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Timurid Court Illuminated Manuscripts
Persian and Turkic illuminated manuscripts produced under the patronage of the Timurid court and successor khanates, centered on Herat, Samarkand, an…
Timeline
- c. 1405–1447Herat · AfghanistanAfter Timurid sultan Shah Rukh established his capital at Herat, he vigorously patronized the scriptorium, recruiting Persian calligraphers and painters to systematically copy epics such as the Shahnameh and religious texts, laying the foundation of the Timurid miniature court tradition.
- c. 1469–1506Herat · AfghanistanDuring Sultan Husayn Bayqara's reign the Herat scriptorium reached its zenith, with masters such as Behzad presiding over production; composition, color, and figure rendering matured, producing masterpieces such as the Bayestan-jo, regarded as the peak of Timurid miniature painting.
- c. 1500–1600Iranian Plateau and Indian Subcontinent · IndiaAfter the Timurid khanates fragmented, painters and scriptorium styles continued to evolve through Tabriz, Isfahan, and Indian courts; Herat's compositional principles became an important source for Safavid and Mughal court painting.
Sources
- Timurid Art and Culture: Iran and Central Asia in the Fifteenth Century — Golombek, Lisa; Wilber, Donald (1988)
- Persian Painting — Gray, Basil (1961)