An Investigation into Governmental Records of the Timurid Era

The main objective of this study, in addition to defining the characteristics of governmental records in the Timurid era (ninth Hijri century), is evaluation of the role and importance of these records in analyzing the power s tructure and bureaucracy of the Timurids. Universe: This study embraces all governmental records issued by Timurid Kings (Soltaniat) of which originals are now kept in archives or museums of different countries. Methodology / Approach: The process of identifying and collecting the documents sought by this study has been conducted through libraries and by referring to different archives around the world. The collected data has been analyzed by applying the method of historical research based on authentic texts. Despite the existence of numerous and authentic historical texts related to the Timurid era, there are a limited number of original records remaining from this period. This study establishes that in addition to the nine records so far known to be from the Timurid period there are two other records, kept in the Afghanistan National Archives, that belong to Sultan Husayn Bayqarah, the last Timurid ruler. Despite the overall similarity, the records belonging to the Timurid period can be examined from different perspectives according to their time and the origin of their issuance. This is p articularly true of the commands by Shahrukh, which were all issued with one- year intervals. They were issued in the west of Iran. Because of the limited number of original records remaining from the Timurid era, there are yet many unsaid facts about the structure of administration and the system of bureaucracy in this era. Nevertheless, the limited documents remaining still reflect some important political-social aspects of the history of the Timurid era. According to the findings of this study, the available records indicate a special administration structure in the light of which the relationship between the king, the prince and the khan of Mughal in the Timurid era can be studied. In the era of Shahrukh, the element of time and the origin of the documents’ issuance should be considered, associated with t he events recorded in historical texts.