Describing Ancient Intracity Castles of Iran in Narrations of Islamic Historians

Abstract

Background: In ancient time, the existence of castles has been considered a factor of stability and power of governments and the construction of these buildings has been one of the measures taken by kings for expanding the scope of their influence and power. In Islamic descriptions, castles have had a special standing. In most cases, Islamic historians have attributed their date of construction and name of constructors to mythological era and considered them to be the most important after altars. Although the main reasons for the construction of these buildings by kings have been less mentioned, it can be said that, considering their main functions, these buildings have been constructed by mythological or historical heroes and kings with a defensive and protective purpose. Objective: we want to explain Ancient Intracity Castles of Iran. Results: Among the main reasons for the construction of these buildings by the constructors is protection from themselves and their subordinates against all life hazards, such as natural disasters and particularly the attack of enemies and wars. In most descriptions of historians, the name of these castles has been widely known by the name of wars. In these descriptions, other functions of these buildings considering their spatial domains have been mentioned in addition to their main function. On this basis, it can be mentioned that the construction of castles in some ancient historical cities has had other functions than protection for kings, including power and wealth demonstration, treasury stock, safe place for coins and guns, and food warehouse for the time of difficult situations and siege of enemies. Conclusion: This research seeks to show the position of ancient historical castles based on the historical data obtained from works of historians in Islamic period using descriptive and analytical method