Khalil Sultan

Tamerlan’s grandson, the third son of Miran Shah and Sevin-bek Hanzade, granddaughter of the Golden Horde khan Uzbek Khalil-Sultan was born on September 14, 1384 in Herat . His upbringing was entrusted to the elder wife of Timur Saray-Mulk-khanum. Already at the age of 15 he distinguished himself during the campaign of Timur to India ; participated in the so-called "seven-year campaign" to the west (in fact, 1399 - 1404 years ). In 1402, Timur assigned him the supreme command in the east, "on the border of Turkestan ." One of the wives of Khalil Sultan was the daughter of Ali Muyad from the Arlat tribe - Jahan Sultan. In 1404, he aroused the anger of his grandfather by unauthorized marriage to a woman of low descent, Shad - Mulk , but he was forgiven and in the same year, while preparing for a trip to China, he was appointed head of the right wing assembled in Tashkent and its environs.

After the death of Timur on February 18, 1405 , Khalil Sultan was proclaimed sovereign on March 18, when he entered Samarkand. The title of khan was received by the minor grandson of Timur Mohammed-Jehangir , the son of the formerly appointed heir, but Timur, the prince Mohammed-Sultan , who had died before. Khalil-Sultan stayed in Samarkand until 1409 . Khalil Sultan organized the funeral of his grandfather in Samarkand. His power extended only to Maverannahr , and in the north of the country, to the Syr Darya , he constantly had to fight with the rebellious military leaders. The Golden Horde, who conquered in December 1405 - January 1406 Khorezm , in its raids reached Bukhara . Khalil-Sultan allowed the craftsmen who worked at construction sites in Samarkand from the Timur era to return home.

In an open battle with his enemies, Khalil-Sultan for the most part remained the winner. The final victory of Shahrukh was also won not so much as a result of military successes, but because of intrigues and skillful diplomacy, in particular, due to ties with the clergy of Bukhara, headed by Mohammed Parsa. In the spring of 1409, when the army of Shahrukh was in Badghis , and the army of Khalil-Sultan - in Shakhrisyabz , ready for battle, the uprising again began in the north led by the emir of Khudaydad. Khalil-Sultan was forced to leave his army and turn against Khudaydad, but he could take with him only 4,000 people. On March 30, 1409, north of Samarkand, he was captured by Hudaidad and brought to Samarkand. Later, without his wife, who was then abused by Shahrukh, he was taken to Ferghana . Finally, he went to Otrar and there, through the mediation of Emir Sheikh Hyp ad-Din, concluded an agreement with Shahrukh, according to which he renounced power over Maverannahr and instead received the city of Rey.

Khalil Sultan died on November 4, 1411 in Ray (modern Iran). His wife was also returned to him, and after the death of her husband, she committed suicide.

Owing to these romantic circumstances, which were also embellished by contemporaries, Khalil-Sultan was called by A. Muller “a sentimental shepherd,” which is hardly suitable for a young prince who possessed indisputable military talent. However, his attitude towards his wife, as well as the generosity that he constantly showed in relation to all his enemies and even traitors, are really in complete contradiction with the personal qualities of the other members of his dynasty and with the conditions of his time. Khalil-Sultan was fond of poetry and wrote poetry in the Turkic language himself.

• Bartold V.V. Khalil-Sultan // Bartold V.V. Works. - M .: Nauka, 1964. - T. II, Part 2: Works on selected problems of the history of Central Asia . - S. 533-534 .
• Mu'izz al-ansab (Glorifying genealogy). Introduction, translation from Persian, notes, preparation of facsimiles for the publication of Sh. Kh. Vakhidov. // History of Kazakhstan in Persian sources. T.3. Almaty: Dyke Press, 2006.