The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

The Monarch’s Spatial Accessibility: Examining Six Mirrors for Princes in the Medieval Islamic Period

https://doi.org/10.22034/bagh.2025.529276.5846
Volume 22, Issue 150
December 2025
Pages 39-48
The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Document Type : Original Research Article

Author

MohammadFarid Mosleh

Department of Architecture, College Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Iran

Abstract
Problem statement: In contemporary architecture and urban planning, accessibility is recognized as a value, and in the politics of space, it refers to the accessibility of political–social public spaces and the right to the city. Given that contemporary spatial and political frameworks primarily originate from Western theories and practices, this study investigates the notion of accessibility within the historical context of spatial politics in Iran.
Research objectives: This research examines the necessity and mechanisms of accessibility to the king during the Islamic Middle Ages. This period, often regarded as the Islamic Golden Age, produced significant theoretical works in which political thought evolved dynamically in tandem with political power.
Research method: Six mirrors for princes from the Islamic medieval period—namely Qabus-nama by Unsur al-Ma’ali, Siyasat-nama by Nizam al-Mulk, Nasihat al-Muluk by Ghazali, Tuhfat al-Muluk, Akhlaq-i Nasiri by Nasir al-Din Tusi, and Mirsad al-Ibad by Najm Razi—were analyzed. The aim was to extract micro-level mechanisms and patterns of spatial accessibility, reflecting a micro-narrative of the political elites’ ideals of that era.
Conclusion: The mirrors for princes aimed to sustain the regime, not mirror modern state–citizen relations. Nevertheless, shifting focus from the essence to modes of accessibility reveals discursive changes in the mirrors for princes. A linear reading shows the texts evolved beyond simple petitioning. For instance, two texts—Siyasat-nama and Nasihat al-Muluk —explicitly reference spatially grounded models of accessibility, drawing on narratives from early Islam and pre-Islamic Iran. Later mirrors for princes place greater emphasis on the populace and on the signifier of beneficence alongside justice. In practice, benevolence toward the people created conditions that highlighted accessibility. The peak of this emphasis appears in Mirsad al-Ibad, where accessibility is regarded as equivalent to justice and, rather than being merely a virtue, is considered a defining attribute of the Shah.

Keywords

Iran
Nizam al-Mulk
Najm al-Din Razi
Politics of space
micropolitics. material politics.
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