Acknowledgements

Note on Transliteration and Style

Maps and Illustrations

Introduction

Chapter One. THE ROUTINIZATION OF CHARISMA: THE TIMURID PATRIMONIAL HOUSEHOLD STATE

Temür and the Weberian Concept of Charisma

The Limits of the Booty Economy

Timurid Origins and Chinggisid Custom

The Role of the Imperial Guard Corps (Keshik)

Tensions between Islamic Law and the Timurid Törä

The Military Ethos

The Patrimonial Household State

Corporate Sovereignty and Its Consequences

The Process of Transition

Chapter Two. FROM POLITICAL VAGABOND TO POTENTATE: THE CAREER OF SULTAN-HUSAIN BAYQARA

Lineage, Training, and Patrons

The Political Situation after the Death of Abu al-Qasim Babur

Marv and the First Period of Qazaqliq

Astarabad and the Second Period of Qazaqliq

The Third Period of Qazaqliq

The Conquest of Khorasan and Accession to the Throne of Herat

The Timurid Dual Administrative Structure

Chronological Summary of the Career of Sultan-Husain

Chapter Three. THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE: CENTRALIZING REFORMS AND THEIR OPPONENTS

Financial Pressures and Short-term Solutions

Symbolic Measures on Accession to the Throne

Professionalization of the Bureaucratic Administration

A Persian Bureaucrat Confronts the Turkic Military Elite

The Centralizing Reforms of Majd al-Din Muhammad

A Trial by the Yarghu Court in Late Timurid Iran

Continuing Problems in the Timurid Fisc

Chapter Four. THE SEARCH FOR LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS: KHORASAN AND THE AGRICULTURAL IMPERATIVE

Stating the Case for Agriculture: Timurid Mirrors for Princes

Khorasan and the Agriculture of the Herat Region

Agricultural Expansion and Hydraulic Construction

Sultan-Husain's Agricultural Interests: The Timurid Garden

Mirak-i Sayyid Ghiyas: Agronomist and Landscape Architect

Water Distribution and Record-keeping

A Medieval Management Accountant: Qasim b. Yusuf Abu Nasri

Career Opportunities for Accountants in Timurid Herat

Chapter Five. PIETY AND PRAGMATISM: THE ROLE OF THE ISLAMIC ENDOWMENT

Endowment Activity in Khorasan

Charitable and Family Endowments

Women as Donors: Establishing a Motive

The Economic Importance of Vaqf: The Debate Continues

A History of Maladministration

The Timurid Documentary Record

The Vaqfiyya of Mir 'Alishir Nav'ai

The Vaqfiyya of Afaq Begim

Financial Management of Endowments in Timurid Khorasan

Chapter Six. OF SAINTS AND SCRIBES: THE TIMURID SHRINE AS A VEHICLE FOR AGROMANAGEMENT

The Cult of Saints and the Visitation of Tombs in Medieval Iran

The Legitimating Function of Popular Shrines

Timurid Shrines as Vehicles for Agromanagement

The Shrines at Herat and Mashhad

A New Timurid Development Project: The 'Alid Shrine at Balkh

Legal Issues: The Privatization of State Land by Sultan-Husain

An Agrarian Success Story

Conclusion

Appendix One. SURVEY OF ENDOWMENT DEEDS FROM THE TIMURID PERIOD

Khorasan

Transoxiana

Appendix Two. A TIMURID DEED OF ENDOWMENT: THE VAQFIYYA OF AFAQ BEGIM, WIFE OF SULTAN-HUSAIN BAYQARA, FOR HER MAUSOLEUM IN HERAT

Description of the Document

Translation

Facsimile Edition

Appendix Three. AN EDICT OF SULTAN-ABU SA'ID CONCERNING THE GULISTAN DAM AT MASHHAD

Translation

Appendix Four. A DIPLOMA OF APPOINTMENT ISSUED BY SULTAN-HUSAIN FOR THE SUPERVISOR OF THE 'ALID SHRINE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT AT BALKH

Translation

Appendix Five. BILLS OF PURCHASE AND SALE RELATING TO THE PRIVATIZATION OF STATE LAND IN THE BALKH REGION BY SULTAN-HUSAIN

Translation

Bibliography

Index