Towns, Gardens and Living Spaces in the Timurid World

From 1370 to 1507, Timurid city life in Herat in present-day Afghanistan and Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan stretched from walled centers into suburbs, gardens and court compounds. Shah Rukh rebuilt markets and a new residential quarter in Herat, and later rulers extended its canal irrigation. The 1404 embassy of Ruy González de Clavijo describes how Samarkand’s garden residences and a moving court accommodated household members, visitors and suppliers.

On this page4 sections

Quarters and markets in Herat

Herat’s two main streets met at a central bazaar, with smaller markets near the gates. This street plan predated Timurid rule. Under Shah Rukh, the main crossroads bazaar and other markets were rebuilt from 1410–1411, followed by the city walls and citadel, a fortified stronghold, completed in 1415–1416.

The city also expanded north beyond the Malek Gate. Shah Rukh sponsored the Khiyaban, a residential quarter where mosques, religious schools, shrines, garden residences and other public buildings were built. Later Timurid rulers and dignitaries continued to add buildings along it.

Samarkand’s suburbs and water

In 1404, the Castilian envoy Ruy González de Clavijo describes Samarkand as an earthen-walled city surrounded by connected suburbs. Houses, orchards and vineyards extended far beyond the wall; streams ran through both the city and its gardens. He saw bread, meat and other goods for sale among the outer houses, and judged the suburbs more densely inhabited than the walled city. Markets and daily provisioning thus occupied an extended urban landscape rather than a single enclosed center.

Noble houses and Timur’s palaces stood among the gardens, close to orchards, vineyards and water channels. Clavijo also describes surrounding villages settled by people Timur had captured in conquered lands, so the city’s growing population included forcibly relocated communities.

Water also reshaped Herat’s outskirts. Between 1467 and 1469, Sultan Abu Saʿid ordered the Juy-e Soltani canal, improving irrigation in agricultural districts south of the city. The new supply also extended gardens and recreational grounds to the east and north. Under Sultan Husayn Bayqara, royal and aristocratic gardens and terraces spread across the slopes. The canal therefore served fields and helped create a landscaped district for residence and recreation.

Garden residences and court visitors

Clavijo’s embassy visited royal palaces at Kesh, south of Samarkand. In one palace, he was shown apartments made for women in the royal household and a chamber set aside for feasting and their company. A large garden in front had shady trees, fruit trees and water channels; the garden offered space for people to gather in summer. Its rooms and planted grounds supported household life as well as royal hospitality.

Near Samarkand, the embassy later stayed in a walled garden residence with fruit trees, streams and raised platforms running along the tree-lined avenues. The palace stood on an artificial mound, reached by two bridges and stairways. The envoys pitched their own tents beside a stream, where food and other provisions were supplied. The layout controlled the approach to the palace while giving visitors a place to stay and be received.

A court camp as a service settlement

When Timur assembled his court and army on a plain near Samarkand in 1404, each group had an assigned place for its tents. Clavijo says newcomers were shown their station and the camp’s groups stood in streets. Butchers and cooks sold cooked sheep, fruit and barley sellers supplied provisions, and bakers sold bread. Bath attendants set up tents and huts with vessels for heating bath water. This street-by-street arrangement put food and hot baths beside the troops’ tents.

For a broader overview, see Daily Life in the Timurid World.