The method taken by Chingiz Khan of assuring the continuance of sovereignty in his house was inspired by statesmanlike prescience. It is well-nigh impossible for a single individual to maintain intact an empire inherited from a father who has won it by the sword. Its founder may, indeed, say with far greater truth than the scion of a long line of kings, “the State is Myself”; but his hour of triumph is embittered by the reflection that possessions amassed by ruthless greed are apt to melt away when the strong arm that secured them has mouldered into dust. Chingiz, by dividing his unwieldy dominions among his four sons, removed all cause of jealousy, such as would inevitably have arisen had one child been exalted above the rest, and established a community of interest among his descendants which for several generations sufficed to keep the greater portion of the known world in his family.

Timur’s disregard of the sound principles of statecraft in the disposal of his conquests brought upon his dynasty the curse of perennial rivalries, of mutual hatreds which led to the disruption of his empire and paved the way for the advent of alien rulers.

When the news of Timur’s death reached Samarkand, his grandson, Pir Mohammad, to whom he had bequeathed his crown, was absent in Kandahar. Khalil Sultan, another grandson, assured of the support of the army and the more powerful nobles, took possession of Samarkand and proclaimed himself king, A.H. 807 (1405).

Meanwhile the dead conqueror’s son, Shah Rukh,411 who ruled Herat, with the concurrence of the feudal chiefs of his province, laid claim to the succession, and was acknowledged as the rightful heir throughout Khorasan, Sistan, and Mazanderan. Leaving followers devoted to his interests in charge of these three important districts, he set out for Transoxiana, and on his way thither learnt that Khalil had been proclaimed king of Samarkand. On hearing this news he sent back one of his generals with orders to place Herat in a state of defence, while he himself continued his march towards the Oxus.

In the meantime his rivals came to terms; Sultan Khalil being left in possession of Transoxiana, while Pir Mohammad was acknowledged as his heir.412 Shah Rukh was conscious of his inability to contend against these combined forces, and he wisely resolved to secure a realm which they were not likely to dispute with him.

He hastened back to Herat and seized Khorasan, Mazanderan, and Sistan. In A.H. 817 (1414) he added Isfahan and Shiraz to these acquisitions, and ruled over the fairest province of Iran until his death, in A.H. 850 (1447).

Sultan Khalil possessed many admirable qualities, with no small share of the vices which are associated with every virtue. He was too lavish in gifts and in affection. Had it not been for the slavery in which he was held by his beloved mistress, Shad Mulk, the “Joy of the State,” he might have revived the lustre of his grandsire’s rule. But his submission to every whim of an extravagant woman soon depleted Timur’s brimming treasury, and estranged from his person even those who had been his most ardent supporters.

The general discontent came to a head in A.H. 809 (1406), when two nobles, named Khodaydad and Shaykh Nur-ed-Din, suddenly took up arms against their master, and advanced to attack Samarkand. They were repulsed by Khalil, and in the following year Shaykh Nur-ed-Din made peace with the Sultan. Meanwhile Khodaydad, allying himself with other malcontent nobles, returned to the attack. On arriving before Samarkand, the rebels decoyed Sultan Khalil from his defences under a pretence of parleying, seized his person and obtained possession of the city,413 A.H. 812 (1409).

On learning this piece of treachery, Shah Rukh at once despatched an army under his general, Shah Mulk, to punish Khodaydad. The latter abandoned Samarkand, which remained without a ruler until the arrival of Shad Mulk, to whom the gates were opened. Shah Rukh himself arrived shortly afterwards, and, after establishing order in the town, heaped the most galling indignities on Shad Mulk, who had been the cause of Khalil’s misfortunes.414 He then made his young son, Ulugh Beg, governor of Transoxiana, and returned to Herat.

The thirty-eight years during which the cultured prince ruled as his father’s lieutenant in Samarkand were the golden age of Central Asia. Himself an astronomer and mathematician of no mean renown,415 he gathered round him a galaxy of stars of science, which made Timur’s capital a beacon-light for the Eastern world. His liberality and deep artistic sense were not less conspicuous. They stood revealed in palaces, mosques, and colleges, which during their brief existence made Samarkand the most beautiful of Asiatic cities. The long peace that had brooded over Transoxiana under the reign of this enlightened prince was rudely dispelled by the death of his father, Shah Rukh, which took place in A.H. 850 (1448).416 Ulugh Beg, as heir-apparent, was proclaimed emperor, and set out for Herat to take possession of his father’s treasure. But his nephew, `Ala ud-DawlÉ, had seized the citadel and the person of Ulugh Beg’s son, `Abd ul-Latif. Paternal love induced the emperor to come to terms with the pretender on certain conditions, first and foremost amongst these being his son’s release. This was achieved, but the other stipulations were not carried out by `Ala ud-DawlÉ. The war was therefore renewed, and it ended in his discomfiture and flight towards Meshed. While pursuing his enemy through Khorasan, Ulugh Beg received disquieting news from home. Herat had been plundered by a Turkoman chief, and Samarkand by the uncouth Uzbegs, who destroyed in a few hours the marvels of art with which he had decorated it. But worse was still in store for the unhappy monarch. His darling, `Abd ul-Latif, for whom he had sacrificed so much, set up the standard of revolt at Balkh and invaded Transoxiana. Ulugh Beg was forced to oppose his claims, but was defeated and taken prisoner. To `Abd ul-Latif’s eternal disgrace, he caused his father to be put to death in prison by a Persian slave.417

The parricide did not prosper long. Abu Sa`id, a descendant of Timur’s third son, Miran Shah, seized the throne of Samarkand; and, though `Abd ul-Latif proved himself the stronger in the field, his triumph was cut short by his assassination by one of Ulugh Beg’s trusted servants, A.H. 854 (1450). Abu Sa`id claimed the succession, but was repulsed by one of Shah Rukh’s grandsons named `Abdullah Mirza, who took possession of the oft-contested throne of Samarkand. Gathering a strong force of Uzbegs, he returned to the charge and deprived `Abdullah, his cousin, of his crown and life, A.H. 856 (1452).418 The history of the following thirty years is a dreary record of struggles for supreme authority between Timur’s descendants. At length, in A.H. 870 (1465), Abu Sa`id had defeated every rival and found himself unquestioned master of Transoxiana, Northern Persia, and Afghanistan. Central Asia enjoyed, too, a brief respite from the stress of civil war under a prince of real military and administrative genius. Two years later, A.H. 872 (1467), his evil star tempted him to intervene in the affairs of Azerbayjan. He marched against a pretender named Hasan Beg with a powerful army, but was utterly defeated and handed over by his captor to the tender mercies of Prince Yadgar Mirza, son of Shah Rukh’s consort, Gawhar Shad, whom Abu Sa`id had put to death. The Mohammedan law is based on the Mosaic code, which prescribes blood for blood: and the once-powerful emperor was beheaded by the inexorable Yadgar.

His son, Sultan Ahmed, was permitted to mount the throne of Samarkand. He was known to be of moderate abilities and a yielding nature; and revolts against his authority were frequent. The southern provinces threw off their allegiance, and were never reconquered during Sultan Ahmed’s lifetime. His brother `Omar Shaykh successfully withstood him on the extreme east, and he had the greatest difficulty in bringing back Turkestan to obedience. His reign was, however, more peaceful than might have been anticipated in times so stormy. If Sultan Ahmed was given to alternate fits of drunkenness and devotion, he was at least devoid of the lust of conquest which proved so fatal to his predecessors. Transoxiana enjoyed comparative repose during his twenty-seven years’ reign, and its capital was adorned with public edifices which rivalled those of Ulugh Beg in beauty and grandeur. He slept with his fathers in A.H. 899 (1493); whereon his brother, Sultan Mohammad, seized the throne, and basely slaughtered his five youthful nephews. This infamous cruelty and his own debauched life roused the ire of his nobles, whom good Sultan Ahmed had raised to a comparatively high standard of civilisation. He died after a reign of six months (1494), probably by violent means. The succession was, as usual, disputed by his children, Mas`ud, Sultan `Ali, and Baysunkur, the latter of whom, a youth of eighteen, was elevated to supreme authority by a powerful faction; for by this time a new factor had been introduced into Central Asian politics. The Uzbeg chieftains and the ecclesiastics, who had been restrained by the strong arm of Timur and his descendants, gained the mastery under the feeble Sultan Ahmed. Baysunkur’s youth and inexperience rendered him unable to hold the balance true between the contending parties. His lukewarmness made him disliked by all; and his brother, Sultan `Ali, was invited from Karshi to supplant him. Baysunkur sought refuge in flight, but was soon afterwards restored, while his rival, Sultan `Ali, escaped to Bokhara. Here he organised resistance so effectually that Baysunkur was foiled in an attempt to capture Bokhara, and driven back to his capital. Sultan `Ali now turned the tables effectually on his brother. He advanced on Samarkand at the head of overwhelming forces, while Mas`ud pressed forward from the south to assist him; and the famous Baber Mirza, grandson of Abu Sa`id, raised the standard of revolt in Kokand.419

Baysunkur felt resistance to this powerful combination hopeless, and he fled420 to his brother Mas`ud for protection, dying in obscurity in A.H. 905 (1499). His dominions were, in name, divided between Sultan `Ali and Baber Mirza, but their extreme youth forbade them to assert authority over the powerful nobles who had usurped every species of power. They abandoned the contest; and a chieftain named Mohammad Khan Shaybani, a descendant of Juji, the son of Chingiz Khan, seized the throne of Samarkand. Thus fell the dynasty of Timur, after a duration of 140 years.421 Their age has cast undying lustre on the Turkish name, for their own culture attracted an array of scholars and men of science whose works recall the brightest days of Moorish dominion in Spain. Shah Rukh was a song-writer of no mean order; while Ulugh Beg won fame in the severer studies of the mathematician and astronomer. Baber Mirza, who afterwards sat on the throne of Delhi, was famous alike as statesman, philosopher, and writer; and, indeed, there was hardly one of Timur’s descendants but manifested a taste for letters. The annals of this house are rendered illustrious by the names of poets, philosophers, and theologians which are still household words throughout the East. During this period of Central Asian history, Bokhara, Samarkand, and Merv all gave birth to distinguished Mohammedan writers, as did many other less important towns of Transoxiana and Turkestan; but rarely did these authors employ in their compositions the principal vernacular of these countries, namely, Eastern Turkish. All theological and didactic works were written—as they still are—in Arabic: and thus it is that many of the masterpieces of Arabic literature owe their origin to Mohammedans of Central Asia. The alternative literary language was Persian, which probably came in vogue for poetical compositions about the time of the Tahirides.

In the days of the Timurides, however, the dialect of Turkish, known as Chaghatay, became honoured by a definite position in literature, chiefly in the department of poetry. The Chaghatay dialect is the oldest form of Turkish which has come down to us in the Arabic character, and it is still spoken throughout Transoxiana, Turkestan, and Kashghar. As with the Aryan family of languages so with the Turkish, the farther east we go the nearer we approach its source. In Yarkand and Kashghar this language is called Turki, while in Samarkand and Bokhara it is known by the name of Uzbegi. Although Uzbegi is the language most commonly heard in the bazaars of Samarkand and Bokhara, it does not hold the field alone, its rival being a corrupt form of Persian spoken by the Tajiks, and hence known as Tajiki. This dialect, while on the one hand preserving many old Persian words which in Persia itself have dropped out of the spoken tongue, has, on the other hand, with regard to its grammatical forms and its syntax, been greatly influenced by its Turkish neighbour.422 Under the Timuides there flourished a poet named Mir `Ali Shir, or Navay, who certainly did more than any other to enrich the Chaghatay literature, and who may justly be regarded the national poet par excellence of the Eastern Turks.