overlooked that the inner part of the building is covered with plaster. The upper portions of the gateways feature bricks in the color of turquoise. Stucco and reliefs of the building have been decorated with arabesque motifs.
The first phase of restoration of Timur Chahartaq was conducted in 1977. After that, the façade of the building changed to a great degree. The restorations continued in 2005 and 2007, when further destruction of the structure was prevented by reinforcement. Archeological investigations resulted in the discovery of the main entrance to the building and its basements, as well as the surrounding fences. It is speculated that these fences were later added to stop the spread of the graveyard into the district of the building.
Timur Chahartaq was registered on Iran’s National Heritage List in 2001. In the southwest of the Chahartaq, there is a shrine attributed to Hamzeh Reza. This shrine has a dome that is two meters high from the outside and four meters from the inside. The distance between the shrine and Chahartaq is about fifty meters.