A Look on the Music in Timurid Era; Relying on Historical Figures and Narratives

Timurid era was a flourishing period of several arts which is in absolute contradiction to the political-military conditions of that period. After the conquest of Iran, Timor decided to gather artists in Samarkand to help him demonstrating his power and superiority and his successors also adopted such a policy which resulted in creation of a thought school in the name of Herāt in Iranian culture. Music is one of the arts experienced great prosperity in that period in a way that musicians stood on a higher situation in comparison with previous periods, the matter which is clearly reflected in reports of primary sources and survived paintings of that period. Using descriptive-analytical method, the present research is to investigate the music and musician status based on historical texts and related figures, especially considering the figures of this era in three governing periods of Timur, Shāhrokh and Hossein Bāyqārā. The evaluation of political motivations and stimulants of Timurid official figures who were interested in music would be naturally accomplished as one part of the study.