پژوهشی در بنای برج-مقبره‌ موسوم به امام‌زاده اظهر به استناد متون، مدارک و شواهد موجود

 
 
 
 
Research on the tower-tomb of Imamzadeh Azhar based on existing texts, documents and evidence
1-Introduction
Dargazin is one of the cities of Hamedan province. Which leads from the north to the mountains of Avaj city in Qazvin province, from the east to Saveh city in Markazi province, from the south to Famenin city and from the west to Razan city. This newly established city has taken its name from the Islamic city of Dargazin, which was one of the important Islamic cities until the Safavid period (Map 1). This point is very important about Dargazin that this city was located on the way from Zanjan and Soltanieh to Golpayegan and Isfahan in the past. This is the reason why Dargzin has always been so important and in various civil wars in the post-Mongol and Timurid eras was one of the main Castles of the rulers, who fought wars to conquer it. One of the important monuments of this city is the tower-tomb of Imamzadeh Azhar. This building is located in the northeastern of Dargazin village in Dargazin city. This building is the tomb of a great-grandson who has been introduced today as Imamzadeh Azhar Ibn Ali (AS) from the descendants of Imam Zina Al-Abedin (AS), who has today a holy shrine for the people of the region. The question is, how reliable can this attribution be? In the present study, assuming that the tomb-tower of Imamzadeh Azhar mausoleum is a religious building and not originally a mausoleum, when it was built.  
 
2-Materials and Methods
The building of Imamzadeh Azhar and the available evidence, documents, texts and sources of different Islamic periods were studied in this article.  Applying library methods as well as using the texts of the Islamic period, and comparing them with fieldwork data, attempts were made to provide a reasoned and comprehensive answer to main question of this article.
 
3-Results
The building of Imamzadeh Azhar is made of brick and is based on a stone foundation. The size of each side is 2.20 meters.The inner plan of the circular tower and its outer shape has 19 cracks.The total height of the three parts of the building, namely the base, tower and conical cover is 24.37 meters, of which 23.9 meters are now visible.The entrance of the tower is located on the east side of the building with a width of one base side (2.20 m) and a height of 3.40 m. Imamzadeh Azhar building has a square hypogeum with dimensions of 6.7 meters. The hypogeum can be accessed only from one entrance, located outside the building and to its southeast. Various monuments from the Safavid period to the Qajar period have been in this building.From the Qajar period, several paintings can be seen inside the building Which contain themes from the event of Ashura and the events after this incident, as well as the Ahl al-Bayt. Most similarities can be observed between this building and the towers of Aladdin Varamin, Kashaneh Bastam, and Imamzadeh Abdullah and Obaidullah Damavand.Therefore, it can be said that the Azhar building was erected in the middle of the first half of the 8th century AH and before the collapse of the rule of the great Ilkhanate.An old painting of the city of Dargazin can be seen in the book Bayan al-Manazel by Nasuh Motaraghchi, in which the single building of Imamzadeh Azhar can be clearly seen.
 
4-Discussion and Conciusion
During the Ilkhanate, Sufism spread to all aspects of society, and the intensity of people's interest and influx into Khanqah and the presence of many disciples, the gap between the religious clergy and Sufism was finally shown. Important evidence from the Ilkhanate period shows the vastness of Sufism and the large number of Sufis in all parts of the patriarchal realm and the existence of numerous Khanqahs in different cities of Iran. The special support of the Ilkhanids for Sufism can be seen in this period. The available evidence, documents, texts and sources of different Islamic periods are original data that archaeologists can use to answer the questions about Islamic cities in past era. As mentioned, Dargazin was one of the most important cities of the Islamic era, which has been home to great scholars and mystics throughout history. One of these mystics is Sheikh Shi Allah Dargzini, who was one of the followers of Sheikh Mahmoud Mazdaghani. One of the followers of this great sheikh is Maulana Kamaluddin Bakui. He was from Baku, who was an expert in both science and religion.
 In the book Rawzat al-Jannan and Janat al-Jannan by Hafiz Hossein Karbalaei, which were written on the expression of the Shrines and Sufis of Tabriz. There are references to the meeting of Sheikh Sheila and Maulana Kamaluddin Bakui in Dargazin city, which provide valuable information. In this Islamic text, reference is made to the great Sufi, Sheikh Shillah Dargazini, who had a Khanqah in the eighth century AH in the city of Dargazini, where a group of people worshiped and studied Sufism. According to the descriptions of this source of the Sheikh and his Khanqah in Dargazin and with field comparisons, the most probable place for his Khanqah can be considered as the tower-tomb of Imamzadeh Azhar from the Ilkhanate period. And the tomb in the hypogeum can also be matched with the Sheikh's tomb where he is buried. At first, it was a shrine for his followers and lovers, but through time and by the rise of Shiite governments, Sufism declined, but this building continues its religious function by changing its name to one of the sons of Shiite Imams. Therefore, based on these data, the attribution of the tower-mausoleum in Dargzin to Azhar Ibn Ali (AS), a descendant of Imam Zina al-Abedin (AS), can be rejected and the suggestion that this place is a Khanqah can be proposed.
5- Funding
There is no funding support
6- Authors' contribution
Mohammad Ibrahim Zarei: Introduction and guidance in the study of Islamic written sources and fieldwork survey and final review
Mohammad Hassan Salek Akbari: Conducting fieldwork and collecting written information
 
7- Conflict of interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest