Mirzo Ulug'bek

Mirzo Muhammad ibn Shahrukh ibn Timur Ulugh Beg Guragan (1394-1449) was a great astronomer and mathematician, a prominent scholar of his time, and a statesman who ruled Transoxiana from 1441 to 1449; he is considered the grandson of the great ruler and conqueror Amir Timur.

He was born during the siege of the Mordin fortress in Iraq during the conqueror's "five-year campaign" (1392-1396). Sharafuddin Ali Yazdi writes in his work "Zafarnoma" that a messenger arrived at Amir Timur's presence with the happy news of Ulugh Beg's birth and that astrologers had predicted that this grandson would be both a scholar and a ruler in the future. Out of joy, the conqueror stopped the siege of the Mordin fortress and canceled the payment imposed on its people. His naming of his grandson Muhammad Taragay Ulugh Beg can also be linked to the astrologers' prediction above.

Amir Timur paid special attention to Ulugh Beg's upbringing and involved him in affairs of state importance. According to Clavijo, Ulugh Beg participated in his grandfather's ceremonies for receiving foreign ambassadors. In the festivities held at Konigil in 1404, Amir Timur held wedding ceremonies for six of his grandsons (including Ulugh Beg). At the wedding, the conqueror granted Ulugh Beg Tashkent, Sayram, Yangi (modern Taraz), Ashpara, and Moghulistan up to the border of China as a suyurghal (fief). When Amir Timur died in Otrar, Ulugh Beg was also there. (A struggle for the throne began among the Timurids. The amirs did not allow Shahrukh's sons, returning from Otrar — Ulugh Beg and Ibrahim Sultan — into Samarkand, and they found refuge in Bukhara. Khalil Sultan had seized the Samarkand throne. Shahrukh, who was ruling Khorasan, assigned Ulugh Beg to rule first Andkhoy and Shibirghan, and later a part of Khorasan consisting of Tus, Khabushan, Kalat, Bovard, Nasa, Yazir, Sabzawar, and Nishapur. After Shahrukh brought Transoxiana under his control in 1410, he assigned it to Ulugh Beg along with the Turkestan region, thereby restoring the conqueror's will. Because Ulugh Beg was young (15 years old), Amir Shahmalik was appointed as his guardian. However, Shahmalik's rivals — Sheikh Nuriddin in Otrar and the governors of Muhammad Jahangir in Hisar — rose against Ulugh Beg and Shahmalik in the spring of 1410. In a battle held in the summer of that year with Shahrukh's participation, Shahmalik and Ulugh Beg were victorious. In September 1411, Shahrukh came to Samarkand, took Shahmalik with him to Herat, and later sent him to rule Khorezm (1413). From this time on, Ulugh Beg began to rule Transoxiana independently. Shahrukh had also allocated land to other Timurid princes in Transoxiana. For example, he gave Hisor-i Shadman as a fief to Muhammad Jahangir Mirzo, the son of Muhammad Sultan, and the Ozgand region as a fief to Amirak Ahmad, the son of Umarshaykh. However, they were subordinate to Ulugh Beg. In 1414-1415, a conflict arose between them, and Ulugh Beg marched against Amirak Ahmad and defeated him. Shahrukh called Amirak Ahmad to Khorasan; Kashgar also belonged to Ulugh Beg until 1428.

During his reign, Ulugh Beg carried out two major military campaigns. In the first, in 1425, when the Moghulistan khan Shermuhammad Oghlon (1421-25) declared himself an independent khan, Ulugh Beg campaigned against him and won a victory. Ulugh Beg's second campaign was toward the city of Sighnaq. The lower basin of the Syr Darya was under Ulugh Beg's control. In 1427, near Sighnaq, Ulugh Beg clashed with Baraq Oghlon, who threatened his lands, and suffered a defeat. The enemy pursued Ulugh Beg and reached the outskirts of Samarkand.

Because Transoxiana was left in danger, Shahrukh arrived from Khorasan with a large army and removed the threat.

After Shahrukh's death (March 12, 1447), Ulugh Beg's eldest son Abdullatif remained the successor as the Timurid ruler. But Shahrukh's firm wife, Gawharshad Begim, had her own opinion on this. She was in favor of placing Alaud-dawla Mirza, the son of the deceased's third son Baysunghur Mirza and her beloved grandson, on the throne of Herat, which had become the capital of the Timurids during Shahrukh's time. Gawharshad Begim's placing of Alaud-dawla on the Herat throne should have been viewed as a rebellion against Ulugh Beg. Therefore, in the spring of 1448, Ulugh Beg, together with Abdullatif, came to Khorasan with 90,000 soldiers and defeated Alaud-dawla in a battle near Herat. Although the victory was achieved thanks to Abdullatif's personal courage and military talent, Ulugh Beg announced the victory in the name of his younger son Abdulaziz. Furthermore, Ulugh Beg gave the Ikhtiyarruddin fortress in Herat and the wealth inside it, which had been bequeathed to Abdullatif by his grandfather Shahrukh, to Abdulaziz. After that, the relationship between Ulugh Beg and Abdullatif took on an openly hostile nature.

Ulugh Beg left Abdulaziz in Samarkand and marched with an army against his eldest son. Abdullatif also came to the banks of the Amu Darya with his army. Both armies stayed on the two banks of the river for a long time, not daring to cross it. In the meantime, Ulugh Beg, hearing the news that Abdulaziz's army was persecuting the families of the amirs, was forced to return to Samarkand and witnessed the city's population raising a rebellion against Abdulaziz. He quickly restored order in the city and headed again for battle against Abdullatif, but suffered a defeat from him near Samarkand.

Not long after, Ulugh Beg was executed by Abdullatif's order. His body was buried in the Gur-i Amir mausoleum (the old mausoleum of Amir Timur).

During his father Shahrukh's time, Ulugh Beg was relatively independent as a political ruler in matters of both domestic and foreign policy. He conducted direct trade and diplomatic relations with other countries. During Ulugh Beg's time, the city of Samarkand prospered even further. In the city, craftsmanship, architecture, literature, and science in general rose, and trade developed. Madrasas were built in Bukhara (1417), Samarkand (1420), Gijduvan (1432-1433), and charity institutions in Merv. Along with religious sciences, secular sciences were also taught in the madrasas, and more importance was given to exact sciences. The construction of the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, the Gur-i Amir mausoleum, and the Shah-i-Zinda and Registan complexes was completed. In addition, many public facilities (caravanserais), trading domes (tim), bazaars (chorsu), baths, and others were built in the country (about internal and foreign policy, diplomatic relations, monetary reforms, economic and cultural conditions in Transoxiana during Ulugh Beg's time, see Timurids).

Scientific and cultural heritage. Ulugh Beg brought the science and culture of the peoples of Central Asia to the highest peak of world science in medieval conditions. The greatest thing he did was to build the Samarkand scientific school — the academy of that time. More than 200 scholars worked in this scientific school. Among them, the greatest were Qazizoda Rumi and Ghiyath al-Din Jamshid al-Kashi. Ulugh Beg's scientific school was based on the scientific tradition started by famous Central Asian scholars such as Muhammad al-Khwarizmi, Ahmad al-Farghani, Abul Abbas al-Jawhari, Ibn Turk al-Khuttali, Khalid al-Marwarrudi, Ahmad al-Marwazi, Abu Nasr al-Farabi, and Abu Rayhan al-Biruni. Ulugh Beg built an observatory near Samarkand (the old Ulugh Beg Observatory).

The major scholar in Ulugh Beg's academy, Ali Qushji, is called by Ulugh Beg in the preface to his "Zij" (Astronomical Tables) as "farzandi arjumand," meaning "my dear son." In reality, he was a loyal student of Ulugh Beg and helped his master until the work on the "Zij" was finished.

Ulugh Beg built two madrasas in Samarkand: one as part of the Registan ensemble and the second as part of the Gur-i Amir ensemble. Among other major scholars, Ulugh Beg himself lectured in each of these madrasas once a week. He devoted his other time mostly to astronomical observations, working on the "Zij," and state affairs. (see the old Zij-i Gurkani).

Another mathematical work of Ulugh Beg is called "Risala-i Ulugh Beg," and one copy of it is kept in the library of Aligarh University in India, which has not yet been studied. Perhaps it is also related to computational mathematics.

Studying Ulugh Beg's legacy. Ulugh Beg's scientific legacy, which left an unfading mark on the history of science and culture, is his "Zij." This work was the most perfect of medieval astronomical works regarding the interpretation of planetary, solar, and lunar movements, the star catalog, and the mathematical methods used in it, so it first attracted the attention of scholars in Muslim countries. The first commentary on the "Zij" was written by Ulugh Beg's student Ali Qushji titled "Sharh-i Zij-i Ulugh Beg" ("Commentary on Ulugh Beg's Zij").

In the same 15th century, the Cairo astrologer Shams al-Din Muhammad as-Sufi al-Misri wrote a work titled "Tashil Zij-i Ulugh Beg" ("Facilitating Ulugh Beg's Zij"), in which he adapted Ulugh Beg's tables to the geographical latitude of Cairo. Al-Misri also referred to Ulugh Beg's "Zij" in his second work titled "Taqwim al-Kawakib as-Sab'a" ("Calendars of the Seven Planets") and "Jadawil al-Mahlul al-Thani 'ala Usul Ulugh Beg" ("Table of Second Solutions According to Ulugh Beg's Methods").

The Syrian scholar Zayn al-Din al-Jawhari as-Salihi (15th c.) revised Ulugh Beg's "Zij" in his work "Ad-Durr al-Nazil fi Tashil al-Taqwim" ("Pearls Descended on Simplifying the Calendar").

The most perfect commentary written on the "Zij" is the work "Sharh-i Zij-i Ulugh Beg," written and finished in 1523 by the last representative of the Samarkand scientific school, Nizam al-Din Abd al-Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Husayn Birjandi (died 1525). In his "Sharh," Birjandi explains with detailed and precise figures and unlocks the secrets of the "Zij." He explained and proved many of Ulugh Beg's sentences with diagrams.

Two great scholars of Samarkand — Qazizoda Rumi and Ali Qushji's grandson Miram Chalabi (died 1525) wrote a commentary on the "Zij" and called it "Dastur al-Amal wa Tashih al-Jadwal" ("Manual of Operations and Correction of Tables").

The Iranian scholar Ghiyath al-Din Mansur al-Husayni ash-Shirazi (died 1542) wrote a commentary on the "Zij" titled "Risala dar Ta'niq Zij-i Ulugh Beg" ("Treatise on Refining Ulugh Beg's Zij").

A number of Muslim scholars of the second half of the 16th century and the 17th-18th centuries wrote commentaries on the "Zij" and adapted it to their own times and places. Among them are commentaries by scholars such as the Syrian Taqiy al-Din ash-Shami (1526-1585), Mazhar al-Din al-Qari (16th c.), the Egyptian Abd al-Qadir al-Manufi ash-Shafi (16th c.), the Iranian Shah Fathullah Shirazi (died 1589), Muhammad Baqir al-Yazdi (died 1637), the Indian Farid al-Din Dehlavi (died 1629), the Turk Muhammad Chalabi (died 1640), the Egyptian Ridwan ar-Razzaq al-Misri (died 1710), and the Daghestani Damadon al-Muhiy (died 1718).

Among these, the activity of the Indian statesman and scholar Sawai Jai Singh holds a special place. By the decree of the Indian Mughal Sultan Muhammad Shah (1719-1748), based on the descriptions of the equipment in Ulugh Beg's observatory, he built observatories in Delhi, Banaras, Jaipur, Ujjain, and Mathura. Later, he wrote the work "Zij-i Muhammad Shahi" dedicated to the sultan he patronized, in which he accepted some of Ulugh Beg's tables as they were. Qori Niyazi and G. Sobirov from Dushanbe showed the connection between Sawai Jai Singh's work and Ulugh Beg's "Zij" in their work.

Ulugh Beg's name became known in Europe and Western countries much earlier thanks to the fame of his great grandfather Amir Timur. Europeans first heard about Amir Timur and his family members from the Spanish ambassador Ruy González de Clavijo, who traveled to Samarkand in 1403-1405. After Clavijo's "Diaries" were published in Seville in 1582 and in Paris in 1607, Europeans immediately became interested in Amir Timur and his family members. Ulugh Beg's name has been mentioned in dramatic works dedicated to Amir Timur since the beginning of the 17th century (from 1601).

The first publication in Europe directly dedicated to Ulugh Beg is by the English astronomer John Greaves (1602-1652). In his work published in 1648, a part of Ulugh Beg's star table (98 stars) was included. In 1665, another English scholar Thomas Hyde (1636-1703), without being connected to Greaves, published the star table in the "Zij" in Persian and Latin translation.

In the "Atlas of the Starry Sky" published by the Polish astronomer Jan Hevelius in Gdansk in 1690, Ulugh Beg was given an honorable place among the famous astronomers of that time, in which he compared Ulugh Beg's star table with those of Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe, Riccioli, Wilhelm IV, and his own. In 1711, Ulugh Beg's geographical table was published 3 times in Oxford. In 1807, this table was also published in New Greek there. In 1725, the English astronomer D. Flamsteed (1646-1719) and in 1767 the Englishman G. Sharp republished the T. Hyde edition of Ulugh Beg's star table. In 1843, the Englishman F. Baily (1774-1844) further improved this edition and carried out 3 editions. The French orientalist L.A. Sédillot (1808-1876) published a part of the astronomical tables of Ulugh Beg's "Zij" in 1839. In 1917, the American scholar E.B. Knobel published a critical text of the star table in Ulugh Beg's "Zij" based on 27 manuscripts, and in 1927, K. Schoy published the trigonometric table of the "Zij." Ulugh Beg's "Zij" also had a special history in Russia and the former Soviet Union. In the first half of the 18th century, Ulugh Beg's "Zij" was under special discussion at the Petersburg Academy, and scholars J.N. Delisle (1688-1768) and G.Ya. Ker began its translation, but the work was not finished.

After V.L. Vyatkin excavated the ruins of Ulugh Beg's observatory and its main instrument — the quadrant — in 1908-1909, interest in the activities of Samarkand scholars began anew. As a result, V.V. Barthold's work "Ulugh Beg and His Time" was published in 1918.

In the Soviet era, Qori Niyazi made great efforts to introduce Ulugh Beg's life and work to the country's public. The publications of G. Jalolov and V.P. Shcheglov are also noteworthy in promoting Ulugh Beg's work. By the beginning of the 80s of the 20th century, A. Akhmedov carried out and published a complete and perfect translation of Ulugh Beg's "Zij," provided with scientific commentary, in 1994.

Until recent years, Ulugh Beg was considered only as an astronomer and mathematician. But at the end of the 20th century, it was determined that his work was multifaceted and that he also wrote in the fields of history, poetry, and music.

The historian Mirzo Muhammad Haydar wrote in his work "Tarikh-i Rashidi": "Mirzo Ulugh Beg was a historian-sage and also left behind the history of the 'Four Ulus'." Ulugh Beg's work written in Turkic, "Tarikh-i Arba' Ulus" ("History of the Four Ulus"), is an important source for studying the political life of the countries conquered by Genghis Khan in the first half of the 13th-14th centuries.

The following couplet belonging to Ulugh Beg was found in one of the buildings in Mashhad:

Harchand mulki husn ba zari nigin tust sho'xi makun ki chashmi bidon dar kamintust.

Meaning: Even though the kingdom of beauty is under your rule, do not be playful, for you are under its gaze.

Samples of his poems are also given in Navoi's "Majalis an-Nafais" and Abu Tahirkhoja's "Samariya." During his time, many works were translated from Arabic and Persian into Old Uzbek. In the rich library established by Ulugh Beg, there were more than 15,000 volumes of books on various sciences.

Alisher Navoi honored Ulugh Beg in his work "Khamsa" by writing:

Mirzo Ulugh Beg from Timurkhan's lineage,

The world has not seen a sultan like him,

People of the time do not remember him,

His kind has perished.

But when he reached out to the science of that sky,

The sky became low before his eyes.

The observatory he built is the ornament of the world,

It is another sky within the world,

Knowing this new science of the sky,

He wrote the "Zij-i Gurkani" from it.

According to authors of the distant and near past (Darvishali Changi, Fitrat, and others), Ulugh Beg learned the science of music along with other sciences from a young age, created a series of melodies and rhythms, and also wrote a treatise on this field.

The 600th anniversary of Ulugh Beg's birth was celebrated ceremonially in Paris in April 1994, and in Tashkent and Samarkand in October, and international conferences were held. In the same year, a statue of Ulugh Beg was erected in Tashkent.

Ulugh Beg's image has taken its place among the portraits of world-famous scientists in the Pulkovo Observatory and the Moscow University conference halls. A memorial museum of Ulugh Beg has been organized in Samarkand. In Tashkent, the National University of Uzbekistan, a district, a planetarium, a street, a neighborhood, a metro station, a park, and a town are named after Ulugh Beg. The scholar's name has also been given to the Fergana Pedagogical University, the Samarkand Architectural Construction Institute, the Kitab International Latitude Station, villages, schools, and others.

Plays (M. Shaykhzoda, "Mirzo Ulugh Beg" tragedy), novels (O. Yaqubov, "Ulugh Beg's Treasure"; S. Borodin, "Stars in the Samarkand Sky"), operas (A. Kozlovsky, "Ulugh Beg"), poems (M. Boboyev, "Ulugh Beg"), ballets (M. Bafoyev, "Ulugh Beg's Constellation"), films (Director Latif Fayziyev, "Ulugh Beg's Star," 1965), and other works have been created about Ulugh Beg's life and work.