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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
A small mausoleum of the earlier Islamic period, situated about 60 km. west of Mazār-i Sharīf in Afghanistan — by the edge of the former Andkhoy road, in the district of Imām Ṣāḥib, near the village of Taroqī — has recently been the subject of two different articles. It was first discussed by Dr. Melikian-Chirwani, who reproduced two photographs taken by Josephine Powell. One of these (Plate I) illustrates the general aspect of the doorway, and clearly shows the commencement of the bordered Kufic dedicatory inscription by which it is surrounded. This first account was followed by the more detailed and fully-documented report of J. Sourdel-Thomine, which makes use of substantial material supplied by Dr. Paul Bernard, Director of the Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan, who had occasion to visit the spot. On this second occasion it proved possible to clear away accumulated deposits of dust from the left-hand side of the main inscription, so that this part also (while admittedly difficult) was also rendered clear enough for decipherment (Plate II). The photographs published by the two authors are in fact largely complementary, and when studied together, do much to resolve the residual problems of the inscription.
1 Melikian-Chirwani, A. S., “Remarques préliminaires sur un mausolée ghaznévide”, Arts Asiatiques, XVII, 1968, 59–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar; idem, ”Baba Hatem: Un chef d'oeuvre inconnu d'époque ghaznévide en Afghanistan”, Memorial volume of the Vth International Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology, Tehran–Isfahan–Shiraz, 11th–18th April 1968, Tehran, Ministry of Culture and Arts, 1972, II, 108–122.
2 Sourdel-Thomine, J., “Le mausolée dit de Baba Hatim en Afghanistan”, REI, XXXIX, 2, 1971, 293–320Google Scholar, who indicates the above geographical location. Dr. Melikian in his second article places it ”sur l'ancienne route de Balkh à Aqtcha (Aqča)”, which may involve no contradiction.
3 I am grateful to Dr. Bernard for permission to reproduce his print.
4 Mayer, L. A., Islamic architects and their works, Geneva, 1956, 34Google Scholar, 35, 39, 103, 106, 115, 117, 126, 129, and passim, with reference to the technical activities of architects. Humbler expressions are ‘amila “he made (it)”, said of workmen; ‘ammara (of miscellaneous construction, including repairs); banā (of builders); or even ansha'a “he erected (it)”. The distinctions may not always have been strict in practice, but are emphasized in the case of the shrine of Sālar Khalīl (or Baba Hatim) by the second inscription in the interior of the shrine, reported but not fully illustrated by Dr. Melikian (“Baba Hatem …”, 114), which contains the words mimmā ‘amila Muhammad ibn Ahmad bin Maḥmūd. Whether these words apply only to the plaster of the frieze, or to the builder's work involved in the entire structure, the distinction is sufficiently clear between the contribution of the workman, and the higher technology of the patron himself.
5 e.g. the Sālār Aḥmad b. Muḥammad under the Ghaznavid Mawdūd, in Muḥammad b. Manṣūr, known as Fakhr-i Mudabbir, Ādābu 'l-ḥarb wa 'l-shaja'a, ed. Suhaylī, Tehran, 1346, 253.
6 Bosworth, C. E., The Ghaznavids, Edinburgh, 1963, 262–263Google Scholar (of the Sālār of Buzgān, near Nīshāpūr): “Although a fair amount about this local leader can be gleaned from the sources, the exact nature of his position is not clear … I would suggest … that his title ‘Sālār’ was a reminiscence of earlier military command, or of participation in ghāzī warfare, and that the force which he headed may well have been landholders from his estate or else local ghāzis whom he had mobilised.”