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The 'Timurids' (Chaghatay/ - ''Tīmūrīyān''), self-designated 'Gurkānī' ()^[1][2][3][4], were a Central Asian Sunni Muslim dynasty whose empire included the whole of Central Asia, Iran and modern Afghanistan, as well as large parts of Mesopotamia and Caucasus. It was founded by the legendary conqueror Timur (''Tamerlane'') in the 13th century.
In the 16th century, Timurid prince Zahir ud-Din Babur, the ruler of Ferghana, invaded India and founded the Mughal Empire - the ''Timurids of India'' - who ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for several centuries until the British conquest of India.

Contents

History

Origins

Founding the dynasty

Culture

Art

Literature

Architecture

Timurid architecture

Mughal architecture

Rulers of the Timurid Empire

Rulers of Herat

Rulers of Samarkand

Other rulers

Rulers of Mughal Empire

Heads of the Timurid Dynasty

Notes

External links

History

Origins

Main articles: Barlas, Turco-Mongol, Turko-Persian Tradition, Persianate society

The origin of the Timurid dynasty goes back to the Mongolian nomadic confederation known as Barlas, remnants of the original Mongol army of Genghis Khan.^[5][6][7] After the Mongol conquest of Central Asia, the Barlas settled in Turkistan (then also known as ''Moghulistan'' - "Land of Mongols") and intermingled to a considerable degree with the local Turkic and Turkic-speaking population, so that at the time of Timur the Barlas were in terms of language and habbits, thoroughly Turkicized. Additionally, by adopting Islam, the Central Asian Turks and Mongols also adopted the Persian literary and high culture which has dominated Central Asia since the early days of Islamic influence. Thus, the political, cultural, and elitist environment of the Timurid aristocracy was largly derived from that culture.

Founding the dynasty

Main articles: Timur

Timur conquered large parts of Transoxiana (in modern day Central Asia) and Khorasan (parts of modern day Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan,Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) from 1363 onwards with various alliances (Samarkand in 1366, and Balkh in 1369), and was recognized as ruler over them in 1370. Acting officially in the name of the Mongolian Chagatai ulus, he subjugated Transoxania and Khwarazm in the years that followed and began a campaign westwards in 1380. By 1389 he had removed the Kartids from Herat and advanced into mainland Persia from 1382 (capture of Isfahan in 1387, removal of the Muzaffarids from Shiraz in 1393, and expulsion of the Jalayirids from Baghdad). In 1394/95 he triumphed over the Golden Horde and enforced his sovereignty in the Caucasus, in 1398 subjugated Multan and Dipalpur in modern day Pakistan and in modern day India left Delhi in such ruin that it is said for two months "not a bird moved wing in the city".
In 1400/01 conquered Aleppo, Damascus and eastern Anatolia, in 1401 destroyed Baghdad and in 1402 triumphed over the Ottomans at Ankara. In addition, he transformed Samarqand into the ''Center of the World''. An estimated 17 million people may have died from his conquests.[1]
After the end of the Timurid Empire in 1506, the Mughal Empire was later established in India by Babur in 1526, who was a 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. By the 17th century, the Mughal Empire ruled most of India, but later declined during the 18th century. The Timurid Dynasty came to an end in 1857 after the Mughal Empire was dissolved by the British Empire and Bahadur Shah II was exiled to Burma.
The Timurids made Herat and Samarqand their capitals. It is believed that the period of Timurids resembles to a Renaissance Age for Khorasan.

Culture

Although the Timurids hailed from the Barlas tribe which was of Mongol origin, they had embraced Turkic^[8] and Persian culture^[9][10], converted to Islam and resided in Turkestan and Khorasan. The Timurid era had a dual character which reflected both, the Turco-Mongol origins and the Persian high culture of the dynasty.

Art

It was the Mongol ethnicity of the Chaghatayid and Timurid Khans that is the source of the stylistic depiction Persian art during the Middle Ages. These same Mongols intermarried with the Persians and Turks of Central Asia, even adopting their religion and languages. Yet their simple control of the world at that time, particularly in the 13-15th Centuries, reflected itself in the idealised appearance of Persians as Mongols. Though the ethnic make-up gradually blended into the Iranian and Mesopotamian local populations, the Mongol stylism continued well after, and crossed into Asia Minor and even North Africa.

Literature

The Timurid era revived the Persian civilization in Central Asia after the disastrous invasion by Genghis Khan¹⁰. The Timurid sultans, especially Šāhrukh Mīrzā and his son Mohammad Taragai Oloğ Beg, patronized Persian high culture. Persian literature as well as the Persian language, the traditional vernacular of the Timurid courts, flourished throughout their empire. Herat and Samarqand became centers of a renewed and artistically brilliant Persian culture⁸. Among the most important literary works of the Timurid era is the Persian biography of Timur, known as ''"Zafarnāma"'' (), written by Sharaf ud-Dīn Alī Yazdī, which itself is based on an older ''"Zafarnāma"'' by Nizām al-Dīn Shāmī, the official biographer of Timur during his lifetime. 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 in Persian poetry. The most famous painter of the Timurid court, as well as the most famous of the Persian miniature painters in general, was Ustād Kamāl ud-Dīin Behzād. In addition, the Timurid sultan Oloğ Beg is known as a great astronomer.
After the foundation of the Mughal Empire, the Timurids successfully expanded the Persian cultural influence from Khorasa to India, where the Persian language, literature, architecture, and art dominated the Indian subcontinent until the British conquest.⁹
The early Timurids also played a very important role in the history of Turkic literature. Based on the established Persian literary tradition, a national Turkic literature was developed, written in the Chagatay language, the native tongue of the Timurid family. Chagatay poets such as Mīr Alī Sher Nawā'ī, Sultan Husayn Bāyqarā, and Zāher ud-Dīn Bābur encouraged other Turkic-speaking poets to write in their own vernacular in addition to Arabic and Persian.
The Bāburnāma, the autobiography of Bābur, as well as Mīr Alī Sher Nawā'ī's Chagatay poetry are among the best-known Turkic literary works and have fascinated and influenced many others world wide. However, the Turkic elements of the dynasty declined with the fall of the Timurids in Herat and the ''total Persianization'' of the Timurid family after Humāyūn's exile in Safawid Persia.

Architecture

Timurid architecture

Main articles: Persian architecture


In the realm of architecture, the Timurids drew on and developed many Seljuq traditions, the style being largely derived from Persian architecture. Turquoise and blue tiles forming intricate linear and geometric patterns decorated the facades of buildings. Sometimes the interior was decorated similarly, with painting and stucco relief further enriching the effect⁸. Timurid architecture is the pinnacle of Islamic art in Central Asia. Spectacular and stately edifices erected by Timur and his successors in Samarkand and Herat helped to disseminate the influence of the Ilkhanid school of art in India, thus giving rise to the celebrated ''Mughal'' (or ''Mongol'') school of architecture. Timurid architecture started with the sanctuary of Ahmed Yasawi in present-day Kazakhstan and culminated in Timur's mausoleum Gur-e Amir in Samarkand. Axial symmetry is a characteristic of all major Timurid structures, notably the Shāh-e Zenda in Samarkand, the ''Musallah'' complex in Herat, and the mosque of Gowhar Shād in Mashhad. Double domes of various shapes abound, and the outsides are perfused with brilliantly colors.

Mughal architecture

Main articles: Mughal architecture

The Mughal period marked a striking revival of Islamic architecture in northern India. Under the patronage of the Mughal emperors, Indian, Persian, and various provincial styles were fused to produce works of unusual quality and refinement.^[11]
The Mughal emperor Akbar constructed the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri, located 26 miles west of Agra, in the late 1500s. The most famous example of Mughal architecture is the Taj Mahal, the "teardrop on eternity," completed in 1648 by the emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to their 14th child. The extensive use of precious and semiprecious stones as inlay and the vast quantity of white marble required nearly bankrupted the empire. The Taj Mahal is completely symmetric other than the sarcophagus of Shah Jahan which is placed off center in the crypt room below the main floor. This symmetry extended to the building of an entire mirror mosque in red sandstone to complement the Mecca-facing mosque place to the west of the main structure. Another structure built that showed great depth of Mughal influence was the Shalimar Gardens.

Rulers of the Timurid Empire

★ Timur (Tamerlane) 1370 - 1405 (771-807 AH) - with Suyurghitmiš Chaghtay as nominal overlord followed by Mahmūd Chaghtay as overlord and finally Muhammad Sultān as heir

★ Pir Muhammad bin Jahāngīr 1405 - 1407 (807-808 AH)

Rulers of Herat

★ Shāhrukh 1405 - 1447 (807-50 AH) (overall ruler of the Timurid Empire 1409 - 1447)

★ Abu'l-Qasim Bābar 1447 - 1457 (850-61 AH)

★ Shāh Mahmūd 1457 (861 AH)

★ Ibrāhim 1457 - 1459 (861-863 AH)

★ Sultān Abu Sa’id Gūrgān 1459 - 1469 (863-73 AH) (in Transoxiana 1451-1469)

★ Yādgār Muhammad 1470 (873 AH)

★ Sultān Hussayn 1470 - 1506 (874-911 AH)

★ Badi ul-Zamān 1506 - 1507 (911-912 AH) and

★ Muzaffar Hussayn 1506 - 1507 (911-912 AH)
''Herat is conquered by the Uzbeks under Muhammad Shaybani''

Rulers of Samarkand

★ Khalīl Sultān 1405 - 1409 (807-11 AH)

★ Mohammad Taragai bin Shāhrukh-I 1409 - 1449 (811-53 AH) (overall ruler of the Timurid Empire 1447 - 1449)

★ 'Abd al-Latif 1449 - 1450 (853-854 AH)

★ ‘Abdullah 1450 - 1451 (854-55 AH)

★ Sultān Abu Sa’id Gūrgān 1451 - 1469 (855-73 AH) (in Herat 1459-1469)
''Abu Sa'id's sons divided his territories upon his death, into Samarkand, Badakhshan and Farghana''

★ Sultān ibn Abu Sa’id 1469 - 1494 (873-899 AH)

★ Sultān Mahmūd ibn Abu Sa’id 1494 - 1495 (899-900 AH)

★ Sultān Baysunqur 1495 - 1497 (900-902 AH) and

★ Mas’ūd 1495 (900 AH) and

★ Sultān Alī Mīrzā 1495 - 1500 (900-905 AH)
''Samarkand is conquered by the Uzbeks under Muhammad Shaybani''

Other rulers

★ Qaidu bin Pir Muhammad bin Jahāngīr 808-811 AH

★ Abu Bakr bin Mīrān Shāh 1405 - 1407 (807-809 AH)

★ Pir Muhammad bin Umar Sheikh 807-812 AH

★ Rustam 812-817 AH

★ Sikandar 812-17 AH

★ Alaudaullah 851 AH

★ Abu Bakr bin Muhammad 851 AH

★ Sultān Muhammad 850-55 AH

★ Muhammad bin Hussayn 903-906 AH

★ Abul A'la Fereydūn Hussayn 911-912 AH

★ Muhammad Mohsin Khān 911-912 AH

★ Muhammad Zamān Khān 920-923 AH

★ Shāhrukh II bin Abu Sa’id 896-897 AH

★ Ulugh Beg Kābulī 873-907 AH

★ Sultān Uways 1508 - 1522 (913-927 AH)

Rulers of Mughal Empire

★ Zahiruddin Babur Mirza 1526 - 1530 (933-937 AH) - established Mughal Dynasty in India (Mughal Empire)

★ Nasiruddin Humayun Mirza 1530 - 1556 (937-963 AH) - ruler of Mughal Empire, son of Babur

★ Kamran Mirza 1530 - 1557 (937-962 AH) - ruler of Kabul and Lahore, son of Babur

★ Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar Mirza (Akbar the Great) 1556-1605 (963-1014 AH) - greatest ruler of Mughal Empire, son of Humayun

★ Abul Qasim Muhammad bin Kamran 968 AH

★ Suleiman Mirza 936-92 AH

★ Shahrukh III 983-87 AH - son of Ibrahim

★ Nuruddin Muhammad Jahangir 1605 - 1627 (1014-1036 AH) - ruler of Mughal Empire, son of Akbar and Rajput Princess Mariam Zamani

★ Shahbuddin Muhammad Shah Jahan (Shah Jahan I) 1627 - 1658 - ruler of Mughal Empire, son of Jahangir and Rajput Princess Manmati

★ Mohiuddin Mohammed Aurangzeb (Aurangzeb Alamgir I) 1658-1707 - ruler of Mughal Empire, son of Shah Jahan

★ Bahadur Shah I (Shah Alam I) 1707 - 1712 - son of Aurangzeb

★ Jahandar Shah, b. 1664, ruler from 1712 - 1713 -

★ Furrukhsiyar, b. 1683, ruler from 1713-1719

★ Rafi Ul-Darjat, ruler 1719

★ Rafi Ud-Daulat (Shah Jahan II), ruler 1719

★ Nikusiyar, ruler 1719

★ Muhammad Ibrahim, ruler 1720

★ Muhammad Shah, b. 1702, ruler from 1719-1720, 1720-1748

★ Ahmad Shah Bahadur, b. 1725, ruler from 1748-1754

★ Alamgir II, b. 1699, ruler from 1754-1759 - son of Jahandar Shah

★ Shah Jahan III, ruler 1759

★ Shah Alam II, b. 1728, ruler from 1759-1806

★ Akbar Shah II, b. 1760, ruler from 1806-1837

★ Bahadur Shah II (Bahadur Shah Zafar) 1837-1857 - last ruler of the Timurid Dynasty

Heads of the Timurid Dynasty

★ Bahadur Shah II (1857- 1862)

★ Shahzada Muhammad Hidayat Afshar, Ilahi Bakhsh Bahadur (1862-1878)

★ Shahzada Muhammad Sulaiman Shah Bahadur (1878-1890)

★ Shahzada Muhammad Kaiwan Shah Gorkwani, Suraya Jah Bahadur (1890-1913)

★ Mirza Salim Muhammad Shah Bahadur (1913-1925)

★ No recognised head of the family (1925-1931)

★ Shahzada Muhammad Khair ud-din Mirza, Khurshid Jah Bahadur (1931-1975)

★ Mirza Ghulam Moinuddin Muhammad, Javaid Jah Bahadur (1975-Present)

Notes

1. The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, Zahir ud-Din Mohammad, , , Modern Library Classics, 2002, ISBN 0375761373
2. Note: ''Gurkānī'' is the Persianized form of the Mongolian word ''kürügän'' [''"son-in-law"''], the title given to the dynasty's founder after his marriage into Genghis Khan's family (Thackston, Wheeler M. ''The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor''. Modern Library Classics. ISBN 0375761373)
3. in some sources also as ''Gurgān'', ''Gurkhān'', or ''Kurkhān''; The meaning of ''Kurkhan'' is given in Clements Markham's publication of the reports of the contemporary witness Ruy González de Clavijo as ''"of the lineage of sovereign princes"''; but this translation is widely rejected by modern scholars such as Thackston or Manz, because the transliteration it is based on does not correspond with the original Perso-Arabic spelling of the word.
4. Edward Balfour ''The Encyclopaedia Asiatica, Comprising Indian Subcontinent, Eastern and Southern Asia'', Cosmo Publications 1976, S. 460, S. 488, S. 897
5. B.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006
6. ''"Timur"'', The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001-05 Columbia University Press, (LINK)
7. "Consolidation & expansion of the Indo-Timurids", in Encyclopaedia Britannica, (LINK)
8. "Timurids", in Encyclopædia Britannica, Online Edition, (LINK)
9. Zaher ud-Din Babor - Founder of Mughal empire Encyclopaedia Iranica
10. Timurids The Columbia Encyclopedia
11. Mughal architecture Encyclopædia Britannica

External links

★ Timurids Dynasty

★ Timurids Art

★ Virtual Art Exhibit

★ Chronology of Samarkand rulers

★ Chronology of Herat rulers

★ royalark