Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
Shuja Shah Abdali Durrani (1785-1842), also known as Shoja Shah, was the fifth Emir of Afghanistan, first ruling the Durrani Empire from 1803 to 1809. After he forced the deposition of his brother Zaman Shah in 1801 by having him blinded, he proclaimed himself King of Afghanistan, but did not formally ascend until 1803, after defeating his half-brother Mahmud Shah.<br/><br/> Shuja was overthrown by Mahmud Shah in 1809, going into exile in The Punjab and India. He became cruel and petty, often removing various body parts from his courtiers and slaves for the slightest of displeasures, such as having a slave castrated on the spot for not erecting a tent firmly enough when it was blown down by the wind.<br/><br/> Shuja was restored to power in 1838 by the British, who had believed that the Afghans would welcome the return of their 'rightful ruler', when most had already forgotten him. His barbarity became apparent to the British on the campaign trail when he had 50 prisoners beheaded on the spot, and they began to second-guess their decision to reinstate him. He considered his people to be 'dogs', and began exacting his cruel vengeance on them due to feelings of betrayal. It came as no surprise when he was assassinated in 1842.
Dost Mohammad Khan (1793-1863) was Emir of Afghanistan and the founder of the Barakzai dynasty. Son of the chief of the Barakzai Tribe, Dost Mohammad served under the Durrani dynasty until his elder brother was assassinated by Mahmud Shah Durrani in 1818, the previous Emir of Afghanistan, whom they had just restored to the throne. This action incurred the enmity of the tribe, who overthrew Shah Durrani.<br/><br/> Mohammad Khan rose to power with the decline of the Durrani dynasty, first ruling from 1826 until he was overthrown by the British in 1839, at the start of the First Anglo-Afghan War. He was exiled to Musoorie, but returned to rule in 1842, after Shah Shuja Durrani, his replacement, was murdered. He eventually made peace with the British, and even invaded Persia in conjuction with the Empire in 1857. He died suddenly in 1863 after a great victory, leaving a significant legacy behind in the region.
The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst setbacks inflicted on British power in the region after the consolidation of British Raj by the East India Company.
Akhundzada, an ethnic Pashtun of the Noorzai clan, is a religious scholar, reportedly the issuer of the majority of the Taliban's fatwas, and was the head of the Taliban's Islamic courts.<br/><br/> Unlike many Taliban leaders, Akhundzada is believed to have remained in the country during the War in Afghanistan. He became the leader of the militant group in May 2016 following the death of the previous leader Akhtar Mansour in a drone strike. The Taliban also bestowed upon Akhundzada the title Emir-al-Momineen (Commander of the Faithful) that his two predecessors had carried.
Ahmad Shah Durrani (1722-1772), also known as Ahmad Khan Abdali, was an Afghan ruler and king who founded the Durrani Empire, regarded by many as the founder of modern Afghanistan. The Durrani Empire, also referred to as the Afghan Empire, was a monarchy centered in Afghanistan and included northeastern Iran, the modern state of Pakistan as well as the Punjab region of India. It was established at Kandahar in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan military commander under Nader Shah of Persia and chief of the Abdali tribe. After the death of Ahmad Shah in about 1773, the Emirship was passed onto his children followed by grandchildren and its capital was shifted to Kabul.<br/><br/> With the support of tribal leaders, Ahmad Shah Durrani extended Afghan control from Meshed to Kashmir and Delhi, from the Amu Darya to the Arabian Sea. Next to the Ottoman Empire, the Durrani was the greatest Muslim Empire in the second half of the eighteenth century. The Durrani Empire is considered the foundation of the current state of Afghanistan, with Ahmad Shah Durrani being considered the ‘Father’ of modern Afghanistan.
Hussein bin Talal (Arabic: حسين بن طلال‎, Ḥusayn bin Ṭalāl; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death. Hussein's rule extended through the Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict. He recognized Israel in 1994, becoming the second Arab head of state to do so. <br/><br/> Hussein claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad through the ancient Hashemite family.
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn, عبد الله الأول بن الحسين], February 1882 – 20 July 1951, born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, (in modern-day Saudi Arabia) was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah (d. 1886). <br/><br/> Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935), known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18. The extraordinary breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as 'Lawrence of Arabia'.<br/><br/> Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, archaeologist and spy who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along with T. E. Lawrence, Bell helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in what is today Jordan as well as in Iraq. She played a major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq, utilizing her unique perspective from her travels and relations with tribal leaders throughout the Middle East. During her lifetime she was highly esteemed and trusted by British officials and given an immense amount of power for a woman at the time. She has also been described as 'one of the few representatives of His Majesty's Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection'.
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn, عبد الله الأول بن الحسين], February 1882 – 20 July 1951, born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, (in modern-day Saudi Arabia) was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah (d. 1886). He was educated in Istanbul, Turkey and Hijaz. From 1909 to 1914, Abdullah sat in the Ottoman legislature, as deputy for Mecca, but allied with Britain during World War I. Between 1916 to 1918, working with the British guerrilla leader T. E. Lawrence, he played a key role as architect and planner of the Great Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule, leading guerrilla raids on garrisons. He was the ruler of Transjordan and its successor state, Jordan, from 1921 to 1951—first as Emir under a British Mandate from 1921 to 1946, then as King of an independent nation from 1946 until his assassination in 1951. Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel GCB OM GBE PC (6 November 1870 – 2 February 1963) was a British politician and diplomat. Sir Wyndham Henry Deedes CMG DSO (10 March 1883 – 2 September 1956) was a British Brigadier General and was also the Chief secretary to the British High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine.
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn, عبد الله الأول بن الحسين], February 1882 – 20 July 1951, born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, (in modern-day Saudi Arabia) was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah (d. 1886). He was educated in Istanbul, Turkey and Hijaz. From 1909 to 1914, Abdullah sat in the Ottoman legislature, as deputy for Mecca, but allied with Britain during World War I. Between 1916 to 1918, working with the British guerrilla leader T. E. Lawrence, he played a key role as architect and planner of the Great Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule, leading guerrilla raids on garrisons. He was the ruler of Transjordan and its successor state, Jordan, from 1921 to 1951—first as Emir under a British Mandate from 1921 to 1946, then as King of an independent nation from 1946 until his assassination in 1951.
Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn, عبد الله الأول بن الحسين], February 1882 – 20 July 1951, born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, (in modern-day Saudi Arabia) was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah (d. 1886). <br/><br/> Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935), known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18. The extraordinary breadth and variety of his activities and associations, and his ability to describe them vividly in writing, earned him international fame as 'Lawrence of Arabia'.
The Second Anglo-Afghan War was waged between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880. A consequence of the Great Game between Britain and Russia, the conflict was instigated by the latter sending an uninvited diplomatic mission to Kabul, despite the wishes and protestations of Sher Ali Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan. When a British demand for their own diplomatic mission was refused, the Second Anglo-Afghan War commenced.<br/><br/> The first phase of the invasion saw a string of British military victories that led to the Treaty of Gandamak, which saw Afghan foreign affairs given over to the British in exchange for internal sovereignty and military protection; British representatives were installed in Kabul to secure the deal. When the representatives were slaughtered by an uprising in 1879 however, the second phase of the war began, which once again saw the British reigning supreme and the ceding of further territories from Afghanistan.
Sher Ali Khan (c. 1825-1879) was the third son of Dost Mohammed Khan, founder of the Barakzai Dynasty in Afghanistan, and served as Amir of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1866. He had seized power after his father's death, but was soon ousted from the throne by his older brother, Mohammad Afzhal Khan. Sher Ali waged a civil war against his brother, and defeated him to return to power in 1868, regaining the title of Amir.<br/><br/> Under Sher Ali Khan's rule, Afghanistan faced constant pressure from both Britain and Russia, who were waging the Great Game for influence over the region. Sher Ali's attempts to remain neutral fell apart when the British invaded during the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878. Sher Ali fled from Kabul to try and seek political asylum in Russia, and died a year later in Mazar-e Sharif.
Dost Mohammad Khan (December 23, 1793 - June 9, 1863) was the Emir of Afghanistan between 1826 and 1863. He first ruled from 1826 to 1839 and then from 1843 to 1863. He was the eleventh son of Sardar Pāyendah Khan (chief of the Barakzai tribe) who was killed by Zaman Shah Durrani in 1799. He was the grandson of Hajji Jamal Khan who founded the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan. Dost Mahommed belonged to the Pashtun ethnic group.
The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir (Persian: گورِ امیر) is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.<br/><br/> Gur-e Amir is Persian for 'Tomb of the King'. This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Sayyid Baraka.
Abd al-Rahman I, or, his full name by patronymic record, Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (731-788) (Arabic: عبد الرحمن الداخل) was the founder of the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba (755), a Muslim dynasty that ruled the greater part of Iberia for nearly three centuries (including the succeeding Caliphate of Córdoba).<br/><br/> The Muslims called the regions of Iberia under their dominion al-Andalus. Abd al-Rahman's establishment of a government in al-Andalus represented a branching from the rest of the Islamic Empire, which had been usurped by the Abbasid overthrow of the Umayyads from Damascus in 750.<br/><br/> He was also known by appellations al-Dakhil ('the Immigrant'), Saqr Quraish ('the Falcon of the Quraysh')and the 'Falcon of Andalus'. Variations of the spelling of his name include Abd ar-Rahman I, Abdul Rahman I and Abderraman I.
Isma'il ibn Ahmad (ابو ابراهیم اسماعیل بن احمد, Abu Ibrahim Ismail ibn Ahmad, d. November 907) also referred to as, 'Amir Adil' (the Just Commander) was the Persian Samanid amir of Transoxiana (892-907) and Khorasan (900-907). His reign saw the emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force. He was the son of Ahmad ibn Asad and a descendant of Saman Khuda, the founder of the Samanid dynasty who renounced Zoroastrianism and embraced Islam. Ismail is considered the father of the Tajik nation.<br/><br/> Bukhara was founded in 500 BCE in the area now called the Ark. However, the Bukhara oasis had been inhabitated long before.<br/><br/> The city has been one of the main centres of Persian civilization from its early days in 6th century BCE. From the 6th century CE, Turkic speakers gradually moved in.<br/><br/> Bukhara's architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of Central Asian history and art. The region of Bukhara was for a long period a part of the Persian Empire. The origin of its inhabitants goes back to the period of Aryan immigration into the region.
Isma'il ibn Ahmad (ابو ابراهیم اسماعیل بن احمد, Abu Ibrahim Ismail ibn Ahmad, d. November 907) also referred to as, 'Amir Adil' (the Just Commander) was the Persian Samanid amir of Transoxiana (892-907) and Khorasan (900-907). His reign saw the emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force. He was the son of Ahmad ibn Asad and a descendant of Saman Khuda, the founder of the Samanid dynasty who renounced Zoroastrianism and embraced Islam. Ismail is considered the father of the Tajik nation.<br/><br/> Bukhara was founded in 500 BCE in the area now called the Ark. However, the Bukhara oasis had been inhabitated long before.<br/><br/> The city has been one of the main centres of Persian civilization from its early days in 6th century BCE. From the 6th century CE, Turkic speakers gradually moved in.<br/><br/> Bukhara's architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of Central Asian history and art. The region of Bukhara was for a long period a part of the Persian Empire. The origin of its inhabitants goes back to the period of Aryan immigration into the region.
Isma'il ibn Ahmad (ابو ابراهیم اسماعیل بن احمد, Abu Ibrahim Ismail ibn Ahmad, d. November 907) also referred to as, 'Amir Adil' (the Just Commander) was the Persian Samanid amir of Transoxiana (892-907) and Khorasan (900-907). His reign saw the emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force. He was the son of Ahmad ibn Asad and a descendant of Saman Khuda, the founder of the Samanid dynasty who renounced Zoroastrianism and embraced Islam. Ismail is considered the father of the Tajik nation.<br/><br/> Bukhara was founded in 500 BCE in the area now called the Ark. However, the Bukhara oasis had been inhabitated long before.<br/><br/> The city has been one of the main centres of Persian civilization from its early days in 6th century BCE. From the 6th century CE, Turkic speakers gradually moved in.<br/><br/> Bukhara's architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of Central Asian history and art. The region of Bukhara was for a long period a part of the Persian Empire. The origin of its inhabitants goes back to the period of Aryan immigration into the region.
Isma'il ibn Ahmad (ابو ابراهیم اسماعیل بن احمد, Abu Ibrahim Ismail ibn Ahmad, d. November 907) also referred to as, 'Amir Adil' (the Just Commander) was the Persian Samanid amir of Transoxiana (892-907) and Khorasan (900-907). His reign saw the emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force. He was the son of Ahmad ibn Asad and a descendant of Saman Khuda, the founder of the Samanid dynasty who renounced Zoroastrianism and embraced Islam. Ismail is considered the father of the Tajik nation.<br/><br/> Bukhara was founded in 500 BCE in the area now called the Ark. However, the Bukhara oasis had been inhabitated long before.<br/><br/> The city has been one of the main centres of Persian civilization from its early days in 6th century BCE. From the 6th century CE, Turkic speakers gradually moved in.<br/><br/> Bukhara's architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of Central Asian history and art. The region of Bukhara was for a long period a part of the Persian Empire. The origin of its inhabitants goes back to the period of Aryan immigration into the region.
The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir (Persian: گورِ امیر) is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.<br/><br/> Gur-e Amir is Persian for 'Tomb of the King'. This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Sayyid Baraka.
The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir (Persian: گورِ امیر) is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.<br/><br/> Gur-e Amir is Persian for 'Tomb of the King'. This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Sayyid Baraka.
The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir (Persian: گورِ امیر) is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.<br/><br/> Gur-e Amir is Persian for 'Tomb of the King'. This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Sayyid Baraka.
The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir (Persian: گورِ امیر) is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.<br/><br/> Gur-e Amir is Persian for 'Tomb of the King'. This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Sayyid Baraka.
Xavier Pascal Coste (26 November 1787, Marseille - 8 February 1879) was a French architect. His father was one of the leading joiners in Marseille. Showing intellectual and artistic promise, Pascal began his studies in the studio of Penchaud, architect of the département and the municipalité. In 1814, he was received into the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His time in Paris was a pivotal one in his life - there he met the geographer Edme François Jomard, who put him in touch with the viceroy of Egypt, Mehmet Ali, who took Coste on as his architect in 1817.<br/><br/> In 1825 Coste returned to France with an impressive series of drawings of the architecture of Cairo, but he soon went to Egypt once again at Mehmet Ali's request, where Mehmet Ali made him chief engineer for Lower Egypt. Coste remained there for four years, during which time he accumulated many sketches, but he found the Egyptian climate difficult and returned to France in 1829. There he became a professor of architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, thanks to the links he had kept up with Penchaud. He remained in this post until 1861, when he was one of the founder members of the intellectual centre known as the Athénée.<br/><br/> In parallel with these activities he travelled around France and to Germany, Belgium and Tunisia and produced several authoritative works on architecture - his Architecture arabe (1827) earned him a place on the French king's embassy to the Shah of Iran. In Iran Coste and the painter Eugène Flandin were authorised to visit the ruins of Ecbatana, Bishtun, Taq-e Bostan, Sarpol-e Zahab, Pasargadae and Persepolis, where he made many sketches. On his return via Baghdad, he saw the ruins of Seleucia, Ctesiphon and Babylon. He continued via Nineveh, to which the archaeologist Paul Émile Botta was also travelling to begin his excavations.
The Emirate of Bukhara was a Central Asian state that existed from 1785 to 1920. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana. Its core territory was the land along the lower Zarafshan River, and its urban centres were the ancient cities of Samarkand and the emirate's capital, Bukhara. It was contemporaneous with the Khanate of Khiva to the west, in Khwarezm, and the Khanate of Kokand to the east, in Fergana. It is now within the boundaries of Uzbekistan.
Photography by Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (1863-1944). The Emirate of Bukhara was officially created in 1785, upon the assumption of rulership by the Manghit emir, Shah Murad. Over the course of the 18th century, the emirs had slowly gained effective control of the Khanate of Bukhara. In 1868 the emirate lost a war with Imperial Russia, which had colonial aspirations in the region. Russia annexed much of the emirate's territory, including the important city of Samarkand. In 1873 the remainder became a Russian protectorate,and was soon surrounded by the Russian Governorate-General of Turkestan.
In August 1990, this famous painting was among 20,000 pieces of art looted from the Kuwait National Museum and Dar al-Athat al-Islamiyya (House of Islamic Antiquities) when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait. The painting and 16,000 other pieces from the collections were later recovered from Baghdad.
The Emirate of Bukhara (Persian: شاهنشاهی بخارا‎) was a Central Asian state that existed from 1785 to 1920. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana. Its core territory was the land along the lower Zarafshan River, and its urban centres were the ancient cities of Samarkand and the emirate's capital, Bukhara.<br/><br/> It was contemporaneous with the Khanate of Khiva to the west, in Khwarezm, and the Khanate of Kokand to the east, in Fergana. It is now within the boundaries of Uzbekistan.
The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir (Persian: گورِ امیر) is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.<br/><br/> Gur-e Amir is Persian for 'Tomb of the King'. This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Sayyid Baraka.
The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir (Persian: گورِ امیر) is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.<br/><br/> Gur-e Amir is Persian for 'Tomb of the King'. This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Sayyid Baraka.
The Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir (Persian: گورِ امیر) is the mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane (also known as Timur) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.<br/><br/> Gur-e Amir is Persian for 'Tomb of the King'. This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Sayyid Baraka.
Shah-i-Zinda (Persian: شاه زنده‎ meaning 'The Living King') is a necropolis in the north-eastern part of Samarkand.<br/><br/> The Shah-i-Zinda Ensemble includes mausoleums and other ritual buildings from the 9-14th and 19th centuries. The name Shah-i-Zinda is connected with the legend that Kusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the prophet Muhammad is buried here. It is believed that he came to Samarkand with the Arab invasion in the 7th century to preach Islam. Popular legends speak that he was beheaded by Zoroastrian fire-worshippers for his faith.