An effective power in political and social life: Timurid dynastic women

Woman is one of the building blocks that create and form the society. The science of history, which investigates the past lives, cultures and struggles of societies, neither ignores the activities of the individuals within the society, nor it discriminates between genders. In this context, although roles of sovereigns who had won great victories have subjected investigations in weight, female members of dynasties who had put their signatures in political and social life thanks to their effective positions have also been noted. Roles of female members of the dynasty in the Timurid State (1370-1506), named after its founder Timur, constitutes the main subject matter of this study. It was seen that there was no independent study on the women who were members of the Timurid dynasty despite the numerous subjects handled in studies on Timurid history; and therefore, these women were selected as the subject matter of this study. Timurid sovereigns and princes considered the women descending from Cengiz Khan as the sources of their legitimacy for their sovereignty. At the same time, they married to daughters of powerful emirs to establish political alliances. Therefore, importance attached to the dynasty women increased and dynasty women emerged who were effective in political, social and cultural life of the Timurid state. Keywords: Iran, Tamerlane, Timurid Dynasty, Timurid Women, Transoxania