ISSN:
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2025
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«MODERN SCIENCE АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 4 / ISSUE 4 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
208
FROM THE HISTORY OF MIGRATION PROCESSES DURING THE REIGN OF AMIR
TEMUR
Maxmudov Uktamjon Mukhsinjon ugli
Teacher at Fergana medical institute of public health “Social sciences” department.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15164503
Abstract
. This article provides some information about the resettlement of some peoples
and individuals from one region to another during the reign of Amir Temur. It also presents ideas
and considerations about the nature of these resettlement and the goals pursued.
Keywords
: Amir Temur, migration, relocation, Indian, forced migration, voluntary
migration, cultural migration, military campaigns, repatriation.
ИЗ
ИСТОРИИ МИГРАЦИОННЫХ ПРОЦЕССОВ ВО ВРЕМЯ ПРАВЛЕНИЯ АМИРА
ТЕМУРА
Аннотация.
В статье приводятся некоторые сведения о переселении некоторых
народов и отдельных лиц из одного региона в другой во время правления Амира Темура. В
ней также излагаются идеи и соображения о характере этих переселений и
преследуемых целях.
Ключевые слова:
Амир Темур, миграция, переселение, индиец, вынужденная
миграция, добровольная миграция, культурная миграция, военные походы, репатриация.
Population migration is a continuous process that has been occurring in human history
since ancient times. In particular, in the Middle Ages, there were many cases of people moving
from one place to another. Even during the reign of Amir Temur, individual and collective
population relocation operations between the territories under his control, carried out directly by
Temur or by princes and his servants, are noticeable. The general nature of these processes is so
complex that a clear classification does not always correspond to today's standards. For example,
today's mass labor and educational migrations occurred only in isolated cases in the Middle
Ages.
During the reign of Amir Temur (from the middle of the 14th century), large-scale
migration took place in Transoxiana. These actions were mainly aimed at making changes in the
military, economic, cultural, social and political life of the Timurid state.
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2025
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VOLUME 4 / ISSUE 4 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
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Through this policy, Timurid managed to strengthen the army and establish a centralized
state, elevate his state economically and culturally, and finally create the foundation of the
Renaissance of his time, change the social life of the tribes by moving them, develop trade, and
of course, end political instability in a certain region and stabilize it in certain countries.
According to the reasons for these migrations, they had a forced and voluntary nature.
While forced relocation was based on military, economic, cultural and political factors,
voluntary migrations were mainly dependent on social factors.
One of the main factors of the forced migration of the Timurid state was military
campaigns. One of the most important features of the Timurid empire was the forced migration
of peoples after his military campaigns. For example, in 1402, after the defeat of Yildirim
Bayazid, Timurid's troops advanced even further, conquering the city of Izmir. During these
campaigns, he captured the Nasibin fortress and ordered the governor of the fortress to "Move
with your home and people!" [1;239]
The Zafarnoma reports that Amir Timurid captured Baghdad in 1401 and, after
plundering the city, moved a significant part of the population to Samarkand. He did the same
after his campaigns in Persia, Damascus, and Syria, where those who survived his military
campaigns were sent to important centers of the Timurid empire, in particular, Samarkand and
Herat. For example, he sent famous physicians Mevlana Jamoliddin and Mevlana Sulayman
from Damascus, and Mevlana Fazlullah Tabrizi (Temur's personal physician) from Tabriz to
Samarkand with their troops. The need to relocate the population from the conquered lands was
not only to use them as a labor force in the huge construction works taking place in Samarkand,
but also to weaken the resistance in the region. In addition, Amir Temur may have used the
prisoners as a "human wall". Because it is possible that the Indian troops had war elephants and
wanted to use these prisoners against them. In addition, it is clear that providing so many
prisoners with food and keeping them under control would have been difficult. In this case,
Temur would not have transported such a large number of prisoners without a clear purpose. In
1398, during the campaign to India, Timur's beks took Indians captive from the forts along the
way. When they reached the Luni fortress, the beks complained to Amir Timur: "Up to this point,
Indians from every province have gathered in our army, more than a hundred thousand of them,
and they are all enemies with us, and they are unreliable. Perhaps on the day of war, they will
flee.
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VOLUME 4 / ISSUE 4 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
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And on that day, Mallukhan escaped from the city and fought near Jahangushoy, and the
Indians had great joy that day." [1:205, 206] Hearing this news, Timur ordered the execution of
these captives.
Due to political instability, unrest, and decline in the neighboring states of Transoxiana,
many scientific thinkers and artists from cities such as Samarkand and Bukhara, which were
centers of science and culture, came to Transoxiana, to the scientific centers under Timur's rule.
This process, in turn, contributed greatly to the cultural development of Transoxiana.
The Zafarnama, written by the Persian historian Sharafuddin Ali Yazdi, is one of the most
important sources on Timur's life and campaigns. Yazdi provides ample information about
Timur's military conquests and the subsequent displacement of invading peoples to strengthen
the empire and increase the population. These deportations often included the movement of
skilled workers, soldiers, craftsmen, and engineers to rebuild cities and strengthen military
fortresses. In 1398, Timur's troops sacked Delhi, killing thousands and deporting thousands
more, who were sent to Samarkand to work in the empire. "Shahmalikbek and Ali Sultan
Tawachi went with five hundred excellent men and captured and killed those infidels. That day
they plundered Delhi and captured the Bulgan people. And there were many Indian craftsmen.
So it was decided: "Let those Indian craftsmen be distributed among the princes and
brothers!" And it was in the blessed heart of the king that he should build a mosque in
Samarkand. So it was decided: "Let every Indian, the carpenter, be kept for the sake of the
Khossa!"" [209]. After Timur returned from this campaign, he used these craftsmen to build the
Jame Mosque in Samarkand.
Historian Ibn Arabshah's Ajayib al-Maqdur wa fi tarikhi Timur is an important source for
understanding Timur's military strategies and the social consequences of his reign. Ibn Arabshah
is critical of Timur's cruelty, particularly his treatment of the conquered population.
"Timur took from Damascus the virtuous, the skilled, and the skilled craftsmen of all
trades - weavers, tailors, blacksmiths, carpenters, hat makers, horsemen (herdsmen), tentmakers,
painters, bow makers, falconers - in short, all kinds of craftsmen. As mentioned, he also gathered
the blacks. Timur divided these categories among his army commanders and ordered them to be
transported to Samarkand" [3:246]. Ibn Arabshah in this work provides information about
voluntary and forced deportations of individuals.
During the return of Amir Temur from the Indian campaign, one of his generals,
Sulaymanshahbek, was ordered to rebuild the Nagar fortress in what is now Afghanistan.
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He moved 400 Uzbek tribes from the Dashti-Kipchak to this fortress. The following
information is given in the Zafarnama about this: “On Saturday, the sixth of the month
(14.03.1399), the work was done, and on Monday (16.03.1399) the prayer was finished in
another place, and the fortress was finished. And I made a great effort, the beks themselves
carried bricks and mud. When the fortress was finished, the emirzade Pir Muhammad’s servants
(Nusrat) Qimari, three hundred men (from his own army) and three sons, who were from the
lineage of Juchi Khan, the greatest of them all was Yaruq Uglon, and four hundred Uzbeks from
the families of the families of the descendants of Juchi Khan, he placed there.” [1:219]
These Uzbeks from the Qipchak steppe that were transferred were probably the peoples
deported by Amir Temur after his complete defeat of Tokhtamysh Khan. Because, in the
"Zafarnama" it is said that after the battle with Tokhtamysh Khan, he captured the fortresses
belonging to him one by one and took most of the Muslim population captive. "So after
Tokhtamysh Khan fled, I had a blessed thought in my heart, that I would make all the then states
and provinces exclusive and subdue whoever there was an ethnic group. With this intention, he
attacked the ethnic groups belonging to Joji Khan. He entered the steppes and deserts. So when
he reached the Dnieper River, he was in the Minkerman region (Mingkurgan) where Bek Yorug
and some Uzbeks lived, and he defeated them and subdued many more." It is also reported that
when the city of Saray was captured, the population was deported, and the city was destroyed
and set on fire. [1:178]
In addition, there were "black Tatar" groups in Rum who had joined Khulaku Khan and
were living there as "sarkash" without paying tribute. Amir Temur intended to relocate these
people to Samarkand, numbering 30-40 thousand households (in Nizamiddin Shami's
"Zafarnama" it is given as a thousand households) [2;355], and later to send them to their
homeland, Mongolia. Shahrukh and Sultan Husayn were ordered to take them under strict guard
so that none of them could escape. He also ordered them to be delivered to their destination
without harming their property and life, and to be exempted from taxes and any other payments.
They were divided into groups and handed over to the beks. Through this repatriation, Amir
Temur, on the one hand, wants to sort out the political situation in the country. That is, these
peoples have great power and do not obey the local government. On the other hand, Amir Temur
treats them well and allows them to return to their former homeland, which these peoples
perceive as a favor, not an order.
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In our opinion, considering that this event took place in 1403, it is possible to express the
possibility that Amir Temur intended to use them in the upcoming Chinese campaign. Because,
Temur had previously ordered Ulugbek Mirza and Shahmalik to build fortresses and prepare
pastures in Mongolia and adjacent territories for this campaign. From this point of view, this
relocation could also play an important role in the Chinese plan as a military and labor force in
future destinations.
According to the Zafarnama, after Timur captured the Kartin fortress in Georgia, he gave
it to a man named Muhammad Turan from Khorasan. First of all, he settled "a group of Khorasan
people" there in order to establish Islam, maintain order, and create a base.
The sources also contain valuable information about the resettlement of ordinary people.
For example, Rui Gonzalez de Clavijo's "Journey to Samarkand - Amir Temur's Palace,
"Diary"" provides the following information about Temur's policy of population relocation from
Khorasan to Samarkand: "The king assigned guards to the boats, and a large toll was collected
from those who passed by. There is a reason why such a group of guards was placed on the
riverbank. In order to increase the population of the Samarkand Sultanate and increase his rank,
Temurbek brought many captives from all the countries he conquered. The guards guarded the
riverbank so that these captives would not escape to their own countries. Even ambassadors saw
that those who acted on the orders of the king captured orphans and poor widows wandering
homeless in Iran and Khorasan and sent them to Samarkand. They led cows in the fields, herded
sheep and goats Whoever was seen driving was brought, and the local governors provided them
with food according to the king's order. Thus, Temurbek drove at least one hundred thousand
people to Samarkand."[4:143.]
In all his military campaigns, Amir Temur often took captives with him. Sometimes he
distributed girls and children to the beks, sometimes he sent them to Samarkand. In some cases,
however, when enemy beks or rulers took family members captive, they showed mercy and
provided them with food and horses and sent them to their masters. Some captured warriors or
commanders even entered Timur's service. However, there is often little information in the
sources about the fate of those taken captive with them.
REFERENCES
1.
Sharafuddin Ali Yazdiy. Zafarnoma. T.: Sharq, 1997.
2.
Nizomiddin Shomiy. Zafarnoma. T.: Fan, 2019.
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«MODERN SCIENCE АND RESEARCH»
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3.
Ibn Arabshoh. Ajoyib al-maqdur fi tarixi Taymur. Temur tarixida taqdir ajoyibotlari. So‘z
boshi, arab tilidan tarjima va izohlarni Ubaydulla Uvatov tayyorlagan. 1-kitob. T.: Mehnat,
1992.
4.
R.G.de.Klavixo Samarqandga
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Эгамбердиева, Т., & Махмудов, О. (2023). По вопросам сотрудничества республики
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Актуальные проблемы истории Узбекистана
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https://inlibrary.uz/index.php/history-of-uzbekistan/article/view/16555
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