Saray Mulk Khanum ( Chagatai: سرای ملک خانم; 1341 – 1408) was the

empress consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but historically she does not formally ...

of the

Timurid Empire 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 co ...

as the chief consort of

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

, also known as Tamerlane the Great, the founder of the Timurid Empire as well as the Timurid dynasty. By birth, she was a princess of

Moghulistan Moghulistan, also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, was a Muslims, Muslim, Mongol, and later Turkic peoples, Turkic breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Tian Shan, Teng ...

as a daughter of Qazan Khan ibn Yasaur and was also a direct descendant of

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

Family and lineage

Saray Mulk Khanum was born a princess of Moghulistan in 1341 to Qazan Khan ibn Yasaur, the last Khan of the

Chagatai Khanate The Chagatai Khanate, also known as the Chagatai Ulus, was a Mongol and later Turkification, Turkicized khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan, second son of Genghis Khan, and his descendants and successors. At its height in the l ...

. Saray's grandfather was Khan Yasa'ur, her father's predecessor and a great-great-grandson of

Chagatai Khan Chagatai Khan (; – 1242) was a son of Genghis Khan and a prominent figure in the early Mongol Empire. The second son of Genghis's wife Börte, Chagatai was renowned for his masterful knowledge of Mongol custom and law, which he scrupulously ...

. She was therefore, a direct descendant of

, the Great Khan (Emperor) and founder of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

. Saray was thus, a member of the House of Borjigin, the most renowned family clan in

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

. Being the daughter of a Khan, Saray held the title of Khanum ("daughter of a Khan or princess") by birth.

Marriage to Timur

Before her marriage to Timur, Saray had been previously married to her husband's predecessor, Amir Husayn of Balkh. When in 1370, Timur defeated and thereafter executed Husayn after the Siege of Balkh, he seized the

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

of his predecessor and took to himself the latter's wives, one of whom being Saray Mulk Khanum. Saray was five years younger than Timur and was said to be very beautiful, sometimes described as possessing "surpassing" beauty. As the daughter of a Khan and a descendant of Genghis Khan, Saray enjoyed the status of Timur's senior wife, although in her first husband's harem the chief wife was a daughter of Khan Tarmashirin, who after Husayn's fall was married to the Jalayir Khan Bahram. Through his marriage to Saray, Timur acquired the right to the surname ''Gurgan'' ("son-in-law") of Qazan Khan, which appears on his coins and often in the Mamluk sources. The title of ''gurgan'' was very important for Timur because it was indicative of his relations with the family of the Chughtai. In 1397, Timur married Tukal-Khanum, a daughter of the Mongol Khan Khizr Khoja, who skipped over several other wives due to her exalted lineage and took the second place in the harem, inferior in status only to Saray. Saray, therefore, held the position of being Timur's chief consort until his death. Little is known of Saray and Timur's relationship, apart from the fact that she was his confidante and one of his closest advisers, but it is clear that she wielded great influence over her husband and in the Empire. She is also cited by most sources to have been Timur's "favourite" and his beloved wife. Saray also sometimes acted as

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

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. The Spanish ambassador, Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, who was sent by

Henry III of Castile Henry III of Castile (4 October 1379 – 25 December 1406), called the Suffering due to his ill health (, ), was the son of John I and Eleanor of Aragon. He succeeded his father as King of Castile in 1390. Birth and education Henry was bor ...

to visit Timur's court in 1405, called Saray, "The Grand Khanum". In May 1394, Saray along with Timur's other wives followed her husband with the ''ughruq'' to

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

where Ibrahim was born. In September, they returned to Sultaniya, but some time later were again summoned to join Timur. In the spring of 1395, both the Saray and Tukal with the children were sent to Samarkand, where Shahrukh had been staying since the autumn of 1394. In 1396, they were all in Khuzar, meeting Timur on his return from his "Five Years" campaign. During the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n campaign, Saray Mulk Khanum and Ulugh accompanied Timur only as far as

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. In August 1398, Timur sent them back to Samarkand from the neighbourhood of Kabul.

Issue

Saray did not have any children with Timur, though she is sometimes referred to as the mother of her husband's youngest son, Shahrukh Mirza, who was actually born of a concubine. Even if Saray had any children with her husband, they did not survive, and neither did Tukal-Khanum's, and yet their power and influence were well noted by foreign visitors to the Court. It was the two Chingisid princesses' personal qualities and pedigree that allowed them to develop such a prestigious dynastic position, since with Timurid consorts maternity was not in itself a path to power. Upon the birth of Shahrukh's eldest son,

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 ...

, in 1394, he was also, like his father, placed in Saray's care and grew up under the supervision of the Empress.

Clavijo's account of the Empress

Although the Spanish ambassador, Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, probably did not intend it, his description of "Cano" (The Great Khanum), Timur's chief wife, as she entered the great pavilion serves as a potent metaphor for much that he witnessed during his sojourn in Samarkand, the capital of Timurid Empire, between 8 September and 20 November 1404. As the ambassador of

, Clavijo enjoyed generous access to the life and ceremony of the Timurid imperial court and left one of the most detailed and lengthy accounts of their settings. "Cano" identifiable as Empress Saray, had come to join her husband, Timur, for a great feast, one of the several arranged at the Khan-i-Gil (lit. Mine of clay) meadow located outside Samarkand. Clavijo offers an expanded description of Saray's procession into the pavilion and of what she was wearing. Joined by fifteen servants to carry her

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

eunuchs A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

, and a male servant carrying a "shade" (sombra), Saray Mulk Khanum was dressed in red silk, her face covered by a white veil. She wore a complex

headdress Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or fo ...

, fashioned from red fabric ornamented with pearls, rubies, turquoise, feathers, and held together with gold wire. Brummett, p. 114 Clavijo estimated about 300 hundred attendants making up her royal suite. Her doubly screened face — one screen a cloth veil, the other a thick layer of applied make-up — concealed her true identity. The face that dimly showed beneath her veil was so thickly covered with white lead to protect from the Sun, that it looked as if it were made of paper.

Patron of education

One of the most important buildings of the late 14th century in Samarkand was the Khanum ''

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

'', opposite the great mosque of Timur. The madrasa was commissioned by Empress Saray in c. 1397 as she was interested in patronizing education and was built by her orders at the capital of the Timurid Empire: Samarkand. Saray had commissioned many other buildings, but only the Khanum madrasa foundations remain to this day.

References

Bibliography

* Brummett, Palmira Johnson (2009). ''The 'Book' of Travels: Genre, Ethnology, and Pilgrimage, 1250–1700''. BRILL . {{ISBN, 978-90-04-17498-6. Borjigin Patrons of literature 1406 deaths 1340s births Timurid empresses Timur