The great Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi was only eight years old when Ulugbek was killed near Samarkand. In his youth, Navoi went to Samarkand, because the fame of this city of scientists was booming, where the memories of the great Samarkand astronomer were still fresh. Here is what Navoi wrote about Ulugbek:
«Sultan Ulugbek, a descendant of Khan Timur, was a king the like of whom the world had never known before.
All his relatives have gone into oblivion. Who remembers them nowadays? But he, Ulugbek, extended his hand to the sciences and achieved a lot. Before his eyes, the sky became close and sank down.
Until the end of the world, people of all times will copy laws and rules from his laws» (Navoi was referring to the laws of motion of celestial bodies, which Ulugbek devoted his life to studying).
This is how the great poet predicted immortality in the memory of people to the great scientist.
How did the life of Timurov’s grandson develop and how could he, the heir of a formidable conqueror, gain fame as a scientist and astronomer?
Following the historians, we will tell you briefly about the life of Ulugbek. Military campaigns in those days lasted for years. Timur’s wives and children usually followed him to distant lands with a wagon train. On March 22, 1394, in such a military convoy, Timur’s third son, Shahrukh, and his young wife, Gauhar-Shad-aga, had a boy. The newborn was named Mohammed-Taragai.
Later, during his grandfather’s lifetime, the boy was called the «great bey» (emir). The nickname Ulugbek, i.e. big, great bey, stuck with the boy for the rest of his life.
Timur was attentive to the upbringing of his grandchildren. Obviously, he wanted at least to find a worthy successor in his grandchildren. The cruel conqueror and organizer of a huge empire did not find anyone worthy among his sons.
Timur ordered Shah Rukh to hand over his newborn son to his grandmother Sarai-Mulk-khanim for upbringing. It was in the customs of Timur’s court.
And so little Mohammed began to wander with his grandmother with his grandfather’s military wagons. He visited Armenia, when his grandfather opposed the formidable Sultan Bayazet, and Afghanistan, accompanying his grandfather on his campaign against India.
Apparently, Timur loved his grandson very much and took care of him. A court historian wrote as follows: «It was difficult for Timur to part with his beloved grandson, but he was afraid that the hot climate of India would be harmful to the boy.»
A four-year-old boy and his grandmother were abandoned in Kabul. It is known that Ulugbek, about five years old, met his grandfather, who was returning from an Indian campaign, called Tamerlane by the Russians. At the end of March 1399, a magnificent camp was set up on the flat bank of a huge and muddy river. Sarai-Mulk-khanim brought a five-year-old boy to Timur here. Ulugbek remembered his meeting with his grandfather on the banks of the Amu Darya and his wintering in Armenia for the rest of his life.
Timur’s little grandchildren, at the behest of their grandfather, took part in the solemn receptions of foreign ambassadors. It is quite possible that it was Ulugbek who accepted the credentials of King Henrique from the hands of the Castilian ambassador Clavijo for transfer into the hands of his grandfather. This was the custom of those times, and the ten-year-old Ulugbek probably attended the reception of ambassadors from distant Castile. Undoubtedly, before his death, the decrepit Timur was thinking about the future role of his beloved grandson. True, he did not appoint him as his heir, but Timur did not part with Ulugbek until the end of his days.
Ulugbek was with Timur’s army, which marched on China, when Timur Leng (Iron Chrome) died on February 18, 1405 in Otrar (on the Syr Darya).
Immediately after Timur’s death, civil strife began. None of the Timurids wanted to submit to Pir Muhammad, whom Timur appointed as his successor. Samarkand was seized by Khalil Sultan’s force. Shahrukh, Timur’s son, took refuge in Herat. Eleven-year-old Ulugbek was taken to Bukhara by his guardian and mentor Shah Malik.
For four years, Shah Rukh and Shah Malik (on behalf of Ulugbek) fought with Khalil Sultan. In all the campaigns and battles, Ulugbek, who was growing up, was with the army.
Finally, in 1409, when Ulugbek was fifteen years old, Shah Rukh defeated his rivals, seized Timur’s legacy and retired to Herat, and declared his eldest son Ulugbek ruler of Samarkand. But only two years after his accession to Samarkand, Ulugbek was able to get rid of the guardianship of the imperious Shah Malik.
It is unlikely that Shah Malik, this stern warrior (guardian and mentor), could have encouraged Ulugbek’s desire for science. On the contrary, everything was aimed at fostering in little Mohammed a love for military campaigns, for military glory, and for diplomatic art. Everyone tried to convince Ulugbek that it was up to him, Timur’s beloved grandson, to defend the empire created by his great grandfather from the Mongols and nomadic Uzbeks. Timur’s associates, who surrounded Ulugbek, were still raving about military glory and hopes for easy enrichment. The young ruler of Samarkand could not (and at first, perhaps, did not want to) resist his entourage. Indeed, in the early years of his reign, Ulugbek undertook a number of military campaigns, breaking away from his studies.
Court flatterers tried to keep Ulugbek’s warlike spirit alive. To this day, in the Jizzakh gorge (this gorge is called the «Tamerlane Gate») an inscription carved on the rock has been preserved, which reports on the campaign of Ulugbek in 1425.:
«With the help of the Lord God, the great Sultan, the conqueror of kings and peoples, the shadow of God on earth, the pillar of the divine law, Ulugbek (may God prolong the time of his reign!) he undertook a campaign to the land of the Mongols and returned from that people unharmed.» The results of the campaign are not mentioned in this inscription.
In 1427, Ulugbek launched a campaign to the north against the nomads. This campaign ended with the defeat of Ulugbek. Shah Rukh very reluctantly forgave his son for his military failure and almost deprived him of the Samarkand governorship. Since that time, Ulugbek has significantly cooled down to the glory of the warrior, passionately devoted himself to scientific pursuits and began the construction of an astronomical observatory.