Timurid Empire (1370–1507)

Amir Timur founded the empire in 1370 and ruled until his death in 1405. At its height it covered today's Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, the South Caucasus and part of Anatolia.

Under his son Shah Rukh and grandson Ulugh Beg science and the arts flourished: Samarkand and Herat became among the most beautiful cities in the world, with observatories, madrasas and schools of miniature painting; Navoi was the poet of this age.

The empire fragmented at the end of the 15th century and ended in 1507 when the Shaybanids took Herat, while Timur's descendant Babur founded the Mughal Empire in India.