The Miri-Khatun Tower (Miri Khatun; Mirə Xatun) was a medieval mausoleum and funerary tower located in Kohneh Shahr (Kohneh Shahr), the old city of Salmas in West Azerbaijan Province, northwestern Iran. The structure is regarded as an important example of Ilkhanid funerary architecture in the region. Built primarily of brick, it had a tall cylindrical tower form and was estimated to have reached approximately 20 meters in height.
The monument is generally dated to the early 14th century, around 1300–1310. Different sources give somewhat different dates, including 700 or 710 AH. The tower no longer survives: it was destroyed in the great Salmas earthquake of May 6, 1930, together with a substantial part of the historic fabric of Kohneh Shahr.
Location and Kohneh Shahr
Kohneh Shahr, whose name means “Old City” in Persian, was an important settlement in the Salmas plain. Before the 1930 earthquake, the town contained religious, funerary, residential, and communal buildings and formed part of a historically rich landscape in northwestern Iran.
The Kohneh Shahr area was also located within the zone of greatest destruction during the 1930 earthquake. The seismological study by Manuel Berberian and Jean Tchalenko identifies the area between Kohneh Shahr, Payajuk, and Zaviyajuk as a zone of maximum destruction. Among the structures reported as destroyed were the Miri-Khatun Tower and the Great Mosque of Kohneh Shahr.
Date and the Ilkhanid Period
The Miri-Khatun Tower belongs to the architectural tradition of the Ilkhanid period, which developed in Iran following the Mongol conquest and the establishment of the Ilkhanate in the 13th century. This architectural tradition combined earlier Iranian and Islamic forms with new influences associated with the Mongol ruling elite.
Different sources date the monument to approximately 1300–1310. Some modern heritage sources give a date around 1310, while other scholarly sources suggest an earlier date, around 700 AH (1300–1301). It is therefore safest to identify the tower as an early 14th-century monument.
Miri-Khatun and Her Family Background
The mausoleum is associated with a woman known as Miri-Khatun. Some historical traditions identify her as a daughter of Arghun Aqa (Arghun Aqa), a prominent Mongol leader and administrator who held important positions in Iran during the period preceding the establishment of the Ilkhanate.
However, later traditions and some local sources give a different identification and sometimes associate her with Arghun Khan, the Ilkhan who ruled Iran from 1284 to 1291. These two historical figures were not the same person, and the identification should therefore be treated with caution. In scholarly writing, the attribution to Arghun Aqa is preferable when following the major historical references, while the alternative local tradition may be noted separately.
The Mausoleum and Its Architectural Type
Architecturally, Miri-Khatun was a funerary tower rather than a mosque minaret. Local traditions sometimes refer to it as the “Minar of Kohneh Shahr,” but its function and architectural form are more accurately understood as those of a tomb tower or mausoleum.
The monument belonged to a long-standing Iranian tradition of funerary towers that had already developed during the Seljuk period and continued into the Ilkhanid era. These monuments emphasized verticality, tower-like forms, and the use of brick as both a structural and decorative material.
Architectural Characteristics
The structure consisted of a tall cylindrical brick body. Its reported height was approximately 20 meters, giving it a strongly vertical and monumental appearance.
The façade contained a recessed and decorated portal, with arches and ornamental elements concentrated around the entrance. Historical photographs also indicate the use of glazed tiles in parts of the decorative scheme, together with exposed brickwork and geometric patterns.
The combination of a tall brick cylinder, an elaborately framed portal, and glazed decorative elements places the monument within the architectural development of tower mausoleums in northwestern Iran. In formal terms, it belongs to the family of cylindrical funerary monuments that developed in the region during the Seljuk and Ilkhanid periods.
Historical Documentation and Photographs
The importance of the tower to modern scholarship is enhanced by the fact that it was photographed before its destruction. Photographs from the late 19th century show the monument still standing and provide valuable evidence concerning its form, construction materials, and decoration.
One of the best-known historical photographs is identified as “Tomb of Emir Arghun’s Daughter, Salmas, Late 19th Century.” The image is preserved in digital historical collections, including Wikimedia Commons, and is associated with the photographic documentation of Qajar-period Iran.
Additional historical photographs are associated with museum collections, including images identified as “Tomb Tower with Glazed Tilework.” Such photographs are particularly important because the monument was completely destroyed in the 1930 earthquake, making the photographic record one of the principal sources for reconstructing its original appearance.
Archaeological Documentation in the Late 19th Century
The tower was also documented within the archaeological and historical research of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The German scholar Carl Friedrich Lehmann-Haupt, whose expedition visited the Salmas region in 1898, recorded the tower and its associated inscription.
This documentation is particularly significant because it predates the earthquake that destroyed Kohneh Shahr by more than three decades. It provides independent evidence that the monument was still standing at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Salmas Earthquake of 1930
On May 6, 1930, a devastating earthquake struck the Salmas region. Kohneh Shahr lay close to the area in which the most severe destruction was recorded, and numerous buildings in the town and surrounding villages collapsed.
The classic study of the earthquake by Berberian and Tchalenko specifically records the destruction of the medieval Miri-Khatun Tower and the Great Mosque of Kohneh Shahr. The earthquake therefore marked the end of the physical existence of one of the most significant medieval monuments associated with historic Salmas.
Importance in the History of Architecture
The Miri-Khatun Tower is significant for the study of Iranian funerary architecture. It demonstrates the continuation of the Seljuk tradition of funerary towers into the Ilkhanid period and illustrates the use of brick to create a tall, monumental, and highly articulated structure.
Its significance also lies in its association with the Mongol-Iranian elite. Monuments of this type reflect the process by which the Mongol ruling class became increasingly integrated into the architectural, cultural, and religious traditions of Iran.
Destruction and Historical Memory
The destruction of Miri-Khatun was not an isolated event. The 1930 earthquake eliminated a substantial portion of the built heritage of historic Salmas. Following the disaster, a new urban center was established to the west of the historic city.
Because the tower did not survive, the photographs, drawings, inscriptions, and historical studies produced before 1930 constitute the principal evidence for its appearance and architectural character. Several historical photographs of the mausoleum are preserved today in digital collections, including images showing the tower, its portal, and glazed decorative elements.
Summary
The Miri-Khatun Tower of Kohneh Shahr was a monumental Ilkhanid mausoleum constructed in the early 14th century in the historic city of Salmas. Built of brick and rising to approximately 20 meters, the tower belonged to the tradition of cylindrical funerary monuments that developed in northwestern Iran.
Historical photographs from the late 19th century and archaeological documentation from the Qajar period allow much of its appearance to be reconstructed. The monument was destroyed in the Salmas earthquake of 1930, and its memory survives principally through photographs, drawings, inscriptions, and historical studies. It remains an important lost monument of Ilkhanid architectural heritage in the Salmas region.
Selected Sources
- Berberian, Manuel; Tchalenko, Jean. The Salmas (Iran) Earthquake of May 6th, 1930.
- Lehmann-Haupt, Carl Friedrich. Armenien einst und jetzt, Berlin, 1910.
- Bosworth, C. E. Entries relating to Salmas and the architecture of the region in Encyclopaedia of Islam.
- Wikimedia Commons, Category: Mira Khatun Mausoleum – historical photographs of the monument.
- Wikidata, Mira Khatun Mausoleum, Q55705227.