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Samarkand (Timurid Empire)

Type Object Region Central Asia Time 1370–1500

Samarkand, an ancient Central Asian oasis capital, became the Timurid political and cultural center after Timur made it his capital in 1370, famed fo…

Timeline

  1. 1370Samarkand · Timurid EmpireAfter seizing Khorasan, Timur made Samarkand his capital, elevating this ancient Silk Road oasis city into the capital of an empire spanning Central and Western Asia, and began systematically planning palace districts and religious building complexes.
  2. 1380–1390Samarkand · Timurid EmpireTimur brought artisans captured from conquered lands to Samarkand, building the Bibi-Khanym Mosque and the Shah-i-Zinda mausoleum complex; Persian tilework and geometric decoration made the city an architectural model of the Timurid Renaissance.
  3. 1391–1400Samarkand · Timurid EmpireDuring Timur's 1391-1395 campaigns against Iraq and Mamluk Syria, his 1396 campaign against the Golden Horde, and his 1398 invasion of India, Samarkand served as the imperial administrative hub receiving war booty and captured artisans; after the sack of Damascus in 1400, imperial power reached its peak.
  4. 1405–1500Samarkand · Timurid EmpireTimur died of illness in 1405 while campaigning east against the Ming dynasty, and the empire fell into succession struggles among his sons; descendants such as Shah Rukh still used Samarkand as an important capital and continued building the Registan, until the Uzbek Shibani Khan captured it in 1500, effectively ending the Timurid dynasty.

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