Qavam al-Din Shirazi
d. 21 February 1438
Iran
Born in Shiraz, Qavam al-Din became one of the best-known Timurid court architects. His first known work is believed to have been a madrasa and khanqah built in Herat by Sultan Shah Rukh in 1410-11; this monument has not survived to our day. In 1418-1419 (821 A.H.), Qavam al-Din Shirazi completed a Friday Mosque for Gawhar Shad, Shah Rukh's queen, at Mashad and began building her Musalla Complex in Herat in 1417 (820 A.H.). Work on the Musalla was halted in 1425, to divert resources to a shrine commissioned in Gazurgah by Sultan Shah Rukh, dedicated to Khwaja 'Abd Allah Ansari. Gawhar Shad's Musalla Complex was eventually completed in 1437-38 (841 A.H.).

Qavam al-Din Shirazi died on February 21, 1438, before finishing his final work, the Ghiyathiyya madrasa at Khargird, which was completed by patron Ghiyath al-Din Shirazi in 1442-3.

Sources:

Blair, Sheila S., and Bloom, Jonathan M. 1995. The Art and Architecture of Islam: 1250-1800. New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 44-46.

Byron, Robert. 1939. "Timurid Architecture: General Trends." (Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman, eds.) A Survey of Persian Art: from Prehistoric Times to the Present. Tehran: Soroush Press, III, 1124-1130.

O'Kane, Bernard. 1996. "Qavam al-Din Shirazi [Qavam al-Din ibn Zayn al-Din Shirazi]." Grove Art Online. http://www.groveart.com/shared/views/article.html?
from=az§ion=art.070263
[Accessed September 15, 2005]
Associated Sites
Variant Names
Qawam ad-Din Shirazi