Top 5 Tourist Attraction of Shiraz in Zand Era

The reign of Zand dynasty over Iran in the second half of the 18th century was mainly characterized by its benevolent founder Karim Khan. After Karim Khan’s failure to revive the lost authority of the Safavid dynasty, he defeated his rivals and took the country under his control. 

Karim Khan Zand was a just ruler who cared about his people. To show his mercy towards his people, the charismatic ruler entitled himself as “the advocate of his people” instead of “king of kings”. Through well-intentioned efforts, he managed to build a close alliance between the tribes and nobles of major cities in the west and south of Iran. He succeeded to take back the Iranian territories occupied by the Ottomans, from Azerbaijan and Armenia to some parts of Iraq and tried to bring back the prosperity and authority of the Safavid era to the country.

Karim Khan declared Shiraz as his capital in 1766. He chose this city as the seat of his power due to its defensive features, moderate climate and its location on the trade road to the south. Unquestionably, his 30 years of the ruling (1751-1779) constituted the glorious time of the Zand dynasty’s reign over Iran. In 1792, Aqa Mohammad Khan, from the Qajar family, attacked Shiraz, destroyed the battlements around the city and extinguished the light of the Zand dynasty.

Art and Architecture in the Zand Era 

Karim Khan’s patronage of art and culture and his efforts to stabilize the political and economic status of the country led to the emergence of exemplary manifestations of art. He had a taste in literature and was a skilled carpet weaver. During the relatively short interval between the rise and fall of the Zand dynasty, the Persian carpet industry continued to prosper and managed to produce designs and features which are unique to this period. The evolution of new carpet designs, such as floral patterns, is evident in the carpets of the Zand period. The prime example of these carpets is the millefiore carpet which is now kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum of London. In fact, the art of carpet weaving flourished across Iran so much that representatives of the East India Company who visited Iran in the late Zand era (the late 18th century) praised the quality of Khorasan carpets and the abundance of Persian rugs in Bushehr. The German traveler, Carsten Niebuhr, who traveled to the south of Iran during the reign of Karim Khan, has finely described “a large and beautiful carpet” which was spread out on the floor of the royal hall to which he was invited. 

Persian miniature, especially the Shirazi style of gilded gol-o-morgh, evolved during the Zand period. Abo al-Hassan Ghaffari, Ali Ashraf, Mirza Baba, Bahram Shirazi, and Agha Sadegh are among the best-known painters in this period.

The splendid art of marquetry, for which Shiraz has won great fame, reached its apogee during the Zand era. A teak box kept at the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf represents the prime example of this art crafted in Shiraz. 

The 44-year reign of the Zand dynasty extended the flourishing architecture and decorative arts of the Safavid era. It bridged the traditional Iranian-Islamic architectural style of the Safavids (early 18th century) to the modern style of Qajars (19th-century).  

The traces of functionalism in the architectural style of Zandieh are evident in the classic buildings built in Shiraz during this period, constructed based on the four principal elements of Iranian-Islamic architecture: the mosque, the bazaar, the school, and the governmental citadel. The most famous monuments built or renovated in Shiraz during the Zand period are Shahi Grand Square, founded in the northwest of Shiraz and surrounded by Nazar Garden and Divan-Khaneh edifice; The Royal Citadel (Arg-e Karim-Khan); the striking Vakil complex with its bazaar, caravanserai, and wonderful bath; a splendid mosque in Darb-e Shahzadeh quarter; the landmark citadel of Karim Khan and its flanking edifice called Divankhaneh; the iconic tomb of Hafiz, the adjacent Cheheltan garden and Hafttanan garden-museum; Jahannama garden and Nazar garden. Compared with the monuments of the preceding and succeeding eras, the Zand architecture followed simplicity in structure. After the Zand dynasty, western elements were incorporated into the Iranian-Islamic architectural style. Currently, sixteen out of twenty-seven constructions attributed to Karim Khan Zand are standing on their feet in Shiraz.