Lajim Tower: A Bavandid Mausoleum and Fortified Monument in Iran
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Iran
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Unclassified
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Tomb
On this page11 sections
History
Lajim Tower is a historic monument in Lajim village, Iran, completed in 1022 or 1023 CE during the period of Ziyarid control over Tabaristan. The structure was originally a military installation associated with Bavandid fortifications before becoming the mausoleum of Abu’l Favaris Shahriyar bin Abbas bin Shahriyar, a member of the Bavandid ruling house.
Ziyarid and Bavandid Rule
The tower belongs to the era conventionally dated 316–443 AH, when the Ziyarids, a medieval Iranian dynasty ruling much of northern Iran, controlled much of Mazandaran. Their authority did not extend fully into the mountainous areas. The Bavandids, a long-lived Iranian ruling house based in Tabaristan, retained or sought to recover power from fortified mountain bases during this period.
Lajim Tower falls between the fall of the first Bavandid dynasty and the emergence of the dynasty’s second branch. Its military origin reflects the contested political landscape, while its later conversion into a tomb connected it with the Bavandid ruling house. The exact rank of Abu’l Favaris Shahriyar and his relationship to other Bavandid figures remain uncertain.
From Military Installation to Mausoleum
The tower was long identified locally as the tomb of Imamzadeh Abdullah. An imamzadeh is a shrine or tomb traditionally associated with a descendant of an Islamic religious leader. This interpretation was later corrected, and the lower Kufic inscription identified Abu’l Favaris Shahriyar as the person buried there.
André Godard, a French architect and archaeologist who studied Iranian monuments, documented the tower and surrounding remains in 1933. The wider site was interpreted as possibly including a large royal fortress or a refuge for a dispossessed ruler or amir and his troops. The tower may therefore have served as the tomb of that ruler or amir, although the precise nature of the settlement remains uncertain.
Restoration and Later Use
Restoration in 1938 used materials obtained from Tehran in cooperation with the Shirgah Traverse Manufacturing factory. Further work in the 1990s addressed serious damage to the Kufic inscription. Lajim Tower is listed on Iran’s National Heritage List under registration number 185 and is administered by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization. After these restorations, it became a pilgrimage site for residents of Lajim and nearby rural areas of Savadkuh.
Remains
Lajim Tower is a cylindrical brick monument standing within a broader fortified landscape. It rises about 14 metres, with an outer diameter of approximately 9 metres and an interior diameter of 5.47 metres. The burial chamber is circular from its base to the dome and is covered by a double-dome arrangement. The inner dome is rounded and plain, while the outer dome was probably conical but has not survived.
The Mausoleum Tower
Entrance and Interior
The eastern entrance has a pointed arch set within a shallow niche containing a second pointed arch. Its tympanum carries a brick honeycomb pattern. Inside, the chamber is plain apart from decoration around the entrance, and light enters through the entrance alone.
Inscription Bands
Below the dome is a row of shallow arched niches. A narrow band of geometric patterns lies beneath them, followed by two superimposed inscription bands made from carved bricks set against white plaster. The upper inscription uses Pahlavi, the Middle Persian script associated with the Sasanian Empire and later Iranian religious and cultural traditions. It is substantially damaged and remains undeciphered. A proposed reading refers to the dome of a powerful king and says that its foundations were laid by Cihrzad, identified as Shahriyar’s mother, but parts of this interpretation remain uncertain.
The lower inscription is in Kufic, an early angular form of Arabic calligraphy used for monumental Islamic writing. It names Abu’l Favaris Shahriyar bin Abbas bin Shahriyar and gives the date 413 AH, corresponding to 1022 or 1023 CE. The pairing of Pahlavi and Kufic writing shows the continued use and prestige of a pre-Islamic Iranian script alongside Islamic monumental writing in northern Iran during this period.
Fortified Surroundings
Defensive Enclosure
Earthworks and structural remains surround the tower. They include a moat or deep ditch, very thick walls, and a large circular tower connected to those walls. A wall line covered by an embankment extends around a peninsula-like plateau, defining the defensive landscape.
Settlement Remains
Earth mounds within the enclosure have been interpreted as evidence of buildings. Together with the ditch, walls, and circular tower, these features have been viewed as the remains of a fortified settlement or city in a forested and relatively remote location. The exact character of this settlement remains uncertain.
