RELATIONS OF THE TIMURIDS WITH THE KARAKHUYUN TURKMEN Murodjon Koraboev

Аннотация

This article explores the western military campaigns of Amir Temur and his descendants—Shahrukh Mirza and Sultan Abu Said Mirza—towards Azerbaijan, Iran, and Iraq based on historical sources. It analyzes the main causes of these campaigns, political developments, territorial shifts, power struggles among rulers, and their outcomes. The study presents a chronological overview of the Timurid policy and military strategy in the western regions. Keywords: Amir Temur, Shahrukh Mirza, Sultan Abu Said, Azerbaijan, Iran, western campaigns, Timurids, military expeditions, political conflict, historical analysis. After subjugating the territories of Maverannahr, Khorasan, and Khorezm, Amir Timur directed his main military actions to the southwest of the country. The goal was to expand the country's borders and strengthen them. The Dashti Kipchak army, led by Tokhtamysh Khan, captured Tabriz in the winter of 1385 after a week of fighting and plundered it for two days before retreating. This led to the beginning of Amir Timur's three-year wars in history. In 1386, Amir Timur turned from Turan towards Iran [1, p. 106]. During this campaign, Sahibkiran's troops, having plundered caravans, routed several settlements in the Luristan region, especially robber groups in Khorramabad, and marched towards Azerbaijan. Unable to defend Tabriz, Sultan Ahmad Jalayir retreated to Baghdad, and the capital of Azerbaijan was incorporated into the empire of Amir Timur without a fight. After the capture of Tabriz, Amir Timur's troops entered the territories of Armenia and Georgia. In fierce battles, the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, was captured, and the ruler of this country, Hippocrates, was taken prisoner. Sahibkiran's troops captured Georgian fortresses in the mountains one after another, conquering the entire country. After this, Amir Temur, who made Karabakh his residence, after Bukrat converted to Islam, appointed him again as the ruler of his country. During these days, Amir Sheikh Ibrahim, the ruler of Northern Azerbaijan, namely Shirvan, also came with his nobles and submitted. In 1392, Amir Timur again attacked the southwestern part of the country. This military operation entered history as the Five-Year War. As a result of the 5 ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference Five-Year War, in the summer of 1393, the territories of Ray, Azerbaijan, Shirvan, Baku, and Derbent, up to the lands of the Turkic Sultanate, were declared the suyurghal of Miranshah Mirza. In the language of that time, Miranshah Mirza was installed on the throne of Hulagu Khan. Amir Timur also captured Baghdad in 1393 [2, p. 184]. Miranshah Mirza ruled these territories with his sons until 1408. On April 21, 1408, Miranshah was killed in the Battle of Shanbi-Ghazan with the Turkmen Kara-Yusuf in the Sardrud area of Azerbaijan[3, 132 b] and buried in the Surkhab district. After some time, a person named Shams Ghuri, disguised as a dervish, went to Surkhab and secretly took Miranshah's bones. He was brought to Transoxiana and buried in the Timurid mausoleum in Shahrisabz. After the death of Amir Timur, Shahrukh Mirza initially established peace in Khorasan, which was considered his suyurgal territory. In 1409, he conquered Transoxiana. Using the struggle between the Timurids in Iran, he united the main part of the Timurid empire. In 1413, Shahrukh Mirza, having decided to launch a military campaign against Azerbaijan, reached the Mazandaran region and waited for Alexander Mirza to join him with his army. However, under various pretexts, Iskander Mirza did not join the High Horde. In reality, it was unlikely that Shahrukh would launch a campaign against Azerbaijan at this time, and Iskandar Mirza considered Shahrukh's actions to be directed against him. Iskander Mirza not only refused Shahrukh, but also sent messengers to the provinces under Shahrukh's control, such as Sistan, Kandahar, and Garmser, urging them to march on Herat and promising them large gifts after a general victory. As a result, Shahrukh Mirza also stopped his campaign and focused on ensuring peace in his provinces, sending his son Baysunghur Mirza to Herat to strengthen the capital. On April 5, 1414, Shahrukh Mirza launched a campaign against Iskandar Mirza. As a result, one after another, all the cities and provinces of Central Iran fell into the hands of Shahrukh Mirza. Shahrukh granted Isfahan to Mirza Rustam, Hamadan and Luristan to Mirza Bayqara, and Shiraz to Mirza Ibrahim. However, shortly after, Mirza Rustam and Mirza Bayqara lost their suyrgals for various reasons, and their lands also passed into the hands of Shahrukh's descendants. Shahrukh stopped his campaigns against Azerbaijan and returned to Herat. After Shahrukh Mirza returned from Azerbaijan in 1421, power here passed into the hands of Amir Iskandar, the son of Kara Yusuf. Having consolidated his power, in 1428-29, he also seized the city of Sultaniya, which belonged to the 6 ACADEMIC RESE