TIMURID

The Timurid Empire was founded around 1370 by Timur, a Turco-Mongol military leader who rose to power within the Chagatai Khanate [i] – and sought to reclaim the remnants of Mongol Empire. Over a series of successful campaigns, Timur’s armies conquered what came to be the Timurid Empire. Timur appointed his progeny to rule over different parts of his Empire, which, upon his death, laid the groundwork for the Empire’s dissolution. Timur’s descendants further partitioned the empire to their offspring, leading to civil war and internal divisions that eventually tore the territory apart [ii]. The remainder of the Timurid Empire fell by 1507.

During its early expansion, the Timurid Empire was in constant conflict with its neighbors. Upon conquering an enemy’s territory, the Timurid Empire would either annex their land or establish suzerainty over it, which it did with both the Ottoman Empire [iii] and the Mamluk Sultanate [iv]. After Timur’s death, the Timurids lost their suzerainty over the Ottomans, thus re-igniting the two powers’ rivalry. With shared hostilities against the Ottoman Empire, the Timurid Empire and many Western European powers developed warm relationships [v]. As a trading power, the Timurids established economic and diplomatic ties with many powers along the Silk Road [vi].

The Timurid Empire left a lasting legacy on the Eastern Islamic world’s artwork, architecture, and literature that still persists today. Timur’s successors devoted themselves to the support of culture, the arts, and religion and ruled during a period of artistic renewal known as the Timurid Renaissance that saw the popularization of miniature painting, Persian literature, and the adoption of Turkish as a literary language [vii]. Uzbekistan’s Post-Soviet leadership tied the country’s national identity to Timur and his legacy, branding Timur as the father of the Uzbek nation. Many modern state buildings in Uzbekistan remain influenced by Timurid architecture [viii].

After Timur’s death in 1405, the Empire’s holdings were split between his two sons–Mīrānshāh and Shāh Rokh–resulting in a civil war. The dispute between Timur’s two sons established a pattern in the empire’s history in which armed conflict and internal division between members of the Timurid Dynasty became the widespread norm [ix]. Due to internal divisions, it would be more accurate to call the Timurid Empire a loosely connected conglomeration of land holdings ruled by Timur’s descendants. Despite the instability of their positions, the Empire’s rulers were renowned for their religious tolerance and for their patronage of science and the arts.

The Timurid Empire formed around 1370 after Timur conquered a stretch of territory ranging from modern day Turkey to India. After Timur’s death, his descendants, whom he made governors of the territory, quickly fell into squabbles that resulted in internal conflict, dividing the once consolidated land. Many of these became autonomous. As a result, the divided regions fell to surrounding powers and were slowly absorbed by the Safavids [x] and Uzbeks. By 1507, the Timurid Empire lost its last holdings, the cities of Samarkand and Herat. In 1526 the Timurid Dynasty created a new empire when Timur’s descendant, Babur, founded the Mughal Empire [xi].

The Timurid Empire will largely be remembered for its successful conquests around Central Asia and the Mediterranean, and the destruction that followed. While Timur’s conquests led some to refer to him as the “Scourge of Asia”, he also brought relative stability to the region. The Timurid Empire also left an artistic and cultural impact that influenced the art, culture, and politics of successor states in Central Asia and in many empires in the Islamic world, including the Ottoman Empire, the Safavid Empire, and the Mughal Empire. The Timurid Empire popularized the usage of calligraphy and turquoise tiles [xii] to adorn buildings.

Trade was the lifeblood of the Timurid Empire. The empire’s territory in Central Asia allowed it to facilitate trade from the Middle East, Russia, India and China. The resulting influx of wealth enabled Timur and his successors to sponsor major architectural projects around the empire [xiii]. Unlike their Mongol predecessors, the Timurids were unable to promote the traditional, secure Persian east-west trade along the Silk Road [xiv]. This was largely due to how decentralized the Timurid Empire was. While commerce was a key component of the Timurid Empire’s economy, agriculture was the chief source of tax revenues throughout the empire’s existence.