Social and Political Transformations in the Timurid Period, with a Focus on the Structure of Power under Shāhrukh Mirzā

Abstract

The Timurid period, particularly during the reign of Shāhrukh Mirzā, was marked by a profound transformation in the understanding and exercise of power. In the historiography of the Timurid dynasty, Timur is commonly depicted as the founder of a militaristic and authoritarian form of rule, one that relied on continuous and often ruthless conquests to establish a conception of sovereignty grounded in coercion and personal authority. However, with the accession of Shāhrukh Mirzā to power, a more nuanced perception of the tension between physical and symbolic forms of power emerged, prompting a shift in the structure of governance from predominantly military models toward bureaucracy, institutionalization, and cultural rationality. The principal objective of this study is to demonstrate how, during the reign of Shāhrukh Mirzā, power evolved from a physical and person-centered phenomenon into a structured, rational, and institution-based system, and was subsequently redefined as a cultural and intellectual construct. Employing a descriptive–analytical methodology and drawing on library-based sources, court historiographies, administrative records, and the cultural and architectural productions of the period, this research offers a renewed examination of transformations in power within the Timurid political order. The findings indicate that under Shāhrukh Mirzā, the model of governance shifted from an emphasis on military dominance toward bureaucratic administration and the active participation of cultural and religious elites. Furthermore, the role of women—most notably exemplified by Gawhar Shād Begum—attained a level of managerial and political influence that can be understood as a reconfiguration, and indeed a reconstruction, of prevailing forms of governance. Ultimately, by foregrounding knowledge and culture, Shāhrukh Mirzā relocated power from the realm of coercion to that of thought, rendering it a rational, meaning-laden, and structured phenomenon.