Timur, or Tamerlane as he is also known, has monopolised a large part of Central Asian history, overshadowing other fascinating characters and periods that shaped the region. His historical significance, coupled with the fascination it inspired in the West and modern Uzbekistan’s efforts to portray him as the founder of the nation, has meant that Timur has eclipsed a dynasty that became the great Central Asian power of the 16th century and that left its indelible mark in the region. That dynasty are the Shaybanids.
The traveller that today wonders in the streets of Bukhara, admiring its mosques, madrasahs and khanqahs will, perhaps unknowingly, be witnessing the splendour that remains of the Shaybanid Khanate of Bukhara, which in its peak stretched from Herat in the south to Kazakh Turkestan in the north, from the shores of the Persian Caspian in the west to the westernmost borders of China in the east. Who were the Shaybanids and how did they manage to rule Central Asia for a century?
Like the majority of the states that took shape in Central Asia and beyond after the Mongol invasion, the Shaybanids were descendants from a Mongol prince, in their case of Shayban, from whom they took their name, a grandson of Genghis Khan himself through his eldest son Jochi. They were but one of the many tribes that composed the Mongol Empire and, after its collapse, the Golden Horde. Later own, their confederation would refer themselves as Uzbeks, which may come from the name of a ruler the Golden Horde under which they served, Öz Beg Khan (r. 1313-1341).
The Shaybanids first rose to prominence during the leadership of Abul Khayr Khan (r. 1428-1468), who united a number tribes and established an impressive state in modern Kazakhstan. His legacy, however, was short-lived as before his death his empire starting falling apart. The defeat against another Mongol tribe, the Oirats, dealt a serious blow that was made worse by the desertion of two of his vassal chiefs, Kerey and Janibek, who would go on to establish the Kazakh Khanate. It would be his grandson, Muhammad Shaybani who would not only equal but surpass his grandfather and establish the Shaybanids in what became their homeland for a century.
The rise of the Shaybanids
Muhammad Shaybani (1451-1510) started his rise to power as a soldier of fortune, and gradually increased his influence and reputation to become a well-known warlord. As many nomadic conquerors before him, Shaybani entered in the service of a settled ruler. Throughout History, nomadic mercenaries from the steppe were employed as soldiers by their sedentary patrons and, in many cases, the employees eventually ousted their patrons and founded their own empires. In Shaybani’s case, he was employed by the Timurid ruler of Samarkand. Sultan Ahmed Mirza, Shaybani’s patron, was one of a number of Timurid princes who ruled in the remnants of Timur’s empire. This situation was to prove an advantage for the Shaybanids, who did not had to face a strong and coordinated enemy in what is modern day Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
Shaybani was not in Sultan Ahmed Mirza’s service for long, as he betrayed him in the battle of the Chirchiq River (1488) and eventually conquered Samarkand himself as well the other Timurid territories in Central Asia, making him the most powerful figure in the region and establishing the foundations of his Khanate. The capture of Herat eventually brought him into conflict with the Safavids, a new dynasty that had been recently established in Persia by Shah Ismail. Both rulers met in the battlefield in 1510 near Merv (Turkmenistan). The Uzbeks, who outnumbered their enemies, fell into a trap of feigned retreat, a classic tactic of the nomadic warriors, and where severely defeated. Muhammad Shaybani was among the victims and, in a scene typical of Game of Thrones, Shah Ismail turned Shaybani’s skull into a drinking cup.
As one would expect, Shaybani’s death was a disaster for the Uzbeks and the authority of his successors was weakened. The Safavids undid many of Shaybani’s conquests and allied themselves with Babur, the Timurid prince and founder of the Moghul Empire who was still struggling to retake his ancestral territories. The Uzbeks in turn strengthened their links with the Ottomans, the Persians’ archenemy in the west. But it was the Safavids who had the upper hand. Assisted by Babur, they crossed the Oxus and invaded the heartland of the Shaybanid Khanate. The Persian advance, as well as Babur’s aspirations, were put to a halt in 1512 at the battle of Ghazdewan, in modern day Uzbekistan, where the Uzbeks defeated the invaders despite being greatly outnumbered. Babur managed to flee but the Safavid general was captured and beheaded. The man who ordered the execution was no other than Ubaidullah, who had led the Uzbek centre and would become one the greatest Shaybanid rulers.
A nephew of Muhammad Shaybani, Ubaidullah rose to power during the reign of Kuchum (r. 1512-1531), who was the nominal khan but delegated military matters to him. Ubaidullah resumed the hostilities with the Safavids and, through numerous campaigns, Herat and other towns changed hands multiple times. After an interlude during Abu Said’s reign (1531-1534), who was not keen on Ubaidullah’s wars in Persia, he became khan himself (1534-1539).
As a result of Ubaidullah’s campaigns in Persia, the Shaybanids accumulated booty and riches, some of which were spent to build the magnificent Mir-i-Arab madrasah, where the ruler was later buried. Apart from being a military commander, he was also a man of letters who, under the penname of ‘Ubaidi’, wrote poetry in Persian, Arabic and Turkic. A passion also inherited by his son Abdul Aziz, who also composed verses and amassed an impressive library during his autonomous reign in Bukhara (1540-1551). Ubaidullah established Bukhara as his capital and would from that time become the political and cultural centre of what became known as the Khanate of Bukhara.
The golden age of the Shaybanids
After the death of Ubaidullah, the khanate was gripped by instability with four different khans in 22 years that were unable to establish their authority. The khanate was divided into fiefdoms belonging to different Shaybanid leaders who fought with each other to increase their dominions. From this chaos emerged who was to became the greatest ruler of the dynasty, Abdullah Khan II.
First under the nominal rule of his father, the pious and simple-minded Iskander (1561-1583), and afterwards as khan himself (1583-1598), Abdullah Khan spent years fighting his relatives to reunite the Shaybanid dominions. Once he had managed to establish his authority, he then led numerous campaigns against the Persians, Khorezmians, Kazakhs and Kashgariyans, extending the khanate’s borders and capturing important cities like Herat, Mashhad and Astarabad, in Khorasan, Khiva and Urgench in Khwarezm, and Sayram, in Turkestan.
Abdullah Khan was able to carry out his conquests thanks both to his military prowess and diplomatic skills. Firstly, he allied himself with the Ottomans and their Sultan, Murat III. As Sunnis, both the Uzbeks and the Ottomans despised the ‘heretic’ (i.e. shia) Safavids, but despite being on good terms a coordinated pincer movement that would have been the ruin of the Persians never materalised.
Despite fighting each other in the first decades of the 16th century, Uzbeks and Mughals also reached an understanding during Abdullah Khan’s reign. His opposite number was no other than Akbar the Great and, as pragmatic rulers, both the Mughal and the Uzbek reached an understanding on their common border and avoided a conflict that would have certainly been detrimental to both states.
With the Great Duchy of Muscovy things were not as friendly. Feodor I, son of Ivan the Terrible, was apprehensive of the Uzbeks strength and their support of Kuchum Khan, the ruler Khante of Sibir, who opposed the Russian expansion into Siberia. Nonetheless, this did not cut the trade links between Bukhara and Moscow.
Apart from being an accomplished warrior, Abdullah Khan was also a distinguished poet, as his predecessors had been before him. Benefitting from internal stability, Bukhara flourished as the capital, attracting artists, intellectuals and merchants from the region and beyond. Beautiful buildings like the Kosh and Hoja Gaukushan ensembles in Bukhara and the Kukeldash madrasahs in Bukhara and Tashkent, to name a few, were erected during that period and joined the ranks of other Shaybanid monuments built previously like the large Kalyan mosque or the Mir-i-Arab madrasah in Bukhara. These monuments were perhaps not as grandiose as those built by Timur but not for that less impressive.
Abdullah Khan II was a great ruler but not that good of a father. His love for his only son would eventually lead to the end of the dynasty. Abdul Mu’min showed himself to be an effective conqueror, leading multiple campaigns in Khorasan against the Safavids and capturing Mashhad, Nishapur and other key towns in the region. But he was also known for his cruelty and impulsiveness.
With his father aging and possessed by an increased desire for power, he ended up revolting against him after having disobeyed him multiple times before. His failed rebellion, for which no blood was shed, took place towards the end of Abdullah Khan’s life. The great Shaybanid ruler died in 1598 well into his sixties. Most likely of natural causes, but rumours also circulated about possible foul play and poison.
After his father’s death, Abdul Mu’min became the new khan and started a violent purge of his father’s supporters and amirs. This included the loyal Qulbaba, who had held and defended Herat for years and had warned Abdullah Khan about his son. The hatred between both was no secret and Abdul Mu’min took the opportunity to exact revenge on his father’s “milk brother” (Quqeldash). After capturing Qulbaba, Abdul Mu’min had him put in a spiked cage which was placed on top of the camel, so the amir would be injured with every step the animal took. Later, he had his sons killed before his eyes before personally shooting his archenemy with an arrow.
But Abdul Mu’min’s cruelty would be short-lived. The violent purges against the Uzbek amirs would be his downfall. After four months, fearful and enraged at the new khan’s actions, they rebelled and had him killed with a volley of arrows while he was stranded crossing a river, which they had purposedly diverted.
As droplets of water disappear in the sands of the Kyzylkum, so did the Shaybanid dynasty after the death of Abdul Mumin. A new dynasty would then emerge and rule the Khanate of Bukhara for the following 150 years. But that is another story.
Further readings
Haidar, Mansura (2002). Central Asia in the Sixteenth Century. New Delhi: Manohar.
Burton, Audrey (1997). The Bukharans: A Dynastic, Diplomatic and Commercial History 1550-1702. Routledge
Grousset, René (1970). Empire of the Steppes. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
Hi there, Who is the author of this well written article, please? Dr. Chokan Laumulin