Muhammad Juki Mirza (1402 – 1445) was a
Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror:
* Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent
** Timurid Empire of C ...
prince and a son of the
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
n ruler
Shah Rukh
Shah Rukh or Shahrukh ( fa, شاهرخ, ''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 dynast ...
. He served as one of his father's military commanders and may have been favoured as his preferred successor. However, he died of illness in 1445, predeceasing Shah Rukh by two years.
Life
Born on 27 April 1402, Muhammad Juki was the youngest of the three sons of
Shah Rukh
Shah Rukh or Shahrukh ( fa, شاهرخ, ''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 dynast ...
by his empress consort,
Gawhar Shad
Gawhar Shad ( fa, , Gawaršād; meaning "joyful jewel" or "shining jewel"; alternative spelling: Gohar Shād; died 19 July 1457) was the chief consort of Shah Rukh, the emperor of the Timurid Empire.
Life
She was the daughter of Giāth ud-Din ...
. Somewhat younger than his full brothers
Ulugh Beg
Mīrzā Muhammad Tāraghay bin Shāhrukh ( chg, میرزا محمد طارق بن شاہ رخ, fa, میرزا محمد تراغای بن شاہ رخ), better known as Ulugh Beg () (22 March 1394 – 27 October 1449), was a Timurid sultan, as ...
and
Baysunghur
Ghiyath ud-din Baysunghur, commonly known as Baysonqor or Baysongor, Baysonghor or (incorrectly) as Baysunqar, also called Sultan Bāysonḡor Bahādor Khan (1397 – 1433) was a prince from the house of Timurids. He was known as a patron of arts ...
, Muhammad Juki also appears to have held a lower status.
He began his military career with his father's first campaign against the
Qara Qoyunlu
The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu ( az, Qaraqoyunlular , fa, قره قویونلو), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a culturally Persianate, Muslim Turkoman "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, Eng ...
in Azerbaijan in 1420-21, during which he is recorded to have led troops.
In later years, he played an important part in Shah Rukh's major military expeditions and seems to have been a common presence at court. He appears to have performed the role of a sort of troubleshooter, often being sent on special missions requiring status and finesse, such as dealing with difficult local rulers and frontier regions.
[ At one point, he was instructed to lead an army into Transoxiana, the domain of his brother Ulugh Beg, when the latter was discovered to be planning an expedition which their father had not approved.][ In 1425-6, ]Barak Khan
Barak ( fa, ) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1423 to 1429. His father was Quyurchuq, the son of Urus Khan, who was a descendant of Tuqa-Timur, the son of Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan.
Barak took support from Ulugh Beg, the Timu ...
, ruler of the Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' 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 fr ...
laid claim to and began raiding the region of Sighnaq
Sighnaq ( kk, Сығанақ, Syğanaq; uz, Sigʻnoq) was an ancient city in Central Asia (in modern Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda Region), it was the capital of the Blue Horde (i.e., the White Horde of Persian sources), although the city is almost unk ...
. Though Shah Rukh forbade a retaliatory expedition, in 1427, both Muhammad Juki and Ulugh Beg embarked on one regardless. This resulted in their heavy defeat and disordered return to Samarqand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zin ...
.
While his brothers received appointments as provincial governors at a young age, he was only given his first posting in 1429-30, over the region of Khuttalan.[ Following the death of Baysunghur, Muhammad Juki appears to have become his father's favourite as well as his desired heir, though his mother was opposed to his candidacy, instead preferring Baysunghur's son Ala al-Dawla.] Gawhar Shad kept Muhammad Juki excluded from positions of power, refusing him any influence in the divan
A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan'').
Etymology
The word, recorded in English since 1586, meanin ...
, something which was bestowed on Ala al-Dawla as well as his other nephew Abdal-Latif.[ Additionally, she did not honour any of his children by raising them in the royal court, as she had done with the sons of his elder brothers.][
When Shah Rukh fell dangerously ill in 1444, Muhammad Juki, by then also governor of ]Balkh
), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001
, pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia
, pushpin_relief=yes
, pushpin_label_position=bottom
, pushpin_mapsize=300
, pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...
, immediately moved to the capital Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...
in order to gain an advantage in the expected succession struggle.[ However, Gawhar Shad had already obtained the backing of the head of the military forces, Jalal ud-din Firuzshah, for Ala al-Dawla's accession.][ These preparations proved to be pointless when Shah Rukh unexpectedly recovered from his illness.][ However Firuzshah, already being investigated for abuse of power by Muhammad Juki on the emperor's orders, had angered the former with his backing of Ala al-Dawla. Muhammad Juki presented his findings to Shah Rukh, who reprimanded the noble. Unable to bear the disgrace, Firuzshah died of illness soon after.
Muhammad Juki, suffering from a lingering illness which may have been exasperated by Gawhar Shad's hostility, died in ]Sarakhs
Sarakhs ( fa, سرخس, Saraxs, also Romanized as Serakhs) is a city in Sarakhs County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Sarakhs was once a stopping point along the Silk Road, and in its 11th century heyday had many libraries. Much of the original ...
in 1445, predeceasing his father. His governorships of Khuttalan and Balkh passed to his sons Abu Bakr and Muhammad Qasim respectively.
Family
Wives and concubines
*Mihr Nigar Khanum: daughter of Shams-i-Jahan
Shams-i-Jahan (شمس جہان) was Khan of Mughlistan from 1399 to 1408.
Family
He was the son of Khizr Khoja. Two of his daughters were married to grandsons of the Central Asian conqueror Timur: Husn Nigar Khanika to Ulugh Beg and Mihr Nigar K ...
, Khan of the Chagatai Khanate
The Chagatai Khanate, or Chagatai Ulus ( xng, , translit=Čaɣatay-yin Ulus; mn, Цагаадайн улс, translit=Tsagaadain Uls; chg, , translit=Čağatāy Ulusi; fa, , translit=Xânât-e Joghatây) was a Mongol and later Turkicized kha ...
*Bakht Dawlat
*Bulghan Mughul
*Khanum: daughter of Edigu
Edigu (or Edigey) (also İdegäy or Edege Mangit) (1352–1419) was a Mongol Muslim emir of the White Horde who founded a new political entity, which came to be known as the Nogai Horde.
Edigu was from the Crimean Manghud tribe, the son of Balt ...
, Khan of the Nogai Horde
The Nogai Horde was a confederation founded by the Nogais that occupied the Pontic–Caspian steppe from about 1500 until they were pushed west by the Kalmyks and south by the Russians in the 17th century. The Mongol tribe called the Manghuds cons ...
*Taj al-Islam Khan: daughter of Qara Osman
Uthman Beg or Osman Beg ( az, Qara Yuluq Osman Bəy; tr, Kara Yülük Osman Bey; 1356 – 1435) was a late 14th and early 15th-century leader of the Turkoman tribal federation of Aq Qoyunlu in what is now eastern Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and Ira ...
, ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu
The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (Wh ...
Issue
By Mihr Nigar Khanum
*Suyurghatmish
*Tukal Khanum
By Bakht Dawlat
*Muhammad Qasim (b.1422)
*Abu Bakr (1427 – 1448?)
*Sa'adat Sultan
By Bulghan Mughul
*Ali (1423 – 1424)
*Qutlugh Sultan
*Zubayda Sultan
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad Juki
1402 births
1445 deaths
Timurid dynasty