(1370) Before her marriage to Timur, Saray had been previously married to her husband's predecessor,
Amir Husayn of Balkh. When in 1370, Timur defeated and thereafter executed Husayn after the
Siege of Balkh, he seized the
harem of his predecessor and took to himself the latter's wives, one of whom being Saray Mulk Khanum. Saray was five years younger than Timur and was said to be very beautiful, sometimes described as possessing "surpassing" beauty. As the daughter of a Khan and a descendant of Genghis Khan, Saray enjoyed the status of Timur's senior wife, although in her first husband's harem the chief wife was a daughter of Khan
Tarmashirin, who after Husayn's fall was married to the Jalayir Khan Bahram. Through his marriage to Saray, Timur acquired the right to the surname
Gurgan ("son-in-law") of Qazan Khan, which appears on his coins and often in the Mamluk sources. The title of
gurgan was very important for Timur because it was indicative of his relations with the family of the
Chughtai. In 1397, Timur married Tukal-Khanum, a daughter of the Mongol Khan
Khizr Khoja, who skipped over several other wives due to her exalted lineage and took the second place in the harem, inferior in status only to Saray. Saray, therefore, held the position of being Timur's chief consort until his death. Little is known of Saray and Timur's relationship, apart from the fact that she was his confidante and one of his closest advisers, but it is clear that she wielded great influence over her husband and in the Empire. She is also cited by most sources to have been Timur's "favourite" and his beloved wife. Saray also sometimes acted as
regent during Timur's absences from Samarkand as a result of his western campaigns and wielded great authority at Court. As Timur's chief consort, Saray additionally held the title of "Great Empress" similar to the title held by Genghis Khan's chief wife,
Börte. The Spanish ambassador,
Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, who was sent by
Henry III of Castile to visit Timur's court in 1405, called Saray, "The Grand Khanum". In May 1394, Saray along with Timur's other wives followed her husband with the
ughruq to
Armenia and
Transcaucasia where Ibrahim was born. In September, they returned to
Sultaniya, but some time later were again summoned to join Timur. In the spring of 1395, both the Saray and Tukal with the children were sent to Samarkand, where Shahrukh had been staying since the autumn of 1394. In 1396, they were all in
Khuzar, meeting Timur on his return from his "Five Years" campaign. During the
Indian campaign, Saray Mulk Khanum and Ulugh accompanied Timur only as far as
Kabul. In August 1398, Timur sent them back to Samarkand from the neighbourhood of Kabul.
Issue Saray did not have any children with Timur, though she is sometimes referred to as the mother of her husband's youngest son,
Shahrukh Mirza, who was actually born of a concubine. Even if Saray had any children with her husband, they did not survive, and neither did Tukal-Khanum's, and yet their power and influence were well noted by foreign visitors to the Court. It was the two Chingisid princesses' personal qualities and pedigree that allowed them to develop such a prestigious dynastic position, since with Timurid consorts maternity was not in itself a path to power. Upon the birth of Shahrukh's eldest son,
Ulugh Beg, in 1394, he was also, like his father, placed in Saray's care and grew up under the supervision of the Empress. ==Clavijo's account of the Empress==