The Timurid States in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries

When Timur (also known as Tamerlane) died in 1405, the great Timurid Empire he had constructed began to disintegrate. Without his force of personality and uncontested leadership, the unity of the empire was impossible to maintain, and internecine strife broke out within a year. The dynasties that Timur had defeated were quick to take advantage of this situation, with revolts breaking out in western Persia, as well as Khwarazm, Khurasan, Tashkent, and in the steppe territories. The empire spilt into many states, with Khurasan and Transoxania being the largest to emerge. Trade and economy suffered too, as state-controlled irrigation systems fell into disrepair and trade routes became unsafe to use.

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