The Barlas were a Mongol and later Turkicized nomadic confederation in Central Asia. With military roots in one of the regiments of the original Mongol army, the Barlas spawned two major imperial dynasties in Asia: the Timurid Empire in Central Asia and Persia; and its later branch, the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent.
Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire
The Timurid Empire was a late medieval, culturally Persianate Turco-Mongol empire that dominated Greater Iran in the early 15th century, comprising modern-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, as well as parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India and Turkey. The empire was culturally hybrid, combining Turko-Mongolian and Persianate influences, with the last members of the dynasty being "regarded as ideal Perso-Islamic rulers".
Depiction of Timur granting audience on the occasion of his accession, in the near-contemporary Zafarnama (1424-1428), 1467 edition
Timur receiving Amir Husayn's envoy during his attack on Balkh (1370). Miniature painting from Mirkhvand's Rawzat al-Safa (Turkey, 1599).
Forensic facial reconstruction of Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur from his skull, performed by the Soviet archaeologist and anthropologist Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov (1941)
Folio of Poetry From the Divan of Sultan Husayn Mirza, c. 1490. Brooklyn Museum.
