War with the Qara Qoyunlu The new emperor began his reign by launching expeditions against regions which had begun to break away during the war of succession.
Fars, which was held by Shah Rukh's nephew
Bayqara, was taken in 1414. Two years later
Kirman, which had been ruled as an independent kingdom by Sultan Uwais Barlas since 1408, was also subdued. The area under Shah Rukh's rule continued to be extended and consolidated over the following years, either through voluntary subjugation by minor rulers or through alliances. By 1420, the eastern portion of Timur's empire, as well as central and southern Persia, had been brought under Shah Rukh's rule. , son of Shah Rukh, participated to the campaign against the Qara Qoyunlu, and briefly occupied their capital
Tabriz in 1421, bringing back artists for the Herat school of miniatures. This threat was one which remained unresolved for decades. Shah Rukh made many attempts to pacify his western border, both through political and military means (having launched three campaigns against Azerbaijan), none of which proved entirely successful. One of these sons,
Qara Iskander, continued his attempts to reassert Turkoman authority over the following years, necessitating the second campaign in 1429. This too resulted in a Timurid victory and the installation of a Qara Qoyunlu prince,
Abu Said, as a puppet ruler. However, Qara Iskander reoccupied the city of
Tabriz two years later and had Abu Said executed.
Conflict with Hurufis and anti-intellectual purges The
Hurufis were a
Sufi sect who based their doctrine on the mysticism of letters. In the late 14th century, the group was accused of heresy by traditional Islamic scholars. As a result, in 1394 the founder of the movement,
Fazlallah Astarabadi, had been arrested and executed on Timur's orders by his son Miran Shah. The death of their leader led Astarabadi's followers to have a specific hatred against the
Timurids. While leaving a mosque in 1426, Shah Rukh became the victim of an assassination attempt. The attacker,
Ahmed Lur, approached the emperor under the pretence of presenting a petition, before stabbing him in the stomach. Lur however, failed to give a fatal blow and was quickly killed by Shah Rukh's servant. Shah Rukh recovered within a few days and an investigation was launched, which linked Lur to the Hurufis as well as to the family of Astarabadi. There was an immediate backlash against the sect, which resulted in the execution of Astarabadi's grandson, Azud. High-ranking members of the group were subject to extensive interrogations. These eventually extended beyond the sect, with many intellectuals residing in Herat having to defend themselves against accusations of blasphemy. These included the Persian historian
Sharaf-ud-din Ali Yazdi, author of the
Zafarnama, and his teacher Sain-ud-din Turka. The prominent poet and Sufi,
Qasem-e Anvar was expelled from the capital on Shah Rukh's orders. These accusations even went beyond Shah Rukh's court in Herat, with Ma'ruf-i Khattat, a prominent calligrapher under the patronage of Prince
Baysunghur, also being arrested and interrogated. The extent to which the Hurufis were involved in the assassination attempt has not yet been clearly established. However, the subsequent purges served to worsen the already strained relations between the Timurid court and the intellectuals of the empire.
Rebellions In the early part of his reign, in what was likely an attempt to stave off rebellion amongst his relations, Shah Rukh regularly made transfers between the governorships they held. For example, Khalil Sultan was moved from Samarqand to Rayy,
Umar Mirza from Azerbaijan to
Astrabad,
Iskandar Mirza from
Ferghana to
Hamadan to
Shiraz etc. These attempts did not prove to be entirely successful, as Shah Rukh had to repeatedly suppress rebellions by his various family members. Iskandar Mirza, after encouraging his brother to revolt in 1413, himself rebelled and devastated the cities of
Isfahan and
Kerman.
Bayqara, after his initial defeat in Fars, rebelled once more soon after in Shiraz. These insurrections even continued into Shah Rukh's old age. In 1446, at nearly seventy years old, he had to march against his grandson
Sultan Muhammad, who had revolted in the empire's western provinces. ==Administration==