Timurid Empire
In 1370, a warlord named Timur established an empire that would dominate Greater Iran and Central Asia for over a century. He began his campaigns westwards in 1380, invading the successor states of the Ilkhanate. By 1389, he had removed the Kartids from Herat and advanced into mainland Persia where he enjoyed many successes. This included the capture of Isfahan in 1387, the removal of the Muzaffarids from Shiraz in 1393, and the expulsion of the Jalayirids from Baghdad. Timur continued to have strong trade relations with Ming China and the Golden Horde, with Chinese diplomats like Ma Huan and Chen Cheng regularly traveling west to Samarkand to conduct trade. In 1394, 1395, he triumphed over the Golden Horde after his successful campaign in Georgia, enforcing his sovereignty in the Caucasus. The costs of Timur's conquests included the deaths of possibly 17 million people. Later in 1400, 1401 he conquered Aleppo, Damascus and eastern Anatolia. In 1401 he destroyed Baghdad, and in 1402 he defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Ankara.
Although the Timurids hailed from the Barlas tribe, which was of Turkicized Mongol origin, they converted to Islam and resided in Turkestan and Khorasan. Thus, the Timurid era had a dual character, reflecting both its Turco-Mongol origins and the Persian literary, artistic, and courtly high culture of the dynasty. During the Timurid era, Central Asian society was bifurcated, with the responsibilities of government and rule divided into military and civilian spheres along ethnic lines. At least in the early stages, the military was almost exclusively Turco-Mongolian, while the civilian and administrative element was almost exclusively Persian. The spoken language shared by all the Turko-Mongolians throughout the area was Chaghatay. The major language of the period, however, was Persian, the native language of the Tājīk component of society and the language of learning acquired by all literate or urban people. Persian became the official state language of the Timurid Empire and served as the language of administration, history, belles lettres, and poetry. The Chaghatay language was the native and home language of the Timurid family, while Arabic served as the language par excellence of science, philosophy, theology and the religious sciences.
The empire led to the Timurid Renaissance, particularly during the reign of astronomer and mathematician Ulugh Begh. The golden age of Persian painting began during the reign of the Timurids. During this period , and analogous to the developments in Safavid Iran , Chinese art and artists had a significant influence on Persian art. Timurid artists refined the Persian art of the book, which combines paper, calligraphy, illumination, illustration and binding in a brilliant and colourful whole. Among the most important literary works of the Timurid era is the Persian biography of Timur, known as Zafarnāmeh, written by Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi. The most famous poet of the Timurid era was Nūr ud-Dīn Jāmī, the last great medieval Sufi mystic of Persia and one of the greatest figures in Persian poetry. The Timurid prince Baysunghur also commissioned a new edition of the Persian national epic Shāhnāmeh, known as Shāhnāmeh of Baysunghur, and wrote an introduction to it. Following the publication of Mukhtar al-Ikhtiyar, a legal manual that was used until the twentieth century, by the head magistrate of Bayqara in Herat, Persian was used as a language of jurisprudence under the late Timurids.
After his death in 1405, the family quickly fell into disputes and civil wars, effectively weakening themselves, and many of the governors became conclusively independent. The power of Timurids declined rapidly during the second half of the 15th century, largely due to the Timurid/Mongol tradition of partitioning the empire as well as several civil wars. Shahrukh Mirza, the fourth ruler of the Timurids, dealt with the Qara Qoyunlu, who aimed to expand into Iran. But in the wake of Shahrukh's death, the Qara Qoyunlu under Jahan Shah drove the Timurids out to eastern Iran after 1447 and also briefly occupied Herat in 1458. After the death of Jahan Shah, Uzun Hasan, bey of the Aq Qoyunlu, conquered the holdings of the Qara Qoyunlu in Iran between 1469 and 1471. By 1500, the divided and war-torn Timurid Empire had lost control of most of its territory, and in the following years it was effectively pushed back on all fronts. Much of the Central Asian lands was overrun by the Uzbeks of Muhammad Shaybani who conquered the key cities of Samarkand and Herat in 1505 and 1507.
One of the earliest surviving Timurid monuments is the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in present-day Kazakhstan (1389, 1399). Many of the major imperial monuments of the era are found in Samarkand, including the Gur-i Amir Mausoleum, completed around 1404, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque (1399, 1404), the Shah-i Zinda necropolis (late 14th to early 15th centuries), and the Ulugh Beg Madrasa (1417, 1420). The most important patron of architecture in the 15th century was Gawhar Shad, whose constructions demonstrate a high quality of decoration and increasingly elaborate structural elements, with important examples being her religious and funerary complex in Herat and the mosque of Gawhar Shad in Mashhad. The power and prestige of the empire, along with the scale of its patronage, ensured that its architectural style was a major subsequent influence in many regions. In Iran, it was inherited by the Safavids, while in the east it was inherited by the Mughals on the Indian subcontinent, where it was blended with Indo-Islamic influences to create the Mughal style.
From Kabul, the Mughal Empire was established in 1526 by Babur, a Timurid prince, son of the Timurid governor of Fergana Umar Shaikh Mirza II, who was descendant of Timur through his father and possibly a descendant of Genghis Khan through his mother. The dynasty he established is commonly known as the Mughal dynasty though it was directly inherited from the Timurids. By the 17th century, the Mughal Empire ruled most of India but eventually declined during the following century. The Timurid dynasty finally came to an end when the remaining nominal rule of the Mughals was abolished by the British Empire following the 1857 rebellion. Babur used this kingdom as a staging ground to invade the Delhi Sultanate in India and established the Mughal Empire twenty years after establishing a small kingdom there in Kabulistan. The Bāburnāma, the autobiography of Babur, remains one of the best-known Turkic literary works alongside Mīr Alī Sher Nawā'ī's Chagatai poetry.
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Common questions
When did Timur establish the Timurid Empire?
Timur established the Timurid Empire in 1370. He began his campaigns westwards in 1380 and invaded the successor states of the Ilkhanate.
What languages were used during the Timurid era?
Persian became the official state language of the Timurid Empire and served as the language of administration, history, belles lettres, and poetry. The Chaghatay language was the native and home language of the Timurid family, while Arabic served as the language par excellence of science, philosophy, theology and the religious sciences.
Who founded the Mughal Empire and when was it established?
The Mughal Empire was established in 1526 by Babur, a Timurid prince from Kabul. Babur was the son of the Timurid governor of Fergana Umar Shaikh Mirza II and a descendant of Timur through his father.
Which cities did Muhammad Shaybani conquer to end the Timurid Empire?
Muhammad Shaybani conquered the key cities of Samarkand and Herat in 1505 and 1507. By 1500, the divided and war-torn Timurid Empire had lost control of most of its territory before these events.
When was the Gur-i Amir Mausoleum completed?
The Gur-i Amir Mausoleum was completed around 1404. It is one of the major imperial monuments of the era found in Samarkand alongside the Bibi-Khanym Mosque which dates from 1399 to 1404.