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Uzbekistan
The Rule of Timur
Following the death of Chinggis Khan in 1227, his empire was
divided among his three sons. Despite the potential for serious
fragmentation, Mongol law maintained orderly succession for several
more generations, and control of most of Mawarannahr stayed in
the hands of direct descendants of Chaghatai, the second son of
Chinggis. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed
in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained
strong and united.
In the early fourteenth century, however, as the empire began
to break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory
also was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed
for influence. One tribal chieftain, Timur (Tamerlane), emerged
from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Mawarannahr.
Although he was not a descendant of Chinggis, Timur became the
de facto ruler of Mawarannahr and proceeded to conquer all of
western Central Asia, Iran, Asia Minor, and the southern steppe
region north of the Aral Sea. He also invaded Russia before dying
during an invasion of China in 1405.
Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering
in his capital, Samarqand, numerous artisans and scholars from
the lands he had conquered. By supporting such people, Timur imbued
his empire with a very rich culture. During Timur's reign and
the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious
and palatial construction projects were undertaken in Samarqand
and other population centers. Timur also patronized scientists
and artists; his grandson Ulugh Beg was one of the world's first
great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that Turkish,
in the form of the Chaghatai dialect, became a literary language
in its own right in Mawarannahr--although the Timurids also patronized
writing in Persian. Until then only Persian had been used in the
region. The greatest Chaghataid writer, Ali Shir Nava'i, was active
in the city of Herat, now in northwestern Afghanistan, in the
second half of the fifteenth century.
The Timurid state quickly broke into two halves after the death
of Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted
the attention of the Uzbek nomadic tribes living to the north
of the Aral Sea. In 1501 the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion
of Mawarannahr.
Data as of March 1996
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