Timurid Empire

Timurid Empire
ایران و توران
**Iran-u-Turan**
Timurid Empire ایران و توران; Iran-u-Turan
1370–1507
	Banner type used by Timur during his campaigns. "Three annulets" tamgha symbol of Timur.
	Motto: ; Persian:راستى رستى; Rāstī rustī; "In rectitude lies salvation"
	Map of the Timurid Empire at its greatest extent under Timur, vassals are not shown
Status	Emirate
Capital	Samarkand (1370–1405); Herat (1405–1507);
Common languages	Persian (official, court language, high literature, lingua franca, administration); Chagatai Turkic (dynastic, literature); Arabic (theology);
Religion	State religion Sunni Islam; Other religions Shia Islam; Zoroastrianism; Hinduism; Christianity;
Government	Absolute monarchy
Emir
• 1370–1405	Timur (first)
• 1506–1507	Badi' al-Zaman (last)
Historical era	Late Middle Ages
• Timur begins conquests	1363
• Establishment of Timurid Empire	1370
• Westward expansion begins	1380
• Battle of Ankara	20 July 1402
• Fall of Samarkand	1505
• Fall of Herat	1507
• Founding of the Mughal Empire	1526
Area
1405 est.	4,400,000 km2 (1,700,000 sq mi)
Currency	Tanka
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Golden Horde
	Ottoman Empire
	Delhi Sultanate
	Mamluk Sultanate
	Chagatai Khanate
	Kingdom of Georgia
	Sufi dynasty
	Jalayirids
	Kurt dynasty
	Muzaffarids
	Sarbadars
	Marashis
	Afrasiyab dynasty
	Mihrabanids
Khanate of Bukhara
Safavid Iran
Khanate of Khiva
Qara Qoyunlu
Aq Qoyunlu
Mughal Empire

The Timurid Empire was a late medieval, culturally Persianate^[10] Turco-Mongol empire^[11]^[12] that dominated Greater Iran in the early 15th century, comprising modern-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, as well as parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India and Turkey. The empire was culturally hybrid, combining Turko-Mongolian and Persianate influences,^[13]^[14] with the last members of the dynasty being "regarded as ideal Perso-Islamic rulers".^[15]

The empire was founded by Timur (also known as Tamerlane), a warlord of Turco-Mongol lineage, who established the empire between 1370 and his death in 1405. He envisioned himself as the great restorer of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan, regarded himself as Genghis's heir, and associated closely with the Borjigin. Timur continued vigorous trade relations with Ming China and the Golden Horde, with Chinese diplomats like Ma Huan and Chen Cheng regularly traveling west to Samarkand to buy and sell goods. The empire led to the Timurid Renaissance, particularly during the reign of astronomer and mathematician Ulugh Begh.

By 1467, the ruling Timurid dynasty, or Timurids, had lost most of Persia to the Aq Qoyunlu confederation. However, members of the Timurid dynasty continued to rule smaller states, sometimes known as Timurid emirates, in Central Asia and parts of India. In the 16th century, Babur, a Timurid prince from Ferghana (modern Uzbekistan), invaded Kabulistan (modern Afghanistan) and established a small kingdom there. Twenty years later, he used this kingdom as a staging ground to invade the Delhi Sultanate in India and establish the Mughal Empire.

^ Coinage of Timur with "Three annulets" symbol (1393–1405):
^ Bloom, Jonathan; Blair, Sheila S. (14 May 2009). Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set. OUP USA. p. 426. ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1. Coinage issued by the Timurid dynasty (r. 1370–1506) comprised various silver coins and several coppers, most often anonymous, although some coppers struck in the name of Timur 1370–1405; here called amīr) have a tamghā of three annulets prominently on the reverse.
^ Kadoi, Yuka (2010). "On the Timurid flag". Beiträge zur islamischen Kunst und Archäologie. 2: 144, 149, 159 Fig.5. doi:10.29091/9783954909537/009. S2CID 263250872.
^ Lux-Wurm, Pierre C. (2001). Les Drapeaux de l'Islam : De Mahomet à nos jours. France: Buchet Chastel. pp. 252–253. ISBN 978-2283018132.
French original: "Ses bannières suivaient un modèle unique avec des variantes dans leur découpages. D'après la tradition Mongole -de laquelle il se réclamait- la hampe portait la queue de cheval ou de yak (d'après cetains auteurs), appelée tough, surmontée du croissant de l'Islam. La couleur était rouge, cetainement à cause de la visibilité de cette couleur sur le champ de bataille."
English (Google translation): "His banners followed a single model with variations in their cut-outs. According to the Mongolian tradition - to which he belonged - the pole bore the tail of a horse or yak (according to certain authors), called tugh, topped with the crescent of Islam. The color was red, probably because of the visibility of this color on the battlefield.".
For another Timurid red banner in miniatures, see:
^
- Manz, Beatrice Forbes (1999). The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, p.109. ISBN 0-521-63384-2. Limited preview at Google Books. p.109. "In almost all the territories which Temür incorporated into his realm Persian was the primary language of administration and literary culture. Thus the language of the settled 'divan' was Persian."
- B.F. Manz, W.M. Thackston, D.J. Roxburgh, L. Golombek, L. Komaroff, R.E. Darley-Doran. "Timurids" Encyclopaedia of Islam Brill Publishers 2007; "During the Timurid period, three languages, Persian, Turkish, and Arabic were in use. The major language of the period was Persian, the native language of the Tajik (Persian) component of society and the language of learning acquired by all literate and/or urban Turks. Persian served as the language of administration, history, belles lettres, and poetry."
- Bertold Spuler. "CENTRAL ASIA v. In the Mongol and Timurid Periodse". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2017-09-14. "Like his father, Olōğ Beg was entirely integrated into the Persian Islamic cultural circles, and during his reign Persian predominated as the language of high culture, a status that it retained in the region of Samarqand until the Russian revolution 1917 ... Ḥoseyn Bāyqarā encouraged the development of Persian literature and literary talent in every way possible ...
- Robert Devereux (ed.) "Muhakamat Al-Lughatain (Judgment of Two Languages)" Mir 'Ali Shir Nawāi; Leiden, E.J. Brill 1966: "Nawa'i also employs the curious argument that most Turks also spoke Persian but only a few Persians ever achieved fluency in Turkic. It is difficult to understand why he was impressed by this phenomenon, since the most obvious explanation is that Turks found it necessary, or at least advisable, to learn Persian – it was, after all, the official state language – while Persians saw no reason to bother learning which was, in their eyes, merely the uncivilized tongue of uncivilized nomadic tribesmen.
- David J. Roxburgh. The Persian Album, 1400–1600: From Dispersal to Collection. Yale University Press, 2005. pg 130: "Persian literature, especially poetry, occupied a central in the process of assimilation of Timurid elite to the Perso-Islamicate courtly culture, and so it is not surprising to find Baysanghur commissioned a new edition of Firdawsi's Shanama."
^ Cite error: The named reference homelanguage was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference EI - Manz2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of World-Systems Research. 12 (2): 222. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
^ Rein Taagepera (September 1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia". International Studies Quarterly. 41 (3). p. 500. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053. JSTOR 2600793.
^ Subtelny 2007, pp. 40–41. "Nevertheless, in the complex process of transition, members of the Timurid dynasty and their Turko-Mongolian supporters became acculturated by the surrounding Persianate millieu adopting Persian cultural models and tastes and acting as patrons of Persian language, culture, painting, architecture and music. [...] The last members of the dynasty, notably Sultan-Abu Sa'id and Sultan-Husain, in fact came to be regarded as ideal Perso-Islamic rulers who devoted as much attention to agricultural development as they did to fostering Persianate court culture."
^ Green, Nile (2019-04-09). The Persianate World: The Frontiers of a Eurasian Lingua Franca. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-97210-0.
^ Spengler, Robert N. (2020-09-22). Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-37926-8.
^ Timurids, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Columbia University Press. This cultural rebirth had a double character; on one hand, there was a renewal of Persian civilization and art (distinguished by extensive adaptations from the Chinese), and on the other, an original national literature in the Turk-Jagatai language, which borrowed from Persian sources.
^ Subtelny 2007, p. 40"Turko-Mongolian ideals necessarily blended with Perso-Islamic concepts of legitimation. This resulted, as mentioned already, in the coexistence of many Turko-Mongolian practices alongside Perso-Islamic ones (...) Nevertheless, in the complex process of transition, members of the Timurid dynasty and their Turko-Mongolian supporters became acculturated by the surrounding Persianate millieu adopting Persian cultural models and tastes and acting as patrons of Persian language, culture, painting, architecture and music. At the same time, to preserve their Turkic cultural heritage, they promoted the use of a Chagatay (Eastern Turkic) language and literature that was written in the Arabo-Persian script, and even retained the symbolic used of the Turkic Uighur script."
^ Subtelny 2007, p. 41"The last members of the dynasty, notably Sultan-Abu Sa'id and Sultan-Husain, in fact came to be regarded as ideal Perso-Islamic rulers who devoted as much attention to agricultural development as they did to fostering Persianate court culture."

[1] Coinage of Timur with "Three annulets" symbol (1393–1405):

[2] Bloom, Jonathan; Blair, Sheila S. (14 May 2009). Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set. OUP USA. p. 426. ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1. Coinage issued by the Timurid dynasty (r. 1370–1506) comprised various silver coins and several coppers, most often anonymous, although some coppers struck in the name of Timur 1370–1405; here called amīr) have a tamghā of three annulets prominently on the reverse.

[3] Kadoi, Yuka (2010). "On the Timurid flag". Beiträge zur islamischen Kunst und Archäologie. 2: 144, 149, 159 Fig.5. doi:10.29091/9783954909537/009. S2CID 263250872.

[PLW-4] Lux-Wurm, Pierre C. (2001). Les Drapeaux de l'Islam : De Mahomet à nos jours. France: Buchet Chastel. pp. 252–253. ISBN 978-2283018132.
French original: "Ses bannières suivaient un modèle unique avec des variantes dans leur découpages. D'après la tradition Mongole -de laquelle il se réclamait- la hampe portait la queue de cheval ou de yak (d'après cetains auteurs), appelée tough, surmontée du croissant de l'Islam. La couleur était rouge, cetainement à cause de la visibilité de cette couleur sur le champ de bataille."
English (Google translation): "His banners followed a single model with variations in their cut-outs. According to the Mongolian tradition - to which he belonged - the pole bore the tail of a horse or yak (according to certain authors), called tugh, topped with the crescent of Islam. The color was red, probably because of the visibility of this color on the battlefield.".
For another Timurid red banner in miniatures, see:

[5] 
Manz, Beatrice Forbes (1999). The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, p.109. ISBN 0-521-63384-2. Limited preview at Google Books. p.109. "In almost all the territories which Temür incorporated into his realm Persian was the primary language of administration and literary culture. Thus the language of the settled 'divan' was Persian."

B.F. Manz, W.M. Thackston, D.J. Roxburgh, L. Golombek, L. Komaroff, R.E. Darley-Doran. "Timurids" Encyclopaedia of Islam Brill Publishers 2007; "During the Timurid period, three languages, Persian, Turkish, and Arabic were in use. The major language of the period was Persian, the native language of the Tajik (Persian) component of society and the language of learning acquired by all literate and/or urban Turks. Persian served as the language of administration, history, belles lettres, and poetry."

Bertold Spuler. "CENTRAL ASIA v. In the Mongol and Timurid Periodse". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2017-09-14. "Like his father, Olōğ Beg was entirely integrated into the Persian Islamic cultural circles, and during his reign Persian predominated as the language of high culture, a status that it retained in the region of Samarqand until the Russian revolution 1917 ... Ḥoseyn Bāyqarā encouraged the development of Persian literature and literary talent in every way possible ...

Robert Devereux (ed.) "Muhakamat Al-Lughatain (Judgment of Two Languages)" Mir 'Ali Shir Nawāi; Leiden, E.J. Brill 1966: "Nawa'i also employs the curious argument that most Turks also spoke Persian but only a few Persians ever achieved fluency in Turkic. It is difficult to understand why he was impressed by this phenomenon, since the most obvious explanation is that Turks found it necessary, or at least advisable, to learn Persian – it was, after all, the official state language – while Persians saw no reason to bother learning which was, in their eyes, merely the uncivilized tongue of uncivilized nomadic tribesmen.

David J. Roxburgh. The Persian Album, 1400–1600: From Dispersal to Collection. Yale University Press, 2005. pg 130: "Persian literature, especially poetry, occupied a central in the process of assimilation of Timurid elite to the Perso-Islamicate courtly culture, and so it is not surprising to find Baysanghur commissioned a new edition of Firdawsi's Shanama."

[6] Manz, Beatrice Forbes (1999). The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, p.109. ISBN 0-521-63384-2. Limited preview at Google Books. p.109. "In almost all the territories which Temür incorporated into his realm Persian was the primary language of administration and literary culture. Thus the language of the settled 'divan' was Persian."

[7] B.F. Manz, W.M. Thackston, D.J. Roxburgh, L. Golombek, L. Komaroff, R.E. Darley-Doran. "Timurids" Encyclopaedia of Islam Brill Publishers 2007; "During the Timurid period, three languages, Persian, Turkish, and Arabic were in use. The major language of the period was Persian, the native language of the Tajik (Persian) component of society and the language of learning acquired by all literate and/or urban Turks. Persian served as the language of administration, history, belles lettres, and poetry."

[8] Bertold Spuler. "CENTRAL ASIA v. In the Mongol and Timurid Periodse". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2017-09-14. "Like his father, Olōğ Beg was entirely integrated into the Persian Islamic cultural circles, and during his reign Persian predominated as the language of high culture, a status that it retained in the region of Samarqand until the Russian revolution 1917 ... Ḥoseyn Bāyqarā encouraged the development of Persian literature and literary talent in every way possible ...

[9] Robert Devereux (ed.) "Muhakamat Al-Lughatain (Judgment of Two Languages)" Mir 'Ali Shir Nawāi; Leiden, E.J. Brill 1966: "Nawa'i also employs the curious argument that most Turks also spoke Persian but only a few Persians ever achieved fluency in Turkic. It is difficult to understand why he was impressed by this phenomenon, since the most obvious explanation is that Turks found it necessary, or at least advisable, to learn Persian – it was, after all, the official state language – while Persians saw no reason to bother learning which was, in their eyes, merely the uncivilized tongue of uncivilized nomadic tribesmen.

[10] David J. Roxburgh. The Persian Album, 1400–1600: From Dispersal to Collection. Yale University Press, 2005. pg 130: "Persian literature, especially poetry, occupied a central in the process of assimilation of Timurid elite to the Perso-Islamicate courtly culture, and so it is not surprising to find Baysanghur commissioned a new edition of Firdawsi's Shanama."

[homelanguage-6] Cite error: The named reference homelanguage was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[EI_-_Manz2-7] Cite error: The named reference EI - Manz2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[8] Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of World-Systems Research. 12 (2): 222. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 2016-09-14.

[9] Rein Taagepera (September 1997). "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia". International Studies Quarterly. 41 (3). p. 500. doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00053. JSTOR 2600793.

[FOOTNOTESubtelny200740–41-10] Subtelny 2007, pp. 40–41. "Nevertheless, in the complex process of transition, members of the Timurid dynasty and their Turko-Mongolian supporters became acculturated by the surrounding Persianate millieu adopting Persian cultural models and tastes and acting as patrons of Persian language, culture, painting, architecture and music. [...] The last members of the dynasty, notably Sultan-Abu Sa'id and Sultan-Husain, in fact came to be regarded as ideal Perso-Islamic rulers who devoted as much attention to agricultural development as they did to fostering Persianate court culture."

[11] Green, Nile (2019-04-09). The Persianate World: The Frontiers of a Eurasian Lingua Franca. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-97210-0.

[12] Spengler, Robert N. (2020-09-22). Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-37926-8.

[13] Timurids, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Columbia University Press. This cultural rebirth had a double character; on one hand, there was a renewal of Persian civilization and art (distinguished by extensive adaptations from the Chinese), and on the other, an original national literature in the Turk-Jagatai language, which borrowed from Persian sources.

[FOOTNOTESubtelny2007[httpsbooksgooglecombooksid8fCvCQAAQBAJpgPA40_40]-14] Subtelny 2007, p. 40"Turko-Mongolian ideals necessarily blended with Perso-Islamic concepts of legitimation. This resulted, as mentioned already, in the coexistence of many Turko-Mongolian practices alongside Perso-Islamic ones (...) Nevertheless, in the complex process of transition, members of the Timurid dynasty and their Turko-Mongolian supporters became acculturated by the surrounding Persianate millieu adopting Persian cultural models and tastes and acting as patrons of Persian language, culture, painting, architecture and music. At the same time, to preserve their Turkic cultural heritage, they promoted the use of a Chagatay (Eastern Turkic) language and literature that was written in the Arabo-Persian script, and even retained the symbolic used of the Turkic Uighur script."

[FOOTNOTESubtelny2007[httpsbooksgooglecombooksid8fCvCQAAQBAJpgPA41_41]-15] Subtelny 2007, p. 41"The last members of the dynasty, notably Sultan-Abu Sa'id and Sultan-Husain, in fact came to be regarded as ideal Perso-Islamic rulers who devoted as much attention to agricultural development as they did to fostering Persianate court culture."

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