Baysonqor Mirza (or Baysunkar Mirza) (1477–1499) was the ninth ruler of the

Timurid dynasty The Timurid dynasty, self-designated as Gurkani (), was the ruling dynasty of the Timurid Empire (1370–1507). It was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim dynasty or Barlās clan of Turco-Mongol originB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of I ...

in Transoxiana. He ruled in

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 ...

between 1495 and 1497.

Biography

Baysunkar Mirza (1477–1499), was the second son of

Sultan Mahmud Mirza Sultan Mahmud Mirza ( Chagatai and ; 1453 – January 1495) was a Timurid prince from the branch of Transoxiana. He was the second son of Abu Sa'id Mirza, the ruler of the Timurid Empire. Biography His father gave him the government of Hisar ...

, the third son of the Timurid

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 ...

. His father ruled large parts of

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (, now called the Amu Darya) is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

between 1494 and 1495. Initially, his father gave him Bukhara as an inheritance. In 1495, after the death of his father, the Begs also made him ruler of Samarkand. The time of his reign was turbulent. In 1495, he repelled an attack against Samarkand by

Mahmud Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Given name Mahmood * Mahmood Ali (1928 ...

, Khan of Western

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 ...

. In 1496, he was forced to fight to retain power against his brother, Sultan Ali Mirza. Initially, he was supported by Sultans Mahdi and Hamza, who were close to the Uzbek Khan

Muhammad Shaybani Muhammad Shaybani Khan ( Chagatai and ; – 2 December 1510) was an Uzbek leader who consolidated various Uzbek tribes and laid the foundations for their ascendance in Transoxiana and the establishment of the Khanate of Bukhara. He was a Sh ...

, but later they abandoned him. He subsequently lost Bukhara to his brother Sultan Ali Mirza. In 1497, Samarkand was besieged for seven months and conquered by his Timurid cousin

Babur Babur (; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also ...

. Sultan Baysunkar Mirza was forced to flee to Hissar. Here he was well received by Khusroe Shah, but then, after some unsuccessful attempts to recapture Samarkand, Khusroe Shah stopped patronizing him.

Death

In 1499, Khusroe Shah planned a campaign against

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 ...

, and asked Sultan Baysunkar Mirza to join him. When they reached the Aubaj river crossing on 17 August 1499, Khusroe Shah attacked Baysunkar and strangled him with a bowstring. Several of his companions were also killed.
Baysunkar Mirza had one wife, but no children.

Poetry

According to Babur, Baysunkar wrote poetry well, using the pseudonym ''Adili''. In Samarkand, Baysunkar Mirza's

ghazals ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

were so widespread that there were few houses without Mirza's verses.''Memoirs of Babur''
(

Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' (; ) is the memoirs of Babur, Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great-great-grandson of Timur. It is written in the Chagatai language, known to Babur as ''Türki'' "Turkic ...

in English), volume 1, pp. 110–112

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baysonqor Mirza, Sultan Timurid monarchs 15th-century monarchs in Asia 1477 births 1499 deaths