Timurids

Stagnation and decline

Shahrukh Mirza (r. 1405–1447), who eventually emerged victorious from the first civil war, ruled from Herat and dealt with the Qara Qoyunlu, who aimed to expand into Iran. But in the wake of Shahrukh's death, the Qara Qoyunlu under Jahan Shah drove the Timurids out to eastern Iran after 1447 and also briefly occupied Herat in 1458. Shahrukh was succeeded by his son Ulugh Beg, who was based in Samarkand and a famed patron of science being an astronomer and mathematician himself; his execution in 1449 after a revolt by his son Abdal-Latif Mirza plunged the empire into a civil war. Abu Sa'id Mirza (r. 1451–1469) briefly reunited most of empire but after his defeat and execution in 1469 by Uzun Hasan, bey of the Aq Qoyunlu, the Timurid possessions were permanently divided. Mirza's sons, most notably Ahmad Mirza (r. 1469–1494), retained most of Transoxiana while in Herat Husayn Bayqara (r. 1469–1506) proved to be the last of the great Timurids.