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This article is about the 829/1426 charitable trust deed (waqfiyya) of the Gawhar Shād Mosque and its social and economic implications. The deed was for a public-private trust (waqf-i mushtarak): the private (waqf-i kh&amcr;şş) aspect advanced Gawhar Shād's family interests, while the public (waqf-i khayrī) aspect promoted the commonweal (maşla&hcedil;a), being (1) income for the Shii shrine-complex of Imām Riżā, the Gawhar Shād Mosque, and the Sunni shrine-complex of A&hcedil;mad-i Jām; (2) funding for the maintenance of hydrological systems; (3) increasing agricultural production and employment; and (4) increasing revenues to the Timurid fisc. The Persian text, an annotated translation, and a map of certain endowed blocks are included.
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Introduction
Gawhar Shād, the wife of Shāh Rukh b. Temür (r. 807-50/1405-47), is remembered favorably in the Persian world even if the specifics about her contributions to Persian and Islamic cultures are hazy. Bazaars, colleges, roads, and squares are named in her honor, not just in Herat and Mashhad (as expected), but also in Kabul and Tehran. In addition to her public works, she was mother to the sultan Ulugh Beg (r. 850-53/1447-49), renowned for his scholarship in the sciences; Baysunghur, an exceptionally talented artist; and Muhammad Jukī, another patron of the Islamic arts. Gawhar Shād's execution at age 81-an act that besmirched a Timurid sultan's name-was an ignoble finale to an exemplary life of public service.
This article examines the charitable trust deed and endowments (mawqūfāt) of 829/1426 of the Gawhar Shād Mosque, located inside the Imām Riża shrine in Mashhad, Iran, and some of the socioeconomic implications of its terms and obligations. The use of waqf as an instrument to advance social and economic policies has been demonstrated by Leonor Fernandes, 1 Robert McChesney, 2 Maria Subtelny, 3 and Christoph Werner. 4 Examples of socioeconomic policies supported by waqfs include the development of agricultural estates, the increase in agricultural production, and the maintenance of hydrological systems and mills. An integral aspect of the Gawhar Shād deed is the Sunni-Shici dimension: Gawhar Shād, the benefactress (wāqifa), "junior" spouse to a staunchly Sunni sultan, conveyed to mortmain agricultural estates that were to generate revenue streams (in perpetuity) for the Gawhar Shād Mosque and the Shici shrine of Imām Rižā. In...