The Chihil Sutūn (lit., forty pillars) was one of the principal ceremonial palaces in Isfahan, the capital city (since 1006-7/1598) of the Ṣafavid Empire (907-1135/1501-1722). Located in the bīrūnī (the external, i.e., public, section) of the royal precinct, where the administrative, political, judicial, and ceremonial functions of the empire were centred, the palace and its garden ensemble were constructed between 1057/1647 and the 1060s/1650s, during the reign of Shāh ʿAbbās II (1052-77/1642-66). The Chihil Sutūn was situated near the