Timurid dynasty

This article is about the royal family. For the territorial states over which it ruled, see Timurid Empire and Mughal Empire. For the imperial family of the latter empire, see Mughal dynasty.

Timurid dynasty گورکانیان, Gūrkāniyān
Parent house	Barlas
Country	Timurid Empire Mughal Empire
Current region	Central Asia Greater Iran Indian peninsula
Founded	1370
Founder	Timur
Final ruler	Bahadur Shah II
Titles	Emir Khan Beg Sheikh Gurkani Mirza Sahib Qiran Sultan Shah Padishah
Traditions	Sunni Islam (Hanafi)
Dissolution	1857
Deposition	1507 (Timurid Empire) 1857 (Mughal Empire)
Cadet branches	Mughal dynasty

The Timurid dynasty, self-designated as Gurkani (Persian: گورکانیان, romanized: Gūrkāniyān), was a Sunni Muslim^[1] dynasty or Barlās clan of Turco-Mongol origin^[2][3][4][5] descended from the warlord Timur (also known as Tamerlane). The word "Gurkani" derives from "Gurkan", a Persianized form of the Mongolian word "Kuragan" meaning "son-in-law".^[6] This was an honorific title used by the dynasty as the Timurids were in-laws of the line of Genghis Khan,^[7] founder of the Mongol Empire, as Timur had married Saray Mulk Khanum, a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. Members of the Timurid dynasty signaled the Timurid Renaissance, and they were strongly influenced by Persian culture^[2][8] and established two significant empires in history, the Timurid Empire (1370–1507) based in Persia and Central Asia, and the Mughal Empire (1526–1857) based in the Indian subcontinent.

Origins

Main articles: Barlas, Turco-Mongol tradition, Turco-Persian tradition, and Persianate society

The origin of the Timurid dynasty goes back to the Mongol tribe known as Barlas, who were remnants of the Mongol army of Genghis Khan,^[2][9][10] founder of the Mongol Empire. After the Mongol conquest of Central Asia, the Barlas settled in what is today southern Kazakhstan, from Shymkent to Taraz and Almaty, which then came to be known for a time as Moghulistan – "Land of Mongols" in Persian – and intermingled to a considerable degree with the local Turkic and Turkic-speaking population, so that at the time of Timur's reign the Barlas had become thoroughly Turkicized in terms of language and habits.

Additionally, by adopting Islam, the Central Asian Turks and Mongols adopted the Persian literary and high culture^[11] which had dominated Central Asia since the early days of Islamic influence. Persian literature was instrumental in the assimilation of the Timurid elite into the Perso-Islamic courtly culture.^[12]

List of rulers

See also: Timurid family tree

Timurid Empire

Titular name	Personal name	Reign
Timur ruled over the Chagatai Khanate with Soyurghatmïsh Khan as nominal Khan followed by Sultan Mahmud Khan. He himself adopted the Muslim Arabic title of Amir. In essence the Khanate was finished and the Timurid Empire was firmly established.
Amir امیر Timur Lang تیمور لنگ	Timur Beg Gurkani تیمور بیگ گورکانی	1370–1405
Amir امیر	Pir Muhammad bin Jahangir Mirza پیر محمد بن جہانگیر میرزا	1405–1407
Amir امیر	Khalil Sultan bin Miran Shah خلیل سلطان بن میران شاہ	1405–1409
Amir امیر	Shahrukh Mirza شاھرخ میرزا	1405–1447
Amir امیر Ulugh Beg الغ بیگ	Mirza Muhammad Tāraghay میرزا محمد طارق	1447–1449
Division of Timurid Empire

Transoxiana	Khurasan/Herat/Fars/Iraq-e-Ajam
Abdal-Latif Mirza میرزا عبداللطیف Padarkush (Father Killer) 1449–1450	Ala al-Dawla Mirza علاء الدولہ میرزا بن بایسنقر ? Abul-Qasim Babur Mirza میرزا ابوالقاسم بابر بن بایسنقر 1449–1457 Sultan Muhammad سلطان محمد ابن بایسنقر 1447–1451
Abdullah Mirza میرزا عبد اللہ 1450–1451	Abul-Qasim Babur Mirza میرزا ابوالقاسم بابر بن بایسنقر 1451–1457
	Mirza Shah Mahmud میرزا شاہ محمود 1457
	Ibrahim Sultan ابراھیم میرزا 1457–1459
Abu Sa'id Mirza ابو سعید میرزا (Although Abu Sa'id Mirza re-united most of the Timurid heartland in Central Asia with the help of Uzbek Chief, Abul-Khayr Khan (grandfather of Muhammad Shayabani Khan), he agreed to divide Iran with the Black Sheep Turkomen under Jahan Shah, but the White Sheep Turkomen under Uzun Hassan defeated and killed first Jahan Shah and then Abu Sa'id. After Abu Sa'id's death another era of fragmentation follows.) 1451–1469
**Transoxiana is divided	Sultan Husayn Bayqara سلطان حسین میرزا بایقرا 1469 1st reign
	Yadgar Muhammad Mirza میرزا یادگار محمد 1470 (6 weeks)
	Sultan Husayn Bayqara سلطان حسین میرزا بایقرا 1470–1506 2nd reign
	Badi' al-Zaman Mirza بدیع الزمان میرزا 1506–1507 Muzaffar Husayn Mirza مظفر حسین میرزا 1506–1507
	Uzbeks under Muhammad Shayabak Khan Conquer Herat

• Abu Sa'id's sons divided Transoxiana upon his death, into Samarkand, Bukhara, Hissar, Balkh, Kabul and Farghana.

Samarkand	Bukhara	Hissar	Farghana	Balkh	Kabul
Sultan Ahmad Mirza سلطان احمد میرزا 1469–1494			Umar Shaikh Mirza II عمر شیخ میرزا ثانی 1469–1494	Sultan Mahmud Mirza سلطان محمود میرزا 1469–1495	Ulugh Beg Mirza II میرزا الغ بیگ 1469 – 1502
Sultan Baysonqor Mirza bin Mahmud Mirza بایسنقر میرزا بن محمود میرزا 1495–1497	Sultan Ali bin Mahmud Mirza سلطان علی بن محمود میرزا 1495–1500	Sultan Masud Mirza bin Mahmud Mirza سلطان مسعود بن محمود میرزا 1495 – ?	Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur ظہیر الدین محمد بابر 1494–1497	Khusrau Shah خسرو شاہ (Usurper) ? – 1504	Mukim Beg Arghun مقیم ارغون (Usurper) ? – 1504
Uzbeks under Muhammad Shayabak Khan محمد شایبک خان ازبک 1500–1501			Jahangir Mirza II جہانگیر میرزا (puppet of Sultan Ahmed Tambol) 1497 – 1503	Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur ظہیر الدین محمد بابر 1504–1504
Uzbeks under Muhammad Shayabak Khan محمد شایبک خان ازبک 1503–1504					Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur ظہیر الدین محمد بابر 1504–1511
Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur ظہیر الدین محمد بابر (Never till his conquest of India were the dominions of Babur as extensive as at this period. Like his grandfather Abu Sa'id Mirza, he managed to re-unite the Timurid heartland in Central Asia with the help of Shah of Iran, Ismail I. His dominions stretched from the Caspian Sea and the Ural Mountains to the farthest limits of Ghazni and comprehended Kabul and Ghazni;Kunduz and Hissar; Samarkand and Bukhara; Farghana; Tashkent and Seiram) 1511–1512
Uzbeks under Ubaydullah Sultan عبید اللہ سلطان re-conquer Transoxiana and Balkh 1512					Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur ظہیر الدین محمد بابر 1512–1530
Timurid Empire in Central Asia becomes extinct under the Khanate of Bukhara of the Uzbeks. However, Timurid dynasty moves on to conquer India under the leadership of Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur in 1526 C.E. and established the Timurid dynasty of India.

Mughal Empire

Main article: Mughal emperors

Emperor	Birth	Reign Period	Death	Notes
Babur	14 February 1483	21 April 1526 – 26 December 1530	1530	Was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan through his mother and was descendant of Timur through his father. Founded the Mughal Empire after his victories at the First Battle of Panipat and the Battle of Khanwa.
Humayun	6 March 1508	26 December 1530 – 17 May 1540	27 January 1556	Reign interrupted by Sur Empire. Youth and inexperience at ascension led to his being regarded as a less effective ruler than a usurper, Sher Shah Suri.
Sher Shah Suri	1486	17 May 1540 – 22 May 1545	22 May 1545	Deposed Humayun and led the Sur Empire.
Islam Shah Suri	1507	1545–1554	1554	Second and last ruler of the Sur Empire, claims of sons Sikandar and Adil Shah were eliminated by Humayun's restoration.
Humayun	6 March 1508	22 June 1555 – 27 January 1556	27 January 1556	Restored rule was more unified and effective than the initial reign of 1530–1540; left a unified empire for his son, Akbar.
Akbar	15 October 1542	11 February 1556 – 27 October 1605	27 October 1605	He and Bairam Khan defeated Hemu during the Second Battle of Panipat and later won famous victories during the Siege of Chittorgarh and the Siege of Ranthambore; He greatly expanded the Empire and is regarded as the most illustrious ruler of the Mughal Empire as he set up the empire's various institutions; He married Mariam-uz-Zamani, a Rajput princess who became the mother to his successor Jahangir. One of his most famous construction marvels was the Lahore Fort and Agra Fort.[13]
Jahangir	31 August 1569	3 November 1605 – 28 October 1627	28 October 1627	Jahangir set the precedent for sons rebelling against their emperor fathers. Opened first relations with the British East India Company.
Shah Jahan	5 January 1592	19 January 1628 – 31 July 1658	22 January 1666	Under him, Mughal art and architecture reached their zenith; constructed the Taj Mahal, Jama Masjid, Red Fort, Jahangir mausoleum, and Shalimar Gardens in Lahore. Deposed by his son Aurangzeb.
Aurangzeb	3 November 1618	31 July 1658 – 3 March 1707	3 March 1707	He reinterpreted Islamic law and presented the Fatawa-e-Alamgiri; he captured the diamond mines of the Sultanate of Golconda; he spent the major part of his last 27 years in the war with the Maratha rebels; at its zenith, his conquests expanded the empire to its greatest extent; the over-stretched empire was controlled by Mansabdars, and faced challenges after his death. He is known to have transcribed copies of the Qur'an using his styles of calligraphy.
Bahadur Shah I	14 October 1643	19 June 1707–27 February 1712	27 February 1712	First of the Mughal emperors to preside over an empire ravaged by uncontrollable revolts. After his reign, the empire went into steady decline due to the lack of leadership qualities among his immediate successors.
Jahandar Shah	10 May 1661	29 March 1712 – 11 February 1713	11 February 1713	The son of Bahadur Shah I, he was an unpopular and incompetent titular figurehead; he attained the throne after his father's death by his victory in battle over his brother, who was killed.
Farrukhsiyar	20 August 1683	11 January 1713 – 9 April 1719	9 April 1719	His reign marked the ascendancy of the manipulative Syed Brothers, execution of the rebellious Banda. In 1717 he granted a Firman to the English East India Company granting them duty-free trading rights in Bengal. The Firman was repudiated by the notable Murshid Quli Khan the Mughal appointed ruler of Bengal.
Rafi Ul-Darjat	1 December 1699	28 February – 6 June 1719	6 June 1719
Rafi Ud-Daulat	June 1696	6 June – 17 September 1719	18 September 1719
Muhammad Ibrahim	9 August 1703	15 October – 13 November 1720	31 January 1746
Muhammad Shah	7 August 1702	27 September 1719 – 26 April	26 April 1748	Got rid of the Syed Brothers. Tried to counter the emergence of the Marathas but his empire disintegrated. Suffered the invasion of Nadir-Shah of Persia in 1739.[14]
Ahmad Shah Bahadur	23 December 1725	29 April 1748 – 2 June 1754	1 January 1775
Alamgir II	6 June 1699	3 June 1754 – 29 November 1759	29 November 1759	He was murdered according to by the Vizier Imad-ul-Mulk and Maratha associate Sadashivrao Bhau.
Shah Jahan III	1711	10 December 1759 – 10 October 1760	1772	Was ordained to the imperial throne as a result of the intricacies in Delhi with the help of Imad-ul-Mulk. He was later deposed by Maratha Sardars.[15]^[full citation needed][16]
Shah Alam II	25 June 1728	10 October 1760 – 31 July 1788, 16 October 1788 – 19 November 1806	19 November 1806	He was proclaimed as Mughal Emperor by the Marathas.[15] Later, he was again recognized as the Mughal Emperor by Ahmad Shah Durrani after the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.[17] 1764 saw the defeat of the combined forces of Mughal Emperor, Nawab of Oudh and Nawab of Bengal and Bihar at the hand of East India Company at the Battle of Buxar. Following this defeat, Shah Alam II left Delhi for Allahabad, ending hostilities with the Treaty of Allahabad (1765). Shah Alam II was reinstated to the throne of Delhi in 1772 by Mahadaji Shinde under the protection of the Marathas.[18] He was a de jure emperor. During his reign in 1793 British East India company abolished Nizamat (Mughal suzerainty) and took control of the former Mughal province of Bengal marking the beginning of British reign in parts of Eastern India officially.
Akbar Shah II	22 April 1760	19 November 1806 – 28 September 1837	28 September 1837	He became a British pensioner after the defeat of the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha war who was until then the protector of the Mughal throne. Under the East India company's protection, his imperial name was removed from official coinage after a brief dispute with the British East India Company.
Bahadur Shah II	24 October 1775	28 September 1837 – 21 September 1857	7 November 1862	The last Mughal emperor was deposed in 1858 by the British East India Company and exiled to Burma following the War of 1857 after the fall of Delhi to the company troops. His death marks the end of the Mughal dynasty but not of the family.

Family tree

Timurid Dynasty

Timurid Empire   Timurid Empire of Farghana   Timurid Empire of Kabul   Timurid Empire of Herat   Timurid Empire of Samarkand   Timurid Empire of Transoxiana   Timurid Empire of Hissar   Timurid Empire of Khurasan   Mughal Empire Timur r. 1370–1405 Jahangir Umar-Shaykh Miran-Shah Shah-Rukh r. 1407–1447 Muhammad-Sultan Pir-Muhammad r. 1405–1407 Bayqara Khalil-Sultan r. 1405–1409 Muhammad Ulugh-Beg I r. 1447–1449 Ibrahim-Sultan Baysunghur Muhammad-Juki Mansur Abu Sa'id r. 1451–1469 r. 1459–1469 Abd al-Latif r. 1449–1450 Abd Allah r. 1450–1451 Ala al-Dawla r. 1447–1448 Sultan-Muhammad r. 1449–1451 Abu'l-Qasim Babur r. 1449–1449,  1451–1457 r. 1447–1457 Husayn-Bayqara r. 1469–1470,  1470–1506 Sultan-Ahmad r. 1469–1494 Sultan-Mahmud r. 1469–1495 r. 1494–1495 Umar-Shaykh II r. 1469–1494 Ulugh-Beg II r. 1469–1502 Ibrahim r. 1457–1459 Yadegar-Muhammad r. 1470–1470 Shah-Mahmud r. 1457–1457 Badi' al-Zaman r. 1506–1507 Muzaffar-Husayn r. 1506–1507 Sultan-Masud r. 1495–1497 Sultan-Baysunghur r. 1495–1497 r. 1497–1499 Sultan-Ali r. 1497–1500 Babur r. 1494–1497 r. 1497–1497,  1511–1512 r. 1504–1526 r. 1526–1530 Jahangir II r. 1497–1504 Abd ar-Razaq r. 1502–1504 Humayun r. 1530–1540,  1554–1556 Akbar I r. 1556–1605 Jahangir r. 1605–1627 Shah-Jahan I r. 1628–1658 Shahryar r. 1627–1628 Shah-Shuja r. 1657–1659 Aurangzeb r. 1658–1707 Bahadur Shah I r. 1707–1712 Muhammad-Azam Shah r. 1707–1707 Muhammad-Akbar Muhammad-Kam-Bakhsh Jahandar Shah r. 1712–1713 Azim-ush-Shan r. 1712–1712 Rafi-ush-Shan Khujista-Akhtar Nikusiyar r. 1719–1719 Muhi us-Sunnat Alamgir II r. 1754–1759 Farrukhsiyar r. 1713–1719 Shah-Jahan II r. 1719–1719 Rafi ud-Darajat r. 1719–1719 Muhammad-Ibrahim r. 1720–1720 Muhammad Shah r. 1719–1748 Shah-Jahan III r. 1759–1760 Shah-Alam II r. 1759–1806 Ahmad Shah r. 1748–1754 Akbar II r. 1806–1837 Shah-Jahan IV r. 1788–1788 Bahadur Shah II r. 1837–1857

See also

• Timur
• Timurid Empire
• Mughal Empire
• Turco-Mongol
• Muhammad Khwaja
• Borjigin
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

References and notes

1. Maria E. Subtelny, Timurids in Transition: Turko-Persian Politics and Acculturation in Medieval Persia, Vol. 7, (Brill, 2007), 201.
2. B.F. Manz, "Tīmūr Lang", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006
3. Encyclopædia Britannica, "Timurid Dynasty", Online Academic Edition, 2007. (Quotation: "Turkic-Mongol dynasty descended from the conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), renowned for its brilliant revival of artistic and intellectual life in Iran and Central Asia. ... Trading and artistic communities were brought into the capital city of Herat, where a library was founded, and the capital became the centre of a renewed and artistically brilliant Persian culture.")
4. "Timurids". The Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth ed.). New York City: Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2006-12-05. Retrieved 2006-11-08.
5. Encyclopædia Britannica article: "Consolidation & expansion of the Indo-Timurids", Online Edition, 2007.
6. A History of the Muslim World Since 1260: The Making of a Global Community, by Vernon Egger, p. 193
7. ""The Man Behind the Mosque"". Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2015-08-09.
8. Maria Subtelny, Timurids in Transition, p. 40: "Nevertheless, in the complex process of transition, members of the Timurid dynasty and their Persian Mongol supporters became acculturate by the surrounding Persianate millieu adopting Persian cultural models and tastes and acting as patrons of Persian culture, painting, architecture and music." 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 develoted as much attention to agricultural development as they did to fostering Persianate court culture."
9. "Timur". Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth ed.). 2005.
10. "Consolidation & expansion of the Indo-Timurids". Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 January 2024.
11. B. Spuler (2006). "Central Asia in the Mongol and Timurid periods". Encyclopædia Iranica. 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
12. David J. Roxburgh (2005). The Persian Album, 1400–1600: From Dispersal to Collection. Yale University Press. p. 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.
13. Klingelhofer, William G. (1988). "The Jahangiri Mahal of the Agra Fort: Expression and Experience in Early Mughal Architecture". Muqarnas. 5: 153–169. doi:10.2307/1523115. ISSN 0732-2992. JSTOR 1523115.
14. S. N. Sen (2006). History Modern India. New Age International. pp. 11–13, 41–43. ISBN 978-81-224-1774-6.
15. Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707–1813, p. 140
16. S.R. Sharma (1999). Mughal Empire in India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material. Vol. 3. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 765. ISBN 9788171568192.
17. S.R. Sharma (1999). Mughal Empire in India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material. Vol. 3. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 767. ISBN 9788171568192.
18. N. G. Rathod, The Great Maratha Mahadaji Scindia, (Sarup & Sons, 1994), 8:[1]

Further reading

• BĀYSONḠORĪ ŠĀH-NĀMA in Encyclopædia Iranica
• Elliot, Sir H. M.; edited by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; published by London Trubner Company 1867–77. (Online Copy: The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; by Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; London Trubner Company 1867–1877 – This online copy has been posted by: The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in Translation; Also find other historical books: Author List and Title List)

External links

• Timurid Dynasty
• Virtual Art Exhibit