The role of roads as an access factor towards sustainable regional development in the Islamic era in Northwest Iran

Khaledi Paveh, Mehran; Shahbazi Shiran, Habib; Afkhami, Behrouz; Javanmardzadeh, Ardeshir

The role of roads as an access factor towards sustainable regional development in the Islamic era in Northwest Iran

Document Type : Article extracted from thesis

Authors

Mehran Khaledi Paveh ¹ ^¶

Habib Shahbazi Shiran ²

Behrouz Afkhami ³

Ardeshir Javanmardzadeh ⁴

¹ PhD student in Archaeology,Department of Archaeology,Faculty of Social Sciences,University of Mohaghegh Ardabili,Ardabil, Iran.

² Professor, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran.

³ Professor, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

⁴ Associate professor, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

Abstract

Background and Objective: Roads are one of the most fundamental means of communication between humans, states, and cultures. Throughout different historical periods, roads have always played an important role in creating links between human societies and transmitting cultures, and their existence has been a political requirement for the development of civilizations.
Methodology: The present study, using a historical-archaeological approach, examines the spatial pattern and functions of the road system in northwest Iran during the Seljuk and Timurid periods. Due to its location at the intersection of the Central Iranian Plateau with the Caucasus and Asia Minor, this region has always been at the center of Iran's political and economic developments.
Results and Findings: The findings of the present study indicate that during the Seljuk period, the concentration of power and bureaucratic authority led to the formation of a coherent network of safe roads and road bases following a radial-centralized pattern; While in the Timurid period, with the transfer of the political center to Soltanieh and the expansion of the economic role of Tabriz, the road network acquired a multi-focal nature and encompassed diverse communication areas. Spatial and functional analysis of the data indicates that the dynamics of the road network were more than anything else subject to three key factors: the stability of the central government, the adaptation of the structure of the routes to natural features, and the level of prosperity of urban trade; finally, the road management pattern of northwestern Iran can be considered a reflection of the spatial organization of power and the mechanism of continuity of security and economy in the Islamic Middle Ages.

Keywords

"Communication networks"

"Spatial organization"

"Geography"

"Road management"

"Northwest of Iran"

Subjects

Social Sciences

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