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ed on the shape of fortress wall towers known since Bronze Age, which could
have served as prototypes for the minarets with round shaft; memorial stambha
posts in Buddhism (14); mile posts marking the distance and serving as spatial
landmarks for nomadic tribes (1, 67); cylindrical or conic burj-towers with idols
mounted on the top or with burning fire; and lighthouses.
According to Ernst Ditz, a major authority in Islamic architecture studies, by
the time the cult necessitated the creation of a minaret to proclaim azan from it,
tower-like structures in the shape of watchtowers, residential towers, and
mausoleum-towers were already a well-known and common architectural form in
Asia.
Besides, Ditz believed that competition with bell-towers in the Christian cult
was an important factor for the evolution of minarets.
In his opinion, corner minarets have oriental origin where they, by the way,
were borrowed from by classical architecture as early as in Hellenistic period (8,
21–22 ). Later on the scholar was inclined to think that the jaya-stambha victory
posts near Kabul, which belong to the Buddhist period, were the forerunners of
Islamic minarets (9, 53. Abb. 52 and 53).
Fergusson says that the renowned “ribbed” minaret near Delhi (early 13th
century) was erected by Kutb-ed-din precisely as jaya-stambha, that is, as a symbol
of conquest that is quite understandable and clear for the Indians.
Considering Syria to be the place where minaret first appeared in Islamic
architecture, the majority of researchers note that minarets square in plane
dominated there and in other places in the early centuries of Islam, attributing
circular minarets to a later period (14, 3–4).
“There are certain indications that even before Islam Central Asia already
had minaret-like cult structures. For instance, in Samarqand that was a place of
pilgrimage for “infidels” (pagans) they installed a tower with an idol before which
people prostrated as soon as they say it from afar, and when they were leaving the
city, they walked backwards until they could not see the idol any more” (11, 250;
14, 4).
The high-rise form of the aforementioned structures was determined by
utility functions, including:
increased visibility of the lighthouse fire, watchtowers, atashkeds – temples
with fire altars on staged platforms, and pedestals for idols;
acoustic advantages (for bell-towers);
special devices in zikkurat-observatories on staged pyramids.
www.journal.fledu.uz 166
Илмий-методик электрон журнал
have served as prototypes for the minarets with round shaft; memorial stambha
posts in Buddhism (14); mile posts marking the distance and serving as spatial
landmarks for nomadic tribes (1, 67); cylindrical or conic burj-towers with idols
mounted on the top or with burning fire; and lighthouses.
According to Ernst Ditz, a major authority in Islamic architecture studies, by
the time the cult necessitated the creation of a minaret to proclaim azan from it,
tower-like structures in the shape of watchtowers, residential towers, and
mausoleum-towers were already a well-known and common architectural form in
Asia.
Besides, Ditz believed that competition with bell-towers in the Christian cult
was an important factor for the evolution of minarets.
In his opinion, corner minarets have oriental origin where they, by the way,
were borrowed from by classical architecture as early as in Hellenistic period (8,
21–22 ). Later on the scholar was inclined to think that the jaya-stambha victory
posts near Kabul, which belong to the Buddhist period, were the forerunners of
Islamic minarets (9, 53. Abb. 52 and 53).
Fergusson says that the renowned “ribbed” minaret near Delhi (early 13th
century) was erected by Kutb-ed-din precisely as jaya-stambha, that is, as a symbol
of conquest that is quite understandable and clear for the Indians.
Considering Syria to be the place where minaret first appeared in Islamic
architecture, the majority of researchers note that minarets square in plane
dominated there and in other places in the early centuries of Islam, attributing
circular minarets to a later period (14, 3–4).
“There are certain indications that even before Islam Central Asia already
had minaret-like cult structures. For instance, in Samarqand that was a place of
pilgrimage for “infidels” (pagans) they installed a tower with an idol before which
people prostrated as soon as they say it from afar, and when they were leaving the
city, they walked backwards until they could not see the idol any more” (11, 250;
14, 4).
The high-rise form of the aforementioned structures was determined by
utility functions, including:
increased visibility of the lighthouse fire, watchtowers, atashkeds – temples
with fire altars on staged platforms, and pedestals for idols;
acoustic advantages (for bell-towers);
special devices in zikkurat-observatories on staged pyramids.
www.journal.fledu.uz 166
Илмий-методик электрон журнал
