Medieval Kashan: Crossroads of Commerce and Culture

Описание: This talk first attempts to explain why the Iranian city of Kashan is where it is and how it grew. The town's extensive use of irrigation allowed an adequate and perhaps abundant agriculture in the surrounding region. The important presence of early Arab immigrants to Kashan is linked to Kashan's developing and continued role as a centre of Shiʿism. A strong educational tradition produced many talented Kashani officials in the Seljuq and later administrations, who sent some of their wealth back to Kashan.

It was also in the Seljuq period that the luxury ceramics of Kashan gained international reputation. Moreover, a long-standing artisanal tradition made Kashan an exporter of brass and, above all, textiles for centuries. Wealthy Kashanis (who probably included a fair number of sayyids) invested heavily in charitable endowments, which served the poor and furthered learning in general. In the Timurid period, the investments in mathematical education produced several outstanding mathematicians and astronomers. Tax yields of the Medieval Period indicate the progressive prosperity of Kashan. As a comparatively small city, Kashan was spared some of the destruction that plagued larger Iranian cities during the Medieval Period.

Speaker:

Professor Roy P. Mottahedeh is a Gurney Research Professor of History in the Department of History at Harvard University.