Editing History of Uzbekistan (section)

== Timur and Timurids==
{{See also|Timurid Empire|Timurid dynasty|Timurid Renaissance}}[[File:Teymur.jpg|[[Timur]] feasts in [[Samarkand]]|thumb|upright|left]]
In the early fourteenth century, however, as the empire began to break up into its constituent parts, the [[Chagatai Khanate|Chaghtai]] 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, 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:Timur Empire.jpg|thumb|273x273px|Map of [[Timurid dynasty]] (1370–1506)]]
Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering in his capital, Samarqand, 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 Samarqand 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 fifteenth century.<ref name=rt/>

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 [[Uzbek people|Uzbek]] nomadic tribes living to the north of the Aral Sea. In 1501 the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion of Mawarannahr.<ref name=rt/>