The Timurid Empire (ca. 1370–1507) was founded by Timur (also known as Tamerlane), a Turco-Mongol warlord. He saw himself as the restorer of the great Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan. The empire Timur conquered comprised modern Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and parts of Central Asia, Pakistan, North India and Turkey. Timur’s forces defeated the Mamluks in Syria and the Ottomans at Ankara, then in 1405, while preparing to invade China, Timur died. The vast empire he founded proved difficult to hold. His son and successor, Shah Rukh (r. 1405–47), barely managed to maintain the empire’s borders, and Timurid power declined rapidly during the second half of the 15th century.

Timur and his descendants were patrons of the arts, luring Persian architects and manuscript painters to their capitals at Samarkand (modern Uzbekistan) and Herat (modern Afghanistan). The Timurid period also saw outstanding achievements in metalwork, carpet weaving, and jade carving. Major architectural commissions from Timur’s lifetime include the Mosque of Bibi Khanum (Samarkand, ca. 1399–1404), and Timur’s burial monument, the Gur-i Amir  (Samarkand, ca. 1404). Trademarks of the Timurid architectural style were monumental scale; rich, polychrome tilework; and bulbous, double-shelled domes. Web resources here and here.

Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand (Uzbekistan). Timurid. 1417–1420.