The Timurids: Turco-Persian Cultural Florescence
Outline
Historical Significance of the Westward Migration of the Mongols
Timur—Scorch of God
The Timurids and Renaissance of Perso-Islamic Culture
The Uzbeks
Miniature Painting and “My Name Is Red”
Significance of the Westward Migration of the Mongols
Timur: Scorch of God
The Descendents of Genghis Khan, or the “Golden Family”, enjoyed a special status in the lands once conquered by him; despite repeated and often rapid successions of political control, the rulers of Golden Horde, White Horde, the Ilkhanate, the Chaghatay all needed to claim lineage from Genghis Khan in order to establish legitimacy.
Many Mongols became Islamized and Turkicized in the 14th century, but their claim to Mongol lineage continued for several centuries.
Timur was born in 1336 in today’s Uzbekistan, near Kesh in Transoxania, not far from Samarkand; he came from an affiliated Mongol tribe which contributed to Genghis Khan conquest of Transoxania in the 12th century; he was married to two women, both of prominent Mongol lineage.
Outline
Historical Significance of the Westward Migration of the Mongols
Timur—Scorch of God
The Timurids and Renaissance of Perso-Islamic Culture
The Uzbeks
Miniature Painting and “My Name Is Red”
Significance of the Westward Migration of the Mongols
Timur: Scorch of God
The Descendents of Genghis Khan, or the “Golden Family”, enjoyed a special status in the lands once conquered by him; despite repeated and often rapid successions of political control, the rulers of Golden Horde, White Horde, the Ilkhanate, the Chaghatay all needed to claim lineage from Genghis Khan in order to establish legitimacy.
Many Mongols became Islamized and Turkicized in the 14th century, but their claim to Mongol lineage continued for several centuries.
Timur was born in 1336 in today’s Uzbekistan, near Kesh in Transoxania, not far from Samarkand; he came from an affiliated Mongol tribe which contributed to Genghis Khan conquest of Transoxania in the 12th century; he was married to two women, both of prominent Mongol lineage.
Through personal and tribal alliances, Timur seized political power in 1370 in the western part of Chaghatay Khanate, including Transoxania.
He then conquered Khurasan, Khwarazm, Northwest India, Persia, and part of Asia Minor.
A skillful and effective political as well as military leader, exercising power ruthlessly, Timur was likened to Genghis Khan and known as Scorch of God.
Handicapped by his lack of a legitimate “Golden Family” claim, he was only de facto ruler of the empire he established, using the title “Emir” while manipulating a number of Khans throughout his 40-year career.
He liked his grandson Ulug Beg the most, giving him a thorough education while taking him along in many of the campaigns.
Noteworthy of his campaigns were the sacking of Delhi, Nishapur, Isfahan, and his incursion into Asia Minor.
In Asia Minor, he captured Bayazid Sultan and forced the Ottomans to face eastward, effectively giving relief to the Byzantine Empire which was under threat by the Ottomans; this caused the rulers in Italy and Spain to propose an alliance with Timur.
He maintained a cordial relationship with Ming China, sending several embassies to China and establishing direct lines of trade to by-pass Eastern Chaghatay and the remnants of Yuan Mongols.
In 1405, Timur switched his plan and turned to his “conquest of China”, but died in Otrar en route to China
He was buried in the mausoleum (Gur-e Emir) he built for himself
The Timurids and Renaissance of Perso-Islamic Culuture
Timur divided his empire into uluses among his sons and grandsons in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Khan’s bestowals.
Timur’s youngest son Shahrukh won the succession struggle and moved the capital from Samarkand to Herat; his own son Ulug Beg (1394-1449) ruled Transoxania.
Ulug Beg acted like a virtual monarch, visiting his father in Herat only rarely and irregularly.
Fortunately, Ulug Beg was effective and well-respected in Transoxania. He built mosques, madrasas; patronized arts and sciences; built an observatory that was the most advanced in the entire world.
Ulug Beg himself was a mathematician and astronomer; having published an “astronomy table” that was the most accurate and detailed up to his time; he described the names and positions of more than 1019 stars.
He is said to have given lectures in the main madrasa which had a curriculum much broader than the conventional madrasas.
On the door of this madrasa there was an inscription: “It is the duty of every Muslim man and woman to pursue knowledge.”
Ulug Beg was a good scholar, a poor military leader and very bad political leader.
He was badly defeated when his started campaigns against the White Horde to the north and the Mogulistan to the south.
After the death of his father Shahrukh, he won the title of Khan with the help of his eldest son; but he assigned his younger son to be his heir, resulting in his own death at the hands of his enraged elder son.
However, his rule of Transoxania was a very good period, with low taxation on land and flourishing industry and commerce, including good trade relations with China.
During the Timurids, sufism became very popular; many tariqas were founded and followers of them multiplied.
A Tajik from near Bukhara, Khwaja Baha al-Din Naqshband (1318-89) founded a group with silent zikr instead of groups of dervishes chanting in unison; this tariqa later spread to all over the Silk Road and is still prevalent today.
Its influence was initially due to the support it received from the Timurid elite in Herat.
There was also another important tariqa, the Yasaviya.
Under the Timurids rule, both Persian literature and Turkic literature were advanced.
Jami, the ultimate master of classic Persian poetry, was the son of a professor at a madrasa in Herat; he later became a devote follower of Naqshbandi.
Mir Ali Shir (1441-1501), better known as Navoi, wrote in both Persian and Turki, demonstrating the latter’s prowess as a language for poetry. Together with Babur, the last of the Timurid rulers, Navoi was credited with starting a Turki literature tradition.
The Timurids also promoted miniature painting; the master painter, Bihzad (1450-1537) started in Herat but later moved to Tabriz.
Relationship with Ming China
Uzbeks Coming South in Late 14th Century
The Uzbeks
The White Horde occupied the land in the deep northern steppe, east of the Ural mountains.
The ruling house was descedent from Shiban, the fifth son of Juchi who was himself the eldest son of Genghis Khan; these nomadic Turko-Mongols were called Uzbeks.
In the middle of the 15th century, led by Abulkhayr (1412-68), the Uzbeks moved down from the Kipchak steppe to the northern shores of Syr Darya, poised to cross it.
Requested to help settle a dispute among the Timurids, Abulkhayr entered Transoxania but later withdrew.
His grandson, Muhammad Shibani invaded a weak Timurid empire in 1501, driving away the reigning Khan, Barbur, the great-great-grandson of Timur.
The Uzbeks later conquered Khwarazm, Khurasan and settled in many towns; they mixed with the Persian-speaking Tajiks who had been the urban dwellers under the Timurids and were likely the direct descendents of the Sogdians.
Barbur, on his part, moved south and established an even larger empire, the Mughal Empire in India.
Miniature Painting and “My Name Is Red” 
A Tajik from near Bukhara, Khwaja Baha al-Din Naqshband (1318-89) founded a group with silent zikr instead of groups of dervishes chanting in unison; this tariqa later spread to all over the Silk Road and is still prevalent today.
Its influence was initially due to the support it received from the Timurid elite in Herat.
There was also another important tariqa, the Yasaviya.
Under the Timurids rule, both Persian literature and Turkic literature were advanced.
Jami, the ultimate master of classic Persian poetry, was the son of a professor at a madrasa in Herat; he later became a devote follower of Naqshbandi.
Mir Ali Shir (1441-1501), better known as Navoi, wrote in both Persian and Turki, demonstrating the latter’s prowess as a language for poetry. Together with Babur, the last of the Timurid rulers, Navoi was credited with starting a Turki literature tradition.
The Timurids also promoted miniature painting; the master painter, Bihzad (1450-1537) started in Herat but later moved to Tabriz.
Relationship with Ming China
Uzbeks Coming South in Late 14th Century
The Uzbeks
The White Horde occupied the land in the deep northern steppe, east of the Ural mountains.
The ruling house was descedent from Shiban, the fifth son of Juchi who was himself the eldest son of Genghis Khan; these nomadic Turko-Mongols were called Uzbeks.
In the middle of the 15th century, led by Abulkhayr (1412-68), the Uzbeks moved down from the Kipchak steppe to the northern shores of Syr Darya, poised to cross it.
Requested to help settle a dispute among the Timurids, Abulkhayr entered Transoxania but later withdrew.
His grandson, Muhammad Shibani invaded a weak Timurid empire in 1501, driving away the reigning Khan, Barbur, the great-great-grandson of Timur.
The Uzbeks later conquered Khwarazm, Khurasan and settled in many towns; they mixed with the Persian-speaking Tajiks who had been the urban dwellers under the Timurids and were likely the direct descendents of the Sogdians.
Barbur, on his part, moved south and established an even larger empire, the Mughal Empire in India.
Miniature Painting and “My Name Is Red”
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