A HISTORY OF INNER ASIA

Timur and the Timurids 127
grandsons in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Khan’s, the resulting
structure lacked the initially genuine solidity, sophistication, and discipline
of the Mongol edifice.Each such act of bestowal, known in the
Timurid period by the Turkic term of soyurghal, transferred too much
administrative, fiscal, and hereditary independence to the grantee,
without integrating his appanage into an overall structure such as had
proved its worth under Genghis Khan’s sons Chaghatay, Ögedey, and
Toluy.The practice of soyurghal, although reminiscent of the iqta
system of central Islamic lands on the one hand and of European feudalism
on the other, retained its own physiognomy of excessive autonomy
and military independence that contributed to the recurring wars
among the numerous recipients, who coveted their relatives’ possessions
or tried to substitute their own rule for that of the ruling monarch.
Shahrukh expended much energy on efforts aimed at subduing rebellious
nephews in Iran.
One fortunate exception was his own son Ulugh Beg (1394–1449) in
Samarkand; this prince, while never disloyal, ruled as the virtual
monarch of Transoxania.That is the lesser reason for which he deserves
our attention, however.It is his career and achievements as a mathematician
and astronomer and as a patron of other scientists that make him
stand out not only among his Muslim contemporaries, but also among
his learned peers elsewhere, including those of Europe.
Ulugh Beg was born at Sultaniya, a town in northwestern Iran near
the road from Tehran to Tabriz.Sultaniya is noteworthy for the splendid
mausoleum built there for the Ilkhanid Öljeytü by 1313.This at first
sight surprising birthplace was characteristic of the prince’s childhood,
during which he usually participated in Timur’s far-flung military campaigns.The
great conqueror was also a doting grandfather, and he saw
to it that expert preceptors gave the child an excellent classical Islamic
education, with the standard solid grounding in Arabic and Persian.By
the time the boy was ten, Timur had given him as soyurghal the northeastern
portion of his empire, including the city of Tashkent and extending
into Moghulistan – the latter area later to be reclaimed by its
Chaghatayid rulers.The next year Timur died, however, and it was
Ulugh Beg’s luck that his own father, Shahrukh, emerged victorious from
the struggle for succession in 1409.The youth was still too inexperienced
to withstand envious relatives by himself, and it took Shahrukh’s intervention
in 1411 to install him definitively as the subordinate but soon for
all practical purposes independent ruler of Transoxania, with
Samarkand as its capital.