Baikara

Bayqara Mirza I (1392 – 1422?) was a Timurid prince and a grandson of the Central Asian conqueror Timur by his eldest son Umar Shaikh Mirza I.

Described by the biographer Dawlatshah as "the noblest, fairest, and bravest of Timur’s descendants", Bayqara Mirza is best known for his rebellions against his uncle/stepfather Shah Rukh. He also had an interest in the arts, a trait inherited by his famous grandson and partial namesake Sultan Husayn Bayqara of Herat.

Background Bayqara Mirza was born 1392 and was the youngest son of Umar Shaikh Mirza I by his wife, the Mongol princess Malikat Agha. His father, the eldest of the four sons of Timur, died in 1394 when Bayqara was about two years old. His mother, a daughter of the Chagatai prince Khizr Ughlan, was subsequently remarried to Umar Shaikh's younger brother Shah Rukh.

Rebellions When Timur died in 1405, Bayqara and his brothers were duty-bound to support their stepfather's bid for the throne in the ensuing dynastic struggle. However, within a few years of the latter's victory, Bayqara's brother Iskandar Mirza revolted, proclaiming himself Sultan in Isfahan in 1412. Shah Rukh led an expedition against his stepson, with Bayqara and another brother, Rustam, in his baggage train. After a short siege, Iskandar was captured and blinded. His former lands were partitioned between his siblings, with Bayqara being given an area which included Hamadan, Nahavand and Kurdistan, as well as custody of his rebellious elder brother. The second was instigated when Sa'd-i Waqqas, son of Bayqara's late cousin Muhammad Sultan, defected to the Qara Qoyunlu in the spring of 1415. Taking advantage of the disturbance caused by this, Bayqara was persuaded by Iskandar to declare independence. The latter was soon apprehended and executed by Rustam, though Bayqara himself continued in his campaign. His forces, burgeoned by nobles who had been loyal to Iskandar, met those of Shah Rukh's son Ibrahim Sultan outside the city of Shiraz. Bayqara routed his cousin's army and was welcomed into the city, having enjoyed support among the populace.

In preparation for his stepfather's inevitable retaliation, the prince quickly organised paramilitary forces as well as an armed cavalry of five thousand. When the emperor's army arrived outside Shiraz, the inhabitants lost confidence and asked Bayqara to surrender in order to save the city from destruction, to which he relented in December 1415. Shah Rukh withdrew his forces, though several nobles loyal to his stepsons were executed. Bayqara himself was spared, though only through the intercession of his cousin and friend Baysunghur. Instead, he was exiled to Qandahar, to live under the surveillance of another relation, Qaidu son of Pir Muhammad.