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Raie H, Biglari M. (2023). Study of Physical and Functional Characteristics of Nusratabad Historical Farmstead. Parseh J Archaeol Stud. 7(25), 317-338. doi:10.30699/PJAS.7.25.317
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-663-en.html

Abstract
Nusratabad Farmstead was built in 1264 AH by Aqamirza Nasrullah Sadr al-Mamalik around Qom and was dedicated to his two male children. This farmstead was active until the Pahlavi period and after that, the remains of the farmstead called Sadri castle were registered in the list of national monuments of Iran in 2001 with the number 4868. there are written documents such as historical maps and endowments related to the year 1270 AH about this farmstead. The mentioned documents provide useful information about the characteristics of the farmstead and qualities such as why it is made, the formation process, various physical elements and agricultural products. The research problem is the low familiarity of the communities with the subject of “farmsteads architecture” and also the possibility of reviving Nusratabad and Sadri Castle in the future. The aim of this study is to introduce a Qajar farmstrad and to achieve them two questions are asked: 1. What are the physical and functional characteristics of Nusratabad Farmstead? 2. What was the role of these characteristics in the survival of Nusratabad farmstead? this study tries to approach the subject with an interpretive approach and historical interpretive strategy and uses the three main formats of document research, interviews and field studies. Studies show that Nusratabad farmstead has two physical and functional characteristics and their subsystems. Positioning, formation of physical elements and farmsteads monitoring methods are related to its physical characteristics and the functional characteristics of Nusratabad farmstead also refer to the type of crops, social pyramid and related cultural issues. The architecture of Nusratabad Farmstead have been the product of a combination of physical and functional characteristics over time and Sadr al-Mamalik was able to protect the farmstead with these measures and hand it over to the current supervisors.
Keywords: Nusratabad Farmstead, Sadri Castle, Agricultural Heritage, Qom.

Introduction
Historical farmsteads have been seen in two forms so far; the first form is called “Agriculture castles” in which the castle is the axis of the farmstead and the residence of the farmstead dwellers and usually Agriculture lands and gardens were gradually formed outside the castle.
But the second form is “Agriculture complexes” in which the elements of the farmsteads are seen as a small village and a concentrated fabric in cooperation with each other and the farmsteads dwellers lived in a place other than the castle.
Nusratabad farmsteads was built with the model of Agriculture castle and centered on Sadri Castle in 1264 AH by Aqamirza Nasrullah Sadr al-Malik and the date of its endowment dates back to 1270 AH. The mentioned properties is now located at the end of Hazrat Masoumeh Boulevard, at the old road from Qom to Saveh and Sadri Street. From this farmstead and the Agriculture castle related to those two maps have been seen so far: a); The main and first map is made of fabric and has dimensions of 216 × 88 cm, in which the qanat and four mills of Nusratabad farmstead in the old plain and the western and eastern fronts of Qom river are also shown. This map is currently available to heirs and is not available. B); The second or monitoring plan is made of fabric with dimensions of 70 × 257 cm, which was prepared during the construction of the castle in 1264 AH. (Mohseni, 2014:203) This map is mentioned in Madame Dieulafoy ‘s travelogue and will be discussed in this article. The research problem is the low familiarity of the communities with the subject of “farmsteads architecture” and also the possibility of reviving Nusratabad and Sadri Castle in the future. The aim of this study is to introduce a Qajar farmstead. Rereading these documents can acquaint the scientific community with the architectural pattern and social and cultural characteristics of a Qajar farmsteads. For this reason, it is tried based on three formats; Document research, interviews and field studies to answer research questions. this research approaches the issue with its interpretive approach and historical interpretive strategy.

Identified Sites
The available documents show that the owner of the farmstead, Sadr al-Malik, was originally from Taleqan but her ancestors had migrated to Ardabil. During the reign of Mohammad Shah Qajar, Sadr al-Malik was in a good position in terms of relations with the court as well as religious relations with the people and he had built this farmstead for the development of property and qanat as well as economic exploitation. After building the castle, he selected people from the Zandieh tribe and settled as slaves in the Sadri Farmstead Castle (Arbab, n.d.: 51). According to the calculation of Afzal-ol-Molk, their number reached 40 to 50 families and between 200 to 250 people (Afzal Al-Molk, 2017: 88). The tribe was responsible for maintaining and producing on the farmstead and cultivating summer and winter crops. There are currently two historical maps of this farmstead: a; Main and first map b; Second map and monitoring. In the historical map, the two elements of the castle and the refrigerator can be clearly seen. According to the plan, Sadri Castle had a fort and twelve main and secondary towers, qanats, buildings and interior spaces. In addition, the remains of a historic bath can now be seen in the castle, which were not drawn on the castle monitoring map and may have been added to the complex later. This map describes other spaces under construction such as mills, baths, caravanserai, mosques and qanats. These features with the details stated in Tables 1 and 2 are the result of reviewing the documents studied in different sections of the research and it can be considered as physical and functional characteristics of Nusratabad farmstead. The contents of these tables show that the architecture of the farmstead was a function of social, economic, cultural, security, environmental and climatic issues that manifested themselves in different ways in historical periods.

Conclusion
This study has concluded that Nusratabad farmstead has two physical and functional characteristics and their subsystems. Positioning, formation of physical elements and field monitoring methods are related to its physical characteristics. Based on this, Nusratabad farmstead was built in the Qajar period with a short distance from Qom and Water resources and security have played a role in its location. Sadr al-Malik was able to build a large farmstead with elements such as an Agriculture castle, caravanserai, mosque, mill, qanat, bath and refrigerator and settle some of the Zandieh tribe. The functional characteristics of Nusratabad Farmstead also refer to crops, social pyramid and related cultural issues. Accordingly, the formation of Nusratabad farmstead started with good intentions and then economic exploitation has been given priority. Sadr al-Malik was able to achieve a monitoring program in by designing architecture, monitoring plan, determining the type of endowment operation and setting up the endowment letter. In a way that has been continued by his supervisors until now. Therefore, the architecture and composition of Nusratabad Farmstead have been the product of a combination of physical and functional characteristics over time.

Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the managers of the Sadri Castle(Ghal-eh Sadri) complex, especially Mr. Hamed Sadri and Younes Sadri.

Observation Contribution
The authors have contributed equally to the compilation of the paper.

Conflict of Interest
There is no conflict of interest.