The city of Tabriz is one of the largest cities in Iran with a history of more than 3000 years, one of the oldest regions of Iran that has many historical monuments in its heart. One of the historical and ancient monuments of Tabriz, that shows the wonderful antiquity and history of this city, is the Rab’-e Rashidi (Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter)).
Introducing Rab’-e Rashidi (Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter))
Recent discoveries indicate the existence of civilization in the city of Tabriz in the first and second millennium BC. Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) is one of the historical monuments and sights of Tabriz and is the first and largest international university registered in the world that shows the glorious antiquity of Iranian culture and civilization to the world, a cultural monument that due to its size and infrastructure it was a small town.
Due to the good climate of the surrounding area, the building is covered with trees and green space. There is also the large Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) Park, Shams Tabrizi and several parks and gardens near Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter).
Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) building is located in the pleasant climate neighborhood of Baghmisheh, located at the foot of Bilankooh Mountain, and is one of the sights of East Azerbaijan province.
During the Mongol rule in Iran, three years after Ghazan Khan came to power, in 694 A.D., the Prime Minister of the court of Khajeh Sadr al-Din Zanjani was assassinated by Ghazan Khan and Khajeh Rashid al-Din Fazlullah Hamedani, who lived in the Ismaili forts before the Mongol invasion. May became the Prime Minister of Ghazan Khan, who brought many services to western Iran and the region of Azerbaijan, including the Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter).
Rashidi was born in Hamedan to a Jewish doctor family. His great-grandfather, Mowaffaq al-Dawla Ali, was a Jewish perfumer who, along with Khawaja Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, was a forced guest of the Ismailis in the fortress of Alamut, where he served after the Halaku attack. Rashid al-Din was killed in 718 AH due to political disputes, and after him, Rashidi’s quarter was looted and destroyed.
Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) was architecturally like a small city with a school, a mosque, a library, a guest house, a bath, an orphanage, a hospital, and so on. Khajeh Rashid al-Din dedicated many properties in different parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Georgia, etc. to finance the Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter).
Chardin, a famous French tourist who traveled to Iran in 1084 AH, writes about Rashidi’s quarter:
One hundred years ago, Shah Abbas Kabir ordered its repair, but the other Safavid kings did not pay attention to it and it was destroyed again.
Different parts of Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter)
Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) University has three main sections as follows:
(Rashidi Quarter) (Main Episode)
Rashidi city (residential complex and ancillary facilities)
Rabz Rashidi (aristocratic residential section)
The important parts of the main part of (Rashidi Quarter) were:
1. The shrine collection includes:
Shatvi Mosque (winter) and Summer Mosque (summer) for offering prayers and teaching science, commentary and hadith lessons, respectively, in the hot and cold seasons of the year;
The office of the “trustee” (president of the university) and “Musharraf” and the “supervisor” of three senior officials separately;
Special rooms or rooms for teachers, assistant professors and science students;
Amenities include bath, pool house (service), saqaya (drinking water);
Library (under the large dome and on both sides of the tomb);
2. The monastery includes the residence of sheikhs and Sufis with all amenities such as kitchen, dining area, listening area and….
3. “Dar al-Ziafeh” (guest house) consists of two two-storey buildings, the first building as a boarding house for the residents of Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) (teachers, teachers, servants, especially students of science) and the second building to receive travelers.
4. Darlshfa (hospitals and medical schools).
5. Dar al-Masakin (additionally outside Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter)) for daily reception of 100 poor and needy people with one free meal.
Rashidi city
It was a very large residential complex consisting of various neighborhoods, streets, alleys and welfare and economic places, including twenty-four high-rise caravanserais, 1,500 artisan workshops, thirty thousand houses, numerous gardens, mills, baths, sharabafi factory, dyeing, paper making and A Dar al-Zarb was established in connection with the Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) educational centers for the welfare of the residents of Rashidi city.
(Rashidi Quarter) endowment letter
Khajeh Rashid al-Din has prepared an endowment known as the Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) endowment to organize the endowment property to the Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) complex. Now only one volume is in the central library of Tabriz. This copy was purchased by the National Works Association in 1969 from the family of Haji Zaka al-Dawla Sirajmir, who kept it.
The Rab’-e Rashidi (Rashidi Quarter) endowment was introduced to UNESCO by the National Library of Iran in June 2007, and in a meeting held at UNESCO from June 12 to 15, it was registered in the list of documentary heritage of this organization along with Baysanghari’s Shahnameh. At the meeting of the National Commission for UNESCO, thirty-eight works from around the world were registered in the list of UNESCO documentaries. The number of works that have been registered in this list since 1997 has increased to 158 works.
