Dawlatsháh
*
is equally flattering, and, with his usual
exaggeration, goes so far as to say that “from the time of
Adam until this our day no age, period, cycle or moment
can be indicated in which the people enjoyed such peace
The same
according to
Dawlatsháh
and tranquillity as they did in his [Sháh-rukh's]
days.” He adds that such were the virtues of
this Prince that he was credited with miraculous
gifts and knowledge of the Unseen. Of the two instances
of this which Dawlatsháh gives, one rests on the authority
of his father, who was one of his familiar attendants. Ultimately,
however, according to this writer, Sháh-rukh incurred
the Divine displeasure by putting to death three learned
and pious men of Iṣfahán whom he suspected of having
encouraged his grandson Sulṭán Muḥammad Báysunqur in
his revolt against him. These cursed him ere they died,
and “the doors of Heaven being open, the prayers of those
innocent and illustrious victims were answered; the seed of
that highly-placed king was cut off, and the sovereignty
returned to its original source.” Amongst the many artists,
poets and men of learning contemporary with Sháh-rukh
Dawlatsháh
*
mentions four in particular as conferring special
lustre on his court, namely 'Abdu'l-Qádir of Marágha the
musician (who is mentioned by Munajjim-báshí
*
as one of
the eminent victims of the plague which afflicted Herát in
838/1434-5), Yúsuf of Andakán the minstrel, Qiwámu'd-
The Turkish historian Munajjim-báshí * speaks not less favourably than the writers already cited of Sháh-rukh's The same according to Munajjim-báshí character. “He was,” says he, “a wise, just, prudent and benevolent king, prone to forgive and to do good, devout, temperate and pious, so that alike at home and on the march, nay, even in time of war and battle, he never neglected the morning, noon and evening prayers, while on ‘white days’ and on the first day of each month he used to fast, and on the eve of Fridays, Mondays and Thursdays he used to assemble those who knew the Qur'án by heart and cause them to recite the entire scripture in his presence. During the whole period of his life he never knowingly committed a major sin. He continually sought the society of learned and pious men, on whom he conferred the greatest benefits and favours. He never suffered defeat, but was always favoured by fortune and victorious. To whatever land he went, he first of all used to visit any shrine which might exist there.” His empire, in the words of the same writer, extended “from the confines of China to the frontiers of Rúm (Turkey in Asia), and from the remotest parts of Turkistán to the limits of India.”
Of Sháh-rukh's five sons
*
only one, Ulugh Beg, survived
to succeed him. Of the other four Báysunqur, who died of
Báysunqur Mírzá
drink (the curse of this family) in 837/1433 at
the age of 37, was, perhaps, the most talented,
*
and the greatest patron of art and learning, to whose court
flocked poets, artists, scholars, calligraphists, miniature-
<text in Arabic script omitted>
“In the morning that august prince Báysunqur said to me,
‘Tell tidings of me to the people of the world:
I am gone, and this is the date of my death—
May my father's life be long in the world!’”*
Sháh-rukh died near Ray on March 13, 1447, and, as stated above, was succeeded, though not peaceably, by his Ulugh Beg son Ulugh Beg, who had during his father's life-time been governor of Túrán or Turkistán. It was during this period, in 824/1421, that he built at Samarqand his celebrated observatory, where, with the collaboration of four eminent men of learning, Ṣaláḥu'd-Dín Músá, called Qáḍí-Záda-i-Rúmí (“the Turkish Judge's son”); Mullá 'Alá'u'd-Dín 'Alí Qúshjí, the commentator of the Tajríd; Ghiyáthu'd-Dín Jamshíd; and Mu'ínu'd-Dín of Káshán, he compiled the notable astronomical tables known as the Zíj-i-Ulugh Beg, or Zij-i-jadíd-i-Sulṭání, which were probably completed in 841/1437-8, and concerning which full particulars are given by Rieu.*
Ulugh Beg, as already indicated, did not at once succeed in establishing his supremacy, which was contested by Ulugh Beg is murdered by his son 'Abdu'l-Laṭíf 'Alá'u'd-Dawla, who seized Herát and cast 'Abdu'l-Laṭíf, the son of Ulugh Beg, into prison. Nor did his authority, when established, endure long, for he was killed at the instigation of his son, the above-mentioned 'Abdu'l-Laṭíf, on Ramaḍán 10,853 (October 27, 1449) by a certain 'Abbás, the year of this tragic event being given by the chronogram 'Abbás killed [him] (<text in Arabic script omitted>).
'Abdu'l-Laṭíf, not content with the murder of his father, also murdered his brother 'Abdu'l-'Azíz, but did not long 'Abdu'l-Laṭíf profit by his crime, for he in turn was murdered in the ensuing year, 854/1450, by a certain Bábá Ḥusayn, this date, curiously enough, being given by the chronogram Bábá Ḥusayn killed [him] (<text in Arabic script omitted>). Mírkhwánd, in recording this event, cites the well-known dictum of the poet Niẓámí as to the short-lived prosperity of royal parricides:
<text in Arabic script omitted>
“The parricide is unworthy of sovereignty:
[Even] if he attains it, he will not survive more than six months.”
“This 'Abdu'l-Laṭíf,” says the Turkish historian Munajjim Báshí, * “was a talented and accomplished man, but very impetuous, blood-thirsty and pitiless, so that men's hearts were turned aside from him. With his death the succession of Ulugh Beg came to an end in Transoxiana.”
From this period onwards until its extinction in Persia
the House of Tímúr rapidly declined in power, cohesion
'Abdu'lláh b.
Ibráhím Sulṭán b.
Sháh-rukh
and territorial possessions, and even the succession
of rulers is somewhat uncertain, or, to
be more precise, it is uncertain which should be
accounted supreme and which subordinate. Thus Stanley
Lane-Poole
*
regards 'Abdu'lláh, the son of Ibráhím Sulṭán,
the son of Sháh-rukh, as the successor of 'Abdu'l-Laṭíf;
while Mírkhwánd substitutes Mírzá Abu'l-Qásim Bábur
(not the great Bábur), the son of Báysunqur, the son of
Abu'l-Qásim
Bábur b.
Báysunqur
Sháh-rukh. He died in 861/1456-7, having lost
'Iráq, Fárs and Kirmán four years previously
to Jahánsháh, son of Qará Yúsuf of the “Black
Sheep” Turkmáns, and killed his brother Sulṭán Muḥam-
Mírzá 'Alá'u'd-Dawla, another son of Báysunqur, was
acting as governor of Herát at the time of his grandfather
'Alá'u'd-Dawla
b. Báysunqur
Sháh-rukh's death, but, after a certain show of
opposition, he made peace with Ulugh Beg and
Bábur, and contented himself with the government
of a district extending from Khabúshán in Khurásán
to Astarábád and Dámghán. In 852/1448-9 he was defeated
by Ulugh Beg near Herát and driven into Badakhshán and
the Plain of Qipcháq. After various vicissitudes, including
sundry wars with his brothers and a period of allegiance to
Jahán-sháh, the “Black Sheep” Turkmán and enemy of his
House, he finally died in 875/1470-1. His son Ibráhím,
having escaped from the custody of his uncle Abu'l-Qásim
Bábur, fled to Murgháb and there collected a considerable
Ibráhím b.
'Alá'u'd-Dawla
army. He occupied Herát and defeated his
cousin Mírzá Sháh Maḥmúd, whom he was
preparing to crush at Astarábád when be was
suddenly attacked by the redoubtable “Black Sheep” Turk-