FROM TENTS TO PAVILIONS: ROYAL MOBILITY AND PERSIAN PALACE DESIGN BY BERNARD O'KANE FAZL ALLAH KHUNJI, THE LATE-FIFTEENTH-CENTURY biographer of the Aqqoyunlu sultan Ya'qub, gives a list of the qualities which demonstrated the ruler's distinguished origin. One of them reads as follows: "He was not a town dweller affected by dirty habits, as was the case with many rulers of Khurasan, Fars and Kerman, but followed the seasons wandering in open spaces going from summer quarters to winter quarters. " The rhythms of pastoral nomadism dominated court life in Iran until the twentieth century. Seasonal migrations were not only a way to pro- vide the grazing lands essential to the nomads' flocks; they also served as a means to escape the extremes of heat and cold which characterize most of the Iranian plateau. The basic necessity of fodder for the tens of thousands of horses, mules, and camels which accompanied the royal armies on campaigns was reflected in peacetime by the choice of routes 2 and in war by the frequent cessation of hostilities in winter, when snow cov- ered much of the ground and the armies were obliged to retire to winter quarters for pasturage. As an example of the military importance of fodder, one can cite the repeated Mongol with- drawals from Mamluk territory, which have been ascribed to the inadequacy of the pasturelands, especially in southern Syria. 3 Apart from these movements which were dic- tated by necessity, another motive was also impor- tant, that which was commended by Fazl Allah Khunji, the preference for life in tents in the open countryside to that of towns. This also per- mitted the ruler to indulge in the most favored of nomadic recreations, hunting. Already in the 1230s the movements of Ogedei, Chingiz Khan's son, were conditioned by pleasurable pursuits, including hunting, rather than by purely pastoral considerations. 4 Charles Melville has recently examined in depth the geochronology (move- ments over time) of Sultan Uljaytu. 5 The very low number of military expeditions in his reign makes it particularly valuable in determining how much of his movements were due to nomad- ism. He unfailingly moved each year between summer and winter quarters, spending about one hundred days a year on the migrations. Despite having built a new town at Sultaniyya, he spent only around forty percent of his time there, which puts it into perspective as his chief seasonal residence, rather than a permanently occupied capital. Unlike Tabriz, the plain around Sultaniyya was sufficiently large to accommodate the en- campments of the Mongol hordes, which has led to the suggestion that, far from becoming city dwellers, Uljaytu deliberately picked Sultaniyya to support their nomadic economy. 6 One might hope that a compilation of geo- chronologies for other sultans up to the Safavid period would help in determining, firstly, the inclination to nomadism or sedentarism of later rulers, and secondly, whether this had any mea- surable effect on their policies regarding the building of or residence in palaces. However, the movements of later rulers were more often dic- tated by military operations, whether combating outside forces or dealing with internal revolts. The influence of individual whim in royal patron- age also makes it difficult to assess the impor- tance of this factor versus sedentarism, although we shall see in the case of Shah 'Abbas that, aswith Sultan Uljaytu, a semi-nomadic lifestyle could coexist with the erection of palaces in new capi- tals. Various accounts exist of the ordu (imperial encampment) from the Mongol period onwards, and it was clearly in many respects a mobile city. 7 An elaborate ceremony accompanied the camp every time it moved; a strict formation based on military rank was observed, with the drummers, trumpeters, and pipers of each unit occupying prominent positions. 8 Mosques and bazaars were to be found in each encampment, although prices were high because of the difficulties of transport. The ruler and his household formed one camp and each of his wives had a camp of her own, as did the amirs and viziers. The latter, together with their secretaries and officials of the finance department, are described by Ibn Battuta as presenting themselves for duty each afternoon. 9 On some of the album leaves in the Topkapi Palace Museum, the signatures of Aqqoyunlu calligraphers suggest that they were in the camp, indicating that at least part of the