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Ulugh Beg

Type Figure Region Samarkand Time 1394–1449 Also known as Ulugh Beg、Ulug Beg、Mirza Muhammad Taragai、乌鲁格·贝格

Ulugh Beg (1394–1449), eldest son of Shahrukh, was an astronomer, mathematician, and ruler of Samarkand who built a famous observatory and compiled t…

Timeline

  1. 1394–1409Herat · AfghanistanUlugh Beg was born in Sultaniyya and educated at Shahrukh's court, showing early interest in mathematics and astronomy. After Timur's death in 1405, he joined his father in the struggle against Sultan Khalil and helped consolidate the empire around 1409.
  2. 1409–1444Samarkand · UzbekistanAs governor of Samarkand, Ulugh Beg directed observations at the Ulugh Beg Observatory in the 1420s, inviting scholars such as Jamshid al-Kashi, and completed the star catalogue of the Zij-i Sultani. The catalogue determined stellar positions to within a few arcminutes and long remained a benchmark of astronomy in the Islamic world.
  3. 1447–1449Samarkand · UzbekistanAfter Shahrukh's death in 1447, Ulugh Beg succeeded as sultan of the empire but neglected state affairs in favor of scholarship. In 1449 he was overthrown in a coup by his son Abd al-Latif and killed in Samarkand, and the observatory was also destroyed.

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