Medieval States of Persia and Afghanistan: Map & History

Scholars disagree on the specifics of establishment of the Karkotas, though it is held that their establishment followed the rule of the Hunas in the region of Kashmir.

From Wikipedia: Karkota dynasty · History: Establishment (CC BY-SA 4.0)

On a reading of Kuttanimata, the society seems to be unequal and dominated by merchant communities. Materialism was in vogue among the elites, and prostitution received state patronage. Sati as well as Devadasi system were prevalent. The dynasty (at least, the earlier rulers) had sought to restore Hinduism after a lengthy span of Buddhist influence in the valley; however a syncretic environment flourished.

From Wikipedia: Karkota dynasty · Society (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Nilamata Purana is believed to have been commissioned by Durlabhavardhana. The Vishnudharmottara Purana, was crafted around the same times. A famed patron of arts, Lalitaditya invited scholars from abroad to his court and promoted study of religions.

From Wikipedia: Karkota dynasty · Art and architecture: Literature (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After Cippatajayapida was murdered in around 840, having ruled for twelve years, the brothers gained considerable power but fought each other to retain complete control of the empire, whilst installing puppet kings belonging to the Karkota lineage.

From Wikipedia: Karkota dynasty · History: Disintegration (CC BY-SA 4.0)

According to the traditional account, Muhammad began receiving what Muslims consider to be divine revelations in 610 CE, calling for submission to the one God, preparation for the imminent Last Judgement, and charity for the poor and needy. As Muhammad's message began to attract followers, he was also met with increasing hostility and persecution from Meccan elites. In 622 CE Muhammad migrated to the city of Yathrib (now known as Medina), where he began to unify the tribes of Arabia under Islam, returning to Mecca to take control in 630 and order the destruction of all pagan idols. By the time Muhammad died c. 11 AH (632 CE), almost all the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam, but disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community.

From Wikipedia: Rashidun Caliphate · History: Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

According to historians Bosworth Marín and Ayalon, with the exception of Umar, who was nominated by Abu Bakr, the Rashidun caliphs were chosen by a small group of prominent members of the Quraysh tribe through shūrā (Arabic: شُـوْرَى, lit. 'consultation').

From Wikipedia: Rashidun Caliphate · Governance: Choosing the caliph (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Bayt al-Mal (lit., the house of money), i.e. the treasury, or the state exchequer, was established by the first caliph Abu Bakr. His successor Umar built the building housing it.

From Wikipedia: Rashidun Caliphate · Economy: Treasury and coinage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The first military move following the suppression of rebellions in Arabia was the invasion of the Sasanian Empire. In 633 Caliph Abu Bakr sent troops out to Sasanian-controlled Iraq, i.e. southern modern-day Iraq. Abu Bakr sent his general, Khalid ibn al-Walid, to conquer Mesopotamia after the Ridda wars. After entering Iraq with his army of 18,000, Khalid won decisive victories in four consecutive battles: the Battle of Chains, fought in April 633; the Battle of River, fought in the third week of April 633; the Battle of Walaja, fought in May 633 (where he successfully used a pincer movement), and the Battle of Ullais, fought in mid-May of 633. In the last week of May 633, the capital city of Iraq fell to the Muslims after initial resistance in the Battle of Hira.

From Wikipedia: Rashidun Caliphate · Military expansion: Conquest of the Sasanian Empire (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Some secular scholars have questioned the reverent view of the Rashidun caliphs in Sunni Islamic tradition. Fred Halliday noted that "of the four caliphs, the first, Abu Bakr, lived less than two years – too short a time to validate any political system – and the other three, Umar, Uthman and Ali, were all murdered".

From Wikipedia: Rashidun Caliphate · Significance and legacy: Questions about virtue and guidance (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The dynasty began with Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar (Ya'qub, son of Layth, the Coppersmith), a coppersmith of eastern Iranian origins, who moved to the city of Zaranj. He left work to become an Ayyar and eventually got the power to act as an independent ruler. From his capital Zaranj he moved east into al-Rukhkhadj (Arachosia), Zamindawar and ultimately Kabul, by 865 he had vanquished the Zunbils and forced the Hindu Shahis to relocate to Udabhanda. He then invaded Bamyan, Balkh, Badghis, and Ghor. In the name of Islam, he conquered these territories which were predominantly ruled by Buddhist tribal chiefs. He took vast amounts of plunder and slaves from this campaign.

From Wikipedia: Saffarid dynasty · History: Founding (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The religion of the Saffarids, particularly its founder Ya'qub, has been a topic of debate. The majority of the sources are hostile to the Saffarids giving many contradictory claims: Ibn Khallikan claims he was a Khariji, Nizam al-Mulk as an Isma'ili, Hamdallah Mustawfi as an extremist Shi'ite intent on destroying Islam, while the official Abbasid propaganda of al-Mu'tamid went unusually far, publicly condemning Ya'qub via a formal missive, even claiming he was a Christian, suggesting he threatened their legitmacy beyond that of a typical rebel. The Abbasids also seem to have created propaganda that he was a Persian nationalist. However, al-Ya'qubi, the only contemporary source and only source written before the 875 march on Baghdad and the subsequent Abbasid-Samanid propaganda which followed, declared the Saffarid as a righteous holy warrior fighting on command of the Caliph.

From Wikipedia: Saffarid dynasty · Religion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Saffarids patronized the Persian language in the form of court poetry and established Persianate culture. Under their rule, the eastern Islamic world witnessed the emergence of prominent Persian poets such as Fayrouz Mashriqi, Abu Salik al-Jirjani, and Muhammad ibn Wasif, who was a court poet.

From Wikipedia: Saffarid dynasty · Culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 901, Amr ibn al-Layth was defeated at the battle of Balkh by the Samanids, and they lost Khorasan to them. The Saffarids were reduced to the provinces of Fars, Kerman and Sistan. Under Tahir ibn Muhammad ibn Amr (901–908), the dynasty fought the Abbasids for the possession of Fars to maintain its control over the province. However, in 908, a civil war erupted between Tahir and the pretender al-Layth ibn Ali in Sistan. In the next years, the governor of Fars, Sebük-eri defected to the Abbasids. In 912, the Samanids finally expelled the Saffarids from Sistan. Sistan passed briefly to Abbasid control, but became independent again under the Saffarid Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad; but now the dynasty was a minor power isolated in Sistan.

From Wikipedia: Saffarid dynasty · History: Decline (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Samanid dynasty was descended from Saman Khuda, a dehqan of Iranian origin from the village of Saman in Balkh province, in present-day northern Afghanistan. The earliest appearance of the Samanid family appears to be in Khorasan rather than Transoxiana. In some sources, the Samanids claimed to be descended from the House of Mihran of Bahram Chobin. This claim is further supported by a geographical treatise from the second half of the 8th century, compiled by five Tuyuhun men and translated into the Tibetan language. In this chronicle, it is mentioned that the descendants of Bahram Chobin migrated to Balkh and settled there. According to Lev Gumilev, they were considered the ancestors of the Samanids.

From Wikipedia: Samanid Empire · History: Origins (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the 9th and 10th centuries, there was a large amount of growth in literature, mostly in poetry. It was during the Samanid period that Persian literature appeared in Transoxiana and was formally recognized. The advancement of an Islamic New Persian literature thus started in Transoxiana and Khorasan instead of Fars, the homeland of the Persians. The best known poets of the Samanid period were Rudaki (d. 941), Daqiqi (d. 977) and Ferdowsi (d. 1020).

From Wikipedia: Samanid Empire · Culture: Literature (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The power of the Samanids began to crumble in the latter half of the 10th century. In 962, one of the ghulams, Alp Tigin, commander of the army in Khorasan, seized Ghazna and established himself there. His successors, however, including Sabuktigin, continued to rule as Samanid "governors". With the weakened Samanids facing rising challenges from the Karakhanids for control of Transoxiana, Sabuktigin later took control of all the provinces south of the Oxus and established the Ghaznavid Empire.

From Wikipedia: Samanid Empire · History: Decline and fall (961–999) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

"Where have all the great Sasanians gone?From the Bahrāmids to the Samanids what has come upon?"

From Wikipedia: Samanid Empire · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The founder of the dynasty, 'Ali ibn Buya, was originally a soldier in the service of the Daylamite warlord Makan ibn Kaki, but later changed his allegiance to the Iranian ruler Mardavij, who had established the Ziyarid dynasty, and was himself related to the ruling dynasty of Gilan, a region bordering Daylam. 'Ali was later joined by his two younger brothers, Hasan ibn Buya and Ahmad ibn Buya. In 932, 'Ali was given Karaj as his fief, and thus was able to enlist other Daylamites into his army. However, 'Ali's initiative proved too much for Mardavij, who planned to have him killed, but 'Ali was informed of Mardavij's plan by the latter's own vizier. The brothers, with 400 of their Daylamite supporters, then fled to Fars, where they managed to take control of Arrajan.

From Wikipedia: Buyid dynasty · History: Rise (934–945) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Buyids established a confederation in Iraq and western Iran. This confederation formed three principalities: one in Fars, with Shiraz as its capital, the second one in Jibal, with Ray as its capital, and the last one in Iraq, with Baghdad as its capital. However, during their late period, more principalities formed in the Buyid confederation. Succession was hereditary, with rulers dividing their land among their sons.

From Wikipedia: Buyid dynasty · Government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Contrary to the Samanids, the Buyids did not adopt Dari (also known as New Persian) as their official language. Instead, Arabic served as the lingua franca of their realm, while Middle Persian was occasionally used as a secondary court language.

From Wikipedia: Buyid dynasty · Culture: Language (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The death of Adud al-Dawla is considered the start of the decline of the Buyid dynasty; his son Abu Kalijar Marzuban, who was in Baghdad when he died, at first kept his death secret to ensure his succession and avoid civil war. When he eventually made the death of his father public, he was given the title of "Samsam al-Dawla". However, Adud's other son, Shirdil Abu'l-Fawaris, challenged his authority, and the feared civil war occurred anyway. Meanwhile, a Kurdish Marwanid chieftain named Badh ibn Dustak seized Diyabakr and forced Samsam al-Dawla to recognize him as the vassal ruler of the region. Furthermore, Mu'ayyad al-Dawla, son of and successor to Rukn al-Dawla, also died during this period. Mu'ayyad al-Dawla was succeeded by his brother Fakhr al-Dawla, who, with the aid of Mu'ayyad al-Dawla's vizier Sahib ibn 'Abbad, became the ruler of Mu'ayyad al-Dawla's possessions.

From Wikipedia: Buyid dynasty · History: Decline and fall (983–1062) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The dynasty was descended from Vardanshah, leader of the Shahanshahvand tribe, which traced its descent back to the legendary king Arghush Farhadan, who was the ruler of Gilan, and lived during the time of Kai Khosrow. Vardanshah had a son named Ziyar, who married a sister of the Gilaki king Harusindan, who bore him a son named Mardavij. Mardavij later served another Gilaki military leader named Asfar ibn Shiruya, but later betrayed the latter and conquered Tabaristan, which led to the foundation of the Ziyarid dynasty, which he named after his father.

From Wikipedia: Ziyarid dynasty · Origins (CC BY-SA 4.0)

One of the most famous architectural works of the Ziyarid dynasty is the Gonbad Kavous (meaning the "Dome of Qabus"). The tomb is one of the earliest architectural monuments with a dated inscription surviving in post-Islamic Iran. The tomb, built of fired brick, is an enormous cylinder capped by a conical roof. The circular plan, broken by 10 flanges, is 17 m in diameter, and the walls are 3 m thick. The height from base to tip is 49 m. Legend has it, that the body of Qabus was enclosed in a glass coffin which was suspended by chains from the interior dome inside the tower.

From Wikipedia: Ziyarid dynasty · Art and architecture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Due to his tyrannical rule, Qabus was overthrown by his own army in 1012, and was succeeded by his son Manuchihr, who quickly recognized the sovereignty of Mahmud of Ghazni, and married one of his daughters. Manuchihr died in 1031, and was succeeded by his son Anushirvan Sharaf al-Ma'ali whom Mahmud of Ghazni had chosen as the heir of the Ziyarid dynasty. From 1032 to 1040, the real power behind the throne was held by Abu Kalijar ibn Vayhan, a relative of Anushirvan. In 1035, Abu Kalijar stopped paying tribute to the Ghaznavids, which led to the Ghaznavids invading Tabaristan and sacked the Ziyarid capital of Amol. Abu Kalijar, after having learned the consequences of not paying tribute to the Ghaznavids, agreed to continue paying tribute. This gave Anushirvan the opportunity to imprison Abu Kalijar and gain a firm grip over his kingdom.

From Wikipedia: Ziyarid dynasty · History: Later rulers and decline 1000s–1090 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Two military families arose from the Turkic slave-guards of the Samanid Empire, the Simjurids and Ghaznavids, who ultimately proved disastrous to the Samanids. The Simjurids received an appanage in the Kohistan region of eastern Khorasan. The Samanid generals Alp Tigin and Abu al-Hasan Simjuri competed for the governorship of Khorasan and control of the Samanid Empire by placing on the throne emirs they could dominate after the death of Abd al-Malik I in 961. His death created a succession crisis between his brothers.

From Wikipedia: Ghaznavid Empire · Rise to power (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The core of the Ghaznavid army was primarily made up of Turks, as well as thousands of native Afghans who were trained and assembled from the area south of the Hindu Kush in what is now Afghanistan. During the rule of Sultan Mahmud, a new, larger military training center was established in Bost (now Lashkar Gah). This area was known for blacksmiths where war weapons were made. After capturing and conquering the Punjab region, the Ghaznavids began to employ Hindus in their army.

From Wikipedia: Ghaznavid Empire · Military and tactics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Although the dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was thoroughly Persianised in terms of language, culture, literature and habits and has been regarded as a "Persian dynasty". The official religion of Ghaznavids was Sunni Islam and Hanafi law of school (fiqh).

From Wikipedia: Ghaznavid Empire · State and culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Mahmud left the empire to his son Mohammed, who was mild, affectionate and soft. His brother, Mas'ud, asked for three provinces that he had won by his sword, but his brother did not consent. Mas'ud had to fight his brother, and he became king, blinding and imprisoning Mohammed as punishment. Mas'ud was unable to preserve the empire and following a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, he lost all the Ghaznavid lands in Persia and Central Asia to the Seljuks, plunging the realm into a "time of troubles". His last act was to collect all his treasures from his forts in hope of assembling an army and ruling from India, but his own forces plundered the wealth and he proclaimed his blind brother as king again.

From Wikipedia: Ghaznavid Empire · Decline: Twin sons of Mahmud (CC BY-SA 4.0)

At its height, the Ghaznavid empire grew from the Oxus to the Indus Valley and was ruled from 977 to 1186. The history of the empire, Tarikh Yamini, was written by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Utbi, who documented the Ghaznavid's achievements, including regaining lost territory from their rivals, the Kara-Khanids, in present-day Iran and Afghanistan.

From Wikipedia: Ghaznavid Empire · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Seljuk power was indeed at its zenith under Malikshāh I, and both the Qarakhanids and Ghaznavids had to acknowledge the overlordship of the Seljuks. Seljuk dominion was established over the ancient Sasanian domains, in Iran and Iraq, and included Anatolia, Syria, as well as parts of Central Asia and modern Afghanistan. Their rule was modelled after the tribal organization common among Turkic and Mongol nomadic cultures, resembling a "family federation" or "appanage state". Under this organization, the leading member of the paramount family assigned to family members portions of his domains as autonomous appanages.

From Wikipedia: Seljuk Empire · Governance (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 1153, the Oghuz Turks rebelled and captured Sanjar. He managed to escape after three years but died a year later. The Atabegs, such as the Zengids and Artuqids, were only nominally under the Seljuk Sultan, and generally controlled Syria independently. When Sanjar died in 1157, the empire fractured even further and rendered the Atabegs effectively independent.

From Wikipedia: Seljuk Empire · History: Conquest by Khwarezm and the Ayyubids (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Both secular and non-secular manuscripts were produced during the Seljuk period. These pieces are now limited in availability, considering their ultimate susceptibility to damage over time. But those manuscripts that have survived over the centuries provide insight into the Seljuks' involvement in the arts of the book. Calligraphers and illuminators were responsible for the creation of these manuscripts, though sometimes calligraphers mastered the art of both writing and illustration. By the end of the 10th century, both illuminators and calligraphers were beginning to employ various colors, styles, and writing techniques in the realm of the book arts.

From Wikipedia: Seljuk Empire · Arts: Art of the book (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Ahmad Sanjar fought to contain the revolts by the Kara-Khanids in Transoxiana, Ghurids in Afghanistan and Qarluks in modern Kyrgyzstan, as well as the nomadic invasion of the Qara-Khitais in the east. The advancing Qara-Khitais first defeated the Eastern Kara-Khanids, then followed up by crushing the Western Kara-Khanids, who were vassals of the Seljuks at Khujand. The Kara-Khanids turned to their Seljuk overlords for assistance, to which Sanjar responded by personally leading an army against the Qara-Khitai. However, Sanjar's army was decisively defeated by the host of Yelu Dashi at the Battle of Qatwan on 9 September 1141. While Sanjar managed to escape with his life, many of his close kin, including his wife, were taken captive in the battle's aftermath.

From Wikipedia: Seljuk Empire · History: Decline of the Seljuk Empire (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The dynasty brought revival, energy, and reunion to the Islamic civilization hitherto dominated by Arabs and Persians. The Seljuks founded universities and were also patrons of art and literature. Their reign is characterized by Persian astronomers such as Omar Khayyam, and the Persian philosopher al-Ghazali. Under the Seljuks, New Persian became the language for historical recording, while the center of Arabic language culture shifted from Baghdad to Cairo.

From Wikipedia: Seljuk Empire · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The title of Khwarazmshah was introduced in 305 by the founder of the Afrighids and existed until 995. After a short interval, the title was reinstated. During the uprising in Khwarazm in 1017, rebels killed Khwarazmshah Ma'mun II and his wife Khurra-ji, the sister of Ghaznavid sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. In response, Mahmud invaded the region to quell the rebellion. He later installed a new ruler and annexed Khwarazm. As a result, it became a province of the Ghaznavid Empire and remained so until 1035.

From Wikipedia: Khwarazmian Empire · History: Early history (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The population of the Khwarazmian Empire consisted mainly of sedentary Iranian and half-nomadic Turkic peoples. The urban population of the empire was concentrated in a relatively small number of (by medieval standards) very large cities as opposed to a huge number of smaller towns. The population of the empire is estimated at 5 million people on the eve of the Mongol invasion in 1220, making it sparse for the large area it covered. Historical demographers Tertius Chandler and Gerald Fox give the following estimations for the populations of the empire's major cities at the beginning of the 13th century, which adds up to at least 520,000 and at most 850,000 people.

From Wikipedia: Khwarazmian Empire · Population (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire, many Khwarazmians survived by employing themselves as mercenaries in northern Iraq. Sultan Jalal ad-Din's followers remained loyal to him even after his death in 1231, and raided the Seljuq lands of Jazira and Syria for the next several years, calling themselves the Khwarazmiyya. Ayyubid Sultan as-Salih Ayyub, in Egypt, later hired them against his uncle as-Salih Ismail. The Khwarazmiyya, heading south from Iraq towards Egypt, invaded Crusader-held Jerusalem along the way, on 11 July 1244 (Siege of Jerusalem (1244)). The city's citadel, the Tower of David, surrendered on 23 August, and the Christian population of the city was expelled. This triggered a call from Europe for the Seventh Crusade, but the Crusaders would never again be successful in retaking Jerusalem.

From Wikipedia: Khwarazmian Empire · Military: Mercenaries (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the Khwarazmshah era, Central Asian society was fragmented, unified under one banner only recently. The Khwarazmian military mostly consisted of Turks, while the civilian and administrative element was almost exclusively Persian. The spoken language of the Turkic population of Khwarazm was Kipchak Turkic and Oghuz, the latter being the legacy of the previous masters of the area, Seljuq Turkomans.

From Wikipedia: Khwarazmian Empire · Culture: Language (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Meanwhile, the Mongol Empire was expanding closer and closer to Khwarazm. In February 1218, the Mongols defeated and killed Kuchlug Khan, bringing the strategically located cities of Kashgar and Khotan under the control of Genghis Khan, and bringing the Mongols right up to the border of Muhammad's realm. Genghis sent emissaries to Khwarazm to emphasize his hope for a trade road, but having heard exaggerated reports of the Mongols, Muhammad believed this gesture was only a ploy to invade Khwarazm, and rebuffed them.

From Wikipedia: Khwarazmian Empire · History: Fall (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Arpa Ke'un's position proved to be weak; when a granddaughter of Chupan, Delsad Katun, fled to Diyarbakr, it caused the governor of that region to attack and defeat the Ilkhan. During the strife that occurred in the next few years, individual members of the Chobanids sided with various factions, such as Arpa or Hasan Buzurg. The latter ended up marrying Delsad Katun, who provided for the heirs to the Jalayirid position.

From Wikipedia: Chobanids · Role during the fall of the Ilkhanate, and Hasan-i Kuchak (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Various architectural creations are known from the Injuid period. A remarkable mihrab in mo'araq cut-tile mosaic dated to 755 AH (1354–55 CE), at the time the city was still under the control of the Injuids of Abu Ishaq, and just before the city fell to the Muzaffarids in 1356–57, was recovered from a madrasa in Isfahan, the Imami Madrasa. The mihrab is considered as a masterpiece of mo'araq technique, a type of decorative technique started during the Ilkhanid period in the early 14th century in the cities of Sham, Tabriz and Sultaniyya. From an architectural and stylistic standpoint, the Imami Madrasa itself is considered as belonging to the "Ilkhanid era".

From Wikipedia: Injuids · Architecture and decorative arts (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Jamal al-Din Abu Ishaq's goal was to conquer Kerman; he therefore undertook expeditions against the Muzaffarids, who were led by Mubariz al-Din Muhammad. The rivalry between the two heated up during a campaign against the Muzaffarid city of Yazd during 1350 and 1351. In retaliation, Mubariz al-Din invaded Fars in 1352. After defeating the Injuids in battle, he laid siege to Shiraz in 1353. Abu Ishaq, who grew increasingly paranoid, ordered the extermination of two-quarters of the city in order to root out traitors. The chief of another quarter, fearing for his people, gave the key for his gate to Mubariz al-Din's son Shah Shuja.

From Wikipedia: Injuids · Fall of the Injuids under Abu Ishaq (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Muzaffarids were a dynasty whose ancestors were of Arab origin, The dynasty has been described by modern scholars as both Iranian and Persian. Although the Muzaffarids claimed Arab ancestry, modern scholarship notes that the family had lived in Persia since the early Muslim conquest and had become thoroughly Persianized by the time they established their dynasty in the fourteenth century. Their ancestors arrived from Arabia and stayed in Khorasan up until the Mongol invasion of that province, at which point they fled to Yazd. The dynasty was nevertheless closely connected with the Mongols: the mother of Mubariz al-Din Muhammad, the founder of the dynasty, was almost certainly Mongol. His queen was the Khitan princess Qutlughkhan Makdumshah, daughter of Qutb al-Din Shah Jahan, ruler of the Qutlugh-Khanids.

From Wikipedia: Muzaffarids (Iran) · Rise to power (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During Muzaffarid rule, Shiraz emerged as one of the foremost cultural and intellectual centres of fourteenth-century Iran. The dynasty’s most prominent ruler, Shah Shuja (r. 1358–1384), gained a reputation for literary refinement and courtly patronage. His court attracted poets, scholars, and artists, who found in Shiraz a relatively stable environment compared to other parts of Iran that were more directly affected by conflict.

From Wikipedia: Muzaffarids (Iran) · Culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

When Zain Al-Abidin succeeded his father, he quickly ignored the declaration of loyalty. Timur therefore marched into the Muzaffarid lands. He came to Isfahan, where the governor gave him control of the city, but a rebellion in the city killed any goodwill Timur had, resulting in a slaughter of the populace, in the Sacking of Isfahan (1387). Zain Al-Abidin fled from Shiraz in an attempt to make it to the Jalayirids in Baghdad, who were enemies of Timur. However, he encountered Shah Yahya's brother Shah Mansur, who imprisoned him. Shiraz soon fell to Timur. Shah Mansur and 'Imad ad-Din Ahmad, along with other Muzaffarid princes, went to Shiraz to declare their loyalty, whereupon Timur restored them to their positions. The conqueror soon after returned to Transoxiana; Shiraz was given to Shah Yahya.

From Wikipedia: Muzaffarids (Iran) · Muzaffarid decline (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Sarbadar state came into existence around early 1337. At that time, much of Khurasan was under the control of the Ilkhanid claimant Togha Temur and his amirs. One of his subjects, 'Ala' al-Din Muhammad, had jurisdiction over the city of Sabzavar. His oppressive taxation of the area caused an 'Abd al-Razzaq, a member of the feudal ruling class, to murder a government official in Bashtin, a district of the city. The official was a nephew of 'Ala' al-Din, and 'Abd al-Razzaq raised the standard of revolt. The rebels at first settled in the mountains, where they defeated militias sent against them and raided caravans and herds of cattle, and then in the summer of 1337 took possession of Sabzavar. Togha Temur was most likely campaigning in the west at this time, against the Jalayirids, making him unable to deal with the revolt.

From Wikipedia: Sarbadars · History: Foundation (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Sarbadars are unique among the major contenders in post-Ilkhanid Persia in that none of their leaders ruled as legitimate sovereigns. None of them had a legitimate claim to the Ilkhanid throne, or were related to a Mongol or any other royal house, and none of them had previously held a high post within the Ilkhanate. While they on occasion recognized claimants to the Ilkhanid throne as their overlord, they did so purely as a matter of convenience, and in all other aspects they had no ties to the Ilkhanate. This fact had a strong influence regarding the nature of the Sarbadar political state.

From Wikipedia: Sarbadars · Government (CC BY-SA 4.0)

'Ali-yi Mu'ayyad enjoyed, by far, the longest reign out of all the Sarbadar rulers. The partnership with Darvish 'Aziz lasted for ten months; while 'Ali-yi Mu'ayyad, who was Shi'i, helped raised Shi'ism to the state religion, he opposed several of Darvish 'Aziz's theocratic ideas. Tensions were high when a campaign was begun against the Kartids of Herat. Even before they had met any resistance, the Sarbadar army erupted in violence. While on the march, 'Ali's men picked a quarrel with the dervishes; Darvish 'Aziz and many of his followers were killed trying to escape. 'Ali returned and attempted to destroy the power of the dervishes completely. He moved against their organization and forced them out of Sabzavar, and even destroyed the graves of Shaikh Khalifa and Hasan Juri.

From Wikipedia: Sarbadars · History: Decline and submission to Timur (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Historically, the Sarbadars have been considered a robber-state; they have been accused of being a group of religious fanatics who terrorized their neighbors, with little regard for legitimate rule. Considering the conduct of nearly all of the Persian states during this time period, this assessment seems needlessly harsh. Other historians have considered the Sarbadars to be an example of class struggle; the downtrodden rising up against oppressive taxation by their masters, and establishing a republic in the middle of several feudal states. This, however, is not entirely accurate either. 'Abd al-Razzaq was a member of the ruling class, which was taxed the heaviest at the time. It could however be said that it was definitely a struggle of a people with a certain belief system against an oppressive ruler desiring to establish what could be easily be labelled a republic.

From Wikipedia: Sarbadars · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Timur began a campaign westwards in 1380, invading the various successor states of the Ilkhanate. By 1389, he had removed the Kartids from Herat and advanced into mainland Persia where he enjoyed many successes. This included the capture of Isfahan in 1387, the removal of the Muzaffarids from Shiraz after the Battle of Shiraz (1393), and the expulsion of the Jalayirids from Baghdad. Tokhtamysh, the khan of the Golden Horde, was a major rival to Timur in the region. In 1394–1395, he triumphed over the Golden Horde, following his successful campaign in Georgia, after which he enforced his sovereignty in the Caucasus.

From Wikipedia: Timurid Empire · History: Rise (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Queens and ladies of the court appear to have had a rather prominent role in Timurid society. Several depictions of them are known in Timurid miniatures. Timur's Queen Saray Mulk Khanum, by birth a princess of Moghulistan, daughter of Qazan Khan ibn Yasaur and a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, appears to have had a prominent role. She was Timur's confidante and one of his closest advisers, and she apparently wielded great influence over her husband and in the Empire. Saray Mulk Khanum also sometimes acted as regent during Timur's absences from Samarkand as a result of his western campaigns and wielded great authority at Court. As Timur's chief consort, Saray additionally held the title of "Great Empress" similar to the title held by Genghis Khan's chief wife, Börte.

From Wikipedia: Timurid Empire · Society (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In the Chagatay translation of Ali Yazdi's Zafarnama, Timur's army is called a "Chagatay army" (Čaġatāy čerigi). Potentially a reference to the Chagatai Khanate.

From Wikipedia: Timurid Empire · Military (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Persian literature, especially Persian poetry, occupied a central place in the process of assimilation of the Timurid elite to the Perso-Islamic courtly culture. The Timurid sultans, especially Shah Rukh and his son Ulugh Beg, patronized Persian culture. Among the most important literary works of the Timurid era is the Persian biography of Timur, known as Zafarnāmeh (Persian: ظفرنامه), written by Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi, which itself is based on an older Zafarnāmeh by Nizam al-Din Shami, the official biographer of Timur during his lifetime. The most famous poet of the Timurid era was Nūr ud-Dīn Jāmī, the last great medieval Sufi mystic of Persia and one of the greatest figures in Persian poetry.

From Wikipedia: Timurid Empire · Culture: Persian (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Timur appointed his sons and grandsons to the main governorships of the different parts of his empire, and outsiders to some others. After his death in 1405, the dynasty quickly fell into disputes and civil wars, effectively weakening themselves, and many of the governors became conclusively independent. Due to the fact that the Persian cities were desolated by wars, the seats of Persian culture were now in Samarkand and Herat, cities that became the centre of the Timurid renaissance. The costs of Timur's conquests included the deaths of possibly 17 million people.

From Wikipedia: Timurid Empire · History: Stagnation and decline (CC BY-SA 4.0)

According to chronicles from the Byzantine Empire, the Aq Qoyunlu are first attested in the district of Bayburt south of the Pontic Mountains from at least the 1340s.

From Wikipedia: Aq Qoyunlu · History: Origins (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The leaders of Aq Qoyunlu were from the Begundur or Bayandur clan of the Oghuz Turks and were considered descendants of the semi-mythical founding father of the Oghuz, Oghuz Khagan. The Bayandurs behaved like statesmen rather than warlords and gained the support of the merchant and feudal classes of Transcaucasia (present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia). The Aq Qoyunlu, along with the Qara Qoyunlu, were the last Iranian regimes that used their Chinggisid background to establish their legitimacy. Under Ya'qub Beg, the Chinggisid yasa (traditional nomadic laws of the medieval Turco-Mongols of the Eurasian steppe lands) was dissolved.

From Wikipedia: Aq Qoyunlu · Governance (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The military of the Aq Qoyunlu initially reflected their rather loose political structure. Decisions were taken by a council (kengač) of amirs and tribal chiefs (boy ḵānları), whose decision the sultan had to follow. A small army largely composed of tribal levies was in charge of securing pastoral lands, and essentially supported themselves through their own lands and booty. The sultan also possessed a force of personal guards (ḵawāṣṣ) provided by various nomadic groups.

From Wikipedia: Aq Qoyunlu · Military: Evolution (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Aq Qoyunlu commissioned numerous manuscripts with lavish miniatures, such as the Khamsa of Nizami (Tabriz, 1481) of Yaqub Beg, the Ya'qub Beg Album or the more popular Khavaran-nama. Yaqub Beg employed two main master miniaturists, Shaykhi and Darvish Muhammad, for the illustrations of his manuscripts. The Khamsa of Nizami (Tabriz, 1481) is considered as "the supreme and ultimate fruit of his artistic patronage". The pictorial style has been qualified as having "ecstatic intensity". One of the most famous miniatures added by Yaqub Beg is the Bahram Gur in the Green Pavilion, painted by the Herat artist Shaykhi. Compared to the balanced Timurid Herat style of Bihzad for example, this miniature style uses a much more intense color palette, with acid greens and vivid blues, and abundant vegetation that seems to engulf the protagonists.

From Wikipedia: Aq Qoyunlu · Culture: Miniatures (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Despite their rivalry, the Safavids formed in a certain sense the posterity of the Aq Qoyunlu, as shown by the extent of their marital connections: Junaid, hereditary leader of the Safavid order and grandfather of the future founder of the Safavid Empire Shah Ismail, married an Aq Qoyunlu princess (Uzun Hassan's sister, Khadija Khatun). Their son Haydar Safavi also married a daughter of Uzun Hasan, Alamshah Halime Begum, a union out of which was born Shah Ismail. Shah Ismail's main wife was Tajlu Khanum, an Aq Qoyunlu princess of the Mawsillu tribe, giving birth to his successor Tahmasp I. Tahmasp I' main wife was Sultanum Begum, also an Aq Qoyunlu princess of the Mawsillu tribe, giving birth to Ismail II and Mohammad Khodabanda. Finally, the Safavids too were heirs to "a tribally constituted military elite" and encountered similar difficulties in forming a stable government.

From Wikipedia: Aq Qoyunlu · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)