The Appearance of the Legitimacy Discourses of Iran’s Islamic Governments in the Architecture and Ornaments of Astan-e Quds-e Razavi

After the burial of Imam Reza (PBUH) in Sanabad at Noghan during the third century AH, the development of the holy shrine of Razavi began. The tomb became a center for the formation of the city of Mashhad near ancient Tus. During the later centuries, rulers and governors supported the development of the holy shrine and its architectural ornaments. The questions in the article are: What was the relationship between the architecture of the holy shrine and the political and religious legitimacy of the sultans? In other words, how are the discourses of the legitimacy of the Islamic rulers, including political and religious legitimacy, manifested in the architecture and ornaments of Astan-e Quds-e Razavi? Two purposes have been pursued in this paper. The first is to explain the position and importance of Imam Reza (PBUH) and his guardianship among the Shiite and Sunni kings of Iran. The second one is to show the influence of Astan-e Quds-e Razavi on the legitimacy of the governments. Therefore, the process of building formation was studied. Then the role of Sunni and Shiite rulers was analyzed in the development of the shrine, and it was explained that they appealed to Astan-e Quds to gain legitimacy. The results show that in the discourse of the political and religious legitimacy of Islamic rulers, the personality of Imam Reza (PBUH) and his tomb in Khorasan had a central position. Therefore, the development of architecture and its ornaments was considered as a tool and method for gaining legitimacy. In this way, in addition to the Shiite sultans, some of the most fanatical Sunni sultans were also aware of the legitimacy of the Imam's rule in the eyes of the people, and they built or renovated the buildings of the holy shrine and decorated it with architectural ornaments in order to gain political and religious legitimacy and to guarantee their rule.