Editing Uzbeks (section)

=== Rule of Timur and Timurids ===
[[File:Teymur.jpg|thumb|upright|Timur feasts in [[Samarkand]]]]

In the early 14th century, however, as the empire began to break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory also was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal chieftain, [[Timur]] (Tamerlane), emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Mawarannahr. Although he was not a descendant of Genghis, Timur became the de facto ruler of Mawarannahr and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, the [[Caucasus]], Asia Minor, and the southern steppe region north of the [[Aral Sea]]. He also invaded Russia before dying during an invasion of China in 1405.<ref name=rt/>
[[File:Ulugh Beg with ladies of his harem and retainers, Timurid 1425-50.jpg|thumb|[[Ulugbeg]] with ladies of his harem and retainers, 1425–1450]]
Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering in his capital, Samarkand, numerous artisans and scholars from the lands he had conquered. By supporting such people, Timur imbued his empire with a very rich Perso-Islamic culture. During Timur's reign and the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction projects were undertaken in Samarkand and other population centers. Timur also patronized scientists and artists; his grandson [[Ulugh Beg]] was one of the world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that Turkic, in the form of the [[Chaghatai dialect]], became a [[literary language]] in its own right in Mawarannahr, although the Timurids were Persianate in nature. The greatest Chaghataid writer, [[Ali Shir Nava'i]], was active in the city of [[Herat]], now in northwestern Afghanistan, in the second half of the 15th century.<ref name=rt/>

The Timurids supported the development of literature in the Turkic language. In 1398, Timur's son Miranshah ordered to draw up an official document in the Turkic language in the Uyghur script.<ref>Matsui, Dai, Ryoko WATABE, and Hiroshi Ono. «A Turkic-Persian Decree of Timurid Mīrān Šāh of 800 AH/1398 CE.» Orient 50 (2015): 53–75.</ref>

Timur's grandson Iskandar Sultan had a court that included a group of poets, for example, Mir Khaidar, whom Iskandar encouraged to write poetry in the Turkic language. Thanks to the patronage of Iskandar Sultan, the Turkic poem "Gul and Navruz" was written.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/eskandar-soltan|title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=2021-02-15|archive-date=2021-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415024737/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/eskandar-soltan|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Timurid state quickly broke into two halves after the death of Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the attention of the [[Fergana Kipchak language|Eastern Kipchak-speaking]] nomadic tribes called [[Uzbek tribes|Taza Uzbeks]] who were living to the north of the Aral Sea. In 1501, the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion of Mawarannahr.<ref name=rt/> Under the leadership of [[Muhammad Shaybani]], the Uzbeks conquered the key cities of [[Samarkand]] and [[Herat]] in 1505 and 1507, respectively, and founded the [[Khanate of Bukhara]].