Iran from the Muzaffarids to the Timurids and Turkmen: overlapping dynasties

The frame

The row gathers dynasties that the Met's timeline lists side by side: the Muzaffarid dynasty in the south, ca. 1340-1393; Jalayirid rule in the northwest, ca. 1360-1406; Timurid rule from 1389; the Qara Quyunlu dynasty, 1406-1469; and the Aq Quyunlu dynasty, 1469-1508. Timur (r. 1370-1405), the Turko-Mongolian ruler established in Central Asia, enters Iran in 1380, and his descendants continue to rule over Iran and Transoxiana and become leading patrons of Islamic art; their rule is based first in Samarqand and later in Herat. Sources 1, 2.

Boundaries and overlaps

The Met's two pages disagree on the end of the Timurids: the page for 1000-1400 lists "Timurid rule, 1389-1501", the page for 1400-1600 "Timurid dynasty, 1389-1508"; the row keeps both, as 1501/1508. The Qara Quyunlu and Aq Quyunlu also have two ranges each on the second page (1351-1469 and 1378-1508 in the text, 1406-1469 and 1469-1508 in the list). The row ends with the Safavids: in 1501 Isma'il is crowned in Tabriz as the first Safavid shah, and within ten years all of Iran is united under the Safavid dynasty (1501-1722). There is no boundary at 1516 here: on this site that year ends the Middle Ages in the Levant scheme, not this row. At its start the row overlaps the Ilkhanid dynasty, which the Met lists to 1353. Sources 1, 2.

On this site

Two items, both commissions of the reign of the Qara Quyunlu ruler Jahanshah: "The Blue Mosque in Tabriz: a commission of Jahanshah's reign" (1465) and "The Darb-i Imam in Isfahan: building beyond the capital" (1453-54), both noted by the Met for their tile decoration. No item on this site yet represents the Muzaffarids, the Jalayirids, the Timurids or the Aq Quyunlu. Source 2.