This article examines the architectural form and potential functions of two royal buildings: the Sher Mandal and the Guldasta pavilion. An octagonal tower located in the Purana Qilʿa in Delhi, the Sher Mandal was in all likelihood the library (kitāb-khāna) built by the Mughal emperor Humayun (r. 1530–56). Erected during the reign of the Safavid ruler Shah ʿAbbas I (r. 1587–1629), the now-vanished Guldasta pavilion was located south of the palace complex in Isfahan and can be studied through drawings and photographs. A close examination of the formal structure of the two buildings reveals that they belong to a distinct type of polygonal pavilion that first emerged in the late fifteenth century in the works of architecture sponsored by the Timurid dynasty (c. 1370–1405). Moreover, this comparative study opens up new venues for investigating the physical setting of the royal kitāb-khāna in Mughal and Safavid contexts.

中文翻译：

---

皇家议会和帝国图书馆：多边形亭阁及其在莫卧儿和萨法维建筑中的功能

本文考察了两座皇家建筑的建筑形式和潜在功能：Sher Mandal 和 Guldasta 亭。位于德里 Purana Qilʿa 的八角形塔楼，Sher Mandal 很可能是莫卧儿皇帝胡马雍（1530-56 年在位）建造的图书馆 (kitāb-khāna)。在萨法维统治者沙阿阿巴斯一世（Shah ʿAbbas I，1587-1629 年在位）统治期间建造的这座现已消失的古尔达斯塔亭位于伊斯法罕宫殿建筑群的南部，可以通过绘画和照片进行研究。对这两座建筑的正式结构进行仔细检查后发现，它们属于一种独特类型的多边形亭阁，最早出现在十五世纪后期由帖木儿王朝（约 1370-1405 年）赞助的建筑作品中。而且，