Ubaidullah Khan ( Chagatai/; 1487–1539), also Ubaid Khan, was the 4th Shaybanid Khan of Bukhara, who ruled between 1534 and 1539. He was the son of Mahmud and nephew of

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 ...

, founder of the

Shaybanid dynasty The Shibanids or Shaybanids, more accurately known as the Abul-Khayrid-Shibanids, were a dynasty of Uzbek ( Turko-Mongol) origin who ruled over the Khanate of Bukhara (from 1505 to 1598), the Khanate of Khwarezm (Khiva) (from 1511 to 1695), a ...

Biography

After the death of

in 1510, the cities and lands controlled by the Uzbeks were divided among the family members.

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 ...

fell to Ubaidullah Khan, which he had to defend against

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 ...

Emir of Kabul and future

Mughal Emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

, and against the

Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

of Iran in 1511/12. Ubaidullah and Jani Beg, the commander-in-chief of the army, proved themselves as capable generals. Babur's defeat at Gadjdivan in 1512 finally secured the Uzbeks' possession of the land between

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 ...

and

Syr Darya The Syr Darya ( ),; ; ; ; ; /. historically known as the Jaxartes ( , ), is a river in Central Asia. The name, which is Persian language, Persian, literally means ''Syr Sea'' or ''Syr River''. It originates in the Tian Shan, Tian Shan Mountain ...

Ubaidullah was not only a military man and politician, but also an amateur scholar, poet and builder. His time saw the construction of the

Kalan Mosque Kalan Mosque () is an architectural monument located in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. It was considered one of the largest mosques built on the place of Jame' Mosque. Its current appearance was built in 1514 during the reign of Shaybani Ubaidullah Khan of ...

in 1514, next to the

Kalyan Minaret The Kalyan Minaret (Uzbek: Minorai Kalon, Persian/Tajik: Minâra-i Kalân, Kalon Minor, Kalon Minaret) is a minaret of the Po-i-Kalyan mosque complex in Bukhara, Uzbekistan and one of the most prominent landmarks in the city. The minaret, desig ...

from the 12th century on the site of an old palace mosque, and the construction of the

Mir Arab Madrasa Po-i-Kalan, or Poi Kalan (; ; , ), is an Islamic religious complex located in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The complex consists of three parts, the Kalan Mosque (''Masjid-i Kalan''), the Kalan Minaret (Minâra-i Kalân) to which the name refers, and the ...

(1535/36) in Bukhara. The madrasa was financed by Ubaidullah by selling 3,000 captured Shiites into slavery. However, Ubaidullah failed to defeat Iranian Shah

Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the ...

(ruled 1524–76), as his five offensives in

Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and no ...

were ultimately unsuccessful. In September 1528 he suffered a defeat in the Battle of Turbet-i-Sheikh Jam, where the Iranians had deployed artillery for the first time. Furthermore, unlike him, his commanders were not interested in permanently occupying Khorasan. The plundering of the country was enough for them. Likewise, the Uzbek Khan Abu Sa'id, who ruled

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 1530 and 1533, had no interest in strengthening Ubaidullah's domestic power and refused to help him. Finally, in 1538, Ubaidullah, now Khan himself, moved against the independent

Khwarazm Khwarazm (; ; , ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by th ...

, the later

Khanate of Khiva The Khanate of Khiva (, , uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva xonligi, Хива хонлиги, , ) was a Central Asian polity that existed in the historical region of Khwarazm, Khorezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid Iran, Afsharid occupat ...

, and killed the local Khan Avanish, but was soon driven out by his son Din Muhammed. Shortly after this defeat, he died and was buried in the Mir Arab Madrasa. Power struggles broke out among the Uzbeks which lasted until 1556.

Sources

Howorth, Henry Hoyle. History of the Mongols, from the 9th to the 19th Century. Part II division II. The so-called tartars of Russia and Central Asia. London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1880.Obayd-Allāh Khan in Encyclopaedia IranicaRelations of Ubaidullah Khan with Persia (1510–1539) by Mansura Haider
{{Authority control People from the Khanate of Bukhara Borjigin 16th-century monarchs in Asia 1487 births 1539 deaths