Chihil-Dukhtaran Minaret
The minaret of Chihil Dukhtaran stands in a small alleyway within the maze like streets of the Jubareh quarter(mohallah) of Isfahan. It is old part of the city. It is one of the earliest examples of brick work with triangles, squares, octagons, cruciform designs. It stands in solitary grandeur, not part of any extant building complex. The Chihil Dukhtaran of Isfahan was built in 1107-8 by Abi Al Fath Nahuji in the reign of Sultan (King) Malik Mohammad Shah. It is an outstanding example of a free standing Seljuq minaret with a cylindrical shaft ornamented with varying brick patterns and tile inlays.
The origin of the term, Chihil Dukhtaran (Forty virgins/unmarried daughters) cannot be ascribed with certainty to any historical event or patron type despite the various folk interpretations.
One of the traditions is that before the construction of this minaret there was a building located here which was exclusively reserved for women. The building was ascribed to pre-Islamic Zoroastrian water goddess “Anahita”. This minaret was added to the building and was named as “Minar of Forty Daughters”. Word ‘Forty’ denotes “countless” in old Persian.
The people living around the Minaret tell another story that since many centuries upto mid 20th century (when the staircase of the minaret was closed due to its worsening condition), the girls who could not be married for some reason, came to the minaret and broke walnut on its staircase and distributed its nut (core) among people after mixing with raisin This action brought mercy of God to them and they soon got married.
The minaret has got David Star engraved on it which implies that this area was previously resided mostly by Jews. Five Quranic verses from Surah ‘Taha’ are also written on it. Initially this minaret had got names of four Guided Caliphs engraved on it. Three names were removed by people leaving the name of Imam Ali, after Safavid rulers of Iran declared Shia Islam as state religion instead of Shafei Religion in 16th Century AD.
The minaret is 21 meters high. Originally it was 25 meters. The staircase is no longer in use because of its bad condition.