Timurid Empire

  General Description   The Timurid Emirate was a polity begun by Timur who was initially an amir within the Chagatai Khanate. ^[1] After taking power at Balkh in 1370 Timur maintained a nominal allegiance to the Chagatai khan while effectively ruling as an independent state. ^[2]
Timur’s brutal conquests over Persia and the sub-continent created a large empire covering about 5,500,000 square kilometers with a population of perhaps 49 million in 1400 CE. ^[3] In his desire to create a great empire, during his conquests Timur "rounded up craftspeople in all fields and sent them off to his capital at Samarkand. ... He assembled the most highly skilled manpower from many countries and traditions, an astonishingly rich assemblage of masters in virtually every field of the arts and crafts." ^[4]
Timurid government was a complex Persian-model professional bureaucracy which functionally distinguished between civilian and military branches of government. ^[5] The ruler was assisted by a vizier ^[4] who often stayed in his post after the previous Timurid amir had died. ^[6] The non-sedentary origin and culture of the rulers might be reflected in the departments of the Timurid diwan which were "concerned primarily with financial and bureaucratic matters, including chancery correspondence." ^[5]
In the regions "Timur was notably lax at establishing effective and loyal governments ... conquered lands had their own governing bodies ... he was content to leave them be." ^[4] However, (presumably closer to the center of the polity in Central Asia) there was governor or mayor called darugha ^[7] who owed his authority directly to the Timurid amir. ^[8] Timur’s descendants divided some of the Timurid territories into provinces, including Samarkand and Bukhara. ^[9]
Uzbek nomads eventually conquered the feuding provinces of the Timurid Empire. ^[9]

[1]: (Wise Bauer 2013, 558) Wise Bauer, S. 2013. The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople. W. W. Norton & Company.

[2]: (Khan 2003, 33) A Khan. 2003. A Historical Atlas of Uzbekistan. The Rosen Publishing Group.

[3]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978) Collin McEverdy. Richard Jones. 1978. Atlas of World Population History. Penguin Books Ltd.

[4]: (Starr 2013) Frederick S. Starr. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton.

[5]: (Subtelny 2007, 68) Maria Subtelny. 2007. Timurids in Transition: Turko-Persian Politics and Acculturation in Medieval Iran. BRILL.

[6]: (Subtelny 2007, 69) Maria Subtelny. 2007. Timurids in Transition: Turko-Persian Politics and Acculturation in Medieval Iran. BRILL.

[7]: (Marozzi 2004, 141) J Marozzi. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.

[8]: (Marozzi 2004, 205) J Marozzi. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.

[9]: (Khan 2003, 35) A Khan. 2003. A Historical Atlas of Uzbekistan. The Rosen Publishing Group.