Timurids: Heirs to Genghis Khan?

What were the Timurids famous for?

Patronage of art and architecture, developing a model Muslims rulers followed

Where did Timurids expand?

Into India

Mongol institutions remain …

Important, even if obscured by the sources

What subsequent emerges as Muslim rulers reclaim power?

Safavids

What springs up when Mongol collapse occurs?

Small state, e.g. Anatolia

When was Timal born? How was the significant?

In 1335, when Abu Sahid died, creating continuity between the Ilkhanate and Timal’s state

Portrays himself as…

Genghis Khan

Born of…

The Muslim world as a native of Transoxiana

What was his tie to the Mongol royal family?

His tribe’s hereditary connection was that they had been royal bodyguards, but were Turks not Mongols

Timur was a product of…

Muslim region accustomed to the symbiosis of nomad and sedentary Persian and Turkish speakers

What doesn’t he attempt to do?

Makes no effort to bring said Anatolia under his rule

What did he do instead?

Instal previous rulers of Anatolia, instead of conquering Ottomans. Introduces no administration.

Where was the capital?

Samarkand, modern day Uzbekistan

How many said to have died in the campaign against Delhi?

8,000

What stories were said and why were they exaggerated?

Skull towers. Likely exaggerated useful for discouraging rebellion or resistance.

With whom did he have trade relations?

Golden Horde and Ming Dynasty

Ambitions were commemorated in what?

Islamic architecture

What was the most favoured means of cultural patronage? Give an example?

Arts of the Book. Manuscript of 1411 for Timur’s grandson Iskander Sultan.

What exemplifies the fact it was intended for small elite audience?

Persian Book of Kings for Timurid prince Muhammad Jaki

Claiming relations to Genghis Khan through marriage, he adopts what titles, and refuses to use what others?

Mongol word meaning ‘son-in-law’ and never uses Sultan or Khan himself

His gravestone was made of what?

Solid jade

By claiming a connection to Genghis, Timur also claimed …

Descent from the Mongol goddess Alanqo’a (ancestress of Genghis)

What kept the rule intimate?

Personal ties and territories portioned out as appendages for the royal family

His grandson, Ulugh Beg (1394-1449) founds what, which attracts many from across the Islamic world?

Famous observatory in Samarkand attracted astronomers

Islamisation under Shah rule reflected in waht?

in religious architecture and patronage of Sufism

Give a case example showing importance of Sufism?

Shrine of 11th century saint Abdallah Ansari of Herat (Afghanistan)

How did Sufi’s seek legitimacy?

Through the courts

Which Timurid royal patronised one of the most iportant Shi’ite shrines today, which was what?

Gawhar Shad, and the Great Shrine of Eighth Imam ‘Ali a-Rida at Mashhad

Patronage of such institutions indicated what?

not necessarily symptomatic of Shi’ism but part of a fluid boundary between Shi’ism and Sunnism

What is abolished?

Mongol steppe law (yasa and yosun)

Where remains prosperous throughout the 15th century?

Area around Herat

Who encroached, and what did this cause in the early 16th century?

The Uzbeks saw the collapse of the Timurids in Qurasan and Transoxiana

Who else claimed descent from Genghis Khan?

Uzbeks, but had lost their language

What made them different from Timurids?

Were almost entirely Turkish-speaking and dominated by Turkish nomads

Who dominate India until the 19th century?

Mughals descended from Timal

What langauge did they speak?

Turkish

Intended to reconquer…

Central Asia

Where had been mostly subjected to Timurid rule?

Most of Iran