Bagh-i Hizar Jarib-i Naw (MEGT)

The royal pleasance known as Bagh-i Sa‘adatabad or Hizar Jarib-i Naw (New Hizar Jarib) stood across the river near the Hasan Bayk Bridge at least until the 1840s, when Pascal Coste drew it in his plan of Isfahan. Ernst Hoeltzer, a German photographer who lived in Isfahan, took a number of pictures of its palaces in the 1890s, in which the grounds seem abandoned. The first news regarding this garden and its main building called Ayina Khanah appears in Shamlu, who calls it the pleasure house of Shah Safi, and Khwajigi Isfahani recounts a public audience taking place there in 1050 AH/1641. It was thus built sometime during the reign of Shah Safi (1629–1641).The garden was linked to the city through a new khiyābān that ran from the bridge to the Chaharsu-yi Naqashan and from here, through the bazaar, to Maydan-i Shah. Tavernier compares this promenade to the one created by Shah ‘Abbas, remarking that, although wider, it lacked such important garden and architectural features as the water channel in the middle and the beautiful gate-buildings of the flanking gardens. The Hasan Bayk Bridge was transformed into a monumental theater on water in 1650. Ramzi, the poet of the court, wrote a poem lauding Bagh-i Sa'adat, its annexed bridge, and khiyābān, depicting Shah ‘Abbas II as a young king enjoying the pleasures of royal life. A smaller aqueduct-bridge called Pul-i Jubi, east of the Hasan Bayk Bridge, was created to supply water to the garden. The plan of the garden drawn in 1840 by Pascal Coste shows its layout, the main waterline, the āyina khānah, the Namakdan pavilion, and the Haft Dast buildings of the haram. The Namakdan was destroyed in the year 1306 AH/1889, as reported by Jabiri Ansari.Sources: Travel Account, 1840 | Court Chronicle, 1650-Mahvash AlemiResources:Khulaṣat al-Siyar (Open in Zotero)Safavid Palaces at Isfahan: Continuity and Change (1590–1666) (Open in Zotero)Tarikh-i Isfahan va Ray va hamah-i jahan (Open in Zotero)Ramz al-rayāḥīn: dar vasf-i Isfahān va munāzara-yi gulhā (Open in Zotero)MS Add. 7656 (Open in Zotero)Originally published at: Alemi, Mahvash. “Bagh-i Hizar Jarib-i Naw.” Middle East Garden Traditions. Dumbarton Oaks, November 18, 2014. https://www.doaks.org/resources/middle-east-garden-traditions/catalogue#b_start=0&c6=Safavid+Gardens. Archived at:https://perma.cc/H4VG-8VF7