APersonIndependent states
Ulugh Beg
Timur's grandson, a ruler and great astronomer (1394–1449) who built the Samarkand observatory.
Ulugh Beg (born Muhammad Taraghay) was the son of Timur's son Shah Rukh, who gave him Samarkand, which he governed for about forty years.
One of the greatest astronomers of his age, he built the Samarkand observatory in 1424–1429 and compiled the Zij-i Sultani star catalogue, also working on trigonometry and spherical geometry; he knew Arabic, Persian, Turkic and Mongolian.
He built madrasas in Samarkand and Bukhara, including the Ulugh Beg Madrasa on the Registan. In 1449 he was murdered on his own son's orders and lies beside his grandfather Timur in the Gur-e-Amir.
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Updated: October 3, 2026