Misplaced Pages

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 dynasty or Barlās clan of Turco-Mongol origin 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". This was an honorific title used by the dynasty as the Timurids were in-laws of the line of Genghis Khan, 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 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

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, 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 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.

List of rulers

Timurid Empire

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

Mughal Empire

Family tree

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 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:

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

v t e Mughal Empire
Emperors	Babur Humayun Akbar Jahangir Shahryar Shah Jahan Aurangzeb (Alamgir I) Muhammad Azam Shah Bahadur Shah I Jahandar Shah Farrukhsiyar Rafi ud-Darajat Shah Jahan II Muhammad Shah Ahmad Shah Bahadur Alamgir II Shah Jahan III Shah Alam II Shah Jahan IV Akbar II Bahadur Shah II
Administration	Dynasty family tree Economy Flag Foreign relations Government Military Mughal artillery Provinces Agra Ajmer Awadh Bengal Berar Bihar Gujarat Delhi Hyderabad Lahore Malwa Multan Sira
Conflicts	Mughal-Rajput wars Mughal conquest of Malwa Gujarat conquest Mughal–Safavid war (1622–1623) Mughal–Safavid war (1649–1653) Suppression of Tilpat rebellion Ahom–Mughal conflicts Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal war Mughal–Maratha wars Child's war Carnatic wars Bengal war Indian Rebellion of 1857 Mughal–Sikh wars Mughal–Portuguese conflicts Battles Agra Badli-ki-Serai Bhuchar Mori Buxar Chanderi Chausa Ghagra Haldighati Karnal Khajwa Khanwa Najafgarh Panipat (1526) Panipat (1556) Panipat (1761) Plassey Raj Mahal Samugarh Sirhind Thanesar (1567) Thanesar (1710) Tukaroi Bakla Bhulua Sieges Bijapur Chittorgarh Delhi Daman Daulatabad Golconda Hooghly Jinji Kandahar Purandhar Ranthambore Sambhal Adversaries Baro-Bhuyan Isa Khan Khwaja Usman Bayazid of Sylhet Musa Khan Pratapaditya Ibrahim Lodi Rana Sanga Sher Shah Suri Hemu Maharana Pratap Malik Ambar Gokula Shivaji Lachit Borphukan Khushal Khattak Josiah Child Guru Gobind Singh Henry Every Bajirao I Nader Shah Hector Munro
Architecture	Forts and palaces Agra Fort Lahore Fort Lalbagh Fort Red Fort Jahangir Mahal Sheesh Mahal Mosques Alamgir Mosque, Aurangabad Jama Masjid (Delhi) Chawk Mosque Badshahi Mosque Shah Jahan Mosque, Thatta Sunehri Masjid Wazir Khan Mosque Tombs and mausoleums Akbar's Tomb Bibi Ka Maqbara Gardens of Babur Humayun's Tomb Jahangir's Tomb Taj Mahal Tomb of Salim Chishti Tomb of Aurangzeb Tomb of Nur Jahan List of tombs of Mughal Empire Others Fatehpur Sikri Shalimar Gardens Achabal Gardens Shahi Bridge more
See also	Art Cuisine Culture Fashion Gardens Language Painting Persian Mughals Tribe Weapons Foreign relations
Successor states	Sur Empire (interrupted) Maratha Empire Rajput states Jats Sikh Empire Nawabs of Bengal Nawabs of Awadh Nizam of Hyderabad Carnatic Kingdom of Mysore Rohilkhand

• Timurid dynasty
• Mongol dynasties
• History of Central Asia
• History of South Asia