Corruption and abuse of power in the Timurids

The Timurids, founded by Emir Timur in the last quarter of the 14th century, emerged as one of the most powerful and important states of the Middle Ages. Redrawing the political map from Central Asia to Anatolia, the Timurids achieved significant successes in a short time and ruled over vast territories. The Timurids achieved great successes in many areas, including politics, economics, military, and culture. However, as with every great state, problems began to emerge in various areas of the Timurid Empire after a certain period of time. One of the major problems that arose in the Timurid Empire was corruption and abuse of power. The main problem of this study emerged in this direction. The main problem of this study is how corruption and abuse of power affected the future of the Timurid Empire. Abuse of power negatively affected the Timurid Empire in many areas, including politics, economics, society, and culture, contributing to the weakening and collapse of the empire. Financial irregularities and abuse of authority occurred in almost every period of the Timurid Empire. It is possible to see that such cases occurred less frequently during the reign of Shahruh than in other periods. However, when compared to the reigns of other Timurid sultans, the phenomenon of abuse of power reached its peak during the reign of Husayn Baykara. We see that many factors were at play in this situation, but the most important ones were the decline of the Timurid Empire from its former power and the weakening of central authority and public order. The Timurid sultans personally fought against corruption such as bribery and embezzlement. The Timurid sultans took various measures in different periods to prevent these actions. Sources indicate that reform efforts were undertaken in some periods to prevent these actions. We see that the Timurid sultans took this crime very seriously and conducted investigations themselves. A financial control system was established to prevent the actions mentioned in the Timurids, and state officials and various institutions were frequently audited. As examined in detail in the study, numerous measures were taken to prevent these abuses. However, despite the measures taken during different periods of the Timurids, these crimes could never be completely prevented. There were institutions and individuals responsible for corruption and abuse of power in the Timurids. The Divan-ı Büzürg, Divan-ı Mal, Divan-ı Ala, and Provincial Divans emerged as the institutions responsible for preventing and investigating these omissions and punishing those responsible. Timurid sultans, mirzas, viziers, emirs, and judges appear as state administrators responsible for abuses of power. This study uses the survey-compilation method, one of the qualitative research methods. In addition, events are addressed comparatively, using comparative historical methods.