Gawhar Shad

Timeline

1. 1375–1409Samarkand · TransoxianaGawhar Shad came from the family of Ghiyath al-Din Tarkhan, named for the 'tarkhan' tax-exemption privilege granted their ancestor by Genghis Khan, and intermarried with the Timurid family on multiple occasions. After marrying Shahrukh she bore Ulugh Beg (1394), Baysonqor (1397), and others. After Timur's death in 1405, Shahrukh contested for the throne from Khwarazm and moved the capital to Herat around 1409, and she followed the court to the new capital.
2. 1410–1438Herat · KhwarazmUsing her own funds, she broke the convention that 'a Friday mosque should be built by a male ruler', commissioning Qavam al-Din Shirazi to build the Gawhar Shad Mosque beside the shrine of Imam Rida in Mashhad, completed according to an inscription of 821/1418, with a waqf established in 829/1426. The Musalla complex in the northern suburbs of Herat (mosque, madrasa, mausoleum) was built from 820/1417 to 841/1437–38 and later became the burial place of Shahrukh's line. Baysonqor inscribed the lintel of the Mashhad mosque.
3. 1438–1447Herat · KhwarazmAfter Baysonqor's death in 1433 she continued to speak out on marriage and funeral ceremonies, religious festivals, and emir appointments, and intervened in the affairs of Khwarazm. In Shahrukh's later years, when he was frequently ill, she and her kinsman the Tarkhan emir formed the decision-making core of Herat, her influence exceeding that of the nominally higher-ranking Chinggisid consorts. When Shahrukh died in 1447 on campaign westward, the court immediately split apart.
4. 1447–1457Herat · KhwarazmAfter Shahrukh's death she supported Baysonqor's son Ala al-Daula in holding Herat against the line of her eldest son Ulugh Beg. Subsequently the Black Sheep and the various mirzas repeatedly changed hands. In 1457, after Abu Sa'id Mirza consolidated control over Khwarazm, he had Gawhar Shad executed in Herat to eliminate the old queen's faction. Her tomb lies within the madrasa complex in Herat.