The Greatest Empire You've Never Heard Of! | Timurid Documentary

Summary

The Timurid Empire, established by the legendary conqueror Timur (also known as Tamerlane), was a remarkable yet largely forgotten empire that once stretched across vast regions of Central Asia and beyond. Timur's conquests rivaled those of historical giants like Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Following his death in 1405, the empire struggled with succession crises and internal conflicts, leading to its fragmentation. Despite its political decline, the Timurid era is celebrated for its vibrant cultural and scientific contributions, known as the Timurid Renaissance, including advancements in arts, architecture, and astronomy, which endured through subsequent dynasties, including the Mughals in India.

Highlights

• Timur, also known as Tamerlane, was a conqueror who established a vast empire stretching over Central Asia, Persia, and beyond. 🌍
• The Timurid Empire began to fracture following Timur's death due to succession struggles and internal conflicts. ⚔️
• Timurid cities like Herat and Samarkand became centers of learning and culture during the Timurid Renaissance. 🏛️
• Timur's military campaigns were characterized by brutal conquests and the strategic use of fear and terror. 😨
• Despite its political decline, the Timurid legacy influenced future empires, particularly the Mughal Empire in India. 🇮🇳

Key Takeaways

• The Timurid Empire was founded by Timur, a conqueror who rivaled historical figures like Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. ⚔️
• Timur's legacy is complex, seen as both destructive and culturally prosperous. 🎭
• The Timurid Renaissance saw significant cultural and scientific advancements, especially in arts and astronomy. 🌟
• Despite internal conflicts and eventual collapse, the Timurid impact continued through the Mughal Empire in India. 🇮🇳
• Timurid architecture and literature remain influential, blending various cultural elements through its vast network. 🕌

Overview

The Timurid Empire, often overshadowed by the Mongol conquests and the Mughal Dynasty it inspired, was the creation of the formidable conqueror Timur, also known as Tamerlane. Timur's empire extended across Central Asia into Persia and India, driven by his military genius and ruthless strategies. However, his empire lacked sustainable governance structures, leading to fragmentation after his death in 1405, as squabbles over succession destabilized the region.

Despite its relatively short-lived political cohesion, the Timurid era is celebrated for its incredible contributions to science and art, known today as the Timurid Renaissance. Cities like Herat and Samarkand became beacons of cultural exchanges and advancements, blending influences from the Islamic world and beyond. Great monuments were built, libraries flourished, and scholars made significant advances in astronomy and other sciences.

Although the Timurid Empire itself did not survive long beyond Timur's passing, its cultural and scientific legacy endured. The wonderful blend of Persian artistic traditions and the scientific strides made during this era fueled the Mughal Empire in India, which revered its Timurid roots. The arts and architecture pioneered during this period influenced subsequent generations, leaving a lasting imprint on the region's cultural landscape.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction to the Timurids The chapter provides an introduction to the Timurids, a prominent dynasty during the medieval period of Islamic history. This dynasty is part of the broader influence of Turco-Mongolian dynasties that arose due to migrations, conquests by the Great Mongol Empire, and the deployment of slave soldiers from Turkistan. These forces collectively shaped the regions of India, the Middle East, and Central Asia. The Timurids, named after their formidable founder Timur, stand out as one of the most significant of these dynasties, leaving a lasting impact on the Islamic world.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Rise of Timur The chapter 'Rise of Timur' explores the life and conquests of Timur, a formidable leader often compared to historical figures like Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Timur led his armies across various regions including Central Asia, Persia, India, Russia, and the Middle East, conquering all who opposed him. However, after his death in 1405, his empire fell into decline as his successors battled over its remains. The political decline was swift, yet the cities established under the Timurid dynasty left lasting legacies.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Timur's Conquests and Tactics The chapter titled 'Timur's Conquests and Tactics' explores the dual nature of Timur's rule, highlighting both the internal conflicts and the flourishing of culture and learning under the Timurid Renaissance. Despite civil wars threatening the realm's territorial integrity, cities like Herat and Samarkand became centers of art and scholarship, with significant architectural projects undertaken and prominent scholars supported by patronage.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Timur's Indian Campaign The Mongol Empire, in the 1200s, extended its reach across Asia and beyond, dominating regions much like the early days of the Khilafa centuries earlier. Key to their success were their specialized horse archers and cunning tactics.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Middle Eastern Campaign and Battle with the Ottomans The Mongols swiftly conquered a large portion of the Islamic world through ruthless tactics. However, within four decades of Chingez Khan's death, internal conflict among his descendants led to the division of the massive empire into four separate khanates. By the 15th century, internal strife and recurring rebellions severely weakened the Mongol Empire's control and influence. This fragmentation and loss of power resulted in the dissolution of the Ilkhanate that ruled over Persia and Mesopotamia.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Planned Invasion of China and Timur's Legacy The chapter discusses the political turmoil facing major powers in the 1330s, such as the Golden Horde in Russia and Eastern Europe, the Yuan Dynasty in China, and the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia. During this period, Timur, a significant historical figure, was born near Samarkand. The chapter sets the stage for Timur's future impact by highlighting the instability in these regions.
• 06:00 - 07:00: The Timurid Succession Crisis The chapter titled 'The Timurid Succession Crisis' introduces Timur from the Barlas tribe, a group that was originally Mongolian but had become heavily Turkicised following their migration to the region after the Mongol invasion in the 1220s. This ethnic background gave rise to the term 'Turco-Mongolian'. An important distinction is noted between Timur's tribe and that of Chingez Khan's descendants who belonged to the imperial Borjigin clan. This difference is highlighted as a significant element in the upcoming narrative. Additionally, the chapter notes that Timur was raised in the western part of the Chagatai Khanate.
• 07:00 - 08:00: Shah Rukh's Rule and Cultural Flourishing The chapter explores the time of conflict and lack of law in the region, with underlying tensions between nomads and the sedentary Chagatai rulers. The Western Chagatai was invaded by the Eastern Chagatai, known as Mughulistan. The text hints at a possible connection between Mughulistan and the Mughals.
• 08:00 - 09:00: Timurid Fragmentation and Husayn Bayqara's Rule The chapter describes the rise of Timur, who was originally the chief of the Barlas tribe in the region of India. Despite being seen as an easily manipulated leader, Timur's ambition led him to engage in political intrigues and plots. These actions eventually resulted in his ousting and he had to resort to banditry to survive. His following dwindled during this challenging time.
• 09:00 - 10:00: The Rise of Muhammad Shaybani Khan This chapter titled "The Rise of Muhammad Shaybani Khan" begins by discussing the background of Timur, also known as Tamerlane or Timur the Lame, who was a prominent historical figure despite his physical challenges. Timur's right leg was crippled and he lost two fingers on his right hand, which was either a result of his service as a mercenary for a minor khan or due to being shot after allegedly stealing sheep. The latter is suspected to be propaganda by ibn Arabshah, an anti-Timurid author. Despite these physical limitations, Timur possessed remarkable military skills, setting the stage for his rise and significant historical impact.
• 10:00 - 11:00: The Timurid Legacy Timur, beginning his career as a mercenary, quickly attracted a large following, including his brother-in-law Hussein. They controlled Transoxiana together. After the death of Timur's wife, he seized the chance to turn on Hussein, successfully besieging and executing him in Balkh, Afghanistan in 1370. This marked a crucial victory in Timur's rise, facilitated by his strategic prowess.
• 11:00 - 12:00: Conclusion and Thanks The chapter discusses the contrasting characteristics of Timur and his brother-in-law, highlighting Timur's generosity compared to his brother-in-law's selfishness. It emphasizes the importance of generosity in tribal and nomadic societies for building trust. Before embarking on distant expeditions to Russia or India, Timur focused on consolidating his control over his immediate territories.

The Greatest Empire You've Never Heard Of! | Timurid Documentary Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 The medieval period of Islamic history is  dominated by Turco-Mongolian dynasties. Through   a combination of migration, the Great Mongol  Empire’s conquests and the use of slave soldiers   from Turkistan, these dynasties ruled India,  the Middle East and Central Asia. One of the   most impactful of these was the Timurids. Named  after its ferocious and legendary founder Timur,
• 00:30 - 01:00 a man who can give Alexander the Great  and Chingez Khan a run for their money   as to who the greatest conqueror was. Timur  would take his armies across Central Asia,   Persia, India, Russia and the Middle East  - vanquishing anybody who stood in his   way. In the wake of his death in 1405, his  successors fought over the scraps of empire,   leading to its political decline over the  next century. Despite this, Timurid cities
• 01:00 - 01:30 such as Herat and Samarkand retained its place  as centres of learning and art, inaugurating a   period referred to as the Timurid Renaissance.  At the same time as civil wars between family   members were destroying the territorial integrity  of the realm, incredible buildings were being   constructed and leading scholars were finding  patronage. This is the story of the Timurids.
• 01:30 - 02:00 Throughout the 1200s, the reach of the Mongol  Empire sprawled out to cover every corner of Asia,   and beyond. Chingez Khan and his progeny had  dominated in a way unseen since the initial   days of the Khilafa, some 5 centuries before.  With its patented horse archers, cunning tactics
• 02:00 - 02:30 and sheer brutality, the Mongols quickly overran  much of the Islamic world. But within 40 years of   Chingez’s death, his descendants would go to war  with each other and subsequently split the empire   into 4 parts. By the early 1400s, internal  turmoil within the royal house and violent   uprisings had diminished the Empire’s power.  The Ilkhanate of Persia and Mesopotamia ceased
• 02:30 - 03:00 to exist in the 1330s; the Golden Horde of Russia  and Eastern Europe would soon encounter violent   internal political disorder that was to directly  put them at odds with Timur himself; the Yuan   Dynasty of China would soon find themselves at the  receiving end of major rebellions and uprisings;   and lastly, the Chagatai Khanate of Central  Asia had become divided in the 1340s.  It’s in this context that sometime in the 1330s  a child named Timur was born near Samarkand,
• 03:00 - 03:30 a major centre of Transoxiana. He was from the  Barlas tribe, which was Mongolian but had been   heavily Turkicised since their immigration to the  area in the aftermath of the Mongol invasion in   the 1220s – hence the phrase ‘Turco-Mongolian’.  Timur’s tribe was different from that of Chingez   Khan and his descendants who were from the  imperial Borjigin clan – this is important   to remember for our story later on. Timur  was raised in the western Chagatai Khanate,
• 03:30 - 04:00 which was wracked with conflict and the absence  of rule of law. An underlying tension which led   to some of this chaos was a clash between the  nomads who retained their ancestor’s mobile   lifestyle versus the Chagatai rulers who had  become sedentary and accustomed to city-life.  In the 1360s, the Western Chagatai was so weak  that it was invaded by the Eastern Chagatai, also   known as Mughulistan. If you’re wondering whether  the word Mughulistan is related to the Mughals
• 04:00 - 04:30 of India, you’d be correct. The term ‘Mughal’  actually comes from the Persian word for ‘Mongol’.   When the area was invaded, Timur was made chief of  the Barlas tribe, probably because he was deemed   easy to manipulate. Timur was far too ambitious  to be satisfied with his share so he got himself   involved in intrigues and plots which led to him  being ousted and subsequently turning to banditry   for survival. At one point, his following was  reduced to a mere handful. It is in this period
• 04:30 - 05:00 that he gets the name ‘Tamerlane’ or ‘Timur the  Lame’. His right leg was crippled whilst he lost   two fingers in his right hand, most likely as a  mercenary in the service of a minor khan. Or that   he was shot as a result of stealing sheep but this  could easily be the propaganda of the anti-Timurid   author, ibn Arabshah. Despite his physical  burdens, Timur’s talent in military matters
• 05:00 - 05:30 allowed his mercenary career to flourish, soon  attracting a large following. Together with his   brother-in-law Hussein, Timur gained controlled  of Transoxiana and divided it amongst themselves.   Eventually, Timur’s wife would die, providing him  the perfect opportunity to attack his erstwhile   ally Hussein. In 1370, he was able to successfully  besiege and execute his former brother-in law in   Balkh, northern Afghanistan. A key reason for  Timur’s victory over Hussein was because he was
• 05:30 - 06:00 generous - sharing his spoils of war with his  people, whilst his brother-in-law was perceived   as selfish. Within a tribal or nomadic context,  generosity is a key component of winning trust.  Before setting his sights on faraway  expeditions to Russia or India,   Timur was pressed by the need to secure his  holdings in his immediate surroundings. So
• 06:00 - 06:30 he spent the 1370s consolidating his power in  Central Asia by weakening neighbouring states   and reducing them to vassalage. Considering the  grandeur of Timur’s conquests upon his death,   stretching from Mediterranean in the West to Delhi  in the East, it makes it easy to forget that his   greatest victories all occurred in the last 10  years of his life. From the 1360s until the 1380s
• 06:30 - 07:00 he was involved in consolidating his authority in  his region. So it was not necessarily the allure   of his greatest pinnacles which forged him into  the epic conqueror he is remembered to have been;   rather it was the time he had to spend surviving  as a mercenary when he was kicked out of his   homeland and understanding how he had to  juggle the joint task of accommodating both   his nomadic supporters as well as the settled  elements of big cities. Since he was not from   the imperial Borjigin clan, that meant Timur  could never really become the Mongol Emperor
• 07:00 - 07:30 legitimately. And considerations of legitimacy  have always been crucial to the ideal of ruling   and kingship. So he tried really hard to root his  legitimacy as a leader in his connection to the   Great Mongol Empire, even marrying the wife of  his fallen friend turned foe Hussein, since she   was descended from Chingez himself. Subsequently,  Timur and his successors (including the Mughals   of India) referred to themselves as ‘Gurkani’,  meaning son-in-law, as it signified their
• 07:30 - 08:00 connection to the glorious Chingez Khan. Since he  couldn’t be the Khan, he settled for ‘Amir’ – the   Arabic word for ‘prince’. But he would go  on to become much more than a mere prince.  With his realm and power consolidated in the  1370s, Timur began an epic run of conquest for the   next 20 years. Starting off with Herat in western  Afghanistan in 1383, he focused on Persia first.
• 08:00 - 08:30 When the city refused to surrender, he destroyed  and massacred its inhabitants – this was to   become a trait... in the vein of the man he sought  to emulate, when a city refused to surrender,   Timur would sack and destroy it so it served as  an example for other cities. Over the next decade,   he was able to take over all of Persia as  well as overrunning Georgia, Azerbaijan,   Armenia and Mesopotamia. A particularly brutal  example of his justice in this period was handed
• 08:30 - 09:00 out in 1387 to the citizens of Isfahan. The city  had surrendered in good fashion without fighting   but when its inhabitants revolted against Timur’s  taxes and killed his tax collectors, he massacred   the citizens; erecting a pyramid of skulls which  consisted of 28 towers with 1,500 heads each! In   this period, he had to deal with one of his most  troubling foes, Tokhtamysh. Earlier, he had been
• 09:00 - 09:30 a protégé of Timur’s; in fact he was put on the  throne of the Golden Horde by Timur. Twice Timur   had to invade Tokhtamysh’s realm in Russia, in  1391 and 1395 – both times Timur won decisively,   the second time would be the last time his former  protégé would cause him trouble directly, although   he lingered on for a while longer. On that  second expedition, Timur captured Moscow as well.
• 09:30 - 10:00 But now it was time to discover new settings,  and like a son who wishes to upstage his father,   Timur was always comparing himself to Chingez,  who had been unable to secure the rich lands of   northern India. So in 1398, with his excuse of the  Muslim Delhi Sultanate being too lenient to its   Hindu subjects firmly in hand, Timur crossed the  Indus River and achieved what neither Chingez nor   Alexander the Great could. In order to defeat the  Delhi Sultanate, he had to rely upon his military
• 10:00 - 10:30 genius. Standing before him, Timur’s enemy had a  force of war elephants, normal for Indian warfare   but they terrified Timur’s men as they weren’t  used to the sight of these humongous animals   that were literally designed for warfare, kitted  out with chain mail and poisoned tusks. So Timur   ordered his men to build trenches – making his  soldiers feel more secure but also blocking the
• 10:30 - 11:00 war elephant’s charge. He then loaded camels  with wood and hay that were then set on fire,   so that when the elephants charged, Timur’s men  would prod the camel with iron sticks, forcing   them to run in the direction of the elephants  screaming in pain. Timur likely understood that   elephants easily panicked. Petrified by the  prospect of screaming camels on fire, the war   elephants turned back and subsequently sowed chaos  in their own armies’ ranks. The Delhi Sultanate’s
• 11:00 - 11:30 army, shocked at the sight of elephants trampling  fellow soldiers, now had to deal with Timur’s army   rushing from their trenches. The battle would  result in a decisive victory for the Timurids.   Timur’s Indian campaign was particularly  bloody. Even before he reached Delhi,   he was forced to execute up to 100,000 captives he  had taken along the way that were slowing him down   on his journey to Delhi. In the aftermath of the  victorious battle, upon entering the capital city,
• 11:30 - 12:00 the citizens rose up and fought back. Timur,  furious at the insult to his authority,   ordered a massacre which would overshadow any he  had carried out before. Killing the citizens and   leaving their bodies as food for the birds, Delhi  was destroyed so bad that it would take almost a   century before it could recover to the levels  it was at. Uninterested in remaining in India,   soon after he headed back to Transoxiana. Not  before he took tons of treasure back with him to
• 12:00 - 12:30 his capital Samarqand. He even needed 90 elephants  to carry back stones from quarries which would be   used to erect beautiful monuments in his capital  like the Bibi Khanum Mosque. In fact, it was a   feature of Timur’s conquests that he would spare  the scholars and artisans of lands he subjugated,   subsequently bringing them to Samarqand  where a proliferation of knowledge occurred.
• 12:30 - 13:00 Before the end of 1399, Timur set westward  towards the Middle East for his last and greatest   expedition, one which would bring him at odds with  two other dominant Islamic powers and culminate in   a battle for the ages. Along his way he restored  his authority over the Caucasus region, which was   particularly harsh for Georgia, a Christian nation  in a mainly Muslim region. In Syria, he was to
• 13:00 - 13:30 fight the first of the two dominant Middle Eastern  powers, the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria. He took   the two principal cities, Aleppo and Damascus,  the latter of which afforded him a sit-down   with the great medieval scholar ibn Khaldun.  Baghdad was flattened, ensuring that all of its   buildings were destroyed and ordering a massacre  of its inhabitants, killing some 20,000 people. In the meantime, Timur was trading insulting  letters with his biggest rival, Sultan Bayezid
• 13:30 - 14:00 of the Ottoman Empire. At the time, the  Ottomans were riding a wave of momentum   that had seen them subjugate almost all of the  other Turkic beyliks of Anatolia, whilst largely   restricting the Byzantines to the environs of  Constantinople. In 1396, Bayezid had defeated a   Crusade at Nicopolis which earned him the moniker  Yildrim, meaning Thunderbolt. Not intimidated by   these accomplishments, Timur began creating  alliances with the few remaining independent
• 14:00 - 14:30 beyliks in eastern Anatolia. The peninsula  had been conquered by the Mongols before him,   so he saw it as his mission to do the same. The  two epic leaders began exchanging bitter letters   towards the end of the 1390s. In one letter from  Bayezid, he stated “If I fly from your arms,   may my wives be divorced from my bed thrice, but  if you have no courage to meet me in the field,   may you receive your wives after they have thrice  endured the embraces of a stranger.” It was
• 14:30 - 15:00 very clear that a clash of these two titans was  brewing. The tension culminated in 1402 at Ankara   in central Anatolia, where Bayezid had to relieve  his siege of Constantinople in order to face the   new threat from the east. Timur decisively  defeated his rival after he cut the water   supply of Bayezid’s men and secured the loyalty of  some within the Ottoman ranks – a characteristic
• 15:00 - 15:30 Mongol strategy. Bayezid was captured, eventually  dying in captivity the very next year. Contrary   to European depictions of his treatment – that  he was apparently caged and humiliated - Timur   treated Bayezid well by all accounts. Defeat  at the Battle of Ankara did however trigger an   existential crisis for the Ottomans, as the  Interregnum, an 11-year period where civil   war between Bayezid’s sons threatened the very  survival of the empire. Timur would continue his
• 15:30 - 16:00 Anatolian campaign, successfully besieging Smyrna  which was controlled by the Knights Hospitallers. At this point, Timur was likely the most powerful  ruler in the world. He then went home to Samarqand   to enjoy his spoils of war. His capital had by  now become a resplendent centre of imperial glory,   with great architectural monuments having been  commissioned. But as his life story shows,
• 16:00 - 16:30 he would soon become restless and yearned  for another expedition. So he planned   his next one. His most ambitious one. Having  essentially conquered most of the Golden Horde,   the Ilkhanate and the Chagatai Khanate, he only  had one territory left to become the supreme head   of all Mongol territories: China. Some people  ascribe his planned invasion of China as an   emotional reaction to him being treated as a  typical vassal of the Chinese court and his
• 16:30 - 17:00 detainment of the Chinese embassy at Samarqand  in 1395 in response to being called a vassal   certainly helps this theory. But it fails to  mention that Timur had been content with that   kind of a relationship for years before 1395. It  is likely that he always planned to attack China,   since it was a former Mongol territory  and he only started showing aggression   when he had taken care of his other issues.  In 1404 he decided that was his next goal.
• 17:00 - 17:30 So he set out in December of that year.  But he could only get as far as Otrar,   Kazakhstan before he fell ill during a cold winter  February. And so he died in 1405 after 3 decades   of conquests and expansion. The great conqueror  was finally laid to rest in his native Samarqand. Timur’s legacy is a conflicted one. Today, in  his native Uzbekistan and much of central Asia,
• 17:30 - 18:00 he is seen as a hero. But even then there  could be a city he destroyed like Khiva in   Uzbekistan who will certainly bare resentment  against him. The rest of the Islamic world are   not particularly fond of him, understandably so  since he did bring destruction to Herat, Delhi,   Balkh, Isfahan, Baghdad, Damascus and Aleppo.  The West strangely enough has a positive image   of him for his victory over the Ottomans who  had been making inroads into the Balkans and
• 18:00 - 18:30 were seriously raising the suspicion of European  kingdoms. Shakespeare’s colleague Marlowe wrote   the play ‘Tamburlaine the Great’ and  the American poet Edgar Allan Poe’s   first published poem was about ‘Tamerlane’.  Regardless of how he was received, he was   undoubtedly a man of great skill and ability.  Endowed with a tremendous sense of pragmatism,   he respected the circumstances of not being  from royal blood and throughout his reign
• 18:30 - 19:00 his official title was nothing more than ‘Amir’  or prince. This is remarkable considering he is   one of History’s greatest conquerors; defeating  every Sultan, Emperor, Khan and King put before   him. The quality of pragmatism is sometimes  vilified for its inherent association with   Machiavellianism but in order to be pragmatic  requires a certain degree of mastery of yourself. But for all his strengths, he failed to snap  out of the age old Turco-Mongolian tradition
• 19:00 - 19:30 of dividing the realm among the sons. This  essentially guaranteed a never ending cycle   of civil wars that would invariably chip away at  the empire’s territorial integrity. Without the   stability brought by a smooth succession,  Timur’s empire faced disintegration.
• 19:30 - 20:00 In the wake of Timur’s death, his empire  stretched from the Tigris and Euphrates to   the Syr Darya and Amu Darya. It loomed over in  the high Caucasus and nestled gently along the   shores of the Persian Gulf. Great cities could  be found in Timur’s domain. Caravans wandered   from Bukhara to Isfahan to Tabriz and beyond. In  his time, great caravanserais and mosques were   founded, and his neighbors, like the Ottoman  state, had been subdued. Timur’s empire had
• 20:00 - 20:30 been built by sword and blood, and by the end of  his life in 1405 CE, it was poised to dominate   the known world, echoing the shadows of the  Mongol Empire. And yet, almost immediately,   the Timurid Empire found itself in a state  of near-collapse. When Timur died in 1405   at the age of 71, a succession crisis loomed.  His previously appointed heirs had died well
• 20:30 - 21:00 before him. His eldest son Jahangir died of  illness in 1376, while his grandson Muhammad   Sultan would perish in 1403. Timur therefore  decided upon another grandson, Pir Muhammad,   to take the throne. Pir Muhammad was perhaps  a good choice. He was twenty-nine years old,   he was the governor of eastern Afghanistan, and  was the son of Timur’s original heir Jahangir. However, Timur’s policies in life and death  meant that many of his line had taken up
• 21:00 - 21:30 political positions of power throughout  the empire. Similar to Mongol traditions,   Timur had appointed a number of descendents  to govern imperial territory. Various parts   of Timur’s dynasty ruled lands such as Fars,  Azerbaijan, and Khurasan, and these sons and   grandsons would establish their own power  bases in these territories. Pir Muhammad,   based in Afghanistan and therefore somewhat  far from Transoxiana, would find himself far
• 21:30 - 22:00 from the political center of the empire. Given  such circumstances, nearly all of Pir Muhammad’s   rivals had a claim to the Timurid throne,  and few would be readily willing to submit   to his rule. As Rene Grousset describes, “on the  very morrow of Tamerlane’s death, the quarrels,   coups, and palace revolutions began”. Over the  next fifteen years, the Timurid Empire would   face constant civil wars and infighting. Several  parts of the polity would vacillate and at times
• 22:00 - 22:30 be part of the empire or be sundered from it.  Lines of control had been drawn. Samarkand was   controlled by a grandson named Khalil Sultan,  the lands of Tashkent and Khujand were ruled   by Amir Khudaydad, and one son, a certain Shah  Rukh, would operate from his base in Khurasan. Shah Rukh would play an important role  in the First Timurid Civil War. Some   authors have described him as being the  most politically minded of his Timurid
• 22:30 - 23:00 peers. Others have used even more poetic  language, asserting that: “he was humane,   moderate, a lover of Persian letters, a great  builder, a protector of poets and artists,   and one of the best rulers Asia ever had.” In 1409  CE, a revolt against Khalil Sultan would allow   Shah Rukh to capture Samarkand. With the Timurid  capital in his control, Shah Rukh had successfully   reunited a large portion of the empire, though  more threats would remain on the horizon.
• 23:00 - 23:30 Indeed, although Central Asia and eastern Iran  were now securely under Shah Rukh’s control,   the western regions, namely Azerbaijan and  Iraq, proved more troublesome. Leaders who   had previously been defeated and forced out by  Timur now reared their heads. Ahmed Jalayir,   once the Sultan of Baghdad, left his exile  in the Mamluk Sultanate and successfully
• 23:30 - 24:00 recaptured Baghdad. Qara-Yusuf, the  leader of the Qara Qoyunlu Turkomans,   also returned from exile and was able to reconquer  the lands of Azerbaijan. At a battle in 1408,   Qara-Yusuf dealt a devastating blow  to the Timurids, killing Miranshah,   a son of Timur. The reign of Jalayir would be  short lived, and instead, it would be Qara-Yusuf   who posed one of the biggest threats to Shah  Rukh. By 1418, the Qara Qoyunlu realm stretched
• 24:00 - 24:30 from the Caucasus to Iraq. The two states were now  placed in a tense stand-off against one another,   and Shah Rukh was further motivated by desires  of avenging his brother and reasserting Timurid   rule on lands that had once been theirs.  In around 1419, Shah Rukh launched a major   invasion targeting Azerbaijan. In a stroke of  luck, Qara-Yusuf would die in November 1420;   the chief of the Qara Qoyunlu had been marching  toward a key battle against the Timurid leader.
• 24:30 - 25:00 This sudden death proved to be instrumental for  the Timurids, and Shah Rukh would be successful   in recapturing Azerbaijan. However, Timurid rule  would be rather tenuous in the west. A number of   leaders of the Qara Qoyunlu continued to resist  Shah Rukh, including Qara Yusuf’s son Iskander.   Conflict between the Timurids and the Qara Qoyunlu  would persist for over a decade, and in 1434,
• 25:00 - 25:30 after a third major offensive, the Timurids  finally seemed to secure victory. Shah Rukh would   grant the lands of Azerbaijan to Iskander’s  brother, Jahan Shah. Thereafter, Jahan Shah would   operate as a vassal of the Timurids, though this  would change following Shah Rukh’s death in 1447. At the other borders of the empire, Shah Rukh  would pursue a vigorous foreign policy. Toward the   Golden Horde, Shah Rukh would play a preeminent  role in managing the Mongol state’s politics. He
• 25:30 - 26:00 would even offer support to Edigu Khan for a time.  However as time went on, relations between the   two polities declined dramatically, and warfare  between the two occurred throughout the 1420s.   A similar relationship would continue with the  Chagatai state of Moghulistan. In 1425, Shah Rukh   sent his son Ulugh Beg to raid Moghulistan. Such  efforts would prove to be successful and Ulugh Beg
• 26:00 - 26:30 was able to bring loot back to the Timurids. To  the polities of India and China, Shah Rukh would   attempt to cultivate peace and trade relations.  The Timurids would send a number of embassies   and ambassadors to the Chinese emperor,  such as one diplomatic mission in 1417 CE. Beyond the realms of warfare and politics, Shah  Rukh’s long reign would offer one additional   consequence: the flourishing of arts and  culture. Such developments would manifest
• 26:30 - 27:00 into what historians have dubbed as the  “Timurid Renaissance.” The foundation for   such advances can be traced to Timur’s own  policies. In conjunction with his conquests,   Timur would also bring craftsmen, artisans, and  scholars into his polity. Later rulers would   continue this process and would often act as the  patrons of many prominent scholars and thinkers.   In due course, Persian arts and crafts would  once more become celebrated. In this period,
• 27:00 - 27:30 a number of illustrated books and manuscripts  would be produced. Persian miniatures would take   on the form that we know of today. Through Timur’s  worldwide conquests, the Timurid state would   continue the trend of mixing ideas and concepts  from other places like China. Jade carving,   for instance, would become a renowned skill. The  continual influx of these renowned craftsmen and
• 27:30 - 28:00 artists would result in cities like Herat  and Samarkand becoming cultural centers of   learning and arts. In a similar vein, Timurid  sciences would become renowned and influential.   Figures such as Jamshid al-Kashi and Abu Zayn  Kahhal made important advances in the fields of   astronomy and medicine. Other key developments  took place in the fields of animal sciences,   agriculture, and architecture. Herat, beyond  its place as a cultural center, was also known
• 28:00 - 28:30 for having developed a bustling agrarian sector  that experimented with different fertilizers and   various crops. In fact, the Timurids would  synthesize agricultural and architectural   developments with a Persian flavor, creating their  own style of the chaharbagh garden; such designs,   in turn, would then influence the construction  of gardens in Central Asia and in India. Other   architectural developments could be seen in the  construction of new mosques and mausoleums. The
• 28:30 - 29:00 reigns of Shah Rukh and his son Ulugh Beg  would see a promotion of great domes made   out of turquoise. Ulugh Beg himself had become  a celebrated scholar of science; so much so,   that today he is primarily known for his work in  astronomy and mathematics, specifically spherical   geometry. One of the finest minds in the 15th  century in terms of Astronomy, Ulugh Beg would   use his interest in the subject to build  the Ulugh Beg Observatory in Samarkand,
• 29:00 - 29:30 which would attract the preeminent astronomers of  its day. Ulugh Beg’s mother, Gawharshad is another   fascinating figure. As the chief consort of Shah  Rukh, she played an important role in embellishing   Herat and other cities with exquisite examples  of Timurid architecture, such as the Musallah   Complex in Heart and the Masjid-e Gawharshad in  Mashad. Imperial women in Turkic dynasties have   tended to play more of an important role in state  administration than other Islamic dynasties. After
• 29:30 - 30:00 her husband’s death in 1447, she took on the role  of a kingmaker for her various sons and grandsons.   In 1457, well over the age of 80, she was  finally outmaneuvered by Abu Said and executed.   By the end of Shah Rukh’s reign, however, signs  of further struggle were growing on the horizon.
• 30:00 - 30:30 A number of foreign powers were beginning to  encroach on Timurid territory, while internal   rivals began to agitate. The Uzbek Khanate,  for example, would make a number of forays   into Transoxiana, raiding and looting a number  of settlements. After Shah Rukh died in 1447,   the Uzbeks mounted another major offensive and  even managed to destroy parts of Samarkand.   Though Ulugh Beg, Shah Rukh’s son, had managed to  secure the throne, his reign would not last long.
• 30:30 - 31:00 The chaotic nature of Timurid politics as well  as the fact he was not as capable in politics as   he was in scholarly endeavors meant Ulugh Beg’s  reign would only last for 2 years. Several of   his vassals immediately began plots against  their newly ascended liege. A power struggle   immediately emerged between Ulugh Beg and his son  ‘Abd al-Latif. This civil conflict would only add   to the chaos and devastation wrought by Uzbek  raids. In 1449, ‘Abd al-Latif emerged victorious
• 31:00 - 31:30 at a battle in Dimashq. He captured his own  father and later had him killed. ‘Abd al-Latif,   now marred by his act of kinslaying, would then  be murdered just six and a half months later. This period of chaos and disunity would only  continue as scions of the Timurid dynasty fought   one another over the scraps of empire. Power lines  were once again drawn, with a princeling named
• 31:30 - 32:00 ‘Abdullah ruling Samarkand and Transoxiana,  while another named Abul-Qasim Babur-Mirza,   ruled the lands of Herat and Khurusan.  These were only just some of the many   powers that attempted to gain supremacy in the  aftermath of Shah Rukh’s death. It was at this   time that the Uzbek Khanate saw its chance to play  kingmaker. Another Timurid, a man named Abu Sa’id,   had managed to open diplomatic relations with  Abu’l Khair, the Khan of the Uzbeks. In 1451,
• 32:00 - 32:30 buoyed by Uzbek support, Abu Sa’id marched onto  Samarkand. With a contingent of nomadic warriors,   Abu Sa’id was successful in capturing the  city, and in return for Uzbek assistance,   Abu Sa’id offered Abu’l Khayr tribute. Just as had  been the case in most periods of Timurid history,   the capture of Samarkand did not mean  an end to civil strife and conflict.   Abul-Qasim Babur-Mirza still retained  control of Khurasan, and once more,
• 32:30 - 33:00 the Khanate of Moghulistan  began to raid the frontiers. To restore order to the realm, Abu Sa’id marched  against the Mongol invaders, while domestically,   he would empower the religious establishment. From  1458-1459, he would be successful in capturing   Khurasan, and Herat would be declared  the capital of Abu Sa’id’s realm. Thus,   Abu Sa’id had been successful in restoring large  parts of Timur’s vast empire. With this momentum,
• 33:00 - 33:30 Abu Sa’id began to plan new moves to further his  ascent. Though he had been dependent on Uzbek   support for a time, Abu Sa’id would attempt  to reverse the geopolitical downslide of the   Timurids as well. After having defeated the  Khanate of Moghulistan sometime around 1451,   Abu Sa’id would pursue a somewhat interventionist  stance. In 1456, Abu Sa’id began to support a   rival of Esen Buqa II, the Khan of Moghulistan.  This rival was a brother of Esen Buqa,
• 33:30 - 34:00 a man named Yunus. With Timurid support, Yunus  returned to Moghulistan and was successful in   gaining support from nobles in the western  areas of the khanate. This eventually flared   into a civil conflict, and though Yunus and his  Timurid allies failed in their initial uprising,   a second war in 1458 succeeded in splitting the  Khanate of Moghulistan in two. The Timurid-backed
• 34:00 - 34:30 Yunus would rule as Khan of Western Moghulistan,  while his brother Esen Buqa would be the Khan of   Eastern Moghulistan. Later down the line,  Yunus would achieve total victory by once   more unifying Moghulistan into a single entity.  For Abu Sa’id, this foreign policy would secure   the Timurd’s northern borders, and raids  from Moghulistan would cease for some time.
• 34:30 - 35:00 In western Persia and Iraq, lands that had once  been in Timurid control, civil conflict would also   provide Abu Sa’id with new opportunities. The  Qara Qoyunlu Turkomans who ruled over much of   these lands were beset by war from the Aq Qoyunlu,  or the White Sheep clan. The Aq Qoyunlu had been   traditional allies to the Timurids, and in 1467,  they were successful in defeating the Qara Qoyunlu   and establishing themselves as the masters of  Iraq, Azerbaijan, and western Iran. However, Abu
• 35:00 - 35:30 Sa’id viewed these developments with suspicion. He  may have feared that the growing power of the Ak   Qoyunlu would pose a threat to the Timurids, and  so in 1469, he marched against the Turkomans. Abu   Sa’id’s army first headed into Azerbaijan before  marching into the areas of modern day Karabakh.   By this point, winter began to set in and Abu  Sa’id’s forces found themselves low on provisions.
• 35:30 - 36:00 The army attempted to retreat. This proved  disastrous, and soon Abu Sa’id’s army would be   defeated in battle and the Timurid leader would be  executed by Usun Hasan, chief of the Aq Qoyunlu. With Abu Sa’id’s death, the realm splintered  once more into several parts. Abu Sa’id has   been considered by some historians to be the last  great Timurid. From this point onward, no other   Timurid would be successful in reconstituting  the empire established by Timur. Instead,
• 36:00 - 36:30 these events solidified the breakaway status  of Iraq and Azerbaijan from the Timurids, and   the remaining provinces, namely Khurasan and  Transoxiana, would fight one another for the   scraps. The sons of Abu Sa’id would engage in  decades-long civil war. The eldest son, Ahmad   Mirza, controlled the core territories of the  former empire, including Samarkand and Tashkent.   Another brother ruled Ferghana, one  more ruled Kabul, and so forth. Other
• 36:30 - 37:00 branches of the Timurid dynasty would rear  their heads. In Khurusan, Husayn Bayqara,   who claimed descent via Timur’s son Umar Shaikh  Mirza, would take the reins of power and would   rule for around forty years. And so from 1469  to 1495, there was a period of fragmentation,   but also, interestingly, a period of  continuity. In these three decades,   these Timurid princes would maintain relatively  consistent control over their territories.
• 37:00 - 37:30 Indeed, the political stability played a  large role in creating what some scholars   have dubbed the “Second Timurid Renaissance.”  The lands of Husayn Bayqara would prosper in   this period. After capturing Herat in 1469 and  a brief conflict with the Aq Qoyunlu Turkomans,   Husayn Bayqara was able to cement his  rule over Khurusan. From that point,   the Sultan limited his own military excursions and  fortified his borders along the Amu Darya. Like
• 37:30 - 38:00 other Timurid rulers, Husayn Bayqara would engage  in reconstruction efforts in Herat. Once more,   the city would find itself thriving and becoming  a center of culture. Libraries flourished,   and Herat would develop a strong presence in  manuscript production. Under Husayn Bayqara,   poets and scholars would make their way to  Khurasan. Figures like the Sufi ‘Abd al-Rahman
• 38:00 - 38:30 Jami would create great works of poetry  dedicated to the court of Husayn Bayqara.   One of the most famous figures to emerge in this  period of time was Kamal al-Din Behzad, who was a   renowned painter. Behzad would create extremely  well-produced Persian miniatures and manuscript   illuminations, and his work would even survive  the Timurids. Later in his life, Behzad would   find himself under the patronage of the Safavids,  and thereby continuing Timurid artistic traditions
• 38:30 - 39:00 for years on. Eventually this artistic tradition  would find its way to the Mughal courts of India,   a fitting home considering the Timurids were  the ancestors of the Mughals in the first place. While these decades allowed a second resurgence  of arts and culture, it would be wrong to imply   that these decades were completely peaceful. These  rulers continued to squabble against one another   over various territories. Even Husayn Bayqara  would wage additional conflicts later in his
• 39:00 - 39:30 reign. In one incident, Bayqara’s eldest son, Badi  al-Zaman, erupted in revolt against his father,   putting the state in a disastrous civil war  that would only set the stage for future   conflicts down the line. Once again, the Timurid  states would face the wrath of their own dynastic   kin. Foreign developments would also start to  come ahead. A reunited Khanate of Moghulistan   would once more make forays into the region. In  fact, Yunus Khan, the very same Yunus who had won
• 39:30 - 40:00 his throne through Abu Sa’id’s support, had now  reversed the situation. Now, the united Khanate   of Moghulistan often interfered in the petty  fighting between the Timurid princes. Often,   Yunus Khan would support Umar Sheikh, a son of Abu  Sa’id, from attacks by his brother Ahmad Mirza. Internal processes would, however, lead to the  eventual collapse of these polities. In the realms
• 40:00 - 40:30 of Ahmad Mirza and Mahmud Sultan, many of the  vassal begs were pursuing their own independent   agendas. The governors of various towns and  provinces would gain greater autonomy and power,   and in some cases, these rulers eclipsed  their nominal overlords. From 1494-1495,   several of the long-standing Timurid rulers had  perished. Umar-Sheikh Mirza, ruler of Ferghana,   died on June 8, 1494, leaving behind his 11 year  old son Babur to rule. This is the same Babur
• 40:30 - 41:00 that would establish the Mughal Empire in India  some 30 years later. Umar Sheikh’s older brother,   Ahmad Mirza, passed away in July not too long  after. Finally, another brother named Mahmud   Mirza, based in Balkh, died in January of the  next year. Within a single year, a number of   major Timurid players had become deceased, and  as expected, the next few years would result
• 41:00 - 41:30 in significant chaos. The next rulers of these  territories were young and easily manipulated   by their vassals. Civil war across these Timurid  lands intensified dramatically. In many areas,   the socioeconomic situation declined  dramatically. Reports of famine and   financial ruin were noted to encroach closer  and closer. By the start of the 16th century,   the Timurid collapse was nearing its completion.  The trajectory of history would forever change
• 41:30 - 42:00 with the consolidation of power on the northern  frontiers. In the steppes of Central Asia, various   Turko-Mongol groups were coalescing under the  weight of a single man: Muhammad Shaybani Khan. Indeed, the figure of Muhammad Shaybani would  take shape during this period of civil conflict.   He had initially found service as a leader of  a military unit under Sultan Ahmad Mirza. After   allying himself with the Khan of Moghulistan,  Muhammad Shaybani would begin to find himself
• 42:00 - 42:30 on the ascendency. There is one story told about  Muhammad Shaybani that paints a vivid portrait   about his decision making. We are told that the  Khan was beginning to consider his political   path and consulted with his Sufi teacher, a man  named Mansur. The Sufi ordered the Khan to bring   a tablecloth. After having done so, Mansur  turned toward Muhammad Shaybani and uttered   the following: “In the same way as a tablecloth  is picked up from the corner, you should start
• 42:30 - 43:00 to build a state from the corner.” Whether or not  such words are true, Muhammad Shaybani Khan would   follow through on this very principle. He would  return to Timurid lands with ambitions and drive,   seeking to carve out a state for himself. As  a supposed descendent of Genghis Khan through   the line of Jochi, he may even viewed it as  his right to rule over these lands. And so,   around the year 1500, Muhammad Shaybani, Khan of  the Uzbeks, launched an invasion of the disparate
• 43:00 - 43:30 Timurid states. He marched through Transoxiana  and immediately captured major cities there,   including Bukhara. With momentum on his side,  the Khan marched toward Samarkand. In 1501,   he was successful in taking over the city, the  settlement that had once been the capital of   Timur. The fall of Samarkand would be particularly  important, and among one of the many individuals
• 43:30 - 44:00 fleeing the Uzbeks was Babur. The year 1501 would  see not only the rise of the Uzbek Khanate. In   the lands of western Iran, another major power was  consolidating its authority: the Safavid Persians. The story of the Timurids is a typical one for  Turco-Mongolian dynasties - formidable founder;   fratricidal successions; fearsome army; failure to  put together sustainable state-building practices.
• 44:00 - 44:30 It arrived on the world scene with a ferocity  unseen since the conquests of Chingez Khan but   within a century of Timur’s death, the empire  lay in ruins. Their contribution to the arts   and sciences would far outlive them however.  Their advances, specifically in the fields   of astronomy and Islamic art would inspire  scholars over the coming centuries. Out of
• 44:30 - 45:00 their ruins arose the mighty Mughal Empire of  India. Babur, the first Mughal ruler had been   kicked out of his native lands in Central Asia and  made several attempts to re-conquer his patrimony;   but faced with the prospect of consistent failure  in doing so, he shifted his attention south,   to the rich and abundant lands of the  subcontinent. He and his successors   remained proud of their Timurid heritage,  continuing to refer to themselves Gurkani,   meaning son-in-law, this was the term  the Timurids used, as it signified their
• 45:00 - 45:30 connection to the glorious Chingez Khan,  a descendent of whom had married Timur. I hope you guys enjoyed this video. I’m  trying to make an effort to put out more   documentary-length videos. As usual, big thank you to
• 45:30 - 46:00 my Patreons for your continued support. Also, I wanna give a shout out to Nomads & Empires   Podcast for his help in scripting part of this  video. Please make sure to check out his Podcast,   the link is in the description below. Until next time, Peace!