Mu'iz-ud-din Umar Shaikh Mirza (; 1356 – February 1394) was a member 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 ...

and a son of its founder, the

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

n conqueror

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 ...

. Known for being a skilled soldier, Umar Shaikh was one of Timur's military commanders and also served as a regional governor. He died in 1394, predeceasing his father by over a decade.

Birth and early career

Umar Shaikh Mirza was one of four sons of Timur who survived infancy. His mother Tolun Agha was a concubine. There is some disagreement regarding whether Umar Shaikh Mirza I or his brother

Jahangir Mirza Jahangir Mirza (c. 1472 – c. 1515)Muhammad Haidar says (p. 329) that he is 42 years old in 1514, but he is notoriously unreliable with dates. was a Dughlat prince and briefly the ruler of Yarkand (1514). He was the eldest son of Mirza Abu Bakr ...

was the eldest of Timur's sons. The ''Mu'izz al-Ansab'' (The Glorifier of Genealogies), the most important source regarding the structure of the Timurid royal family during this period, is contradictory on this point. It states that Jahangir was the eldest, but the family of Umar Shaikh is presented first in the genealogy itself, implying that he was born first. Narrative sources, such as the '' Zafarnama'' by

Nizam al-Din Shami Nizam al-Din Shami, also known as Nizam-i Shami or Nizam al-Din Shambi (died before 1409 or before 1411–1412), was a Persian man of letters and a chronicler who flourished in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. He wrote the '' Zafarnama'', th ...

, and

Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi or Sharif al-Din Ali’ Yazdi (; died 1454, Yazd), also known by his pen name Sharaf, was a 15th-century Persian scholar who authored several works in the arts and sciences, including mathematics, astronomy, enigma, litera ...

's book of the same name support the notion that Umar Shaikh was older. Umar Shaikh proved himself an accomplished warrior and a skilled horseman, taking part in many of his father's campaigns. In 1376, Timur appointed him governor of

Fergana Fergana ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Fargʻona, Фарғона, ), () or Ferghana, also Farghana is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 320 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km southwest of A ...

War against Tokhtamysh

In 1388, war broke out between Timur and his former mentee, the Khan of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...

Tokhtamysh Tokhtamysh ( Turki/ Kypchak and Persian: توقتمش; ; ; – 1406) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1380 to 1395. He briefly succeeded in consolidating the Blue and White Hordes into a single polity. Tokhtamysh belonged to the House of Bo ...

. By this point, Tokhtamysh and Timur had already engaged each other several times. Timur's lands were attacked on two fronts; Tokhtamysh launched his assault from

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 ...

while his ally Qamar-ud-din Dughlat did so from Ferghana. At the same time, a rebellion erupted in the province of

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 ...

. Umar Shaikh was sent against Dughlat, while Timur himself marched towards Tokhtamysh. Dughlat was quickly defeated by the prince, prompting Tokhtamysh to flee from Timur's advance. Timur at this point diverted his attention to Khwarezm and brutally suppressed the rebellion, resulting in the devastation of the region. Tokhtamysh once more attempted to attack in the winter of that year but was again defeated, this time by Umar Shaikh. Timur chased the Khan out of his lands and in 1391 launched a counteroffensive against him. This culminated in the

Battle of the Kondurcha River The Battle of the Kondurcha River (18 June 1391) was the first major battle of the Tokhtamysh–Timur war. It took place at the Kondurcha River, in the Bulgar Ulus of the Golden Horde, in present-day Samara Oblast, Russia. Tokhtamysh's cavalr ...

, which took place in the Golden Horde territory of

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

. Umar Shaikh led the left wing of the army, his brother

Miran Shah Mirza Jalal-ud-din Miran Shah Beg (1366 – 20 April 1408), commonly known as Miran Shah (), was a son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire. During his father's reign, Miran Shah was initially a powerful regio ...

the right, their nephew Muhammad Sultan the centre and Timur himself the rear. While initially indecisive, the battle seemed to turn in the Khan's favour when Umar Shaikh's contingent was detached from the main army and nearly overwhelmed. However, this was averted when Tokhtamysh himself was forced to abandon the field while under attack by Timur, leading to confusion and panic among his troops. The Golden Horde's army was routed and forced to flee, the soldiers being chased and cut down by the Timurids. The death toll of the battle was estimated to have been 100,000 men and women.

Death

In 1393, Timur defeated the Persian Muzaffarid dynasty with the capture and execution of its final monarch, Shah Mansur. Timur bestowed the kingdom's former territory of Fars on Umar Shaikh to administer as governor. The prince's earlier post of Ferghana was given to his son Iskandar Mirza. However, Umar Shaikh was not able to hold this position for long. In 1394, whilst answering summons from his father, Umar Shaikh was killed after being shot in the neck by an arrow fired from the

Tuz Khurmatu Tuz Khurmatu (, , , also spelled as Tuz Khurma and Tuz Khormato) is the central city of Tooz District in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, located south of Kirkuk. Its inhabitants are predominantly Shia Turkmen, with a minority of Arabs and Sunni ...

fortress, near the city of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. Timur reportedly did not show any emotion upon learning of his son's death. Umar Shaikh's governorship was given to his eldest son Pir Muhammad, while his body was escorted by his wives and his younger son Iskandar to the city of Kesh (modern day

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& ...

). Here, he was buried alongside his brother in the Tomb of Jahangir, part of the Dorussaodat mausoleum complex. Presently, the tomb is the best surviving part of the structure.

Wives and concubines

Malikat Agha Malikat Agha was a Mongol princess as well as one of the wives of Shah Rukh, ruler of the Timurid Empire. Life Malikat Agha was a daughter of the Khan of Moghulistan, Khizr Khoja. Like many other Mongol princesses, she was married into the Timur ...

: daughter of the

Khan Khan may refer to: * Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name * Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by various ethnicities Art and entertainment * Khan (band), an English progressiv ...

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 ...

, Khizr Khoja. Later remarried to his brother

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 ...

. *Qutlugh Tarkhan Agha Mughal *Sultan Agha *Beg Malik Agha: daughter of Khwaja Yusuf Apardi *Bakht Sultan: daughter of Yasaur

Jalayir Jalair (; ; ), also Djalair, Yyalair, Jalayir, is one of the Darliqin Mongol tribes according to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani's ''Jami' al-tawarikh''.They lived along the Orkhon River in modern day Central Mongolia.History of Mongolia, Volume II, 2003 ...

*Tuglugh Sultan Jalayir: later remarried to his nephew Pir Muhammad *Mihr Khush *Qutlugh Tarkhan *Takish Khatun *A daughter of Haji Beg Jauni Qurbani *Sivinch Qutlugh Agha: daughter of Mu’ayyad Arlat by Timur's sister Shirin Beg Agha

Issue

By Malikat Agha * Pir Muhammad (1379 – 1409) * Iskandar (1384 – 1415); *Ahmad (1385 – 1425) * Bayqara (1393 – 1423) *Isfandiyar By Qutlugh Tarkhan Agha Mughal *

Rustam use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kabulistan , death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a we ...

(1381 – 1424/5) By Tuglugh Sultan Jalayir *Sayyid Ahmad (b.1390) By Sultan Agha *Muhammad *Nasab Sultan; By Bakht Sultan *Bistam *Zubayda Sultan: married Yadgar Shah Arlat By Mihr Khush *Ali *Umar *Sa'adat Sultan: married Sultan Mahmud,

By Takish Khatun *Dastan By Beg Malik Agha *Baba Biki By Qutlugh Tarkhan *Jahan Sultan Agha: married Taghay Bugha

Barlas The Barlas (;Grupper, S. M. 'A Barulas Family Narrative in the Yuan Shih: Some Neglected Prosopographical and Institutional Sources on Timurid Origins'. Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi 8 (1992–94): 11–97 Chagatay language, Chagatay/ ''Barlās'' ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Umar Shaikh Mirza I Timurid dynasty 1356 births 1394 deaths Generals of the Timurid Empire Governors of the Timurid Empire