Pir Muhammad (son of Jahangir)

For his cousin of the same name, see Pir Muhammad (son of Umar Shaikh).

Pir Muhammad
Timurid Prince
Amir of Timurid Empire
Reign1405-1407
PredecessorTimur
SuccessorKhalil Sultan
Shahrukh Mirza
Born1376
Died1407 (aged 32–33)
Afghanistan
Burial
Gur-e-Amir, Samarkand (present-day Uzbekistan)
SpouseSabur Sultan (granddaughter of Shah Shuja)
Several other wives
IssueQaidu
Buzanchar
Jahangir
Sanjar
Makhdum Sultan
Shah Sultan Biki
Several other children
HouseHouse of Timur
FatherJahangir Mirza
MotherBakht Malik Agha of the Yasauri
ReligionIslam
Military career
Battles / warsSack of Delhi (1398)
Sack of Bhatner fort (1398)
Siege of Multan (1398)
Battle of Jammu (1399)
Battle of Qara-Derrah (1395)
Battle of Capakhchur
Battle of Ankara (1402)

Pir Muhammad Mirza (c. 1376 – 22 February 1407) was a Timurid prince and briefly succeeded as King of Timurid Empire after the death of his grandfather Timur the Lame.[1] He was the son of Jahangir Mirza who was the actual successor to the throne but had died before his father. Next in line was Umar Shaikh Mirza I but he too died.[1] Pir Muhammad's brother Muhammad Sultan was appointed Timur's heir, but he had succumbed to battle-wounds in 1403.[2][3] This left Shah Rukh, whom Timur considered too meek to rule and Miran Shah who suffered from mental difficulties post head trauma.[clarification needed][citation needed] Timur felt that none of his sons were capable of ruling so he named Pir Muhammad as his successor.[1]

Pir Muhammad had been Governor of Kandahar since 1392.[1] His territory extended from the lands west of the Hindu Kush to the Indus River.[4] In the fall of 1397 he led the first wave of Timurids into India, and was invested with the rulership of Multan.[4] However, none of Pir Muhammad's relatives supported him following Timur's death. He was unable to assume command in Samarkand. He went into battle twice against Khalil Sultan a cousin and the other claimant to the throne but was defeated. He was allowed to remain in his lands. However, six months later he was murdered by his vizier Pir Ali Taz in 1407.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e Peter Jackson, Lawrence Lockhart (1986). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 6. Cambridge University Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN 9780521246996. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  2. ^ Beatrice Forbes Manz, Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran (2007), p. 16
  3. ^ Marthe Bernus-Taylor, Tombs of Paradise: The Shah-e Zende in Samarkand and Architectural Ceramics of Central Asia (2003), p. 27
  4. ^ a b N. Jayapalan (2001). History of India. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. pp. 50–51. ISBN 9788171569281. Retrieved 2 January 2013.