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Nikzad Z. (2024). Khoday-Khane of the Atiq Jame Mosque, Shiraz; The Foundation of the Building, Historical Developments and the Question of the Nature of Architecture. Athar. 45(106), 59-88. doi:10.22034/45.106.3
URL: http://athar.richt.ir/article-2-1659-en.html

Abstract
Khoday-khane is a one-story building with stone materials, which is located in the courtyard of the Masjed- e Jame- e Atigh of Shiraz. In the past, this building was called Bait-ul-Mosahaf and it was the place where the Quran was kept. Khoday- Khaneh was destroyed by several earthquakes during the Qajar period. This building was restored in the first restoration measures of the General Department of Archeology in 1318. The present face of this building is actually the product of this renovation. The previous conditions of this building are the subject of research. The main question is what is the nature, function and evolution of the architecture of the building? The research has been done by "historical-analytical" method and by using historical texts and visual documents and field observations. According to the findings of the research, the building of Khoday-khane was probably built at the same time as the foundation of the mosque, and a few centuries later, changes occurred in its building. With the addition of towers in the four corners of the building, the original form of Khoday-khane was completed in the 8th century of Hijri; Based on historical documents, the building was built on two floors. In its original form, Khoday-khane was located in the center of the mosque courtyard. It was the place to learn and read the Quran and kept the old and endowment Qurans there.
Keywords: Shiraz, Jame Atiq Mosque, Khoday- Khaneh, Nature of Architecture, Historical Developments.

 Introduction
The Atigh Mosque of Shiraz was founded in 281 AH/894 (Moghaddisi, 1983, Vol. 2, 462) and, like other ancient buildings, has had its ups and downs over time, which can be recognized as the developments in its history and architecture. Naturally, all parts of the mosque have been affected by development, transformation, and other issues. The Khoday-Khaneh, which has a quadrangular design with towers at the four outer corners, is located in the middle of the mosque courtyard, has had a significant relationship with the historical developments of the mosque, and as a unique building, it can be attributed a special history. The known date of this building is 752 AH/1351, which is written on a stone and tile inscription.
In the contemporary era, the first attention to preserving and maintaining the damaged historical structures of the Atigh Mosque of Shiraz began in the second decade of the twentieth century. The first part of the mosque complex to be restored was the Khoday-Khaneh building; this is a sign of the importance of this building. With the restoration and reconstruction, the Khoday-Khaneh acquired a new appearance compared to the previous ruins. After about eighty years, today it is possible to recognize the old structure and new measures have been taken in this research. The question will be answered: what was the original and original form of Khoday-Khaneh like and what function did it have? The answer to the question can certainly be clarified both in relation to the historical course of the mosque in general and in relation to the historical course of the architecture of Khoday-Khaneh in particular.

Discussion
The Khoday-Khaneh in the middle of the mosque courtyard is a one-story building that is located on a stone platform less than one meter high (Behrouzi, 1962: 92). This building has a rectangular plan with dimensions of 12.6 × 10 m and a height of 7.5 m, which, including the towers, reaches 15 m in length and width by 12.3 m. A portico with arched stone columns surrounds it. The middle space includes a square room with stone lattice windows and spaces where the staircase, entrance, and a small room are located.
From the words of Moqaddasi, who refers to the house of the reciters and compares the mosques of Shiraz and Nishapur in the first centuries of the Hijri calendar, and Qomi's confused reference to the "shop" in the middle of the courtyard, it can be concluded that the building of the God-House was probably built at the same time as the foundation of the Shiraz mosque in 281 AH, by order of Amr Walith Saffari (Moqaddasi, 1906: 430; Qomi, 1352: 24). From the Quran dated 568 AH, which is dedicated to the "House of the Manuscripts" (Behrouzi, 1340, 68 and 69, Sami, 1347: 311), it can be understood that in the sixth century AH, the House of the Manuscripts was erected in the middle of the courtyard. Junaid Shirazi (d. 666 AH/1268) in his book Shadd al-ezar refers to Maulana Sa’ad al-Din Ahmad al-Farsi giving or studying lessons in the latticed room between the old mosque (Junaid Shirazi, 1950: 388). Elsewhere, the same author mentions the “Dar al-Masahif” between the mosque, where old copies of the Quran are kept (Junaid Shirazi, 1950: 288). The evidence that remains in the building from this time is Kufic inscriptions engraved on stone and fragments of decorations on the ceiling of the stairs leading to the roof of the Khoday-Khaneh (Sheibani and Nikzad, 2005: 34). With this description, the middle spaces, which include the square room and the adjoining rooms on the northern side, can be cautiously attributed to the sixth-seventh centuries AH. It is clear that some changes occurred in the Khoday-Khaneh building between the fourth and sixth centuries AH. If we consider the surrounding colonnaded portico and the central rooms to be at the same time, then there is no doubt that the existing building was erected in place of the original one. Because the columns and arches connected to it and the overall composition of the facade geometry, as explained by Galdiri in a comparative study of the tomb of Sheikh Yusuf Sarvestani, can be dated to the seventh century AH (Galdiri, 2001: 340). The date 752 AH/1351, which is on the inscription above the southwest tower, is the most accurate date that can be relied on. According to this inscription, Sheikh Abu Ishaq Inju built the building (Behrouzi, 1962). Galdiri, using architectural logic and examining the precedence and backwardness of construction at the point where one of the towers connects to a stone column, has proven that this date indicates a period of restoration with the addition of towers in the outer quadrant of the building (Galdiri, 2001: 340).
A fragment from the Timurid Zafarnameh dated 935 AH/1529, which is kept in the Golestan Palace, contains a narrative from 806 AH/1404 that takes place in the old courtyard (Adl, 2001: 345) and Khoday-Khaneh is located in the middle of the courtyard. The upper floor is similar in general plan to the lower floor, but without columns and a portico. The most important feature of the upper floor is the presence of a cloister with windows and a dome.
The inscription dated 820 AH/14017, in the handwriting of Abdullah Seirafi, which was installed in the Khoday-Khaneh by order of Mirza Sultan Ibrahim, son of Sultan Shahrukh Timuri, is apparently reminiscent of the construction at the same time, as Qazi Ahmad Qomi has suggested (Qomi, 1974: 24).
As a result of the earthquakes of 1239 AH/1824, 1269 AH/1854 and 1301 AH/1884 and the resulting damage during the Qajar period, the Khoday-Khaneh also suffered major destruction. In the second half of the nineteenth century, 1302 AH/1888, when Dieulafoy visited the mosque, he mentioned the ruin and sad sight of the Khoday-Khaneh building (Dieulafoy, 1998: 465). According to Dieulafoy’ engraving, the surrounding portico has fallen to the ground, and the middle rooms have been largely destroyed. The four corner towers are still standing. In the half-century between Dieulafoy' visit and Wilber's visit in 1935/1313 AH, one of the cylindrical towers located in the northeast corner of the building collapsed and the high parts of the temple fell (Wilber, 1972: 62).

Conclusion
According to the description of Muqaddasi in the fourth century AH, the original building of the Khoday-Khana was also built, probably at the same time as the foundation of Atigh Jame mosque in the third century AH, by the order of Amr- o Laith- e Safari. Then, changes occurred in it around the sixth or seventh century AH, which are close to the present form of the building. The renovations and additions of the eighth century AH created a new design with the construction of towers and stabilized the architectural form of the Khoday-Khana. During these developments, the building had two floors and the spire was located on its highest part. A few centuries later, devastating earthquakes destroyed the mosque and the Khoday-Khana building, until in the second decade of the fourteenth century AH, this building was rebuilt in one floor.
The existential nature of the Khoday-Khana building was defined in relation to the Quran, as it was called "Beit- e Qura" and "Beit- ol Musahaaf" in ancient times. The main function of the building was to teach and learn the Quran, and it was a particularly suitable place to store ancient and exquisite Qurans, sometimes in the handwriting of the Prophet's companions (Sahabe) and Imams, or to dedicate them. Qurans with a date of dedication to the Bayt- ol Musahaf of Atiq Jame mosque in Shiraz, from the 7th to the 13th centuries AH, remain and are kept in Pars museums. Over the course of a thousand years of history, the Khoday-Khaneh building has undergone changes in terms of its location in the mosque courtyard. These changes do not mean the building was moved, but rather occurred with the advancing and retreating of the edges of the courtyard. For example, with the expansion of the covered nave to the south during the Safavid period or the retreat of the northern nave during the renovation of the contemporary period, the edges of the courtyard moved closer to or further from the Khoday-Khaneh; but in the early and middle centuries, this building was located in the center of the mosque courtyard. There are no remains or remains of the original building of the temple, and archaeological excavation is needed.