The late 15th and early 16th centuries saw a change of power in Transoxiana and Khurasan: the fragmented Timurids were replaced by the Shaybanids from the Dasht-i Kipchak, while the Timurid prince Babur left his homeland and founded a new empire in India. Under the Shaybanids the capital moved to Bukhara and the Khanate of Bukhara took shape, reaching its peak under Abdullah Khan II. The period also matters for the ethnic history of the Uzbeks: it was then that the name “Uzbek” spread widely in Transoxiana. Exams ask about battles, dates, the order of rulers and chains of cause and effect.
§1. The political situation in the Dasht-i Kipchak
The Dasht-i Kipchak is the vast steppe north of the Syr Darya, home to nomadic Uzbek clans (Kungrat, Mangit, Naiman, Kipchak and others).
Abulkhayr Khan (1428–1468) — founder of the state of the nomadic Uzbeks
Abulkhayr Khan united scattered tribes, took towns on the Syr Darya (Sygnak, Uzgend and others) and meddled in Timurid affairs.
His power weakened after a heavy defeat by the Kalmyks (Oirats) in 1457; after his death the state broke up.
Some tribes led by Janibek and Kerey split away and founded the Kazakh Khanate.
Abulkhayr Khan’s grandson Muhammad Shaybani Khan (1451–1510) served the Timurids in his youth, then gathered forces and marched south into Transoxiana.
Cause and effect: Timurid civil wars → weak central power → Shaybani Khan found Transoxiana easier to conquer.
§2. The struggle between Babur and Shaybani Khan
Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur (1483–1530), son of Umar Shaykh Mirza, ruler of Fergana, came to the throne in Andijan aged 12 (1494); he descended from Temur on his father’s side and from Genghis Khan on his mother’s.
1500 — Shaybani Khan took Samarkand; Babur briefly won it back
1501 — the Battle of Sar-i Pul: Babur was defeated and, after a siege, forced to leave Samarkand
In 1504 Babur took Kabul and established his power there.
In 1511, with help from Shah Ismail Safavi of Iran, he took Samarkand again but lost it in 1512. His alliance with Shi’ite Iran angered the people of Samarkand.
1526 — the Battle of Panipat: Babur defeated Sultan Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi and founded the Baburid (Mughal) state in India
Works: the “Baburnama” (a memoir-history in Old Uzbek), a lyrical divan, “Mubayyin” (a verse work on Islamic law) and a treatise on prosody; he invented the “Khatt-i Baburi” script.
The Baburid state in India lasted until the mid-19th century.
§3. The founding of the Shaybanid state
Shaybani Khan took Samarkand (1500), Tashkent and Fergana (1503–1504), Khwarezm (1505) and Herat (1507) — the Timurid state was finished.
1510 — the Battle of Merv: Shaybani Khan was killed fighting Shah Ismail Safavi of Iran
After his death the Safavids and Babur attacked Transoxiana.
1512 — the Battle of Ghijduvan: Ubaydullah Khan defeated the armies of the Safavids (Najm-i Sani) and Babur
Ghijduvan secured Shaybanid power in Transoxiana, and the Amu Darya became the rough border between Shaybanids and Safavids.
Under Ubaydullah Khan the capital moved to Bukhara, and the state became known as the Khanate of Bukhara.
Learning and culture continued under the Shaybanids: the historian Kamal al-Din Binai (“Shaybaninama”), Muhammad Salih (the poem “Shaybaninama”) and Hafiz Tanish Bukhari (“Abdullanama”).
§4. Abdullah Khan II and the rise of the Khanate of Bukhara
Abdullah Khan II (1583–1598; in practice he held power long before) — a period of centralisation and prosperity
The separatism of local rulers was crushed; Khurasan, Khwarezm, Fergana and Tashkent were brought under control.
A currency reform introduced a single silver coin, reviving trade.
Building: caravanserais, sardobas (domed cisterns), bridges, madrasas, irrigation ditches and canals; many of Bukhara’s buildings date from this time.
Government: the khan, the ataliq, the divanbegi and the qushbegi, with sultans and begs in the provinces; land was granted as suyurghal and tankho.
Diplomatic and trade ties with Russia were established.
After Abdullah Khan died (1598) his son Abd al-Mumin Khan was killed and the dynasty ended; the Ashtarkhanids (1601) came to power.
§5. The Arabshahids in Khwarezm
In 1511 the Arabshahid dynasty (Ilbars Khan), related to but rivals of the Shaybanids, seized power in Khwarezm.
Khwarezm thus became a state separate from Bukhara — later the Khanate of Khiva.
This marked the beginning of the age of the khanates, which lasted three centuries in Central Asia.
16th century: the Khanate of Bukhara (Shaybanids) and the Khanate of Khiva (Arabshahids)
§6. The significance of the period
The Timurid state fell and a new dynasty ruled Transoxiana, but cultural traditions were not broken — Timurid culture continued through the Shaybanids and the Baburids.
The Uzbek tribes of the Dasht-i Kipchak merged with the local Turkic-speaking population, and the name “Uzbek” spread widely in Transoxiana.
Sunni–Shi’ite rivalry with Safavid Iran cut Central Asia off from the west, which also contributed to the decline of Silk Road trade.
Babur carried Uzbek-Timurid culture to new ground in India.
§7. Architecture and society under the Shaybanids
Bukhara’s architecture: the Mir-i Arab madrasa in the Poi-Kalyan ensemble (1530s), the Kukeldash madrasa and the Abdullah Khan madrasa; the domed trading arcades — the toqs (Toqi Zargaron, Toqi Sarrofon and others) — made Bukhara a great commercial centre.
Urban life: bazaars, caravanserais and craft quarters; Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent traded with India, Iran and Russia.
Religious life: the shaykhs of the Naqshbandi order (for example the Juybari khojas) had great political influence and were major landowners.
Agriculture: irrigation networks were extended and new land brought under cultivation.
Conclusion: the Shaybanid period was not a decline but continued Timurid traditions and made Bukhara a new centre.
Worked example
Chronology: “Order the battles: Panipat; Sar-i Pul; Merv; Ghijduvan.”
Sar-i Pul — 1501.
Merv — 1510.
Ghijduvan — 1512.
Panipat — 1526.
Answer: Sar-i Pul → Merv → Ghijduvan → Panipat.
Worked example
Source analysis: “...the capital of the province of Fergana; at the age of twelve I became king here” (paraphrasing a work). What is the work, and who wrote it?
The author speaks of himself in the first person — a memoir.
Becoming ruler in Fergana (Andijan) at 12 points to Babur.
The work is the “Baburnama”, a memoir-history in Old Uzbek.
Answer: Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur, the “Baburnama”.
Worked example
Cause and effect: “Why could Babur not hold Samarkand after taking it in 1511?”
Babur took Samarkand with the help of the Shi’ite shah of Iran, Ismail Safavi.
Samarkand’s Sunni population and scholars resented this alliance.
The Shaybanids regrouped and counter-attacked in 1512; Ubaydullah Khan won at Ghijduvan.
Answer: without local support and facing a Shaybanid counter-attack, Babur lost Samarkand in 1512 and returned to Kabul.
Check yourself
Abulkhayr Khan founded which state?
Who was defeated at Sar-i Pul?
Fighting whom was Shaybani Khan killed?
In what year was the Battle of Panipat?
Who won the Battle of Ghijduvan?
What is a domed underground water cistern called?
Which dynasty came to power in Bukhara after the Shaybanids?
In what year did Babur take Kabul?
Common mistakes
Saying the Battle of Panipat was fought against Shaybani Khan (Babur fought Ibrahim Lodi).
Mixing up the results of Merv and Ghijduvan: Shaybani Khan died at Merv; Ubaydullah Khan won at Ghijduvan.
Confusing Abulkhayr Khan with Abdullah Khan II.
Thinking Babur never held Samarkand (he took it several times).
Assuming Khwarezm stayed in the Shaybanid state (from 1511 the Arabshahids ruled there).