Provincial Army In Timurid Era

Timur began his domination by the help he received from parts of the Chaghataid troops. Then and concurrent to extending his realm and power, he recruited defeated populations as new part of his army. Simultaneously he established household – provincial powers in his occupations which his sons and grandsons ruled over them. This political – administrative tradition was followed by his successors and actually some timurid principalities ruled over different parts of Iran which have their own organizations. In spite of that, historical sources which, mostly focused on central court’s developments, do not explain the role and importance of provincial governorships. As in central government, military forces and authorities were a crucial part of power structure in Timurid principalities, it is important to explain how was the combination and administration of provincial troops and also it’s relation to central army. The main purpose of this article is explaining these topics through an analytical-descriptive approach. Our study shows that there was an ethically diverse army in principalities which consisted of Ghaghataid and local forces. Also it indicates that the combination of provincial armies, which was depenant on the inhabitants of each part of Timurid empire in Iran, has changed during the time. In the case of relation between central and provincial armies, it seems that it was a function of the central and provincial situation and so unstable.