Home Region:  Turkestan (Central and Northern Eurasia)

Timurid Empire

1370 CE 1526 CE

D G SC WF EC HS CC PT EQ 2020  uz_timurid_emp / UzTimur

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Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
[continuity; Chagatai Khaganate] [continuity]   Update here

Succeeding Entity: Add one more here.
1526 CE 1858 CE Mughal Empire (in_mughal_emp)    [continuity]

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.

General Variables
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Professions
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Information / Money
Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Economy Variables (Luxury Goods)
Religion Variables Coding in Progress.
Human Sacrifice Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Timurid Empire (uz_timurid_emp) was in:
 (1370 CE 1394 CE)   Sogdiana
 (1394 CE 1470 CE)   Southern Mesopotamia     Susiana     Sogdiana
 (1470 CE 1526 CE)   Sogdiana
Home NGA: Sogdiana

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
42 T
[1370, 1526]

Original Name:
Timurid Empire
[1370, 1526]

Capital:
Herat
[1370, 1526]

Samarkand was Timur’s capital. [1] Shah Rukh (r.1404-1447 CE) moved the capital to Herat. [2]

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

Capital:
Samarkand
[1370, 1526]

Samarkand was Timur’s capital. [1] Shah Rukh (r.1404-1447 CE) moved the capital to Herat. [2]

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


Alternative Name:
Timurid Dynasty
[1370, 1526]

Temporal Bounds
Peak Years:
1449 CE
 

Death of Ulughbeg.


Duration:
[1370 CE ➜ 1526 CE]
 

"Timur was officially installed as ruler at Balkh in 1370." [1]
Uzbek nomads eventually conquered the feuding provinces within the Chagatai khanate/Timurid Empire. [2]
"1501-2 marked a political watershed ... In that year, Muhammad Shaybani Khan (1500-10), the founder of the new dynasty of the Shaybanids, definitively conquered Samarkand. Northern Tukharistan, however, still belonged to the Timurids..." [3]

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

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

[3]: (Davidovich and Dani 1998, 411) Davidovich, E. A. Dani, A. H. 1998. History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 4. UNESCO.


Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
ir_jayarid_khanate nominal allegiance to uz_timurid_emp
1370 CE 1393 CE

After Timur’s conquest of Baghdad (1393), the Jalayirids accepted Timurid suzerainty and paid tribute but retained autonomy until their collapse. [Manz 1999, pp. 78-82]

Suprapolity Relations:
ru_golden_horde alliance with uz_timurid_emp
1370 CE 1395 CE

Timur formed a long-term military alliance with Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde to secure his northern frontier, aiding Tokhtamysh’s rise to power. The alliance collapsed after Tokhtamysh’s rebellions (1385–1395). [Morgan 1991, pp. 179-181]

Suprapolity Relations:
ge_georgia_k_3 vassalage to uz_timurid_emp
1386 CE 1403 CE

Timur’s invasions forced Georgian rulers into tributary submission, but they rebelled frequently. The relationship involved sporadic military support and tribute. [Rayfield 2019, pp. 132-135]

Suprapolity Relations:
tr_qara_qoyunlu vassalage to uz_timurid_emp
1406 CE 1467 CE

The Qara Qoyunlu initially acknowledged Timurid authority but later overthrew their governors, reflecting unstable vassalage [Jackson_Lockhart 2008, pp. 167-170]


Supracultural Entity:
Turko-Islamic
[1370, 1526]

Succeeding Entity:
Shaybanid Kingdom
[1370, 1526]

Scale of Supracultural Interaction:
8,500,000 km2
[1370, 1526]

km squared.


Relationship to Preceding Entity:
continuity
[1370, 1526]

Preceding Entity:
continuity; Chagatai Khaganate [continuity]    Update here
 
Succeeding Entity:
1526 CE 1858 CE Mughal Empire (in_mughal_emp)    [continuity]  
 

Core region was Afghanistan


Degree of Centralization:
nominal
[1370, 1526]

Did not take the title of "Khan" because he was not in the family of Genghis Khan: "he maintained the charade that he was a governor under the Chagatai khan, when in reality he was the supreme power." [1]

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

Degree of Centralization:
unitary state
[1370, 1526]

Did not take the title of "Khan" because he was not in the family of Genghis Khan: "he maintained the charade that he was a governor under the Chagatai khan, when in reality he was the supreme power." [1]

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

Degree of Centralization:
confederated state
[1370, 1526]

Did not take the title of "Khan" because he was not in the family of Genghis Khan: "he maintained the charade that he was a governor under the Chagatai khan, when in reality he was the supreme power." [1]

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


Language
Linguistic Family:
Turkic
[1370, 1526]
Linguistic Family:
Indo-European
[1370, 1526]

Language:
Chagatai Turkish
[1370, 1526]

"Chagatai Turkish evolved as the language of the court and literature." [1] "Persian was the language of the bureaucratic administration and chancery correspondence" [2] The military administration, however, was "staffed by Turkic secretaries". [2]

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

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

Language:
Persian
[1370, 1526]

"Chagatai Turkish evolved as the language of the court and literature." [1] "Persian was the language of the bureaucratic administration and chancery correspondence" [2] The military administration, however, was "staffed by Turkic secretaries". [2]

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

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


Religion
Religion Genus:
Islam
[1370, 1526]

Religion Family:
Sunni
[1370, 1526]

Religion:
Hanafi
[1370, 1526]

Alternate Religion:
Uncoded
[1370, 1526]


Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Population of the Largest Settlement:
150,000 people
[1370, 1526]

Inhabitants.
Samarkand 1400 CE: 150,000 according to Clavijo. [1]
Apogee of Herat was in the twelfth century: "al Qazwini wrote ... there were twelve thousand shops in the markets, six thousand hot baths and 659 colledges. The population was 444,000." [2] In the 1330s CE Ibn Battutah reported Herat was "the largest inhabited city in Khorasan". [3]
Tabriz, rich trade city, c1400 CE: "The city walls measured twenty-five thousand paces (compared with nine thousand in Herat and ten thousand in Samarkand), encompassing a vast population in the region of 1.25 million, based on the two hundred thousand households recorded by Clavijo." However, these figures are considered an exaggeration. Marco Polo described a cosmopolitan city which contained Armenians, Nestorians, Jacobites, Georgians and Persians. According to Rashid ad-Din it was a city of high culture with "philosophers, astronomers, scholars, historians - of all religions, of all sects". Other peoples included Indians, Kashmiris, Chinese, Uighurs, Arabs, Franks, Turks and Tibetans. [4]

[1]: (Marozzi 2004, 210) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.

[2]: (Marozzi 2004, 109) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.

[3]: (Marozzi 2004, 109-110) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.

[4]: (Marozzi 2004, 140) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.


Polity Territory:
5,500,000 km2
1400 CE

in squared kilometers
Estimated using Google area calculator and a map. [1]

[1]: (http://geacron.com/home-en/?&sid=GeaCron141681)


Polity Population:
49,000,000 people
1400 CE

People.
1400 CE [1]
Iraq: 1.0m
Iran: 3.5m
Caucasia: 1.0m
Russian Turkestan: 3.4m
North Pakistan and Delhi region of India (Upper Indus and Upper Ganges): 40.0m. Estimate reasoning: 94.0m for whole of the Indian Subcontinent. If 60% population of India c500 BCE was in the Ganges Basin (67% under the Guptas) and "The next fifteen hundred years consolidated without significantly altering this pattern" [2] then about 56.0m should be within the Ganges Basin. Timur held only about 50% of the Ganges Basin so for this territory we could estimate 28.0m. Of the 38.0 remaining for the rest of the sub-continent it is likely the Indus Basin contains the majority. If 60% of remaining is in the Indus Basin then we could say 23.0m for the whole Indus Basin. Timur held the north of the Indus Basin so for this territory we could estimate 12.0m.

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

[2]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 182) McEverdy, Collins. Jones, Richard. 1978. Atlas of World Population History. Penguin Books Ltd.


Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
6
[1370, 1526]

levels.
1. Capital (Samarkand)
2. Large city (wealthy trade centre)3. Lesser city4. Town5. Village6. Hamlet
Spanish ambassador Clavijo spoke of villages and hamlets. [1]

[1]: (Marozzi 2004, 27) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.


Religious Level:
[1 to 3]
[1370, 1526]

levels.
Timur "Although he came from a conventional Sunni tradition, his Sufi credentials were bolstered through his patronage of the Naqshbandi order, centred in Bukhara, and his cultivation of the Sufi shaykhs of Mawarannahr and Khorasan, who enjoyed a prominent position in his court" [1]
However, "Temur could just as easily pose as protector of the Shi’a tradition. [1]
"The five daily prayers were a regular feature of life at Temur’s court. Wherever he campaigned, with him went the imams and the royal mosque, a sumptuously appointed pavilion made of the finest silk." [2]

[1]: (Marozzi 2004, 93) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.

[2]: (Marozzi 2004, 94) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.


Military Level:
[6 to 7]
[1370, 1526]

levels.
1. Sultan

2. Diwan-i tovachi"dealt with military affairs and was controlled by the Barlas tribe" [1]
2. Tarkhan"The most senior officers were granted the ultimate title of tarkhan, a position harking back to the days of Genghis Khan. This conferred on them a number of important privileges, among which the most valuable was the permanent exemption from taxes. Unlike any other soldier in Temur’s armies, the tarkhan was entitled to keep everything he plundered. Everyone else had to make over a share of the spoils to the emperor. The Tarkhan was also immune from criminal prosecution. Only after he had committed the same crime nine times was he answerable to justice. Perhaps the ultimate prize was his access to Temur at all times." [2]
2. Amir of a tumanTuman was 10,000 men. [3]
3. Binbashi of a binlik1000 troops. [3]
4. Yuzbashi of a yuzlikTen onliks in a yuzlik. [3]
5. Onbashi of an onlik"The smallest unit of men was ten soldiers, an onlik, led by an onbashi." [3]
6. Individual soldier

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

[2]: (Marozzi 2004, 100) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.

[3]: (Marozzi 2004, 99) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.


Administrative Level:
6
[1370, 1526]

levels.
1. Amir/Emperor/Sultan
Timur "ruled in the name of the Chagatai Khanate" as an amir. [1]
Did not take the title of "Khan" because he was not in the family of Genghis Khan: "he maintained the charade that he was a governor under the Chagatai khan, when in reality he was the supreme power." [2] 2. Ichki (or muqarrab)In the royal household this official "did not have defined duties but who was in constant attendance on the ruler and served him in an advisory capacity." [3]
_Central government_
Timurid government functionally distinguished between civilian and military branches of government. [3]
2. Vizier. [4] "Often inheriting their positions or having served in the administrations of previous rulers, the Persian secretaries (navisandagan-i Tajik) who staffed it and who held the title of vazir, exhibited remarkable professional continuity." [5]
3. Diwan-i a’la [3] "The requirements of ruling over a sedentary population in the agrarian oases of Central Asia and Iran, however, necessitated the adoption of the traditional Perso-Islamic administrative system of the diwan, which was concerned primarily with financial and bureaucratic matters, including chancery correspondence." [3]
4. Scribe in Department inferred
5.
6. Imperial doorkeepers armed with maces. [6]
_Regional government_
2. Governor or mayor called darugha. [7] "The authority of the darughas and the diwans, the princes and amirs, all dependent directly on the emperor." [8]
Timur’s descendants divided the territories into provinces, which included Samarkand and Bukhara. [9]
"Timur was notably lax at establishing effective and loyal governments in the conquered lands. ... conquered lands had their own governing bodies, and ... he was content to leave them be." [4]
"appanage system [created] a new class of rich and autonomous grandees who were largely beyond the control of the central government." [4]
3. Head of provincial diwans"the personnel of city councils might become part of Timurid provincial diwans" [10]
4.
4. personnel of city councils? - where do they go?

[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) Khan, A. 2003. A Historical Atlas of Uzbekistan. The Rosen Publishing Group.

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

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

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

[6]: (Marozzi 2004, 212) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.

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

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

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

[10]: (Manz 2007, 151) Manz, Beatrice Forbes. 2007. Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.


Professions
Professional Soldier:
Present
[1370, 1526]

Professional soldiers. [1]

[1]: (Marozzi 2004, 1-2) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.


Professional Priesthood:
Present
[1370, 1526]

"The office of s.adr seems to have originated with the Kartid dynasty, and involved supervision of ranks and offices within the religious classes; officially at least, Timurid s.adrs oversaw salaries, appointments, and ranks of all religious offices..." [1]

[1]: (Manz 2007, 213) Manz, Beatrice Forbes. 2007. Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.


Professional Military Officer:
Present
[1370, 1526]

Professional soldiers. [1]
However: "Timur’s bureaucrats therefore resorted to the old trick of handing out vast tracts of land to relatives and favorites on the sole condition that the recipients make regular payments to the treasury." [2]

[1]: (Marozzi 2004, 1-2) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London.

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


Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:
Present
[1370, 1526]

Mints. [1]

[1]: (Album 2001, xiv) Album, Stephen. 2001. Iran After the Mongol Invasion, Volume 10. Ashmolean Museum.


Merit Promotion:
Absent
[1370, 1526]

Under Timur: "Wherever possible, the highest offices were awarded to his sons and grandsons, princes of the royal family." [1]

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


Full Time Bureaucrat:
Present
[1370, 1526]

Bureaucrats. [1]

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