Recently, I showed you some Safavid-era public fountains, in Isfahan. But the massive infrastructure developments of the era included installation of water supplies in the most unlikely places – for example, in the desert area sandwiched between 40km of salt plains (the Darya Namak), and 30km of salt mud (click here for a photo of , the ‘stone carpet’ roadway that Shah Abbas constructed over this mud; and here to see a satellite view of the Sang Farsh – showing how good the Safavid construction was, even in these very challenging conditions).
In this desert area, there are three very special buildings: Qasr-i Bahram (now said to be a hunting lodge built for Shah Abbas himself: click here and here for old and new views respectively); Haramserail (for his wives and children to lodge in); and Ayn ol-Rashid (often described as the caravanserai for commoners).
There is still some dispute as to exactly when, and why, these buildings were built – although graffiti in Qasr-i Bahram from as early as 1592 (discussed in an earlier blog posting) means that the latter building, at least, must have been constructed by then.
When I visited the area in 2008, I was particularly impressed by the specially constructed water supply systems for each site. Here we are in the desert . . and the Safavids have sorted out running water for everyone!
Qasr-i Bahram and Haramserail were both watered by a 10km overground canal, with a large water storage tank between the two. At Haramserail, the canal effectively went through the building (click here and here); while at Qasr- Bahram, the canal ended in a pool in the central courtyard.
Although Ayn ol-Rashid is usually thought of as for ‘commoners’; it too had an elaborate water supply, with the pipes shown here bringing water from a nearby spring, and another large storage tank immediately outside the caravanserai itself.
Some European travellers comment on the water supplies – usually when they’re not working well. Pietro della Valle, on 31 Jan 1618, describes stopping, just after crossing the salt plains, to stock up on sweet water for his evening halting place. This was “because there is only salty water at the Siah-cuh caravanserai [another name for the local area], and so the Shah has commanded, and already ordered built, another caravanserai, a little distant from the first, and quite near an excellent water supply . . having punished, in an exemplary way, the architect who constructed the first”.
Let us hope, for the architect’s sake, that Abbas’ idea of justice was less severe in this case, than that applied to his own family in 1595.