Baysunghur

Timurid prince (1397–1433) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ghiyath ud-din Baysunghur ( غیاث‌الدین بایسنقر) commonly known as Baysonqor or Baysongor, Baysonghor or (incorrectly^[4]) as Baysunqar, also called Sultan Bāysonḡor Bahādor Khan (1397–1433) was a prince of the Timurid dynasty and a grandson of Timur. He was known as a patron of arts and architecture, the leading patron of the Persian miniature in Iran, commissioning the Baysunghur Shahnameh and other works, as well as being a prominent calligrapher.^[4]

Born15 September 1397
Herat

Died20 December 1433 (aged 36)
Bagh-e Safid palace, Herat

Burial

Gawhar Shad Mausoleum, Herat^[3]

Spousekatayun khatun

Quick facts Born, Died ...

Baysunghur Bâhodor Mirza

Timurid Prince

Contemporary portrait of Baysunghur in 1429 in Herat. Frontispiece of Kalila wa Dimna, Topkapi R.1022 (detail).^[1]^[2]

Born

15 September 1397
Herat

Died

20 December 1433 (aged 36)
Bagh-e Safid palace, Herat

Burial

Gawhar Shad Mausoleum, Herat^[3]

Spouse

katayun khatun

Issue

Ala al-Dawla Mirza
Sultan Muhammad
Abul-Qasim Babur
Several others

Names
Ghiyath-ud-din Baysunghur Bâhador Khan

Father

Mother

Religion

Life

Baysunghur was a son of Shah Rukh, the ruler of Iran and Transoxiana, and Shah Rukh's most prominent wife, Gawhar Shad.^[4]

In the view of modern historians, Baysunghur was actually a better statesman than his more famous elder brother, Ulugh Beg, who inherited Shah Rukh's throne,^[4] but who "must have envied his younger brother, Baisunghur, whom his father never saddled with major responsibilities, which left him free to build his elegant madrasas in Herat, gather his ancient books, assemble his artists, and drink".^[5] He was well-versed in Persian, Arabic, as well his native Chagatai. He was a patron of Persian historians, including Hafiz-i Abru (died 1430), who dedicated his book Zubdat al-tawārīkh-i bāysunghurī to him.^[4]

Baysunghur was living in Herat as governor by 1417. He temporarily took Tabriz from the Qara Qoyunlu in 1421, together with his father Shah Rukh.

Artistic endeavour

After temporarilly taking Tabriz from the Qara Qoyunlu in 1421, together with his father Shah Rukh, he brought back to Herat a group of Tabrizi artists and calligraphers, formerly working for Ahmad Jalayir, who he installed in Herat to add to his existing artists from Shiraz. They became the most important school of artists in Iran, merging the two styles.^[6] In the 16th century, Dust Muhammad Haravi described the Timurid Baysunghur's efforts at emulating Jalayirid art, after his occupation of Tabriz in 1421 and capture of artists from Tabriz:

His Highness Baysunghur Mirza had Master Sidi Ahmad the painter, Khwaja Ali the portraitist and Master Qiwamuddin the bookbinder brought from Tabriz and ordered that after the pleasing manner of Sultan Ahmad of Baghdad's miscellany, they should produce a book in exactly the same format and layout and with the same scenes depicted. The copying of it was given into the charge of Mawlana Fariduddin Ja'far. The binding was commissioned of the aforementioned Master Qiwamuddin, by whom inlay in bindings was invented; and Mir Khalil was put in charge of decoration and depiction of scenes.

— Preface to the Bahram Mirza Album (extract), by Dust Muhammad.^[7]

Gallery

Baysungur dallying with his Ladies, 1426 painting
Baysunghur watching a hunt. Herat, 1427
Baysunghur attending a hunt. 1430 painting

Personal life

Consorts

Baysunghur had five wives:

Jan Malik Agha, daughter of Amir Chulpan Qauchin;
Gawhar Nasab Agha, a lady from Khwarezm;
Khandan Agha;
Afaq Agha;
Shah Begi Agha;

Sons

Baysunghur had three sons:

Ala al-Dawla Mirza - with Jan Malik Agha;
Abul-Qasim Babur Mirza - with Gawhar Nasab Agha;
Sultan Muhammad Mirza - with Khandan Agha;

Daughters

Baysunghur had eight daughters:

Ruqaiya Begi Begum - with Shah Begi Agha;
Fatima Sultan Begum - with Gawhar Nasab Agha;
Zuhra Begi Begum - with Gawhar Nasab Agha;
Aisha Begi Begum - with Afaq Agha, married to Sultan Masud Mirza, son of Sayorghatmish Mirza, son of Shah Rukh;
Sa'adat Begi Begum - with Khandan Agha;
Bakht Daulat Begum;
Payanda Sultan Begum;
Sahib Sultan Begum, married to Muhammad Khalil Mirza son of Muhammad Jahangir Mirza, son of Muhammad Sultan Mirza, son of Jahangir Mirza;

References

[1]
Balafrej, Lamia (2019). The Making of the Artist in Late Timurid Painting. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 47. ISBN 9781474437448. Two Timurid frontispieces, both made for Baysunghur, show thematic continuities with these earlier examples. The first opens a copy of Kalila wa Dimna that was made in Herat in 1429, and depicts a royal gathering in a blossoming garden (Figure 1.1). The prince, who, scholars have shown, represents Baysunghur himself, appears in the right folio – an important variation from earlier models. Surrounded by attendants, Baysunghur is seated on a carpet, wine cup in hand. In the foreground, musicians perform on both sides of a table loaded with wine bottles. The composition continues in the left folio, with four servants carrying tables at the bottom and a packed row of figures aligned with the prince. The gutter separating the pages stresses the gap between ruler and ruled, as Robert Hillenbrand noted. Exclusion also comes with subordination: although placed outside the royal half of the frontispiece, the courtiers are turned towards the prince.
[2]
Titley, Norah M. (1984). Persian miniature painting and its influence on the art of Turkey and India : the British Library collections. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-292-76484-2. A Prince being entertained, probably a portrait of Baysunghur
[3]
Donald Newton Wilber, Iran, past and present (1963), p. 61
[4]
Roemer 1989, pp. 6–9.
[5]
S. Frederick Starr (2013). Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. p. 493. ISBN 978-1-4008-4880-5. OCLC 1085907538.
[6]
Norah M. Titley; British Library (1983). Persian Miniature Painting and Its Influence on the Art of Turkey and India: The British Library Collections. British Library. pp. 50–53. ISBN 978-0-7123-0001-8. OCLC 1000650550.
[7]
Album prefaces and other documents on the history of calligraphers and painters (Paperback [edition] ed.). Leiden Boston: Brill. 2014. p. 13. ISBN 978-90-04-11961-1.

Baysunghur

Life

Artistic endeavour

Gallery

Personal life

References

Sources

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