Revolt Of Abdal-Latif Mirza

{{Infobox military conflict , conflict=Revolt of Abdal-Latif Mirza , partof=

Timurid Civil Wars The Timurid wars of succession were a set of three war of succession, wars of succession in Central Asia waged between princes (''amirs'') of the Timurid Empire during the 15th century and early 16th century following deaths of important monarchs. ...

, image= Amudaryamap.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption= Amu Darya , date= 1449 , place=

Amu Darya The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...

, result=Tactical Stalemate
Later Strategic Victory for Abdal-Latif Mirza after withdrawal of

Ulugh Beg Mīrzā Muhammad Tarāghāy bin Shāhrukh (; ), better known as Ulugh Beg (; 22 March 1394 – 27 October 1449), was a Timurid sultan, as well as an astronomer and mathematician. Ulugh Beg was notable for his work in astronomy-related ma ...

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

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Timurids The Timurid Empire was a late medieval, culturally Persianate, Turco-Mongol empire that dominated Greater Iran in the early 15th century, comprising modern-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and parts of contem ...

Balkh Balkh is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan. It is located approximately to the northwest of the provincial capital city Mazar-i-Sharif and approximately to the south of the Amu Darya and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border. In 2021 ...

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, commander1= Abdal-Latif Mirza , commander2=

Abdallah Mirza{{POW , campaignbox={{Campaignbox Second Timurid Succession Crisis It is not clear what led Abdal-Latif Mirza to revolt against his father

in 1449 C.E. Many theories abound; one being that he was raised by Gawhar Shad in

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

and not by his father Ulugh Beg who was governor of

during the reign of

Shah Rukh Shah Rukh or Shahrukh Mirza (, ''Šāhrokh''; 20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynasty in 1370 ...

, therefore Abdal-Latif Mirza was not attached to his father. Ulugh Beg on the other hand preferred his second son Abdal-Aziz Mirza to be his heir, whom he had raised himself and groomed to take over. Another reason was that when the Baysonqor brothers invaded Khurasan, Ulugh Beg left his son Abdal-Latif Mirza, to deal with a difficult situation making it look as if it were his failures that led to the loss of Khurasan; this Abdal-Latif Mirza resented deeply. And finally, during a revolt in

in Spring of 1449 by a certain Miranshah, which was crushed by Abdal-Latif Mirza, was discovered a letter from Ulugh Beg to this Miranshah ordering him to instigate the revolt. This story is not corroborated by any other source than Mirkhond but is given as a last excuse for all out war with his father. The real reason of this revolt may never be fully understood but Abdal-Latif Mirza marched in haste towards Samarkand after abolishing the state taxes on trade through Balkh and taking over the river boats on

. Ulugh Beg learning of this revolt immediately prepared his forces for battle and left his son Abdal-Aziz Mirza in charge of Samarkand and took with him many Amirs especially from

Arghun Arghun Khan ( Mongolian Cyrillic: Аргун; Traditional Mongolian: ; c. 1258 – 10 March 1291) was the fourth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate division, from 1284 to 1291. He was the son of Abaqa Khan, and like his father, was a de ...

tribe along with Abdallah Mirza. For three months the two armies faced off on the Amu Darya with little progress but many skirmishes, almost always ending in favor of Abdal-Latif Mirza. In one such skirmish Abdallah Mirza was captured and imprisoned. Ulugh Beg was now facing troubles in his army and at home by the actions of his son Abdal-Aziz Mirza in Samarkand who was oppressing the families of Ulugh Beg's generals. The generals were angry and there was a mutiny on his hands when he wrote a strong worded letter to his son Abdal-Aziz Mirza to cease and desist or face dire consequences of his actions. The confrontation made little progress but finally a revolt in

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

and Samarkand turned Ulugh Beg's attention back to those cities. It's not clear how or why the revolt of Bukhara and Samarkand took place but what is known is that Abdal-Aziz Mirza was a bad administrator and had irritated the military establishment somehow. The Arghuns were the chief men of this group in Samarkand and the Bukhara clergy ( Naqshbandi Sufis) are known to be promoters of the revolt as well. Nonetheless, they placed

Abu Sa'id Mirza Abu Sa'id Mirza ( Chagatay/; 14248 February 1469) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire during the mid-fifteenth century. Born a minor prince of the Timurid dynasty, Abu Sa'id quickly established himself as the most prominent among his warring re ...

as their king in Samarkand and laid siege to the city. Abdal-Aziz Mirza locked himself up in the fort and sent for his father. Ulugh Beg could no longer remain on the Amu Darya and at great personal risk to himself, abandoned the field with his men and left for Samarkand. Abdal-Latif Mirza relieved by this advantageous moment, did not follow his father or attack his rear; instead he took a cautious approach. He first resupplied his forces and took Tirmiz and

Shahrisabz Shahrisabz, lit. "Green City" in Persian, is a district-level city in Qashqadaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has selected Shakhrisabz as its tourism capital for 2024. It is located approximately 80& ...

after crossing the Amu Darya. Ulugh Beg after dealing with the rebellion again marched against Abdal-Latif Mirza and the two armies met at Dimishq in September/October 1449. Conflicts in 1449 1449 in Asia 15th-century rebellions Timurid wars of succession History of Samarkand