Ulugh Beg
Ulugh Beg | |
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Zanjan Province, Iran) | |
Died | 27 October 1449 (aged 55) Samarkand, Timurid Empire (now Samarqand Region, Uzbekistan) |
Burial | |
Spouse |
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political leader and ruler |
Mīrzā Muhammad Tāraghay bin Shāhrukh (
Ulugh Beg was notable for his work in astronomy-related mathematics, such as
He built the great Ulugh Beg Observatory in Samarkand between 1424 and 1429. It was considered by scholars to have been one of the finest observatories in the Islamic world at the time and the largest in Central Asia.[1] Ulugh Beg was subsequently recognized as the most important observational astronomer from the 15th century by many scholars.[6] He also built the Ulugh Beg Madrasah (1417–1420) in Samarkand and Bukhara, transforming the cities into cultural centers of learning in Central Asia.[7]
However, Ulugh Beg's scientific expertise was not matched by his skills in governance. During his short reign, he failed to establish his power and authority. As a result, other rulers, including his family, took advantage of his lack of control, and he was subsequently overthrown and assassinated.[8]
Early life
He was a grandson of the great conqueror and king,
Ulugh Beg was born in
As a child he wandered through a substantial part of the Middle East and
Science
The teenage ruler set out to turn the city into an intellectual center for the empire. Between 1417 and 1420, he built a
Astronomy
Astronomy piqued Ulugh Beg's interest when he visited the Maragheh Observatory at a young age. This observatory, located in Maragheh, Iran, is where the well-known astronomer Nasir al-Din al-Tusi practised.[6]
In 1428, Ulugh Beg built an enormous
With the instruments located in the observatory in Samarkand, Ulugh Beg composed a star catalogue consisting of 1018 stars, which is eleven fewer stars than are present in the star catalogue of
Using it, he compiled the 1437
In 1437, Ulugh Beg determined the length of the
Mathematics
In
Foreign relations
Once Ulugh Beg became governor of
In 1439, the Zhengtong emperor ordered an artist to produce a painting of a black horse with white feet and a white forehead that had been sent by Ulugh Beg.[21] Six years later, the Ming emperor sent a letter to Ulugh Beg in order to express his gratitude for all the "tribute" from Samarqand.[21] The emperor sent "vessels made of gold and jade, a spear with a dragon's head, a fine horse with saddle, and variegated gold-embroidered silk stuffs" to Ulugh Beg, as well as silk stuffs and garments for the Timurid prince's family.[21]
War of succession and death
In 1447, upon learning of the death of his father Shah Rukh, Ulugh Beg went to Balkh. Here, he heard that Ala al-Dawla, the son of his late brother Baysunghur, had claimed the rulership of the Timurid Empire in Herat. Consequently, Ulugh Beg marched against Ala al-Dawla and met him in battle at Murghab. He defeated his nephew and advanced toward Herat, massacring its people in 1448. However, Abul-Qasim Babur Mirza, Ala al-Dawla's brother, came to the latter's aid and defeated Ulugh Beg.[13]
Ulugh Beg retreated to Balkh where he found that its governor, his oldest son Abdal-Latif Mirza, had rebelled against him. Another civil war ensued.[13] Abdal-Latif recruited troops to meet his father's army on the banks of the Amu Darya river. However, Ulugh Beg was forced to retreat to Samarkand before any fighting took place, having heard news of turmoil in the city. Abdal-Latif soon reached Samarkand and Ulugh Beg involuntarily surrendered to his son. Abd-al-Latif released his father from custody, allowing him to make pilgrimage to Mecca. However, he ensured Ulugh Beg never reached his destination, having him, as well as his brother Abdal-Aziz assassinated in 1449.[22][23][24]
Eventually, Ulugh Beg's reputation was rehabilitated by his nephew,
Marriages
Ulugh Beg had thirteen wives:
- Aka Begi Begum, daughter of Jahangir Mirzaand Khan Sultan Khanika, mother of Habiba Sultan known as Khanzada Begum and another Khanzada Begum;
- Sultan Badi al-mulk Begum, daughter of Khalil Sultan bin Miran Shah and Shad Malik Agha;
- Aqi Sultan Khanika, daughter of Sultan Mahmud Khan Ogeday;
- Husn Nigar Khanika, daughter of Shams-i-Jahan Khan Chaghatay;
- Shukr Bīka Khanika, daughter of Darwīsh Khan of the Golden Horde;
- Rukaiya Sultan Agha, an Arlat lady, and mother of Abdal-Latif Mirza, Ak Bash Begum and Sultan Bakht Begum;
- Mihr Sultan Agha, daughter of Tukal bin Sarbuka;
- Sa'adat Bakht Agha, daughter of Bayan Kukaltash, mother of Qutlugh Turkhan Agha;
- Daulat Sultan Agha, daughter of Khawand Sa'id;
- Bakhti Bi Agha, daughter of Aka Sufi Uzbek;
- Daulat Bakht Agha, daughter of Sheikh Muhammad Barlas;
- Sultanim Agha, mother of Abdul Hamid Mirza and Abdul Jabrar Mirza;
- Sultan Malik Agha, daughter of Nasir-al-Din, mother of Ubaydullah Mirza, Abdullah Mirza and another Abdullah Mirza;
Legacy
- The crater, Ulugh Beigh, on the Moon, was named after him by the German astronomer Johann Heinrich von Mädler on his 1830 map of the Moon.
- Nauchnyj, was named after him.
- The dinosaur Ulughbegsaurus was named after him in 2021.
Exhumation
Soviet anthropologist Mikhail M. Gerasimov reconstructed the face of Ulugh Beg. Like his grandfather Timurlane, Ulugh Beg is close to the Mongoloid type with slightly Europoid features.[27][28] His father Shah Rukh had predominantly Caucasoid features, with no obvious Mongoloid feature.[29][30]
See also
- Ulugh Beg Observatory and Museum
- Ulugh Beg Madrasain Samarkand
- Ancient Astronomer: Aryabhata
Notes
- ^ Ulugh or Үлэг in Cyrillic probably meant "the eldest" in Mongolian language
References
- ^ a b Science in Islamic civilisation: proceedings of the international symposia: "Science institutions in Islamic civilisation", & "Science and technology in the Turkish and Islamic world"[1]
- ^ a b Ulugh Beg, OU Libraries, Britannica Academic
- ^ a b c "Samarkand: Ulugh Beg's Observatory". Depts.washington.edu.
- ^ "Ulugh Beg and His Observatory". University of Washington. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
- ^ "Ulugh Beg". MacTutor. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
- ^ a b "The Legacy of Ulugh Beg | Central Asian Monuments | Edited by H. B. Paksoy | CARRIE Books". Vlib.iue.it. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ^ The global built environment as a representation of realities: By author:A.J.J. Mekking [2]
- ^ "Ulugh Beg". The University of Oklahoma Libraries. Britannica Academic. Archived from the original on September 19, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, "Timur", Online Academic Edition, 2007. Quotation: "Timur was a member of the Turkicized Barlas tribe, a Mongol subgroup that had settled in Transoxania..."
- St Petersburg(1918). p. 37.
- ^ "Ulug Beg – Biografiya" Улугбек - Биография. Opklare.ru. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
- ^ B. F. Manz, "Tīmūr Lang", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006
- ^ a b c Krisciunas, Kevin (1992). "The Legacy of Ulugh Beg". In Paksoy, Hasan Bulent (ed.). Central Asian Monuments. Istanbul: Isis Press – via Carrie Books.
- ^ "The Star Catalogues of Ptolemaios and Ulugh Beg" (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics.
- ^ L. P. E. A. Sédillot, Prolégomènes des tables astronomiques d'OlougBeg: Traduction et commentaire (Paris: Firmin Didot Frères, 1853), pp. 87 & 253.
- ^ "Ulugh Beg (1393 - 1449)". mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ^ a b Bretschneider, Emil (1910). Mediæval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources. Vol. 2. London, UK: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & co., ltd. p. 262.
- ^ Naqqash, Ghiyathuddin (1989). 'Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking' in A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art. Translated by Thackston, W. M. Massachusetts: Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture. p. 280.
- ^ Maitra, K. M. (1934). A Persian Embassy to China, Being an Extract from Zubdatu't Tawarikh of Hafiz Abru. Lahore, Pakistan. pp. 63–64.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Naqqash, Ghiyathuddin (1989). Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking in A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art. Massachusetts: Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture. p. 295.
- ^ a b c Bretschneider, Emil (1910). Mediæval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources. Vol. 2. London, UK: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & co., ltd. p. 263.
- ^ "ʿABD-AL-LAṬĪF MĪRZĀ – Encyclopaedia Iranica". Iranicaonline.org.
- ^ The history of Persia. Containing, the lives and memorable actions of its kings from the first erecting of that monarchy to this time; an exact Description of all its Dominions; a curious Account of India, China, Tartary, Kermon, Arabia, Nixabur, and the Islands of Ceylon and Timor; as also of all Cities occasionally mention'd, as Schiras, Samarkand, Bokara, &c. Manners and Customs of those People, Persian Worshippers of Fire; Plants, Beasts, Product, and Trade. With many instructive and pleasant digressions, being remarkable Stories or Passages, occasionally occurring, as Strange Burials; Burning of the Dead; Liquors of several Countries; Hunting; Fishing; Practice of Physick; famous Physicians in the East; Actions of Tamerlan, &c. To which is added, an abridgment of the lives of the kings of Harmuz, or Ormuz. The Persian history written in Arabick, by Mirkond, a famous Eastern Author that of Ormuz, by Torunxa, King of that Island, both of them translated into Spanish, by Antony Teixeira, who liv'd several Years in Persia and India; and now render'd into English.
- ^ Jonathan L. Lee, The "Ancient Supremacy": Bukhara, Afghanistan and the Battle for Balkh, 1731 (1996), p. 21
- ^ Ahmad Hasan Dani, Akhmadali Askarovich Askarov, Sergeĭ Pavlovich Gubin, Rediscovery of the civilization of Central Asia: integral study of silk roads, roads of dialogue, steppe route expedition in USSR (1991), p. 82
- ^ image, James Stuby based on NASA (2015), English: Ulugh Beigh, on the moon, retrieved December 2, 2018
- ISBN 9781568591773. Retrieved January 5, 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ Gerasimov, Mikhail Mikhaĭlovich (January 5, 1971). "Ich suchte Gesichter". J. B. Lippincott. Retrieved January 5, 2019 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 9781568591773– via Google Books.
- ^ Gerasimov, Mikhail Mikhaĭlovich (March 22, 1971). "The Face Finder". J. B. Lippincott – via Google Books.
Bibliography
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Ulugh Beg", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
- 1839. L. P. E. A. Sedillot (1808–1875). Tables astronomiques d’Oloug Beg, commentees et publiees avec le texte en regard, Tome I, 1 fascicule, Paris. A very rare work, but referenced in the Bibliographie generale de l’astronomie jusqu’en 1880, by J.
- 1847. L. P. E. A. Sedillot (1808–1875). Prolegomenes des Tables astronomiques d’Oloug Beg, publiees avec Notes et Variantes, et precedes d’une Introduction. Paris: F. Didot.
- 1853. L. P. E. A. Sedillot (1808–1875). Prolegomenes des Tables astronomiques d’Oloug Beg, traduction et commentaire. Paris.
- Le Prince Savant annexe les étoiles, Frédérique Beaupertuis-Bressand, in Samarcande 1400–1500, La cité-oasis de Tamerlan : coeur d'un Empire et d'une Renaissance, book directed by Vincent Fourniau, éditions Autrement, 1995, ISSN 1157-4488.
- L'âge d'or de l'astronomie ottomane, Antoine Gautier, in L'Astronomie, (Monthly magazine created by Camille Flammarion in 1882), December 2005, volume 119.
- L'observatoire du prince Ulugh Beg, Antoine Gautier, in L'Astronomie, (Monthly magazine created by Camille Flammarion in 1882), October 2008, volume 122.
- Le recueil de calendriers du prince timouride Ulug Beg (1394–1449), Antoine Gautier, in Le Bulletin, n° spécial Les calendriers, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, juin 2007, pp. 117–123. d
- Jean-Marie Thiébaud, Personnages marquants d'Asie centrale, du Turkestan et de l'Ouzbékistan, Paris, éditions L'Harmattan, 2004. ISBN 2-7475-7017-7.
Further reading
- Dalen, Benno van (2007). "Ulugh Beg: Muḥammad Ṭaraghāy ibn Shāhrukh ibn Tīmūr". In Thomas Hockey; et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. pp. 1157–9. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)
External links
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- The observatory and memorial museum of Ulugbek
- Bukhara Ulugbek Madrasah
- Registan the heart of ancient Samarkand.
- Biography by School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St Andrews, Scotland
- Legacy of Ulug Beg