TEHRAN – A package of Tehran meetings and workshops is set to turn the spotlight on Baysunghur, who was a great patron of arts and architecture in 15th-century Iran.

Born Ghiyath ud-din Baysunghur in 1397, he was a prince of the Timurid dynasty and a prominent calligrapher whose name is better remembered as a leading patron of the Persian miniature in Iran. He commissioned the Baysunghur Shahnameh and other works as well.

The meetings will be held on the sidelines of an exhibition of his works, which will ​run from November 21 to December 21 in downtown of the Iranian capital. 

Baysunghur was the son of Shah Rukh, the ruler of Iran and Transoxiana, and Shah Rukh's most prominent wife, Gawhar Shad.

A first-class calligrapher, he was an outstanding representative of Islamic culture of the Turco-Iranian type, whose distinctiveness and worth have only in recent decades received adequate appreciation in modern scholarship.

Some experts believe that in both contemporary and modern historical works, Baysunghur is overshadowed by his elder brother Olog Beg who was notable for his work in astronomy-related mathematics.

Baysunghur played a big part in the administration of the Timurid empire. He was appointed governor-general (wali) of Tus, NeyShabur, and Astarabad when he was seventeen years old.

Moreover, he fought in campaigns against the most dangerous enemies of the Timurids. He accompanied Shah Rukh’s expeditions against the Turkmen in the northwest in 1421 and 1429 and against Boraq the Uzbek in the northeast in 1427 after the latter had inflicted a defeat on Olog Beg.

As mentioned by Iranica, the fondness of the Timurids for splendid architecture and fine art can be explained by two considerations: first, the then prevalent tendency of rulers to enhance their prestige by making their courts centers of culture and, second, the legacy of Timur, who had deported architects, artists, craftsmen, scholars, and poets from conquered cities to Central Asia and set them to work in that region, mainly at his capital Samarqand.

Baysunghur was a talented poet who had an excellent knowledge of both Persian and Arabic as well as his Eastern Turkish mother tongue.

The Malek National Library and Museum Institution, itself a top travel destination in downtown Tehran, is playing host to that meetings, workshops, and exhibitions dedicated to Baysunghur and his contributions to Persian arts.

AFM